A massive demand for passport appointments has prompted the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to open five temporary offsite passport service (TOPS) sites in various locations in Metro Manila on June 5.
The new locations include SM Mall of Asia, SM City North Edsa, SM Aura, Robinson’s Place Las Piñas, and Robinson’s Place Magnolia.
The appointment slots for these five locations were already open to the public via online appointment system, that could be accessed at www.passport.gov.ph, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said, adding that each TOP takes 500 appointments daily from Monday to Saturday.
The entire sites operating fully meant a total of 177,500 additional passport appointment slots until the end of September, Dulay said.
This was besides the regular appointment slots available at the DFA’s Aseana office and in all consular offices nationwide.
He expressed hope that the TOPS would lead to a greater reduction in high demand for passport appointment slots, particularly in the NCR (National Capital Region) Plus area which witnessed the highest passport demand.
