The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) urged passport applicants to continue trying to book application dates despite difficulties in doing so due to high demand.
The DFA opened thousands of passport appointment slots for the months of July to September earlier this week.
Many applicants, however, were still unable to book appointment dates.
Ricarte Abejuela III, acting director of the DFA’s Passport Division attributed the problem to the high demand due to surge of applicants who wish to have their passports processed.
“Right now, it’s a matter of supply versus demand, so to speak. Currently, the demand is very, very high and the supply, we’re still trying to catch up with the demand,” Abejuela said.
An estimated 40,000 applicants tried to book one of the 12,000 passport appointment dates.
Abejuela advised applicants to try every day as the DFA opens slots on a daily basis.
“If you can’t find it today, then we encourage you to try again tomorrow because we open slots on a daily basis,” he stated..
“We open slots gradually, hindi isang buhos,” Abejuela added.
Earlier, foreign affairs secretary Alan Peter Cayetano promised better services from the DFA starting June as the department continues to improve its services and as it acquires new equipment.
The Passport ePayment or electronic payment facility for the Online Appointment System, which allows applicants to pay in advance, was introduced in April.
