Ever wondered why it has been taking an unreasonably long time for your passport to be printed?
Ever wondered why it has been taking an unreasonably long time for your passport to be printed?
It’s because the task has been referred to a company which apparently “doesn’t have the expertise” to do so, said Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., who has vowed to pursue the matter and bring it to the attention of President Duterte for appropriate action.
“I will go through all lengths to make sure that this anomaly is corrected as soon as possible,” Yasay told a jam-packed auditorium at Canadian University Dubai during a recent town hall meeting with the Filipino community.
Waiting for about two months for the e-passport to be issued is “just unacceptable,” Yasay said; and this, he added stemmed from a move back in 2015 during the previous administration to transfer printing of the vital document from the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to a government owned and controlled corporation, APO Production Unit Inc., which in turn subcontracted the job to a private agency without public bidding in clear violation of the law.
“During the previous administration, the printing of our e-passports was transferred from the BSP to a government controlled agency known as APO that did not have the capability, the equipment or expertise to print this passport,” Yasay said.
The official said he had attempted to stop the anomaly by urging the BSP to take back the printing job of e-passports but BSP refused to do so, to his consternation, he said.
“I don’t know what were the political or compelling circumstances why BSP said this. Right now this private entity can do anything that it construe and say ‘We don’t have to talk to you at the DFA. We don’t have a contract with you,’” said Yasay.
“The worst part that I am experiencing right now is that I cannot just cancel contract. If I cancel this contract now, who will print the passport? But they planned it that way so that I will have this difficulty now and I will be forced to accept this situation,” he lamented.
Yasay said he has informed Duterte about his plans of action. “First and foremost, I would like that private entity to be liable to us. Once an agreement is signed to this effect, then I can sit down with them and deal with these specific problems that we are now facing and if it cannot be fixed at least I have a recourse against them,” he said
