DFA relaxes passport replacement requirements for applicants in Yolanda-hit areas

Tags: Department of Foreign Affairs , typhoon yolanda
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has waived mandatory requirements for individuals in areas affected by Typhoon Yolanda when applying for a passport replacement.

Those who were directly affected by the calamity need not present an affidavit of mutilation or loss of valid passport when applying for a replacement, Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said Wednesday.

Applicants are also not required to pay the penalty for the loss of a valid passport, Hernandez said, adding they only need to submit a simple written statement on the loss or mutilation of their passports and if possible, a barangay certification stating that they are victims of the typhoon.

“DFA offices nationwide have been instructed to implement these measures until January 31, 2014. Applications for replacement passports filed after that date shall be subject to normal procedures and requirement,” Hernandez said.

Operation of the DFA’s regional office in Tacloban has been suspended indefinitely following the devastation caused by Yolanda, a super typhoon by description that left over 4,000 people dead based on latest government data.

Unclaimed passports from Tacloban would be kept in the DFA’s main consular office in Manila, Hernandez said.

“Affected applicants who wish to claim their passports may do so at the Office of Consular Affairs at Macapagal Avenue [in Pasay City]. They may also get it from our other offices upon request,” he said.

Hernandez also reminded Tacloban passport applicants that some will be experiencing a delay in the releasing of their passports because a number of travel documents sustained water damage. — KBK, GMA News

Tags: Department of Foreign Affairs , typhoon yolanda

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more