12 October 2004 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo today said that the Department of Foreign Affairs frontline services would continue to render world-class service to the public.  Secretary Romulo gave the assurance after inspecting the premises of the consular area on 5 October 2004.

Showing that frontline public service is a major concern of the Department, Secretary Romulo visited the application processing areas, waiting areas, passport and authentication assembly lines and records section.   While expressing satisfaction over the orderly process, the Secretary urged the Consular office to identify, streamline or augment areas to insure better services for all.

Secretary Romulo said that the Consular office should continue to explore ways to improve services.  In particular, he was glad that the processing time for passports has been reduced by one to two days.   For regular processing, an applicant has to wait for five (5)  working days while for express processing an applicant has to wait for only two (2) working days.  Authentication of documents has also been reduced by at least a day.

The Secretary instructed the consular office to further reduce the processing time for passports and authentication of documents.

The Department delivers frontline services to the public primarily through its passport, authentication and other services.

The Department issues almost one and a half million passports to Filipinos annually.   Aside from the main office, passports are issued by the eighty-one (81) Embassies and consulates throughout the world and eleven (11) regional consular offices (RCOs) throughout the country.

The RCOs throughout the country have been instructed to conduct more mobile or outreach services to bring the Department closer to the people.   In 2003, mobile series were conducted in ninety-one provinces and cities by the consular offices resulting in the issuance of 37,262.

Secretary Romulo said that the Department should come even closer to the people through mobile services.    For the period January to September alone of the current year, the number of mobile services exceeded the number for the whole of 2003 with 33,973 passports issued.

For the remaining quarter of 2004, mobile services are scheduled to be conducted in twenty-five (25) provinces and cities throughout the country.

For the year 2005, the number of mobile services is programmed to increase by 20% compared to the current year to cover even remote towns and provinces.

Aside from issuing over 3,000 passports on a daily basis in its main consular office, the Department also authenticates over 1,000 documents, ranging from birth certificates, marriage certificates and other documents, daily.

The Department also ensures that births, marriages, deaths and other significant civil events involving Filipinos abroad are properly registered and communicated to the National Statistics Office – Office of the Civil Registrar General.

Considering that there are over eight (8) million Filipinos abroad, the Department has a considerable workload of ensuring that civil events involving them are registered.
 
Recent legislations, particularly the Philippine Citizen Reacquisition Act and the Clerical Error Law, mean additional functions to Philippine Embassies and Consulates as well as the Department.

“Consular services will remain a top priority of the Department.  The public will be served with competence and efficiency,” assured Secretary Romulo. - END