Isa ako sa mga nakaranas ng ganitong pangyayari. Mabuti na lang at naisulat din ito sa GMA News.
Ang aking trabaho ay madalas magbiyahe sa ibang bansa para sa iba't ibang proyekto na may kinalaman sa IT. Kadalasan ang Immigration sa Europe ay pinapatanggal ang plastic cover o kahit anong cover ng passport kaya tuluyan ko ng tinanggal.
Sa kagagamit ng aking passport ito ay napilas o natanggal sa mismong cover nito. Ito ay dahil sa mahinang quality o kalidad ng papel na pinagdidikitan dito.
Pumila ako sa POEA bago mag alas 7:00 ng umaga para mairenew ang aking passport. Ang kanilang opisina ay 8:00AM nagbubukas kaya naghintay pa ako ng 1 oras at yung oras ng paghihintay... kasi marami ding nakapila bago ako. Dala ko na mga requirements para magrenew.. Nung ako na ang nasa counter.. "Sir di po pwedeng magrenew ng e-Passport dito.. dun po kayo sa DFA sa Diosdado Macapagal Avenue.." ngeeek!! Para naman akong binuhusan ng mainit na tubig! eh antagal ko kayang nakapila ang naghihintay doon.. ganun talaga ang buhay.."That's life.."
Nagschedule ako ulit para sa e-Passport renewal sa DFA.. 18 May 2012..sabi sa akin ng taga POEA ay pwede na akong dumiretso sa courtesy lane... ayos pala at least di na ako pipila ng mahaba. Bawal pala ang bottled drinks sa loob.. pasok ako sa loob tapos pinapila ako sa 2nd floor - yun ang pila para sa Senior Citizen at Govt employees.. sabi sa akin ng nasa counter.. "Sir balik po kayo doon sa Step 1.." "Ano! eh nakapila na nga ako dito eh.." sa isip ko lang yun.
Balik sa Step 1 sa 1st floor... "Mutilated po ang passport nyo.. apply kayo ng Affidavit of Mutilation.. labas kayo at kaliwa sa bandang dulo.." Pumila ulit ako sa kuhanan ng affidavit.. Affidavit of Mutilation = P300.. sige na nga.. kailangan naman yun eh..
Sunod pinapunta ako sa DFA office kung saan dun pumipila ang may mga reklamo sa passport. Pumila ako doon simula 8AM.. dahil sa walang sistema kung sino ang nauna o number system.. 10:30 na ay di pa natatawag ang pangalan ko. Tinanong ko yung guard kung nakapila na ba yung pangalan ko.. sabi sa akin maghintay lang daw.. Nagpaalam muna ako na pupunta ako ng banyo.. sasabog na kasi ang pantog ko sa kahihintay eh.. umihi ako ng 5 minutes.. 11:30 na ay wala pa rin.. Ano ba naman yan.. di pa rin natatawag ang pangalan ko. Tinanong ko ulit yung guard.. "Ay natawag na pangalan mo.." - "Pambihira naman.." parang gusto kong patayin sa tingin ang guardiya. "Eh bakit di nyo sinabi sa akin, antagal kong naghihintay dito ah!" siyempre sa isip ko lang yun.
Ayun pina-upo na ako sa isang DFA officer.. "Good morning Mam.." sabay upo... "Mutilated po ang passport nyo.. siguro nabasa ho ang passport nyo.. ayan o may marka pa.." "Ay Mam mahina lang talaga yung quality ng papel o pagkakagawa.. iniingatan ko nga yan eh.. di yan nabasa.." Antindi naman nito, inaakusahan pa ako ng bagay na di ko ginawa.. "Sir parang mag-aapply ulit kayo ng panibago.. at isa sa requirements namin ay original Birth Certificate.." "Haaano!! eh wala akong dala ngayon eh.." "Kung gusto nyo may NSO dyan sa malapit.." Ang di ko maunawaan bakit kailangan pa ng NSO Birth Certificate eh may dati naman akong passport na dala.. nasira nga lang dahil sa low quality ang material nya.
Bumalik ako sa opisina namin.. naghanap ng NSO Birth Certificate... at bumalik ulit sa DFA.. pambihirang buhay ito o! Di na ako pumila, dumiretso na ako dun sa DFA officer kanina. Pasalamat naman ako at inasikaso nya ako ng maayos. "Sir.. wag nyong sisirain yung passport nyo.. criminal offense po yan.." "Ayos to ah, ako na nga yung naagrabyado dahil sa madaling mapunit na passport dahil low quality ang pagkakagawa, tapos ako pa yung may criminal offense..." - warning lang naman yun sabi ng DFA officer.
Ayun, nagbayad ulit ako ng P1,200 para sa rush delivery na 1 week (sa totoo lang.. di ito 1 week kundi 2 weeks). Pumila sa pagbayad, pagkuha ng picture at personal details, at pagbayad ulit sa delivery.
Damages:
Affidavit of Mutilation - P 300
Passport Fee - P1,200
Delivery Service - P 120
Total P1,620
Nagastusan ka na... pinahirapan ka pa!
It's more fun in the Philippines!
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Some PHL e-passports defective –DFA
Some electronic passports (e-passports) issued by the Office of the
Consular Affairs were defective and could easily tear, the Department of
Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.
“[DFA] is well aware of this issue,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said, quickly adding that these are “isolated cases.”
“The DFA and BSP wish to assure that these are random/isolated cases," Hernandez said.
Bangko Sentral and contractor Oberthur Philippines are producing the e-passports.
“To rectify the situation, the BSP production unit has been applying spine reinforcement tape which secures the stitching of the e-covers to the inside pages of the e-passport, thus making it difficult to detach unless there are attempts to deliberately remove the same," Hernandez noted.
Filipinos travelers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport noted that e-passports were of poor quality and easily disintegrated when pulled out of a plastic jacket.
“The DFA office of Consular Affairs is advising the public that if one's passport gets detached, please proceed immediately to its office for replacement," the DFA spokesman said.
He did not elaborate whether passport replacement is free of charge, or if holders would have to pay the P1,200 fee.
Tampered identities
Airport supervisor Augustus Caesar Morales discouraged travelers from using a clear plastic as a protective cover for e-passports.
“Over time, the passport cover sticks to the plastic jacket, and when an immigration agent tries to remove it so that the document could be inserted in the machine to have the data read, the passport cover plastic sticks together, while the binding of pages become loose,” he said.
The P900 million e-passport project was launched in August 2009 by DFA and BSP.
Aside from defective e-passport, non-government organization Visayan Forum urged the DFA to investigate how syndicates tamper with e-passports.
The issuance of e-passports does not guarantee that trafficking syndicates can no longer tamper with the identities of the minors and women usually being trafficked for sex exploitation and forced labor, the group said.
“It is really the pictures of these minors that appear in their passports, but the personal information are usually tampered. The DFA should investigate on this,” Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, VF executive director said. —Rouchelle Dinglasan/VS, GMA News
“[DFA] is well aware of this issue,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said, quickly adding that these are “isolated cases.”
“The DFA and BSP wish to assure that these are random/isolated cases," Hernandez said.
Bangko Sentral and contractor Oberthur Philippines are producing the e-passports.
“To rectify the situation, the BSP production unit has been applying spine reinforcement tape which secures the stitching of the e-covers to the inside pages of the e-passport, thus making it difficult to detach unless there are attempts to deliberately remove the same," Hernandez noted.
Filipinos travelers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport noted that e-passports were of poor quality and easily disintegrated when pulled out of a plastic jacket.
“The DFA office of Consular Affairs is advising the public that if one's passport gets detached, please proceed immediately to its office for replacement," the DFA spokesman said.
He did not elaborate whether passport replacement is free of charge, or if holders would have to pay the P1,200 fee.
Tampered identities
Airport supervisor Augustus Caesar Morales discouraged travelers from using a clear plastic as a protective cover for e-passports.
“Over time, the passport cover sticks to the plastic jacket, and when an immigration agent tries to remove it so that the document could be inserted in the machine to have the data read, the passport cover plastic sticks together, while the binding of pages become loose,” he said.
The P900 million e-passport project was launched in August 2009 by DFA and BSP.
Aside from defective e-passport, non-government organization Visayan Forum urged the DFA to investigate how syndicates tamper with e-passports.
The issuance of e-passports does not guarantee that trafficking syndicates can no longer tamper with the identities of the minors and women usually being trafficked for sex exploitation and forced labor, the group said.
“It is really the pictures of these minors that appear in their passports, but the personal information are usually tampered. The DFA should investigate on this,” Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, VF executive director said. —Rouchelle Dinglasan/VS, GMA News
Hi Blogger,
ReplyDeleteThanks for a substantial information. May I ask if there is a form for affidavit of mutilation and where ca I dowload it. Thank a lot!
Hello Mam,
DeleteUnfortunately the affidavit of mutilation is not available online (that will be hassle free if available online or can be downloaded). You will have to go personally in first floor of the DFA office on the right side to fill out the form.
Your welcome.