11:18 am Tuesday, January 31, 2017
By: Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho
A Philippine passport is both a travel document and a primary national identity document issued to citizens of the Philippines since there is no national identity card system in the Philippines. It is issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Philippine diplomatic missions abroad, with certain exceptions.
The new biometric Philippine passport costs 950 pesos (approximately $21) in the Philippines or $60 abroad. Overtime processing for new passports costs an additional 250 pesos. Persons who take advantage of overtime processing get their passports within ten working days, but it is only available in the Philippines. Passports previously could be amended for 100 pesos (approx. $2.50) in the Philippines or $20 abroad, although machine-readable passports are no longer amendable.
Lost or stolen passports may be replaced for 700 pesos (approx. $15) in the Philippines, $90 abroad.
The DFA also offers other channels for the public to apply for their passports. Aside from the traditional on-site application process, there is also a DFA Express Passport Delivery hotline (02)737–1000 where an individual can call, inquire, and have his passport picked-up, processed and delivered to his doorstep. The third option is an online application process at www.passport.com.ph which has a similar door-to-door delivery feature.
