LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Some one thousand five hundred residents from the province’s municipalities will benefit from the conduct of the mobile passport services of the foreign affairs department in three strategic towns that will contribute in efforts to expand the number of people that have their own passports.
Benguet caretaker congressman and Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Eric Yap personally coordinated the conduct of the mobile passport services through his mobile ‘tulong’ program to bring to the grassroots level the services so that people will no longer suffer the consequences of having to spend their time making online appointments just for them to have their own passports.
The foreign affairs department’s passport services will start in Mankayan on December 14, followed by a similar event in Kapangan on December 15 and winding up in the capital town on December 17, 2021.
The Office of Congressman Yap and the consular office of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) based at the SM City Baguio already coordinated with the different local governments to fill up the 500 slots that will be made available in each sites to facilitate the speedy processing of the passports that will be issued to the residents wanting to avail of the said services.
The lawmaker pointed out that bringing the various government services closer to the people will definitely help in easing the burden of the people in having to travel for several hours and line up in the different offices just to be able to avail of their desired services.
According to him, his mobile ‘tulong’ program will continue to get in touch with people on the ground to know and understand their needs so that appropriate coordination will be done with concerned government agencies and the local governments for the identification of the interventions that will be provided to effectively and efficiently address the said concerns of those who are on the remote villages.
Aside from the implementation of major infrastructure projects that will ensure the connectivity of rural communities to the urban centers, Congressman Yap underscored the importance of the availability of basic services in the countryside through the network of concerned government agencies so that people will not feel that they are being left behind in terms of being provided such services and for the government to be able to sustain the gains that allow people to trust the government.
He stated that there will be no stopping the government from continuously providing and improving the delivery of basic services to the grassroots level so that people will be able to feel that government is also prioritizing their needs amidst the ongoing problems affecting the efficient and effective delivery of services to the people on the ground aggravated by the prevailing health crisis. By HENT
