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Services fees are mandated, RP Consulate
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Posted on Feb 04 1999
The various fees being charged by the Philippine Consulate here are mandated and are uniformly applied in all consular posts, according to Vice Consul Ronell Santos.
“We do not unilaterally impose the fees. They are mandated and we just follow the prescribed fees,” he said.
He responded to complaints aired by Filipinos in the CNMI over the fees charged on authentication, certificates and other official documentation emanating from the Consulate.
According to Santos, the Consulate performs different functions and for each service there is a corresponding prescribed fee.
For instance, to report a child’s birth will cost parents $15. While the Consulate charges $50 on casket sealing for a Filipino who died in the CNMI inclusive of the authentication of documents.
Couples who are planning to legalize their union in the Consulate will need to save $50. While marriages perform in the Mayor’s office will also require certifications worth $20 from the Consulate.
Santos said these documentations are properly notarized to merit certain fees as prescribed by law.
These scheduled fees were contained in a Department Order issued by the Foreign Affairs in 1992 which was signed by former Secretary Roberto Romulo.
Further, all collections made are remitted monthly to the Philippine Treasury office in Manila.
“We do not get a share of these fees,” he said.
For its Labor office, workers who are going home for vacation will need to shell out $65 in order to secure Overseas Employment Certificate.
He explained that this total amount covers the annual equivalent of medical contributions and insurance for the worker.
Last year, the Consulate introduced the I.D. system to Filipinos in the CNMI but they were free of charge, he said. However, reports had reached their office that certain unscrupulous individuals collected fees.
