CEBU CITY -- Mayor Tomas Osmeña has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to send its “Passport On Wheels” to this city and help decongest the surmounting volume of pending passport applications in the local DFA office.
The mayor on Monday said he sent a formal letter last week requesting the DFA to bring its “Passport On Wheels” to the Queen City of the South in response to the Cebuanos’ clamor for faster processing of their applications.
Osmeña said he is hopeful of getting a positive response from the DFA, whose program he believes would help declog the pending passport applications as well as online appointments in the agency.
According to the mayor, he sent his letter request to DFA Asst. Secretary Frank Cimafranca of the Office of Consular Affairs through Central Visayas Director Emmanuel Espineli last March 27.
Osmeña said it is disheartening to learn that Cebuanos have to go to either Tacloban City or Dumaguete City to get their passports because it takes about five to six months to get an appointment schedule in Cebu, prompting him to make the request.
Meanwhile, the mayor urged Cebu City Hall employees to remain focused on their jobs during the flag ceremony earlier on Monday.
“Your job is to serve the people. No more, no less. Every time you receive your paycheck, remember it doesn’t come from Mayor Osmeña. It comes from the people of Cebu, to whom you owe it to. If you are here, it is because you accepted your situation and you have an obligation to serve,” the mayor told the employees.
Osmeña also expressed his gratitude to Suarez Bros. Metal Arts Inc. for donating a new Philippine Flag to the city government.
He said the flag “stands for our nation and how we show it is a reflection of what we think of our country.” (PNA)
