The Call that ruined my day

My Philippines Passport has expired May 2008, I didnt renew it straight away because i thought i should just wait until i get my Australian citizenship then apply for a dual citizenship and that's when i should be renewing my Philippine passport so i can save some money, anyway I decided i should just go renew it anyway, last week was when i lodged my australian citizenship application and got approved December 1 last year, but until i pledge my oath (do the ceremony) i wont be australian citizen therefore cant apply for an Australian passport, the ceremony takes place within 6 months so dont have any clue when that will be. Anyway i sent my passport renewal application to the Consulate General of the Philippines here in Australia on the 27th of November 2008 (well before the holiday season), I sent via Expressed post and registered the mail too, I have been waiting since then for them to call me back for an appearance so i can sign and thumb mark, and finally yesterday i got call from embassy here in Brisbane, the lady on the phone told me that the first date that i can go for an appearance is on the 24th of Feb 2009, but see that is an acceptable because that means i wont get my passport before i go to Japan on the 12th of March because after my appearance they have to send my application to the Philippines for a passport production, which means I'm screwed..i was even angrier because the lady on the phone told me that there's no one to act on behalf of the consulate general whose absent, which i know for a fact that its a total lie, because if the in charge goes away, there's always, always! someone to act on his behalf, anyway to make the long story short, I called the office in Canberra (the general consulate's office) and spoke to another Lady and told her my concern, she then told me i have to write to an of their officer to see what can he do so that i can get my passport dont before my trip to Japan, so i wrote him an email straight away and now just waiting for his reply. I hope that he can expedite the process, after all i've done my part and they didnt do theirs. I will let you know the outcome.