The Department of Foreign Affairs in Bacolod City has issued new guidelines from its national office for more effective delivery of consular services to the public at no additional cost, DFA-Bacolod officer-in-charge Joselito Blas said.

In a statement furnished the DAILY STAR yesterday, Blas said the DFA ensured that the mall-based operations of its regional consular and extension offices in Bacolod, Baguio, Angeles and San Fernando Pampanga, Lipa in Batangas, Dumaguete, Cebu, Davao and General Santos are covered under the public-private partnership.

He added that DFA is also bent on pursuing and concluding additional PPP arrangements to ensure that most of its remaining consular offices are transferred to the malls by December 31, 2013 and those additional extension offices are operational in shopping malls nationwide by December 31, 2014.

To cater to applicants who could not afford to take a leave from work or be absent from school, the agency may follow mall operating hours from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. or from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, and is also planning to open during mall hours on Saturday and at least three hours every Sunday.

Based on the new guidelines, DFA will develop and put in place an appointment system by December 31 that will allow the public to schedule appointments by phone, Blas said.

DFA will also shift the focus of its mall-based consular offices in the regions from mobile passport to special passport services to allow these offices to accommodate more applicants, especially on weekends, he added.

Meanwhile, DFA announced the extension in the deadline for the submission of applications or renewal of accreditation of travel agencies from June to July 31, 2012.

Once their applications are approved, travel agencies can offer passport assistance services to the public. The DFA will also require national travel agencies’ associations to certify that each agency applying for accreditation is legitimate, Blas said.

DFA is also requiring accredited travel agencies to submit, along with the passport, the application form of each applicant, a breakdown of the services rendered and the corresponding fees collected that should only amount to P1,200.

No travel agencies will be allowed by the DFA to make announcements, advertisements, billboards, leaflets, online postings and other marketing collaterals that may give applicants the impression that they could be processed earlier and faster if they avail themselves of an agency’s services.

Blas said that DFA will sustain public diplomacy campaign to more effectively reach out to the public and inform them that concrete measures have been undertaken to further improve the delivery of consular services.*APN

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