Passport appointment slots still hard to come by due to ‘very high demand’ —DFA

Failed to book a passport appointment slot today? The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has an advice: Try again tomorrow.

In her report on 24 Oras on Thursday, GMA News' Maki Pulido said getting a passport appointment slot remains to be a problem among applicants despite the thousands of slots opened every day by the DFA.

Ricarte Abejuela III, acting director of the DFA's Passport Division, chalked this problem to a "very, very high" demand for appointment slots.

"Right now, it's a matter of supply versus demand, so to speak. Currently, the demand is very, very high and the supply, we're still trying to catch up with the demand," he said.

Some 40,000 people try to book slots every day, but the DFA could only open 12,000. 

"If you can't find it today, then we encourage you to try again tomorrow because we open slots on a daily basis," Abejuela said. "We open slots gradually, hindi isang buhos."

Applicants interviewed on the report said they were able to secure slots only after trying to book them at the wee hours of the morning. Some have to wait for months for their slots.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano has promised that passport application processing will be faster and smoother by June this year, given the upcoming developments in their facilities and equipment.

The DFA has introduced the Passport ePayment or electronic payment facility for the Online Appointment System, which allows passport applicants to pay in advance. —Margaret Claire Layug/KBK, GMA News