JEDDAH, 11 February 2008 — The Philippine Embassy yesterday said it has resumed issuing passports.
In a press statement, the embassy said it has received of 600 new passport booklets from the Department of Foreign Affairs on Saturday and these would be issued on a first-come-first-served basis, especially those in dire need of renewing their old passports.
Ambassador Antonio Villamor repeated a call for those whose travel and passport renewal are not urgent to postpone their application until the supply of passports from Manila becomes more stable.
He also reminded the Filipino community that the embassy is just awaiting further instructions from the DFA on the implementation of the Machine Readable Passport (MRP) project in Philippine embassies and consulates.
Under this project, which started in Manila last September, the regular, green passport booklets will be replaced with electronically upgraded, maroon-covered passports.