I had my passport renewed at the DFA main office in Libertad, Manila. Normally, our travel agency does this for us but it takes them 3 days more than when done personally. I am set to leave in 10 days which is just about the same time our agency will have secured my renewed passport so I am better served taking this option which is rather arduous but faster.
You have to do a lot of asking to find your way around inside. The security personnel are your best bet to help you find your way through because there are no procedures/guidelines written on any piece of wooden board ( as I expected to see in old government buildings) to assist you. You just have to fend for yourself.
I was directed to the basketball court for the " appointment procedure" which you could also do online but judging from how simple it is, I'd rather not burden myself checking over the internet cause the actual procedure is nothing more than 3 stages of stamping which takes just about 5 mins.
After stamping, I was instructed to go to gate 2 which does have a signage saying "GATE 2" but barring any attempt to ask questions, these are nothing more than just plain landmarks. Inside the gate 2 facility is a building full of people on queue from just about everywhere you look but again, there are no signages telling you what to do. There are many entrances and exits aptly labeled but what do I make of them? Again, I asked not one guard but two as the first one simply said go there pointing straight to the exit. Every security guard I asked, I showed them my papers to lessen the explaining. I figured, given the lack of concrete instructions on how you should go about, the security should be well versed by now bearing the brunt of telling clueless applicants where to go, what to do next.
The second security told me to go to the queue outside the building. I saw a throng of people in a pavilion which is a surefire inconvenience on rainy days cause the roof is barely 4 meters wide and there are no walls, just posts to shelter you from the inclement weather. Most are seated on monoblock benches but it ran out on me so I had to stand.
I asked the person last in line if that was the queue for passport renewal. He gave a nod but as I peeked over his papers, he was a first time passport applicant. There were some standing in the same line though with green passports and the same stamped papers as mine so I figured that this queue must be a mixed lot. There are about 150 persons ahead of me waiting for just two windows: authentication and releasing to open.
I came around 12:15p.m. which was break time but the appointment guys in the basketball court were open for business and there was no huge line there so I took the chance to get that done with. This Q I was lining for in gate 2, however, given that they were accomodating first time applicants and renewers, was longer and the authentication and releasing windows were closed for the lunch break so the heavy line was mounting by the second.
The windows opened on cue at 1 o' clock. The people in front of the line hurriedly stood up and made their way to the windows. Some though didn't budge from their seats so the anxious ones overtook them and then it was chaos. I was very far to hear what the commotion was about which the guards quickly intervened and dispeled .
A few mins later, the majority of us were directed to go inside the building. Fuck it. It turned out that we were just made to wait outside the building, in the pavilion cause it was full inside. The authentication and releasing windows, which I took notice as being insufficient to accomodate us all was not really for us. That explained why some people from their seats didn't budge. Apparently, they were just waiting there until it got flooded with people with the same concerns as mine because inside the building, where the actual processes were to be done, was crowded.
The next step was the assessment of the docs for all types of applicants-renewers and first timers. From outside, we made a slow moving beeline to the docs assessment room which is but one of the many rooms inside that building. As I was moving gingerly I noticed that there were many independent lines with no markers to identify what they are for. The whole building was not well lit and again, I say, fuck those exit, entrance, cashier, releasing, authentication signages without having a complementary flowchart on what to do. Finally I was inside the doc assessment room which I labeled as such only for the lack of identifier.
Now picture this: This room had to be the biggest inside that building. The room is rectangular and the entrance is along the width. Our line entered the building on the right edge/length parallel to the wall. To my right is of course the wall and to the left are several columns of monoblock benches which when seated, you'd be facing rows of similar benches each of which are perpendicular to a booth like the ones you see on banks where a teller does her business. There seems to be a singular ratio of bench to window although it is quite odd that the bench is perpendicular to the person inside the booth meaning your shoulder would be facing her and you, you're facing the dandruffed hair of the person in front of you on the next row. I was still trying to analyse what happens next. I saw the farthest end of the room where the line seemed to end as the people were beginning to sit on the benches when suddenly, the girl in front of me, sat at the adjacent bench.
I then asked the guy behind me if I thought correct. I figured, we could sit on any bench we choose and not have to wait to reach the end of the line. Suddenly, people were beginning to also sit on the benches beside them and for good measure, I asked the lady already seated if what I thought was correct. She confirmed what I have been thinking all along. Fuck, I had to figure that out for myself. Talk about complicating things. This is exactly what I've been harping all along " WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE PUT THE PROCEDURE IN WRITING! "
No comments:
Post a Comment