DFA to transfer consular office to new hi-tech building

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will transfer its consular and passport services office to a new state-of-the-art building along Macapagal Boulevard in Parañaque City. The new 7,000-square meter, four-storey facility, which is located near SM Mall of Asia, had its soft opening Monday.

DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo said the transfer is part of their continuing efforts to modernize their consular services, which started in 2007 with the launch of the ePassport. “With the move of the DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs (DFA-OCA) to this new building, we are approaching the end of that roadmap," he said. Romulo said both consular clients and personnel would be surprised with the improvement. “Instead of sweltering heat, our consular clients will be greeted with cool air at the moment they enter our doors. Instead of monobloc chairs, they will wait their turn sitting on ergonomically-designed stainless steel benches. Instead of long queues, they can shorten their wait by accessing our online appointment system. Instead of going from building to building, they only need to move from ground to second floor," he said. DFA consular personnel, Romulo added, would also enjoy the convenience of modern work stations, furniture and equipment. The building was acquired for a price of P530 million with the assistance of the Development Bank of the Philippines. The facility will be opened to the public once it is formally inaugurated in the next few weeks. For the time being and until further notice, the consular services requirements of the public will continue to be attended to at the DFA’s existing consular facilities along Roberts Street. The DFA processes and releases an average of 10,000 passports daily. More than a million machine-readable passports have been issued since it started implementing the computerized passports in July 2007. - KBK, GMANews.TV