ILOILO City – The Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) consular office here urged the public not to transact with “fixers” or “appointment setters” for passport assistance.
Sheila Marie Tu, DFA-Iloilo Consular Office officer-in-charge, emphasized that the DFA has not authorized any individual or groups to engage in passport appointments services for a fee.
“Appointment slots are for free. Appointment slots are not for sale,” Tu told Panay News.
Appointment setters are those who are locking and hogging the appointment slots online.
Tu urged the victims of these “setters” to report to their office and provide a detailed report or proof of transactions so that the DFA central office can launch an investigation
Recently, DFA filed a complaint and sought an investigation on ticketing outlets such as Canferz Payment and Ticketing Center for allegedly selling passport appointment slots through Facebook and booked them under the account of Valesco-SMS Inc., a Philippine Overseas Employment Administration- (POEA) and DFA-accredited licensed recruitment agency (LRA).
In a statement released Friday last week, the DFA said that upon investigation, they discovered that the privilege extended to DFA-accredited (LRAs) was apparently abused as a means to illegally sell passport appointment slots to non-eligible applicants.
“The DFA revoked the accreditation and access of Valesco-SMS Inc. to the DFA OFW Portal and filed a police complaint, affixing the police blotter of one of its alleged victims,” it added.
The department stressed that the offered passport appointment slots to LRAs were intended only for first-time overseas Filipino worker (OFW) applicants in consideration of their special needs.
Meanwhile, Tu noted that securing online passport appointments can be booked directly through their official website passport.gov.ph. which is centralized and managed and handled by their central office.
In making online appointment, applicants are strongly advised to use their own email address and mobile number to ensure that they receive the correct information on their appointment schedule and receive the application packet to be presented during the appointment.
Earlier, Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry Treñas and Iloilo 2nd District congressman Michael Gorriceta wrote Foreign Affairs secretary Teddy Locsin regarding the concern of Ilonggos finding it difficult to secure appointment slots for passport application and renewal.
Gorriceta requested for additional slots, personnel and increase in quota of the DFA Iloilo Consular Office to accommodate the rising number of passport applicants in the 2nd District, as well as those from Iloilo City and the rest of Iloilo province.
“Furthermore, I respectfully request that priority lanes be installed for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, children and OFWs to speed up the renewal and application process at the Iloilo Consular Office,” said Gorriceta.
For his part, Treñas also requested for the speedy appointment and transaction process of individuals who wish to transact with the DFA, through the addition of more persons in-charge or those who process and cater to appointments or through any other engagements to resolve these pressing concerns.
COURTESY LANE ACCEPTS WALK-IN
According to Tu, as announced by DFA secretary Teodor Locsin, to cater more clients, DFA-Iloilo will start accepting walk-ins by March 16 for those who are eligible and qualified applicants. These include senior citizens, persons with disability, pregnant applicants, minors aged seven years and below, solo parents, overseas Filipino Workers, and exceptional and emergency cases.
Tu said qualified eligible applicants must just submit documentary proof such as proof of urgency of travel, proof of their OFW status for OFW, among others.
Tu noted that as early as March 14 they started having courtesy lane qualified applicants.
Meantime, applicants who are not eligible under courtesy lane can make an appointment online.
For regular processing of the passport, the payment is fixed at P950 and P1,200 for expedited processing./PN
