Duterte vows: No more long lines for passports

MANILA, Philippines - President-elect Rodrigo Duterte yesterday has ordered incoming Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. to eliminate the long lines of people applying for passports in the different DFA offices across the country. 

“I feel compassion for people who come from afar and sleep on the pavement while waiting for their passports,” Duterte said during his last flag-raising ceremony yesterday at the Davao city hall as mayor.

Duterte referred to the hundreds of passport applicants who sleep on the pavement outside a mall in Davao, where the DFA office is located.

Applicants from as far as Cotabato City and the nearby provinces spend the night sleeping on the pavement to make sure they get slots when the DFA office opens the next morning.