Passport applicants to expect easier online appointments starting September

The APO Production Unit Inc., has reportedly foiled fixers that pull off scams regarding the application of passports — resulting to about two to three months of scheduling online appointments.
philippines-passport

Inquirer.net reports that APO Production, a government-owned printing facility, believe that these scammers are backed by syndicates and earn as much as Php2.5 million by intentionally blocking out passport application slots. Rates start at Php5,000 and could increase in value depending on the chosen date and time slot of the applicants.

Dominic Tajon, Sales Manager for APO Production, mentions that IT experts have uncovered this illegal operation while installing a new security feature in the DFA’s online passport application last June.

To avoid this form of corruption, APO has already signed a memorandum of agreement with the DFA which allows them to handle the passport processing.

“The days of fixers are numbered because the Department of Foreign Affairs has allowed APO Production to handle the end-to-end passport processing in the next two months,” said Tajon in an interview with the diplomatic press corps on Thursday.

Tajon added that the public can expect ease in getting online appointment by September, when applicants under the old system would have been accommodated.

More details on Inquirer’s report at the source link below.

{Source}

The post Passport applicants to expect easier online appointments starting September appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.

Passport applicants to expect easier online appointments starting September

The APO Production Unit Inc., has reportedly foiled fixers that pull off scams regarding the application of passports — resulting to about two to three months of scheduling online appointments.
philippines-passport

Inquirer.net reports that APO Production, a government-owned printing facility, believe that these scammers are backed by syndicates and earn as much as Php2.5 million by intentionally blocking out passport application slots. Rates start at Php5,000 and could increase in value depending on the chosen date and time slot of the applicants.

Dominic Tajon, Sales Manager for APO Production, mentions that IT experts have uncovered this illegal operation while installing a new security feature in the DFA’s online passport application last June.

To avoid this form of corruption, APO has already signed a memorandum of agreement with the DFA which allows them to handle the passport processing.

“The days of fixers are numbered because the Department of Foreign Affairs has allowed APO Production to handle the end-to-end passport processing in the next two months,” said Tajon in an interview with the diplomatic press corps on Thursday.

Tajon added that the public can expect ease in getting online appointment by September, when applicants under the old system would have been accommodated.

More details on Inquirer’s report at the source link below.

{Source}

The post Passport applicants to expect easier online appointments starting September appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.

Filipino Nurse Jailed in Singapore for Derogatory Facebook Post

Ello Ed Munsell Bello, a Filipino nurse who previously worked at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, was sentenced to a total of four months in prison for a derogatory post on his Facebook account.

Bello was arrested earlier in April for the Facebook post above dated in January. The arrest was followed by an investigation in which Bello denied being guilty of the accusation and stated that his Facebook account was hacked and he was not the one who posted the insults on social media.

Later on, however, he admitted to the crime and was sentenced to 3 months in prison for one count of sedition under Singapore’s Sedition Act and two charges of providing false information to the investigators in three different occasions.

In a statement, State Courts Judge Siva Shanmugam said that “the accused’s provocative conduct, if left unchecked, could possibly result in discrimination against the innocent and law-abiding minority Filipino residents in Singapore.”

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose agrees with the courts’ decision stating that “Bello’s penalty was appropriate for the gravity of charges.”

[Source]

The post Filipino Nurse Jailed in Singapore for Derogatory Facebook Post appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.

Standing by up in the air

Thanks to Philippine Flight Network for this photo.

Thanks to Philippine Flight Network for this photo.

As our flight from Iloilo (Philippine Airlines 934) was starting its descent to the Ninoy Aquino International Airprt, the pilot announced that we were number 12 in the queue for landing and that our arrival would be delayed by 30 minutes. Reason: traffic congestion.

This kind of delay due to traffic congestion at NAIA has become a standard happening. It has become a practice.
Two weeks ago when we went to Palawan, our departure was delayed for about 30 minutes.

We were already seated, our seatbelts fastened yet we were not taking until after half-an-hour later. Same reason: traffic congestion.

Puerto Princesa Airport , not world class .

Puerto Princesa Airport , not world class .

We encountered the same problem in our return flight from Puerto Princesa to Manila. Our flight was delayed for an hour. The same reason was given: traffic congestion at NAIA.

To say that the delay due to airport traffic congestion is annoying is an understatement because it tells a lot of the many things wrong the way the government handles a most basic infrastructure in a globalized world: airports.

Our airports, especially NAIA, has been left behind by developments in the travel industry. Puerto Princesa airport is another case of a facility not being able to keep pace with the tourism boom in the province.

Budget flights have allowed many Filipinos to travel within and outside the country, discovering new places and widening their horizons.

Our airports is one aspect that we can say “It’s not more fun in the Philippines.”

* * *

Thanks to Philippine Star for this photo.

Thanks to Philippine Star for this photo.

Here’s one good news:

The Department of Foreign Affairs announced that after maintenance service of their electronic passport system, they have resumed normal processing starting April 15. 2014.

Here’s the processing period that they released:

At the DFA-Aseana (Office of Consular Affairs) at Aseana Center, Bradco corner Macapagal Ave, Parañaque City, 15 working days for regular processing and seven working days for express processing.

It’s the same with passport application in DFA’s satellite offices in Metro Manila:at SM Megamall, SM Manila, Metro Mall Alabang, Robinsons Galleria and Ali Mall.

That note that it’s “working” days. That means Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays are not counted.

For passport applications in Regional Consular Offices like Cebu , it’s 20 working days for regular processing and 10 working days for express processing.

For applications filed with Foreign Service Posts (Philippine Embassies and Consulates General), processing is three to four weeks.

The DFA said for “those with urgent travel needs due to emergency reasons (medical emergencies, death in the family, work) they could still avail of early release of their passports as long as they present documentary proof (valid employment contract processed by Philippine Overseas Employment Administration or Philippine Overseas Labor Office, medical certificate, death certificate) of their emergency situation in order for DFA personnel to effectively assist them and address their concerns.”

For fees and other inquiries, call up 567-1111; 834-4000; 834-3000.

Agonizing moments at the DFA over Sabah

Malaysia arrests Filipinos Photo By BAZUKI MUHAMMAD REUTERS Wed, Mar 6, 2013 From Yahoo.

Malaysia arrests Filipinos Photo By BAZUKI MUHAMMAD REUTERS Wed, Mar 6, 2013 From Yahoo.

When some 30 concerned citizens met before the Holy Week to discuss the appeal to the United Nations for help for Filipinos in Sabah who are being maltreated by Malaysian authorities, they decided they would do it as private citizens and not waste their time getting the support of the Philippine government.

Of course, the petition would have carried more weight if it were the government seeking international intervention for its people, which should be the case because the government exists for its people.

In fact, it is in the Constitution’s Declaration of Principles and State Policies that (Art. II, Sec. 4) The prime duty of the Government is to serve and protect the people.”

But how can they involve the government when President Aquino has shown deep hostility towards Jamalul Kiram III and his followers, whom he blames for igniting the clashes in Sabah which are now displacing thousands of Filipinos. Reports have placed the dead to 60.

The people who were in that meeting discussed with extreme puzzlement and deep pain Aquino’s cavalier attitude towards the “loss” of the letters of Kiram III, who claims to be the current Sultan of Sulu, requesting for a meeting with him and his combative warning of “Surrender now without conditions” to Kiram’s followers.

They took note that while Malacañang was quick to respond to UN statements on international issues including the threat of North Korea, it ignored the March 6 call of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging all parties involved in the Sabah crisis to stop the violence and start dialogue for a peaceful resolution.

Kiram III ordered his forces in Lahad Datu to enforce a unilateral ceasefire. Malaysia rejected the call. Malacañang’s response? Deadma.

Many are wondering where is the Department of Foreign Affairs in this mess that involves relations with a fellow member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations?

DFAThese are trying times for people in the DFA.

Four days after Ban Ki-moon’s call, the DFA issued a statement expressing “grave concern ….on the alleged rounding up of community members of Suluk/Tausug descent in Lahad Datu and other areas in Sabah and the alleged violations of human rights reported in the media by some Filipinos who arrived in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi from Sabah.”

That was a Sunday. We learned from a reliable source that a few hours after DFA issued that statement, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda called up Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and told him about the President’s displeasure over his statement on the reported violations by Malaysian authorities of the human rights of Filipinos.

Del Rosario told Lacierda that if the President no longer has confidence on him, he is willing to resign. We don’t know if Lacierda relayed Del Rosario’s reply to the President.

Four days after, when asked about the lack of action by the Philippines against Malaysia, DFA Spokesman Raul Hernandez said the burden of proof on the reported human rights violations by Malaysian authorities against Filipinos should be on media who reported it.

Hah???

Hernandez is a competent foreign service officer and we sympathize with him that he is forced to mouth those senseless lines.

We’d like to remind those who told him to say that, that media’s role is to report as accurately as we can what needs to be reported. It is not our job to gather evidence that would be used in court. That’s the job of the government and it has the resources and the manpower to do that, if it wants to.

We sympathize with the DFA officers who had to suffer the mocking attitude of the Malaysian ambassador every time they delivered a note verbale regarding access to Filipinos in Sabah. We doubt if Del Rosario ever submitted to Malacañang the recommendation given to him by his officers that they can take Malaysia to the UN for the maltreatment of Filipinos in Sabah. They said the reported bombing in Lahad Datu was a “disproportionate use of force” which is against international humanitarian law.

The recommendation included a warning on the effect of that move to the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that is being brokered by Malaysia.

The result of that pre-Holy Week meeting by concerned citizens was the filing today with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay and UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, both based in Geneva, Switzerland separate appeals for them to “urgently intervene so that Malaysia will respect the human rights of the Filipinos in Sabah, recognized under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

The signatories include civil society groups led by the Concerned Citizens Movement, CenterLaw, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, and Anakbayan.

Among the individual signatories are human rights lawyer Harry Roque, activist nun Sr. Mary John Mananzan, whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, journalist Vergel Santos, and political strategist Pastor Saycon, who serves as adviser to Jamalul Kiram III, one of the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu.