By Leslie D. Venzon
MANILA, July 20 (PNA) — President Benigno S. Aquino III on Monday expressed confidence that the government-recognized printer, Asian Productivity Organization (APO) can start the production of ePassport as targeted by January next year to meet the increasing applications.
President Aquino led the unveiling of the inaugural marker of the APO Production Unit, Inc. high security printing plant and live demonstration of the new e-Passport system at the Lima Technology Center in Batangas.
The President believes that the service level agreement forged between the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the APO early this year would help ensure that the current system runs smoothly.
He said both the DFA and the APO are currently engaged in negotiations to improve further on the current system and provide printing and personalization services for the next decade.
President Aquino hoped that the two agencies could reach an agreement at the “soonest possible time” so that production could also begin as envisioned in January 2016
“Now that I have my own ePassport—though it seems as if I cannot use it—I am certainly looking forward to seeing this plant’s operations in full swing, so that the rest of the country can benefit from APO’s services,” he said.
The Chief Executive said that in 2014, passport issuances breached the three million-mark for the first time.
Under the system, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda explained the regular ePassport processing for the head office and National Capital Region offices will be shortened from 15 to 10 working days, while express processing will be shortened from seven to five working days.
”Today’s ceremonies highlighted the new ePassport system, demonstrating the real-time processing of applications submitted online from three remote sites: the DFA Manila office, and the Philippine consulates in Hong Kong and Doha,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Aquino said the APO Production Unit handles the printing of excise stamps for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Internal Revenue Stamp Information System.
He underscored the significant contribution of these stamps to the collection of sin taxes, allowing the BIR to efficiently monitor the manufacturing, sales and taxation of tobacco products.
“Even better: the security features included on these excise stamps ensure that they cannot be forged—helping us crackdown on smuggling and tax evasion,” the President said. (PNA)