http://www.manilati mes.net/national /2007/aug/ 18/yehey/ top_stories/ 20070818top5. html
Machine-readable passports out
By Francis Earl A. Cueto , Reporter
THE Department of Foreign Affairs started issuing machine-readable
passports on Friday—in compliance with an international convention—but
only to those renewing them.
Most countries around the world are already using machine-readable
passports, in compliance with standards agreed to by contracting
states of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which
includes the Philippines.
The new, maroon-colored passport replaces the green passport, which
features scripted or handwritten entries that are vulnerable to
tampering and wear and tear. The new passports have security features
designed to make them harder to fake, such as lamination bearing
holograms and special printing that are visible only under a high-tech
decoding lens. The new passports also feature thicker binding fiber
for added security.
The green ones, which still have the handwritten entries, will still
be issued by the DFA to Filipinos applying for passports for the first
time until next month.
The new machine-readable, maroon passports will be issued to all
applicants—whether first-timers or those renewing—beginning September
17, 2007, said Domingo Lucenario, the foreign affairs assistant
secretary for consular affairs.
"We are still in the transition period," he said.
The green passports will continue to be honored around the world until
they expire, Lucenario added.
The DFA's extension offices will begin issuing the new passports
later. The DFA office in Lucena City, Quezon, will pilot test the
issuance of new passports on August 22 and 29. No date has been set on
when the other DFA extension offices will start issuing the maroon ones.
Lucenario said the DFA hopes to have the new passports available in
all its 87 diplomatic posts and regional consular offices across the
country by June or the third quarter of 2008.
Even with this development, the Philippine cannot fully comply with
the ICAO standards for computerized passports until probably next year.
In the new passports, the photographs of the passport holder is still
attached and laminated into the page. In passports used by other
countries, the photo is digitally printed on the page, along with all
the information.
The Philippines can fully comply with international convention only
after the Pasig Regional Trial Court decides on the case filed the DFA
against the supplier of the machine making the new passports. DFA
officials said they hope to have closure on that case by year-end.
The ICAO conventions require that all member states have fully
compliant machine-readable passports by April 1, 2010.
Assistant Secretary Lucenario said the new passport will still cost
P500 and processing time is two weeks. Express processing will take
only five days, at a cost of P750 for every passport. In other words,
there is no substantial change in price and processing time for passports.
In the new system, passport applicants have to apply in person for
fingerprinting and picture taking. The DFA will charge a fee for the
photos taken but the DFA did not say how much. The fingerprints will
be stored at the DFA's computerized biometric database.
Lucenario said, "Because of security features of the new passport, it
will drastically reduce the number of [passport] fixers."
She added that the DFA is planning for a surge in demand for the new
passports. And the department is ready.
Under the new system, the DFA can issue 7,500 passports a day and
about 50,000 a week at all its offices across the country, as well as
at the Philippine embassies and consulates abroad. In the present
system, which involves manual processes, the DFA can only process only
2,000 daily.