ANTIQUE – To spare Antiqueños from spending more money and time processing their passports, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officially opened its 39th consular office in Antique.
Prior, the only DFA consular offices in Western Visayas were in the cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
The DFA-Antique temporarily caters to clients for passport application and renewal on its interim office on the 3rd floor of Robinsons Place Mall in the capital town of San Jose de Buenavista.
According to Mark Joshua Ponce, acting director of the DFA Consular Offices Coordinating Division, the Antique office will eventually cater to around 300 clients once the furnishing of a more spacious permanent office on the 2nd floor has concluded.
Gov. Rhodora Cadiao and Sen. Loren Legarda have lobbied for the consular office since 2019.
“One of the 19 casualties in the bus accident last year was a new maritime graduate who went to Iloilo City to apply for his passport,” Cadiao said.
She added: “Pangarap namin na sana lahat sana ng national government agencies ay nandito na sa Antique. Panahon na para magtayo ng satellite office dito sa atin para ang mga Antiqueños hindi na pupunta ng Iloilo para kumuha ng passport, para kumuha ng exam sa PRC (Professional Regulation Commission), para kumuha ng tulong sa Pag-IBIG dahil ang road papunta doon ay sobrang treacherous.”
Twenty-five-year-old Joyce Karla Camaya is among the first walk-in passport applicants catered by DFA-Antique. She plans to go to Dubai where her husband is currently working.
“Very convenient kag advantageous nga nagka-consular office ang DFA didya sa Antique hay before ma-travel pa kita sa marayo nga lugar para mag-process kang kung ano man ang transaction naton sa DFA. Kadya mas dasig, mas dali kag mas rapit run,” said Camaya.
The DFA-Antique Office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. (PIO ARAGON/ The Antique Provincial Government)/PN
