By Jigger J. Jerusalem
Correspondent .
CLOSE to a thousand residents from Misamis Oriental and this city have availed of the services by offered by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) central office through its “Passport on Wheels” (POW) program conducted at the Misamis Oriental Provincial Capitol grounds Aug. 27-29.
During the conduct of the POW, the DFA processed the application for new passports as well renewal of expired ones.
Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano said he made the request to Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano when he was then the Foreign Affairs Secretary to have the POW in the province sometime in 2018.
“We are just providing the people of Mismis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro an easier way to apply for a passport,” Emano said, adding that obtaining a passport at the DFA regional is a tedious process.
Among those who have availed of the POW services were local government officials and their constituents from the province’s cities, municipalities, and villages.
The usual passport application process would take days or weeks as the applicant is required to make an online appointment first before going to the DFA regional office physically.
With the POW, the need to secure an online appointment is no longer required as applicants will only bring their needed documents and processing fee.
A single transaction will take only minutes to finish once the applicant has complied with all the requirements.
The process starts with registering one’s name, filling out an application form, and then have the documents verified, before paying the fees and providing personal data and digital finger prints to the DFA’s POW staff.
Leonid Diaz, 20, a Pharmacy graduate and a first-time passport applicant, said it took her only 30 minutes to finish the application process.
Diaz said the DFA staff serving her were prompt and did not give her a hard time when she showed her Philippine Statistics Authority-authenticated birth certificate, school ID card, and a voter’s certification, the only documentary requirements she brought with her.
The DFA said the demand for passports has increased since 2016 due to overseas employment and affordable plane fares.
The POW was seen as one of the solutions to ease the passport application process, according to the DFA.
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