A commotion broke out at the Manila City Hall after hundreds of applicants flocked to a passport-on-wheels project launced by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) last Thursday, January 18.
As part of DFA’s efforts to resolve the problems regarding passport applications, they have launched their mobile passport processing unit called “Passport-On-Wheels.”
However, the first Passport-On-Wheels in Manila did not go well after the applicants, many of which came from various provinces, surged to get accommodated, reported GMA.
DFA Assistant Secretary Frank Cimafranca said they did not expect such outcome that is why he rushed to the area to help solve the problem.
“Nung nakita ko, nagulat ako. Bakit ganito ‘to? Hindi naman ganito ‘yung mobile namin. It is not done this way,” Asec. Cimafranca said.
He also promised that everyone who went to Manila City Hall to get their passport will be accommodated.
“We will, as much as possible, we will try to accommodate everyone,” he added.
According to the report, Manila City Hall management held a pre-registration from January 5 to 10 for those who would want to have their passport processed.
After the six-day pre-registration, a total of 1,035 individuals were registered. However, they noted that there were also walk-in applicants who arrived on the day of the service.
The DFA is planning on having a fixed schedule for Passport-On-Wheels after the incident.
The recently launched Passport-On-Wheels is expected to process an additional 500 passports daily without the need to set an appointment.
