Urbanista Manila Living in Style

Archive for February, 2009

I went to DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) in Manila to claim my passport. As I just alit off the jeep, a man asked me where the DFA was. I just pointed it using my lips then went on walking. He said, he thought he’s lost. I was thinking of warning him against fixers but I just kept my silence.

I got my passport in less than five minutes so I headed back to the jeep loading station. While waiting for my ride, I noticed that the man who asked me about the DFA was also there and I just observed that he (along with other guys) were positiniong themselves next to the people getting off the jeeps and asking them things. There I concluded that it is their modus operandi to play “lost” or “confused” to talk them into getting to their agencies for fixing. Then it occured to me that incident that I had when I first had my passport renewed a couple of years ago. I ran into some random guys telling me that they were sent away by the DFA guard informing them that the quota for passport renewal for the day was met already and they were asked to just go to certain agencies.

Admittedly, I fell into the bait and paid extra then that is why I promised myself that next time, I must get through the entire renewal procedure “unharmed”.

Glad I was able to get through it.