DFA opens authentication center in Cebu


Filipinos in the Visayas no longer need to travel to Manila to have their documents authenticated after the Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday opened its first authentication center in Cebu.


“For too long, [Filipinos in the Visayas] have spent considerable time, money and effort to avail of a simple government service,” Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said at the center's inauguration ceremony at Pacific Mall Mandaue in Cebu.
The opening of Cebu’s authentication center comes on the heels of the country’s accession this year to the Apostille Convention, which shortens the authentication process for applicants and does away with the issuance of certificates with a "red ribbon" as proof of authentication.
An apostille is a certificate that authenticates the origin of a public document. It is issued by a country that is party to the Apostille Convention to be used in another country which is also a party to the Convention.
After authentication or apostillization by the DFA, there is no more need for authentication by the Foreign embassies or consulates except for countries that have not acceded to the Convention and countries that objected to the Philippine accession.
The apostille aims to streamline the whole authentication procedure of documents for use abroad, resulting in more convenience, less cost and processing time for the applicants.
“After the opening of our first authentication center in Mindanao at the Davao Consular Office last June, the launch of our first authentication center for the Visayas here in Cebu completes the nationwide roll-out of DFA’s authentication services,” Locsin said.
The consular office in Cebu will accept applications for authentication from Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Scheduling an appointment is not necessary.
The DFA’s Cebu office is the eighth consular office to offer authentication services.
Locsin said the department is eyeing more authentication centers across the Philippines in the coming months. — BM, GMA News

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