23 March 2010 - Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo led the formal inauguration of the new Department of Foreign Affairs-Office of Consular Affairs building on March 22.
At the said occasion, Secretary Romulo lauded the valuable assistance of other government agencies in significantly improving the consular services provided by the DFA.
"We have modernized our consular services through the assistance of key government agencies, who helped us in this effort," he said, citing the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
"The BSP has been our partner for almost 25 years. They were there in 2004, when we prepared to shift to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)-compliant machine readable passport (MRP), and to the MRP implementation in 2007. When the DFA decided to take it a notch higher and shift to the ePassport in 2008, they were also there to assist us, until we finally implemented the issuance of ePassport last year," Secretary Romulo explained.
"When we wanted to have this new building, the DBP through the efforts of its Chairperson Patricia Sto. Tomas and President Reynaldo David, provided us with the lease purchase agreement to get this building. Also, the DPWH assisted us greatly in the construction of the building," Secretary Romulo added.
Because of these, he said, the DFA is ready to better serve Filipinos.
"They do not need to come to Manila to get a passport or avail of consular services. Instead, they could just go to any of our regional consular offices throughout the country and foreign embassies and consulates around the world to avail of the same efficient and comfortable services. We are even bringing our services closer to the Filipino people, as we have mobile passport services going to the barangays and municipalies," Secretary Romulo said.
"We are working hard to put everything in place and fulfill our target of shortening the application process to 30 minutes," he added.
Also present during the event are Senator Aquilino Pimentel, Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito Roque, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration chief Carmelita Dimson, members of the BSP-Monetary Board, members of the diplomatic and consular corps, DFA officials and other guests.
During the event, presidential awards were given to five individuals.
DBP Chairperson Sto. Tomas was bestowed the Order of Lakandula, with Rank of Bayani, while Presidential Medals of Merit were given to DPWH Undersecretary Manuel Bonoan, Office of the President (OP) Undersecretary Pilita Venturanza, OP Assistant Secretary Lynn Danao-Moreno and DFA-OCA Assistant Secretary Renato Villapando.
The new facility is located at the corner of Bradco and Macapagal Avenues in Aseana Business Park, Paranaque City, a few minutes away from the Mall of Asia.
The acquisition of the P530-million, 7,000-square meter and four-storey building was realized with the assistance of the DBP.
The new facility will be the home of the ePassport, the electronic authentication system, the electronic visa system, and digitalized consular records system.
Meanwhile, the DFA reminds passport applicants to avail of the appointment system to ensure quick and comfortable service. Applicants can check the passport requirements and secure an appointment by logging in at www.passport.com.ph or calling hotline (02) 737-1000. They may also call the DFA helplines at telephone numbers (02) 831-8971, (02) 551-4437, (02) 551-4402, (02) 834-4855 and (02) 834-4424.
Applicants are no longer required to bring photographs since they will have their pictures taken using ePassport data-capturing machines.
Only those with confirmed appointments will be accommodated at the new facility at this time. END