DFA inaugurates new Mindanao office in Davao City

Filipinos based in Mindanao who need to transact with the Department of Foreign Affairs can now do so with the agency’s new headquarters at a mall in Davao City. On Friday, DFA Undersecretary Rafael Seguis formally inaugurated the DFA Mindanao’s new headquarters at SM Davao, the department said in a news release. “The new facility is a result of the Public-Private Partnership arrangement between the DFA and mall-developer, SM Prime Holdings. It had its soft opening last September 03 and became fully operational on September 10,” it said. Seguis said the opening of the new office reaffirmed the DFA’s “commitment to achieve world class service for the Filipino people.” With a floor area of 800 square meters, the state-of-the-art facility provides efficient passport and document authentication services to 300 applicants daily. It is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., for both processing and releasing of passports and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., for passport releasing. The Davao Regional Consular Office is headed by its Officer-in-Charge, Flora Belinda Bacosa. DFA Mindanao was established on March 15, 1994 as DFA South with the birth of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East Asia Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). It was later renamed DFA Mindanao on March 18, 1999 to reinforce the DFA’s focus on the development of Mindanao. Present at the inauguration were Rep. Karlo Nograles, lawyer Zulaika Lopez representing Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, and Vice Mayor Al David. Also there were Davao Oriental Governor Corazon Malanyaon and other officials and representatives of DFA Manila, the Davao City government, and regional offices of various government agencies, foreign consulates in Davao, and local business executives. — LBG, GMA News