Skip to main content

I'll get my passport on Oct. 6 -- finally!

Amazing!

I had my passport application approved in less than three hours in DFA Manila.

I consider that amazing because I tried applying at DFA Clark a couple of times but I was rejected on both attempts. And I didn't understand WHY.

Here's the story:

On my first attempt, the evaluator noticed that my mom's last name in my birth certificate was different from her last name in my marriage certificate. When she asked me why, I said it was because she was already married to my stepfather (British citizen) when I got married. According to the evaluator, I have to show my biological father's death certificate and my mom's marriage certificate with Uncle Steve to prove that my mom in the marriage certificate is the same as my mom in my birth certificate. ANO BA YAN? I thought that suggestion was stupid. My brother and sister have their passport and my mom has her own but she didn't have to prove anything about her marriage, tapos ako ang gusto nilang magpatunay at maglabas ng ganoong dokumento? ANO BA YAN?

So I was advised to try again in another counter in the same DFA branch.

The evaluator was different but her assessment and recommendation were worse. Here are her remarks on my application: 1. new authenticated birth certificate with correction remarks on date and place of marriage of parents; 2. affidavit of explanation re: last name of mother (wife- marriage contract); 3. certificate of no marriage of mother.

In short, she wanted me to declare that I'm an illegitimate child. ANO BA YAN? I'm already 30 years old and she wanted me to make my parents' marriage null and void? I guess this person was crazy.

The problem was, I felt really bad and thought there was no way for me to get a passport unless I do all those stupid things she wanted me to do.

And those rejections made me lose an opportunity to participate in a sponsored study tour in Singapore last year.

------------------------------

My attempt to apply in DFA Manila didn't cause me any trouble. There wasn't much question. The evaluator didn't even care about the entries in my marriage certificate. I was just asked to sign using my maiden name (good thing my Tita was with me and she advised me to photocopy and present my school ID with my maiden name) on my marriage certificate three times. then he asked me several questions regarding the place or company I work for.

I started waiting in line at 8 am and finished before 11 a.m. NO PROBLEM ENCOUNTERED AT ALL. Although it was raining that morning, my husband and I decided to go to DFA Manila to apply. I'll have my passport released on Oct. 6. :-)

------------------------------

THANKS to Ate Teri's help. Kabisado nya ang DFA area kaya mabilis ang kilos ko. I didn't have to ask people around on what to do next. I didn't have to read instructions kasi she already told me where to go and what to do -- step by step. Then she advised me to show my school ID. Tama sya kasi tiningnan yun ng evaluator to compare my signature sa marriage certificate at sa ID nga using my maiden name.


Comments

♥♥ Foxy ♥♥ said…
Gz!
I had a similar experience in DFA Clark when I applied for my passport in 2003. Sabi sa'kin kung saan lang daw ako pinanganak, dun lang daw ako pwedeng mag-apply. Tapos nung nag try ako uli, sabi naman kailangan daw ng school records. Napaka unhelpful. Corrupt ang mga taga DFA Clark, either that o horrendously stupid lang talaga sila. In a way, it's an abuse din of their position porke sila ang nasa counter. Pero if they take a second to think about it, clerk lang naman sila. So I went to DFA Manila, and mabilis lang. Auntie Terry helped me as well, hinatid nya ko sa may gate kasi may lakad pa sya nun eh ^_^
It's one thing I love about England, very helpful at professional ang mga tao, napaka-polite kahit na cashier lang o tindera sa market, kahit nga yung mga bus drivers eh. And they will make phone calls pa to accommodate your enquires if you are not satisfied with the information they were able to provide you (experience ko ito sa Chesterfield College, saka sa Doctor's, the COntraceptive specialist even googled my pill brand para mahanap nya ang equivalent sa UK. Kung d'yan satin sasabihin lang ng doc na wala tayo nung brand na yun dyan and won't make much effort)
Anyway I'm glad OK na ang passport mo. Sana magamit mo na rin very soon:)
It's an ace bday present for you din di ba?
5:15 PM
Wordsmith said…
Whether they're plain stupid or corrupt, there is no justification to the emotional anguish they have caused.

In fairness to the honest staff at DFA Clark -- if they exist at all [but why am I disinclined to accept that?], those overweening, ineffectual bureaucrats who caused you distress must have acted for the sake of self-preservation. At the time you filed your first application, and also previous to that, that DFA branch was under a heavy cloud for having issued passports to the wrong persons. As a result: the genuine applicants (genuine as opposed to passport applicants who use stolen identities/documents) were subjected to despicable stupidity.

As for the bureaucrat who had cloaked himself with the mantle of the Court, shame on him!

But, perhaps, I am being unfair. That bureaucrat must have no idea that he was usurping the domain of the Court when he suggested changes in the entry in a birth certificate. Only the Court is allowed to order that.

Is it an excuse for public servants, that of having addled brain, to torment the taxpayers with their utter cluelessness?
8:37 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Management Lessons from GUNG HO

'I must recognize that man achieves the highest degree of efficiency when he plays. If someone says he works out of loyalty to the company, he is a damned liar.' ----Soichiro Honda Founder-millionaire Honda Motor Co., Ltd. When a company fails, who should take the blame? When the workers complain, who should do some reflections, the management or the workers themselves? Hunt Stevenson, in the movie GUNG HO (means to WORK TOGETHER) , needed to do some reflections before it was too late. His failure to do some actions would result in closure of Assan Motors, thereby leaving hundreds of American laborers unemployed. According to Robert Heller, the author of the article EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT: TAKING RESPONSIBILITY, "How the boss behaves has a profound effect on how other managers perform - and thus on the performance of the entire outfit. That's a self-evident truth, acknowledged by most people. But few bosses acknowledge the corollary: that inferior performance is partl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Levels Earned, Lessons Learned in SHAIYA

The holy week was not really holy for me. This was time of the year when I played hard. Really played hard, as in trying to make the toon level every time I logged in . And to help my toon level up, even my husband and my daughter would play with her. This year, my toon is DanieGanda. Danie, for the record, is my daughter's nick name. But I thought of adding the word "Ganda," which is a tagalog term for Beauty. DanieGanda is a human priest in the normal mode. As the rule in Shaiya, a player won't be able to create a character in the hard mode [here, toons are stronger] without first reaching level 40 in the normal mode, which is a level lower than HM. When DanieGanda started, she was power leveled by king-kruller, whom DanieGanda met while my daughter was playing the toon. King_kruller was als o Danie's first friend in Shaiya. At the moment, he's already level 58, UM. The experience was good for Danie was able to meet players from different walks o...
Post a Comment
Read more

My SHAIYA battle for a week

A duo with -kamikaze- MMORPG. Online games. Virtual world. SHAIYA. The past holy week signaled the beginning and end of my battle in the virtual world. I started playing an MMORPG for a week -- trying to level up my character named SexySteffi in an online game known to players as SHAIYA . It wasn't as sophisticated as Wow but most things are basically the same. The best parts would be killing monsters to level up and killing darkies to get higher ranks. Another good thing about online games like SHAIYA is the opportunity to talk to people or gamers from different parts of the world. I've met gamers from Columbia, Chile, Texas, Australia, Canada, etc. Gamers really come from different walks of life. Some are young, some old, some married, some single, some just fooling around, some serious about leveling up. As a priest, SexySteffi is in demand in the game :-) Some players would always invite her to a party so that they could conquer the monsters without getting killed a...
Post a Comment
Read more