The Department of Foreign Affairs has terminated its contract with QRS or Quick Reliable Service as the official service provider of passport delivery of the agency.
“QRS is terminated. Phase out should be in progress,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. Locsin posted on his Twitter account Thursday night.
Locsin made the decision following mounting complaints against delays and confusions in the delivery of passports to applicants who paid an extra amount to avail of the services in the comfort of their homes.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Eduardo Meñez said the department is now addressing the issue and will soon announce the service provider that will replace QRS.
“(The) Office of Consular Affairs is trying to arrange a new courier service, and address the issue of passports already in the pipeline.
There should be an announcement on this soon,” Meñez said.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, QRS has been engaged and took over the services provided by the LBC-DFA Multi-Purpose Cooperative as the official courier of passports.
This move raised serious concerns among the rank and file in the department considering the proven track record of LBC in the courier service sector.
Besides the delivery mess, the DFA is also facing mounting criticisms over the online scheduling system of passport applicants despite its recent effort to provide additional slots to accommodate hundreds of applicants across the country.
Locsin earlier ordered directed the Office of Consular Affairs, a division under the jurisdiction of DFA Undersecretary Brigido Dulay, to investigate the proliferation of social media sites, especially on Facebook, that are openly selling online schedules to as much as P3,800 per slot.