DFA-7 moving to Mandaue City

CEBU, Philippines - Passport applicants in Central Visayas can look forward to a more improved services and more convenient place in the new regional consular office of the Department of Foreign Affairs at the Pacific Mall-Super Metro in Mandaue City.

Dr. Edward Gaisano, President of Pacific Mall Corporation, who persuaded the DFA to transfer its regional office at the new four-level shopping mall along United Nations Avenue, Estancia, Ibabao in Mandaue City, said that the place is more convenient to the public.

In a statement furnished to The FREEMAN, Gaisano said the P13.5 million passport processing facility, which is located at the top level of Pacific Mall, will be turned over to the DFA as scheduled on December 1 and is expected to serve the public starting on December 12, 2011.

Gaisano said the facility is covered under Private-Public Partnership arrangement that will allow the DFA to save as much as P40 million in operating costs over 10 years.

“Those who have seen the existing DFA passport office in Cebu will be in for a big surprise when they see the new consular office in Mandaue City.

What we will have in Pacific Mall is a modern facility that will serve as the flagship of all DFA offices in the Visayas,” he said.

Gaisano said the new facility will be similar to the DFA’s main passport processing center located at the Office of Consular Affairs Building along Macapagal Avenue in Parañaque City.

In addition to the improved setting, Gaisano said the public will find it more convenient to apply for their passports at Pacific Mall because of the various amenities it offers that include more than enough parking, clean restrooms, food outlets, a supermarket and various stores.

Gaisano said the Cebu project intended to replicate the experience of Pacific Mall Lucena which hosts the Regional Consular Office for Southern Tagalog.

He said Pacific Mall has also made offers to the DFA to host the Regional Consular Office in Legazpi City and another in Alabang.

During the signing ceremonies in Manila, Secretary Albert del Rosario said that the DFA’s partnership with Pacific Mall Corporation is intended to bring the Department closer to the people by providing them with passport and other consular services in a world-class setting.

“The new Regional Consular Office is going to be a far cry from our existing passport facility in Cebu City and is guaranteed to be something that Cebuanos will be proud of. When it opens its doors, the applying public can look forward not only to a world-class facility but also to a world-class service that we in the DFA constantly strive to deliver,” del Rosario said.

Del Rosario added that the arrangement with Pacific Mall is the first of several that DFA will be entering into with the private sector to ensure the effective delivery of consular services to the public.

The DFA chief further hope to conclude similar agreements in the coming weeks and months for the transfer of their consular offices to major shopping centers nationwide.  (FREEMAN)