Travel agents call for permanent restoration of passporting services

CEBU, Philippines -  While the government has given allowance for travel agencies to provide passporting services to clients until June of this year, stakeholders are calling for the restoration of the old directive, as this could give mutual benefits to the public as well as the travel agency players.

National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (Naitas) chairman emeritus Robert Lim Joseph said that while the extension has given the travel agents extended breath, what the industry is needing is a permanent restoration that could give the players assurance for sustained business in the long term.

Through the office of the President Benigno Aquino III, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued a directive to extend the deadline of the circular minimizing the services of travel agents to offer passporting service to clients.

The extension allows each travel agency to process five passports every Saturday and retained the limit of five percent or 25 passports on week days here in Cebu.

According to Joseph, this is not enough, considering that all 68 accredited travel agencies are sharing this allocation here in Cebu.

The five passport every Saturday, he said though additional and provides relief, but its not enough and of no help at all, in terms of fast tracking the processing of approval in passport applications.

Joseph added that the problem in the passport issuance started with Undersecretary Rafael Sequis who said that they were just doing some adjustments in the system to ensure everyone would be served well and fairly.

Department of Tourism (DOT-7) regional director Rowena Montecillo said that this development is good news for the travel agents, in fact, she added that she is closely coordinating with the DFA-7 regional director Elias Balawag.

Although, this is a national issue, Montecillo believes that there is a resolution on this issue, if the government and private sector will continue to work hand in hand together and come up with win-win solutions on this matter.

Likewise, tourism consultant and former DOT-7 regional director Patria Aurora Roa said that this development is a sign that the government is willing to hear the private sectors’ side on this particular issue.

“We are happy about this development but we are seeking for the restoration. With this new development it only shows that we can still revert the memorandum to something that is workable for the agencies and will not kill their businesses,’ said Roa in an interview yesterday.

The extension was a sign that the issue could still be resolved and that there’s still hope to that the travel agencies’ passport allocations at the DFA would be restored. Roa added.

The government allegedly changed the deadline of the directive from December 2012 to June this year, based on the request submitted by the

According to Joseph, the  Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa)  which is an organization of top level executives in the legal and judiciary divisions as well as businessmen, thinks the memorandum of DFA to limit the number of passports that will be processed through the travel agencies contradicts the 1996 Passport Act which identifies the travel agencies and recruitment agencies as extended authorized agencies for passport processing.

“That is why they suddenly gave the extension and the additional allocation every Saturday. The recruitment agencies allocation were not affected. We think  they can still give us more like restoring the 10 to 12 percent daily allocation or 50 to 60 passports a day,” said Joseph.

In Cebu alone, the average demand for passport processing through travel agencies reaches up to 1,300 a day. Of these, only 500 passports are issued daily.

With the five percent cap, this means that travel agencies in Cebu, numbering about 62, will have to fight over only 25 passport applications which the DFA will process in a day.

Joseph reiterated that under Republic Act. Number 8239 or the Philippine Passport Act of 1996, the right of travel agencies to process passport applications is clearly provided.

Subsection B of the Section 6 also states that “In case of renewal the application may be filed by any licensed travel agency duly accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs:  Provided, that the agent shall be responsible for the authenticity or bona fide of the supporting documents being presented to meet the requirements for the application of passports.” (FREEMAN)