Foreigners are reportedly buying Philippine passports for P500,000, Senator Risa Hontiveros said on Wednesday.
“Philippine passports are not for sale. No foreign national should treat this official document as a mere commodity. This is an offense to our Filipino identity, our history, and our national dignity. Weare currently looking into information that foreign nationals allegedly pay P500,000 per passport,” she said.
“I trust that the Ombudsman will investigate this exhaustively and get to the bottom of the issue,” she added.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada, for his part, said the illegal acquisition ofPhilippine passports using fraudulent birth certificates is “not merely a violation of our immigration laws but a potential threat to our national security.”
“This is a serious breach that not only undermines the integrity ofour immigration system but poses significant risks to our nation’s security. Any attempt to compromise the authenticity of these documents poses a direct threat to our identity as a nation,” Estrada said.
“The issue at hand requires a multi-faceted approach, involving collaboration between law enforcement agencies, immigration authorities, and intelligence services. We must enhance our systemsfor document verification and border control to prevent further instances of passport fraud and identity misrepresentation,” he added.
During the Senate committee on women hearing on POGO-related crimes, Hontiveros said they discovered that government-issued IDs were easily given to Chinese POGO workers, who then use the documents to get a Philippine passport.
It was also revealed during a Senate hearing there were advertisementsfor birth certificates, voters’ IDs, passports, and other documents for sale.
Hontiveros said this was a serious national security concern.
“Now that China is far from dialing down on her aggression in the West Philippine Sea, she may be taking advantage of our porous borders, our weakened institutions, and our own corrupt officials to advance her interests,” she said.
“We should not allow foreigners claiming ownership of our territory tojust enter the country. No foreign national should treat this officialdocument as a mere commodity. This is an offense to our Filipino identity, our history, and our national dignity,” she added.
The Office of the Ombudsman earlier said it will investigate on its own the issuance of Philippine passports to foreign nationals.
Two divisions of the National Bureau of Investigation are also conducting their own probe.
“The investigation of our Anti-Fraud Division and the International Operations Division is ongoing,” NBI Director Medardo de Lemos said.
Last week, the Senate recalled the plenary approval of the proposed budget of the Philippine Statistics Authority amid reports that authentic birth certificates were issued to foreign nationals, which enabled them to get Philippine passports.
The IDs included those from the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.
The recall happened after Senator Ronald dela Rosa presented information on 10 foreigners who were intercepted by authorities after presenting legitimate Philippine passports.