QuestionsQuestions (OP EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 906, S. 2010)
It authorizes the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to institute and collect expedite service fees and other applicable fees for consular and other department services (including passport processing) and directs the proceeds of such fees to accrue exclusively to the DFA Provident Fund for the benefit of DFA employees.
They are fees charged over and above the regular DFA fees when service is provided beyond regular office hours or earlier than the normal processing period, and when needed to cover related technologies/processes to further expedite the service.
The expedite service fees and other service/applicable fees must be set by the DFA in an amount not more than the DFA’s regular fees for the corresponding consular or other department services.
Consular services including passport processing, visa, notarial, certification and authentication, other consular issuances, and other department issuances both here in the Philippines and abroad, as referenced in the preamble and Section 1.
Beginning 01 March 2010.
They must accrue to the DFA Provident Fund and be used exclusively by the DFA for the operation of the fund for the benefit of all DFA employees.
The text cites that the DFA is authorized to charge and collect reasonable fees for processing its passport, visa, notarial, certification and authentication, other consular issuances, and other department issuances, and that the Foreign Service Act authorizes the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to review, revise, and update related rules and regulations.
Executive Order No. 641 dated 25 July 2007, which authorizes the establishment of provident funds in the government.
It states that provident funds may be funded by other fund sources as may be provided by the laws.
Section 40(c) in relation to Section 41 of the 2009 General Appropriations Act, which authorizes the exclusive use of service fees collected by departments and agencies for payment of obligations through authorized deductions for the operation of a provident fund in favor of all its employees.
Administrative Order No. 279 dated 05 May 1992, authorizing the funding of the provident fund from the balance of service fees paid for services rendered by the government-agency concerned.
Yes. It expressly states that the expedite service fees and other applicable fees are charged “over and above the regular fees.” It also requires that the expedite fee amounts not exceed the corresponding regular fees.
It mandates that revenues/receipts from these fees “shall accrue to the DFA Provident Fund” and must be used exclusively for the operation of the fund for DFA employees.
It states that the order shall take effect immediately.
It implies that once service fees (including the proceeds from expedite and other applicable fees under EO 906) are collected for the provident fund purpose, they cannot be diverted to other expenditures and must be used for the operation of the DFA Provident Fund for employees’ benefit.
Not more than the DFA’s regular fee for that consular service—i.e., the expedite service fee must be at most PHP X.
It indicates that the lawful basis for charging additional amounts includes covering the costs/requirements of technologies or processes used to expedite services, supporting the scope of “other fees to cover the use of technologies to further expedite these services” under Section 1.