After his appointment as Foreign Affairs Secretary was rejected by the Commission of Appointments amid questions about his citizenship, Perfecto Yasay Jr. is now facing another battle, this time for his Philippine passport renewal application.
Yasay applied for renewal of his valid regular Philippine passport, which was issued in 2013 and remains valid until 2018, last March 9, a day after his appointment was rejected by the 15-member CA.
Yasay’s application was received by Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Frank Cimafranca. However, Cimafranca immediately sought the opinion of the DFA legal office on Yasay’s application.
In response, acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo instructed the Consular Affairs office to suspend or hold in abeyance the issuance of a new passport to his predecessor pending resolution of legal question on the citizenship issue by competent authorities. (Roy C. Mabasa)