THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is extending its Passport on Wheels (POW) program at SM Seaside City in Cebu City until March 30, 2020.
The announcement was posted on the official Facebook page of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (Opav).
POW is a program that fast-tracks the application for and renewal of passports. There are two mega vans that can each serve 800 to 1,000 applications a day.
It was earlier announced that the DFA’s POW program would end on Dec. 27, 2019. However, after realizing that there are still many applicants, the DFA extended its POW program again. The DFA, in coordination with the Opav, launched the POW program in the first quarter of 2019. It ended last April, but the DFA extended it until Dec. 27, heeding the request of Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino.
With the POW program, Cebuanos do not have to flock to the DFA Cebu office in Mandaue City. The DFA central office reported in its website that its POW program approved 70,473 applications nationwide in the first four months in 2018. (PAC / RSR)