Cayetano to junk online application for passports

FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano wants to do away with the online application of passports and revert to the walk-in system wherein applicants need not set appointments before submitting their applications.

Cayetano directed his subordinates to come up with a detailed plan on how to shift from the appointment system.

“The moment I arrive from Russia, I want to see on my table a memorandum detailing how to revert back to walk- in passport application,” the former senator from Taguig City said during the flag- raising ceremony yesterday.

He explained that he wants passport applications processed in a day so that applicants need only wait for three days at the most for the issuance of their passports.

Under the online application system, at least 2,500 applicants seek appointments every day. However, it takes three months for them to be invited for a personal appointment and at least 10 days before they get their passports.

Cayetano believes that under the walk-in system, the processing of passports can be done faster.

“If we need to hire more casuals, then so be it. Use my salary for the meantime to pay them. I was told we have P15 million and 15 more machines. A machine produces 60 passports a day and it could be raised to 80,” he said.