Question & AnswerQ&A (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 45)
The purpose of Executive Order No. 45 is to reorganize the Field Offices of the Office of Consular Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs into DFA Consular Offices to ensure faster and more efficient delivery of passport, visa, and authentication services to Filipino citizens.
The DFA Consular Offices issue passports to Filipino nationals, provide authentication services, issue verification for consular record documents, accept delayed registration applications for civil registry documents, provide assistance-to-nationals services, and perform other functions assigned by the DFA-OCA.
All DFA Consular Offices are under the supervision of the Assistant Secretary for the DFA Office of Consular Affairs.
The current Satellite Offices and Regional Consular Offices are renamed as DFA Consular Offices and are individually referred to as "DFA Consular Office [name of city/municipality/location]."
Additional DFA COs may be created if the projected clientele is at least 75,000 outside NCR or 300,000 within NCR annually; if the projected number of passports, authenticated documents or consular records is at least 100,000 annually; and the projected consular collection is at least PhP71,250,000 annually.
The Secretary of Foreign Affairs is authorized to propose the opening of new DFA COs, subject to approval by the President and review by the Department of Budget and Management. The Secretary can also close existing DFA COs under certain conditions.
A DFA CO may be closed if demand for services is chronically low or has declined by 50% over five years, if another nearby office can serve its clients, if prevailing circumstances such as security concerns or calamities warrant closure, or other analogous circumstances.
Home-based plantilla positions for the DFA COs shall be created in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management.
Heads of DFA COs assigned to areas other than their domicile without their own housing shall be provided quarters at government expense, subject to DBM limits. Those who prefer other housing must pay any rental difference themselves.
Expenditures are chargeable to the annual appropriations of the DFA and the Passport Revolving Fund established under Republic Act No. 8239. In case of insufficient funds, the balance may be charged to the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund and later to the DFA's budget under the General Appropriations Act.