NSO stops issuance of accreditation for travel agencies
By Rose B. Palacio
Davao City (3 June) -- National Statistics Office (NSO) XI Director Jaime S. Paller said NSO has stopped issuing accreditation for travel service agencies until guidelines from the Central Office will be implemented.
The newly appointed NSO regional chief who assumed office last April 1, 2008 said that at present, there are about thirty (30) certified travel service agencies that were previously accredited by the NSO. These existing agencies are still accredited until further notice, however, new applicants will not be accredited anymore, he said.
At the beginning, accredited travel agencies have been helpful in decongesting applicants applying (in particular) for birth certificates, but in the long run, it has been observed that there are lots of applicants who were victimized (reportedly) by these agencies.
As mandated by government, NSO is mandated to make services more efficient, timely and effective for the clients. However, due to some constraints, clients are having a long-line outside the regional office just to get the services of NSO Serbilis Center.
We are really looking into this particular problem dahil talagang hindi rin kami papayag na naghihirap ang taongbayan na dapat naming paglingkuran, he said.
As of now, we are servicing almost half of the clients throughout Mindanao as far as those coming from Agusan, Cotabato region and Lanao. Since our air conditioning units are out of service, we have put in place a big exhaust electric fan inside the Serbilis Center, he said.
We are also trying to solicit big tents for use of NSO clients lining up outside the office. Please bear with us, ginagawan namin ng paraan ang lahat upang hindi mahirapan ang mga tao na kumukuha ng iba't-ibang certificates sa aming tanggapan, he said.
In an exclusive interview, Director Paller told the Philippine Information Agency and Tomas Avanceņa of the Southern Philippine Chronicle that NSO cannot just easily use our funds because of the BOT agreement with the Unisys International with a contract agreement for 12 years. And we are now on our eight year period, he said.
We are servicing an average of about 2,200 to 2,500 clients everyday while our equipment is only good for 1,500 applicants. But we are trying to serve all of them before closing hours, Director Paller said.
As of the latest count, of the total 2,226 applicants, copies of birth certificates topped the list of issuances - 1,738; followed by certificate of non-marriage- 265; death certificates - 275; and others like authenticated marriage certificates; and authentication of death and birth certificates. (PIA) [top]
