MALOLOS, Bulacan—At least 880 Bulakenyos benefited from a mobile passport service conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) through the initiative of the provincial government of Bulacan headed by Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado and Vice Gov. Daniel Fernando, at the Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium in this city.
Beth Alonzo, head of the Provincial Youth CEDO in Bulacan, told the BusinessMirror it started at 8 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m. The objective of the project is to make the release of passports more quickly through the personal appearances of applicants.
She said a marriage contract if the applicant is married, birth certificate and two valid identification cards were presented to the DFA personnel for the application.
The application process includes registration; processing and validation; signing by DFA officer; payment for P1,200 for the passport and P150 for the courier fee per applicant; and encoding and picture taking.
Alonzo said the mobile passport service was open for the 21 municipalities and three cities of the province of Bulacan. The original number of slots was 500 to 700 only, but Bulakenyos who participated in the event reached 880.
The department head said at least five weeks will pass before the applicants will receive their passport through a courier. The applicants do not have to go to the DFA’s main office in Metro Manila. The validity of the passport is five years.