Philippine Embassy – Tokyo Opens To The Public Under “New Normal” On June 1st
The Philippine Embassy in Tokyo re-opened its doors to the public on Monday, 01 June 2020, offering passport and other consular services while putting in place measures to ensure the public’s health and safety.
“We made improvements and changes to our operations to balance protecting the Filipino community’s health with ensuring that we provide public service as efficiently as possible,” noted Deputy Chief of Mission Robespierre Bolivar, who led the Embassy Team in preparing and implementing its COVID-19 Risk Reduction and Management Plan.
Under the Embassy’s “new normal” operations, all consular services are by appointment only to ensure proper social distancing in the consular waiting area. All Embassy personnel, clients, and visitors also undergo health checks before entering the building.
While inside the Embassy premises, all persons are required to wear face masks and observe coughing etiquette and social distancing. In order to prevent crowding, applicants, except those who require assistance, are requested to come to the Embassy without any accompanying person.
The Embassy also adopted tele-working and flexi-time arrangements and have been conducting meetings using online platforms, including videoconferencing.