Last Friday, when I reviewed my monthly planner on my table, I read that it was the promised schedule of delivery of my new passport by Pilipinas Teleserv Inc. I smiled as the excitement of having a new passport which will already be machine readable worldwide gave my a sense of pride as a Filipino more than the pride that Manny Pacquiao gave me a few days back when he won against that Mexican boxer who can’t accept that he lost against Pacman.
As Friday went on, I went through my normal work at the office. I told myself, anytime the delivery man from Pilipinas Teleserv Inc. will soon appear bringing with him the pink envelope with a large Aboitiz 2GO logo with my passport inside. Soon, I would slowly tear the edge of the plastic envelope: and a new passport would be in my hands!
The excitement brought by this anticipation increased when my cellphone sounded that I had a message. The number was not registered in my phonebook but as I opened the text message, and I slowly read it, it said that it was from Pilipinas Teleserv Inc. It referred to my passport renewal the delivery of which I decided to avail of the services of Pilipinas Teleserv Inc. Having gone through the hell for three long agonizing hours inside the Department of Foreign Affairs for my passport renewal, I made the decision to have my passport delivered to my office by Pilipinas Teleserv Inc for only P180.00. The text message advised me to call a land line number regarding my passport.
I immediately grabbed our landline and dialled the number in the text message. My call was immediately answered by a call center representative of Pilipinas Teleserv Inc who courteously entertained my call. When I told her that I called up because I received a text message advising me to call up regarding my passport, she answered back that the Department of Foreign Affairs did not release my passport to them for delivery because according to the DFA, there was a problem with the photographs that I submitted to them. So that, according to the Teleserv Inc. representative, I have to retrieve the authority I gave to them and to personally go the DFA to ask the DFA personnel about the problem of the photographs I submitted to them! With the information from the call center representative, I thanked her but I could not give the date when I will go their office to retrieve my claim stub and personally go to the DFA again!
Oh my Lord Jesus! But wait, the evaluator and the encoder at the DFA who processed my passport had already seen the photographs I submitted: taken by a FUJI Photo center and in royal blue background! I really could not understand why all of a sudden it became another a problem for my passport renewal with the DFA. I suddenly remembered the lady who came all the way from Iloilo City who was with us in the three- hour extra challenge torture at the DFA to have her passport renewed since she will be leaving soon. Was she able leave?
Abangan ang susunod na kabanata sa aking pagbabalik sa DFA!
