The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) opened more slots for passport applicants for November and December 2021 before noon on Friday.
However, its web site for individual passport appointments www.passport.gov.ph crashed minutes after DFA Undersecretary Brigido Dulay announced it on Twitter.
Dulay said more slots were opened in all their consular offices and malls or temporary off-site passport services (TOPS) starting November 19.
“We’ve opened appointment slots for November and December 2021 in all consular offices and TOPS. January and February 2022 still to be opened. Earliest available date this morning is November 19th,” Dulay wrote on his Twitter.
The BusinessMirror tried to access the passport application site and experienced intermittent access issues and occasional systems crash.
When reached to comment, DFA Assistant Secretary for Public and Cultural Diplomacy Eduardo Meñez said the Office of Consular Affairs is aware of the glitch besetting the online site for passport applicants.
“OCA [Office of Consular Affairs] is addressing the issue and asks for the public’s patience and understanding, and hopes to solve this soon,” Meñez said.
The DFA has been experiencing a deluge of passport requests, compounded by systems issues with their online passport site as well as human error on the part of passport applicants for the past months. Dulay earlier reported that they have about 30,000 backlog in passport application.
Last Tuesday, the DFA has also taken down its other web site that is used to track the passport delivery due to potential data breach.
The DFA, meanwhile, has appealed to the public to refrain from seeking the help or patronize online scammers.