Why does it cost more to renew a Philippine passport abroad than it does in Manila?

Logically the cost should be covering the courier charges and by that I was saying ok with the price. BUT! Obviously the Philippine Embassies does not send individual couriers, rather by bulk, right? Although the good thing is that while they have given a time-frame of 1 month, the passports came back within the start of the 3rd week. I answer only to express the same sentiment. Like you, we wonder at the exorbitant price. Add: Although I disagree with you with the local processing. DFA gives you an option of expedite processing of ten days which is only at PHP1200, still way less than half of the price you pay when you are abroad.

Probably, one reason could be the higher cost in maintaining an embassy in a foreign land - higher standard of living on that side of the world, hence higher rents, salaries, utilities, etc - well, considering the present well being of our kabangyaman, someone should be shouldering these extra costs. Re the turtle slow passport processing of our DFA, that is a typical pinoy govt trademark, di lang DFA - same with the local municipalities din who issues local permits and city taxes, LTFRB, DTI, BIR, et al. Fortunately there are some govt agencies that were able to speed up their service and do away with red tapes, like NSO and LTO, sana ganun na lahat agency.

That is what we also called "Tubong Makaw" and that's the way how they treat the ones that they called "Bagong Bayani" .

NO, TRANSACTION IN PHILIPPINES IS EASY..Your estimate of 20 working days in which you said "that is more than their vacation" is only applicable if you transact your renewal in regional offices of DFA. In fact it's a lot faster if you make reservation online, and upon your arrival go straight to DFA Manila. I did it before and it took me less than 2 weeks. With online reservation sheet you will be directed into an express lane, and if you are in DFA at 8:00am your transaction could all be done before 10:00am. If you need any help regarding the online reservation info, email me at ([email protected]) i will forward the link to you. I bet it's a much easier and less hassle transaction, I feel we need to commend DFA for that.

You've kind of answered your own question. The DFA is a royal pain in the hindquarters to deal with, making these overseas costs a real bargain. A couple of years ago I helped my wife renew her passport in Shanghai, and we gladly forked over the cash. Running errands in Manila just plain sucks.