Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 13) — The Senate will consider a bill to raise penalties for agencies that provide foreign nationals with genuine government documents, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Monday.
His statement was in response to a Senate probe that found out that Chinese employees of a recently raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) obtained Philippine passports and birth certificates, which lawmakers said was a “national concern.”
It resulted in the Senate recalling the approval of the Philippine Statistics Authority budget for 2024 budget.
“My suggestion is the Senate spearhead a law increasing the fines and penalties and jail terms for government agencies giving out these legal documents to unscrupulous individuals,” Zubiri said during a hearing.
He also asked the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency and the National Security Council to look into the issue.
“We would like you to look into this, together with the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation). There are national security implications to this. We were shown how easy it was for foreigners,” he said.
Zubiri said among the documents offered to foreigners were Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and Bureau of Internal Revenue licenses and IDs which he said were used to get passports.
“Also criminal syndicates we’ve seen kidnap for ransom, extortion, sex trafficking being done by foreigners using our legal documents. It’s unheard of in other countries,” the senator said.
Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros said reports from the investigation of the recent Pasay raid showed that some Chinese POGO employees also bought their documents.
Zubiri said he ordered the urgent investigation on the national case.
Security of government’s passport printer questioned
The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) Production Unit, a Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC) mandated to print Philippine passports, confirmed during Monday’s budget deliberations that non-Filipinos obtained “genuine passports but [with] fake identities,” according to Sen. JV Ejercito.
Ejercito added the GOCC is investigating the issue. The senator sponsored the proposed 2024 budget of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), which controls and supervises the APO Production Unit.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa asked for assurance that syndicates will not be able to infiltrate the APO’s system or coerce its workers to print passports.
“According to APO, it’s not possible because they have a highly secured facility and also the production of these passports is encrypted,” Ejercito said.
“Even the location of the plant is secured and only limited personnel of the PCO knows about its exact location,” he added. “That’s the level of security they are talking about.”
Dela Rosa requested the APO Production Unit to add more security measures and features to ensure syndicates cannot gain access to its system.
Sen. Koko Pimentel also asked if the government printer can demonstrate its processes before a Senate committee.
