Passport applicants disappointed over nonexistent appointment slots

There were no available online passport appointments on the passport application website of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), a check by INQUIRER.net showed.

The DFA had announced on Tuesday that appointments for July to September will be made available on Wednesday.

INQUIRER.net checked passport.gov.ph, the passport application portal of the DFA, shortly after midnight on May 2, but there were no available slots.

READ: Passport appointment slots for July to September available starting May 2

Many passport applicants who waited for the opening of the slots overnight were disappointed.

“Hindi rin! I just checked the website. No available date pa din in all DFA NCR. Nambobola lang ang DFA,” Zazet Ravela said in a Facebook comment.

Maria Mercedez called for the abolition of the passport appointment system. “Dapat tanggalin ang online yan, kanya kanyang pila na sa DFA, damihan lng nila ang window para mabilis,” she said.

As of 2:50 p.m. Wednesday, the application portal displays this error: “Sorry, an error occurred while processing your request.”

Earlier this year, the passport appointment system was heavily criticized for being inefficient. There were also reports of a syndicate selling passport appointments to applicants for the hefty price of P3,000.

The DFA however denied the existence of such syndicates and maintained that passport appointments were given free of charge.     /muf