MANILA, Philippines- Hindi pinalusot ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) ang passport applications ng mahigit sa 170 na kaduda-dudang foreign nationals, karamihan sa mga ito ay mayroong delayed birth registrations.
Ito ang isiniwalat ni DFA Assistant Secretary Adelio Cruz sa isinagawang pagdinig ng Senate subcommittee on finance, araw ng Huwebes, ukol sa panukalang budget na P27.4 bilyon ng departamento.
“Since November last year, we were able to prevent the application of questionable nationalities applying for a Philippine passport: more than 171 attempts were prevented from the Office of the Consular Affairs,” ang sinabi ni Cruz kay panel chairperson Sen. Loren Legarda, nagsisiyasat ukol sa passport applicants na hindi makapagsalita ng Filipino at iba pang lokal na lenggwahe.
Sa bilang na ito, sinabi ni Cruz na may 71 ang isinumite sa National Bureau of Investigation.
“Most were first time, all with delayed registration of births,” ang sinabi pa ni Cruz nang tanungin ni Legarda kung ang aplikante ay unang beses pa lamang na nag-apply.
Tinuran pa ni Cruz na may ilang dayuhan ang mayroong balidong birth certificates, pero may ilan namang “obviously fraudulent.”
“What we do to ensure that this does not happen again is, if it is a questionable application, we get the biometrics of that person, flag it all over the country to avoid their forum shopping, and attempt to apply to other offices,” giit ni Cruz.
Aniya, kinansela na ng DFA ang inisyu nitong pasaporte para sa 66 “foreign nationals.”
“With the approval of the secretary, we canceled 66 passports already fraudulently issued to Chinese—” ang sinabi ni Cruz sabay pagtatama sa sinabi niya na “foreign nationals.” Kris Jose
