An Aunt who’s presently
residing in the US, requested me to get her and her son’s travel permit on
their behalf. My, another government agency to deal with. This is usually
enough reason to give me palpitations because I know how thick red tape can be
here in our dear country. So thick in fact that even Thor’s sword will barely penetrate a government office’s high,
solid bureaucracy. But who knows? I’ll be dealing with a US Consulate after
all, so maybe this time it will be different.
I first got their telephone
number here and dialed to be
answered by, as I expected, an answering machine. Amidst the slur este, slang
of American words, I deduced that they don’t entertain calls past 12 noon. So I
have to call back the next day and it better be early, only from 9am-12noon. My
second call was again answered by a machine, which informed me that they are not
currently entertaining calls at some certain dates (I already forgot). I then
decided that I just have to go there personally even though my schedule is full
smack with work. Thankfully, our company decided to exchange the May 1 holiday,
to May 4. So, on I went to Waterfront via the Lahug route. Inside its massive
lobby, I asked the front desk directions for the US Consulate office and they
directed me to proceed to the rightmost side of the building, go down one floor
(I useld the escalator), venture outside of the building, then walk left for
about 5 metres and there, before an investing firm office (I forgot the name
again), is the US Consulate, Cebu branch. Since it was not yet 9am, I waited
for a while when I noticed a post right in the front door that they are close
on that date, including other certain dates of May. They will be back with full
office operations on June 8, 2012.
Fast track to July 4, when I
finally had another extra time to go there. I was not expecting much from this
visit but to my big relief, the office is open for normal operations! The guard
asked for my ID, got my mobile phone for deposit and gave me a number tag so
that I can claim it back later. He also gave me a priority number for my
transaction and motioned for me to get inside the inner office.
I heard an
audible click as the automatic door instantly closed behind me. A talking
voice-on-the-phone registered and I saw a mini-library on the left side while
rows of waiting chairs aligned on the right. There were about 3 waiting parties
already, and I was very glad as this would mean a quick transaction. So I sat
in the comfort of one of their chairs and waited. From my seat, I scanned the
books and magazines lined up in the library and considered reading one as two
foreigners were already reading. But I decided to just stay in my seat. About 10
minutes passed without seeing any activity from behind the window in charge of
our transaction. So I asked the lady sitting at my back, what is her priority
number. Said she is number 12 and I was number 14 so I’m near in line then. But
another 5 minutes passed so I told her, “dugay no?” to which she replied, “lagi,
dugay kaayo, taod2 nato amoa papers naa na sa sulod but gipa-wait pa mi ron.”
She also said that her experiences with other consulate services are faster
especially the European ones. Hmmmm I concluded that the Phil. government virus
of very slow service may already have infected the US Consulate so I have to
maintain my composure and be patient. Or else, my temper will get the better of
me and I won’t get the travel permits of my Aunt and cousin.
Finally, after about
another 10 minutes, the person in charge called my number and asked what is my
transaction for. After explaining to him the situation, he asked for my ID
first and then the authorization letter from my Aunt and cuz. After which, he examined
their approval notice and told me that he will check their names if their
travel permits reached their office. When he got back (it was quick), he
explained that most travel permits only reach Manila and rarely does it go
through the Cebu office. I wondered how this is so since the approval notice
specifically contain the Cebu Consular address there. But I didn’t ask him that
because he was already giving me a number to contact in their Manila office.
And what came out of my mouth was, “Is it okay to go there (in Manila office)
directly?” He told me not go there yet, but instead to call the number first to
be sure.
So this will be a very long
process, indeed. Will update this post once those travel permits will finally
be in my hands.
Meanwhile, Cebu Tours has the complete address:
The American Consular Agency is
located on the ground floor of the Waterfront Hotel at #1 Salinas Drive,
Lahug, Cebu City. The local telephone number is (32) 231-1261. From the US, dial
011+63-32-231-1261; other countries dial 00+63-32-231-1261.
For additional information, do check out http://cebutours.com/legal_capacity_cebu.htm
