THE Department of Foreign Affairs has reset the schedule of those with passport-related appointments with the agency.
DFA regional consular office officer-in-charge Grace Clavecillas ordered Baguio applicants with scheduled biometrics appointments on July 15 to come on July 19, Monday, at the same time indicated in their appointment slips.
This, as the proclamation No. 2 by the Office of the President proclaimed July 15, Thursday, as a special non-working holiday in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
Clavecillas also said that due to the scheduled power interruption on July 16, Friday, the consular office will accommodate applicants for processing and appointment only. They cannot take biometric information from applicants.
"Those scheduled for biometric taking on the said date (July 16) will be accommodated on July 20, Tuesday, on the same time indicated in their appointment slips and non-appearance could mean forfeiture of their slots," Clavecillas said in her announcement.
She added applicants who are scheduled to claim their passports on July 15 and 16 will be accommodated on July 19.
With only a few personnel attending to hundreds lining-up in their office along Legarda Road, the undermanned Department of Foreign Affairs-Baguio Consular Office has been working double time to attend to those who would want to get their new electronic passports.
In an earlier interview, Clavecillas said machine readable passports are the thing of the past as we are now into electronic passports.
Clavecillas said the DFA is now imposing the worldwide standard-approved passport of the international aviation authority and slowly phasing out machine readable passports.
"E-passports contain a microchip which is easily scanned in major international airports particularly in Europe and the United States," Clavecillas said. (JM Agreda)