Protests against the fees for the new Philippine passport are spreading and migrant workers associations of Macau and Hong Kong have joined an internationally coordinated action against it. However, speaking to Macau Daily Times, Macau’s Philippine Consulate General claimed that the new travel document brings more benefits for Filipinos and is less expensive than electronic passports issued by other countries.
Last month, Christina Urban renewed her passport.
She got the old style “brown document” and paid a MOP 440 fee. However, starting this month, all Filipinos citizens working and residing in Macau whose passports are expiring or due to expire must now apply for the ePassport, which is priced at MOP 528.
“It’s expensive, because in Philippines it’s the same price. The Government should lower it,” she told MDT. According to her, the new passport fee will be a heavy burden for most of the local Filipino workers.
“As long it is easy to cross the border there are no problems, but the price is the main issue. It’s very high,” she added. Christina’s work colleagues in a local coffee shop share her views. “A businessman that is always travelling can afford these new fees, but I don’t think the middle class can afford that. It’s very expensive,” Evelyn Estrada pointed out.
Recently, the Overseas Filipino Workers Association Migrante – Macau announced that it will join an internationally coordinated protest against what it claimed was the overpricing of new Philippine passports by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Hong Kong and the Middle East’s Filipino workers have already asked President Benigno Aquino to reduce the passport fees.
“A little more than 50 percent of the Filipinos in Macau are domestic workers,” said Catalina Yamat chairperson of Migrante – Macau.
“Our basic pay has been pegged at only MOP 2,500 since 1999. Many others are security guards, cleaners and restaurant workers whose monthly wages are also not that high,” she continued.
Safer and faster In a news release sent to MDT, the Macau Philippine Consulate General said that the ePassport has special features that make it secure, highly credible and compliant with international standards.
“The ePassport is designed to facilitate arrival formalities and immigration checks at international airports, and thus less hassle for our kababayans (countrymen) when they enter other countries. It is also making possible faster airline travel arrangements.
Most importantly, the security features of the ePassport prevent identify theft and tampering of the passport holder’s personal data,” it stated.
According to the consulate, the new fees are less expensive than ePassports issued by other countries.
Apart from that, it stressed that it has been 15 years since the passport fee was last increased.
As well as enhancing safety and allowing faster verification of the identity of the passport holder, there are also more pages available in the new ePassport. It provides 44 pages, while the old green passport (manual or scripted) has only 32 pages. At the end of the day, the consulate general continued, it provides more savings for the Filipino citizens.
According to the local consulate, the Philippine ePassport is among the cheapest in the Asia-Pacific region: Malaysia – around USD 92; New Zealand – USD 101; Japan – USD 120; and Australia – USD 153.
Source: Macau Daily Times
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