Need a passport? Go to the mall

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos can now more easily apply and renew their passports as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) opens new consular offices inside SM malls and other major shopping malls nationwide.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy signed on Monday a memorandum of agreement for the hosting of five consular offices inside SM malls in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

“It is with great satisfaction to partner with SM Prime Holdings through the combined public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement that we have entered with the private sector since the last quarter of 2011. This initiative now translates to almost P1.04-billion savings for the government over a period of 10 years,” Del Rosario said in a statement.

He said the PPP arrangement with SM will cover the transfer and hosting of existing consular offices in Davao, Baguio and Batangas and the opening of extension offices at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong and SM City in Manila, which will occupy a combined floor area of more than 3,400 square meters.

The DFA had earlier entered into similar arrangements with Pacific Mall Corp., Robinsons Land Corp. and Ayala Land Inc. to host consular offices in 11 other locations.

The partnership allows the DFA to facilitate the consular requirements of more than 10,000 people that daily visit the main passport facility along Macapagal Avenue.