House to probe passport processing delays

The House of Representatives has decided to look into the reported delay in the processing of passports by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

A privilege speech delivered by Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate prompted the decision.

The DFA has attributed the delay to the increasing number of Filipinos applying for passports and to limited slots in its appointment system.

It has taken remedial measures like adding more appointment slots and fielding mobile processing centers.

But Zarate said the difficulties in the processing and release of passports could be related to the inability of the passport printer-supplier to produce enough passports.

“It is clear that the supplier, United Graphic Expression Corp., cannot deliver and fulfill its contractual obligations. It already has a backlog of more than one million passports,” he said.

He said the printer had committed to produce 3.4 million passports but that as of March 2017, it delivered only 1,946,703 to the DFA.

“The failure of the printer to comply with its commitment is the root cause of the perennial shortage of slots in the online scheduling system of DFA and the delay in the processing and release of passports,” he added.

Zarate pointed out that President Duterte’s first DFA secretary, Perfecto Yasay Jr., had discovered the problem shortly after his appointment.

He said Yasay recommended the cancellation of the subcontracting agreement between an agency under Presidential Communication Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar and United Graphic for being “illegal.”

He said it was PCOO’s APO Production Unit the DFA has contracted to print passports.

“The law does not allow subcontracting because it is disadvantageous to the government. The PCOO unit should not have accepted the contract and DFA should not have given it to them in the first place,” he said.

He added that aside from Yasay, presidential legal counsel Salvador Panel has recommended that the subcontract be rescinded.