Philippine Embassy in US speeds up passport processing —envoy

The Philippine Embassy in the United States is “doubling up” its efforts to speed up the processing of passports amid the backlogs brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said Monday.

In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, Romualdez confirmed that there is difficulty in getting and renewing passports in the US as the number of Filipinos there who want to acquire dual citizenship has increased.

“Totoo ‘yan dahil talagang biglang dumami ‘yung gustong magpa-dual citizenship. Dahil nga sa COVID, hindi tayo nagpapapasok ng foreigners. Madaming mga Filipino, naging Amerikano na ay wala silang Philippine passport,” he said.

(That is true because the number of people who want dual citizenship has really increased. Due to COVID-19, we do not allow entry of foreigners. Many Filipinos have become Americans and do not have Philippine passports.)

“Pero ‘yung backlog na ‘yan, we’re doubling up, lalo na do’n sa areas na talagang maraming Filipino, sa LA (Los Angeles) at sa San Francisco,” he added, noting that it takes about two months to work on the backlogs in LA alone.

(But we’re doubling up efforts to process the backlog, especially in areas where there many Filipinos like in LA and San Francisco.)

Romualdez said they are expecting new machines to arrive soon, which would help speed up the passport applications.

“Hopefully nga by the middle of this year or towards the end of this year, magkakaron na tayo ng enough of these machines so it could be faster for us to process itong passports,” he explained.

(Hopefully by the middle or towards the end of this year, we will have enough of these machines so it could be faster for us to process the passports.)

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. has earlier ordered a stop to the allocation of passport appointment slots to recruitment agencies after several individuals and groups were reportedly selling appointment slots online.

Locsin said the order would not affect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as they would be allowed to walk in for passport processing starting March 14 even without appointments.

‘Deltacron’

Further, Romualdez said that there are no imposed restrictions yet for travelers coming to the United States to the Philippines, amid the detected ‘Deltacron’ —a combination of the highly contagious Delta and Omicron variants of the coronavirus.

“Of course, titignan natin ‘yan kung gaano ka-seryoso itong Deltacron. It can become again another wave. Hopefully sana, like they’re saying here, hindi naman kasing dami dahil ayun na nga, madami nang naka-vaccinate at tsaka booster shot,” he said.

(We will take a look at how serious this Deltacron is. It can cause another COVID-19 wave again. Hopefully, like they’re saying here, the infections are not as high as people have already been vaccinated and taken booster shots.)

Researchers found that at least 17 patients in the United States and Europe have been identified as infected with Deltacron.

The IHU Mediterranee Infection in Marseille, however, said it is too soon to know whether Deltacron infections will be very transmissible or cause severe disease.

Meanwhile, Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje on Friday said the Philippines is ready to face Deltacron when asked if the country's health system is prepared for a possible infection rate amid the warning of the World Health Organization.—Giselle Ombay/ LDF, GMA News