RIYADH: The Philippine Embassy has announced that it will resume its “Embassy on Wheels” (EOW) service at the International Philippine School in Alkhobar this weekend.

This follows a meeting last month in the Eastern Province between Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and representatives of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who complained about the embassy’s announcement that it could no longer continue the EOW due to lack of funds.

Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor confirmed Arroyo had indeed addressed and acted on the OFW’s concerns.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah invited Arroyo in September to attend the inauguration of the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology in Thuwal near Jeddah.

On her way to Jeddah, Arroyo stopped by Alkhobar to meet the Filipino community in the Eastern Province. During the meeting, representatives of Filipino community organizations asked Arroyo to allocate a budget for the monthly EOW so they and their families did not have to travel some 900 km to and from Riyadh to renew their passports.

As in the past, the EOW team will receive and process applications for the new Machine Readable Passport (MRP) and notarial services on a first come, first served basis at the school from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 12 noon Friday.

Villamor said up to 400 MRP applications could be processed and encoded on Thursday while another 200 could be accommodated the following day.

Other applications filed afterward would also be accepted but for processing and payment only.

Villamor said concerned applicants should check www.philembassy-riyadh.org for updates on the status of their passports.