Citizenship planning firm Henley and Partners recently released their annual passport index, which ranks the most “powerful” passports based on the number of countries their citizens can visit without a visa, listing the Philippines in 72nd place, up from last year’s No. 75.

“Our people and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will continue to look towards securing visa-free access for Filipinos to more countries,” said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque in response.

However, as of late, the DFA has been under fire after it was revealed appointments with the government agency, a requirement when applying for a new passport or renewal, are fully booked through March 2018.

DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano recently admitted to a backlog of applications, with reports suggesting the amount to be between 400,000 and one million passports, however, despite the ongoing situation, according to a PTV report, he called it “the best system.”

“We wish we could give everybody [an] appointment all at one time, but we just cannot do that,” DFA-Bacolod officer-in-charge Carmela Constantino recently explained. “It is kind of hard to cope.”

Meanwhile, DFA employees have also been accused of intentionally blocking schedules on the online appointments page, after being paid by local travel agencies, who then provide appointments for their customers and charge P4,500 to P5,000 for “passport assistance,” for what should be a free process.

Constantino questioned how accusers know proponents of the scheme are DFA employees.

“DFA employees are required to wear their identification cards,” she insisted./PLL, WDJ