Faster passport clearance for Philippines
The Philippine Travel Agencies Association and the Department of Foreign Affairs have signed a six-month deal for faster processing of passports sent through travel agencies.
The Philippine Inquirer said the DFA had asked the PTAA to help eliminate identity theft in the processing of passports by its 500 member-companies.
“Identity theft has happened before in travel agencies. We want them to take some form of responsibility on this. This partnership also has to address such irregularity,” DFA assistant secretary for consular affairs Domingo Lucenario Jr was quoted saying.
The DFA has centralised its database and expects all passports to be machine readable by April 2010, the report said.
PTAA president Jose Clemente III was quoted saying that association members expected the initial agreement to significantly reduce passport processing time for their members’ clients.
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