Cayetano proposes alternative solution to travel agencies

“We can work it out with them,” Cayetano said (Photo: Alan Peter Cayetano/Facebook)

MANILA — Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said his department would meet with accredited travel agencies this week to propose an alternative solution to the removal of at least 1,200 passport appointment slots allotted to them.

Cayetano told reporters Friday that they plan to put the passport on wheels in every travel fair these accredited agencies would conduct, granted they communicate with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) before the event.

“We can work it out with them,” Cayetano said.

However, M.I.C.E. expert and Afro Asian World Events president Angel Bognot said she had apprehensions about the proposal.

“They are opening the slots pero ang gusto nilang mangyari, kami ang may venue (but what they want to happen is that we provide the venue). But that’s foul. That’s the role of the government — to provide venue. Kung may government offices, kailangan dun gagawin (It should be held in government offices),” Bognot told reporters in an interview.

The Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) has also appealed to Cayetano to reverse the DFA’s decision to remove slots allotted to them.

PTAA president, Marlene Dado Jante, said since last year, the agency had not indicated whether the removal is final.

Cayetano said restoring their privilege at present could not be done.

“By law, nakalagay kung sino ang ipa-prioritize namin. Yung persons with disability, yung pregnant, yung mga babae na may kasamangbelow seven years old, may mga anak na below 10 years old, single parents, senior citizens at OFW (The law identifies those to be given priority – PWDs, pregnant women, women with children who are less than seven years old, those who have children less than 10 years old, single parents, senior citizens, and overseas Filipino workers),” he explained.

“Kung bibigyan namin ng slot ang lahat ng mga travel agency, ang mangyayari, kung mas madaling kumuha sa kanila, para bang kung kailangan kong bumili ng ticket nila. Paano kung walang kakayahang bumili ng ticket? (If we give these travel agencies slots, it would appear that people need to buy tickets from them to avail easily of a slot. What about people who could not afford to buy tickets?)” he added.