JEDDAH: The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh announced Saturday that there would be delays in the issue of passports for a few more weeks because of technical concerns and the surge in the demand for e-passports. The country's Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Riyadh Embassy appealed for understanding from the traveling public. “We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the delays, especially to our overseas Filipino workers. We would like to assure the public that we are exerting our best efforts to resolve the issues as soon as possible,” said Ezzedin H. Tago, the Charge d'Affaires (CDA) at the Riyadh Embassy. “The DFA will work hard to ensure that those required to travel urgently, especially workers, are accommodated. We would like to request those without immediate travel plans to defer their applications until the situation has been normalized,” he added. Tago said that those with expiring passports, who cannot forego their travel, may apply for an extension of the validity of their existing passports instead of applying for a new one.