THE Department of Foreign Affairs plans to provide cheaper passports and is now negotiating with a state-owned printing firm to lower their production cost by as much as P280, a source said Friday.
APO Production Unit is the agency that secured the contract from the department to print electronic passports last year.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. reportedly sought an informal review of the agreement with APO to ensure the “speedy processing” of passports. He then decided that Foreign Affairs will continue to work with the printing firm.
The deal that granted APO the authority to print the electronic passports through a new integrated system was signed on Oct. 5 last year by then Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and then Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.
APO is said to have been the only government printer that expressed willingness to print the e-passports. The other two are the National Printing Office and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
But Foreign Affairs said the Duterte administration’s plan to extend the validity of passports to 10 years would certainly stop the production of cheaper passports.
“It stands to reason that the cost will expectedly increase as more pages have to be added,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said in a text message.