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MANILA ? An umbrella organization of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) groups based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has asked President Benigno Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar Binay to "right a wrong" committed by the Arroyo administration by scrapping the increase in the electronic or e-passport processing fee.
The militant Migrante-Middle East (M-ME) said the Department of Foreign Affairs imposed the increase early in 2010.
John Leonard Monterona, M-ME regional coordinator, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, they "have repeatedly asked the DFA to look into the problem to no avail."
The M-ME and its affiliate groups in the Middle East and other parts of the world hosting OFWs have so far raised over 25,000 signatures in what Monterona called an "attempt to convince the Aquino administration to do something about our complaint regarding the passport processing fee increase."
From only P550, the DFA now charges P950, or $21 for the issuance of a Philippine passport.
However, the same passport costs $60 (about P2,712) when issued at Philippine embassies and consulates abroad.
It is "higher because of transport and logistics costs plus the higher rates for personnel services and utilities" in the foreign diplomatic missions, according to DFA Assistant Secretary J. Eduardo Malaya, also agency spokesman.
Malaya advised OFWs to avail of the lower passport fee by getting the travel document here. He said DFA statistics showed that more than 70 percent of applicants got their passports in Manila and other key cities where DFA consular offices operated.
In a statement, the DFA described the Philippine passport processing fee as "one of the lowest in Asia, if not the world."
The fee is "way below those of other Asian countries, including Thailand ($33), Brunei ($37), Singapore ($52), Malaysia ($97), Cambodia ($120), and Japan (P180)."
The Philippine passport also costs much less than its counterparts in the US ($110) and Canada ($86), according to Malaya.
Monterona, however, asserted "the Philippines is a Third World country so we expect the fee to be a lot lower here."
In an e-mail, he expressed hope President Aquino "would find time to attend to our concerns. If not, we don't mind dealing with Vice President Binay, who we understand will be named shortly by the President as head of the government task force on OFWs." /INQUIRER
