If you have been trying to get a new passport or renewing your old one, you might have had a hellish kind of experience. In the past, it has been extremely hard to book an appointment for passport application/renewal. I even heard of friends trying to book their appointments in far-flung provinces but still to no avail.
However, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced some good news. They said that they will be opening 10,000 more passport appointment slots daily.
The 10,000 online slots will be open from Monday to Saturday, except holidays. These will be distributed as they open 5,000 passport appointment slots at 12 PM and another 5,000 slots at 9 PM.
Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato said it will be rolled out daily “indefinitely.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano said there are more people applying for passports than what DFA is capable of accommodating, but that will soon change.
“When I became secretary, we were doing 10,500 a day. We’re now doing 19,000 a day. In a few months, when we open our 6 new offices — We’ve already opened two this year in Ilocos and Isabela — we’ll be doing 30,000 a day,” he said via CNN Philippines.
On Thursday, the DFA opened 100,000 passport appointment slots, which ended up for their site to crash.
Need to apply for a passport appointment?
Do it here.
