APO Production Unit Inc., the printing agency for Philippine passports, clarified on Wednesday that it did not request an increase in passport fees.
Instead, its president, Atty. Gil Carlos Puyat, told the Senate finance subcommittee that the agency had asked for a government subsidy to offset passport printing costs without passing the burden on to the public.
Senate finance panel chairperson Sen. JV Ejercito inquired about the reported passport fee increase, expressing concern over the public’s expenses as well as the cost of producing passports.
He was referring to talks of increasing the passport fee from P950 to P1,500 after it had remained unchanged for the past decade.
‘Just to be clear, we are not asking for the increase of the price to the public, but what we’re really asking for is a subsidy that the DFA includes in their budget,’ Puyat said.
‘The reason for this is because the price has been frozen since 2016. And with the recent war in Iran, the prices of raw materials and logistics have gone up and so has our foreign exchange. Also, inflation has been affecting us and we’re just hoping that the discussion will move forward,’ he added.
Puyat also said that the extension of passport validity from five to 10 years had affected its production costs.
Ejercito then asked Puyat to submit its request for a subsidy for the finance panel’s consideration, saying it would be a ‘nightmare’ for Filipinos and overseas Filipino workers if there were no passports supplied.