Sen. Risa Hontiveros —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
Foreigners, many of them Chinese nationals, are spending as much as P500,000 in order to obtain authentic Philippine passports apparently to legitimize their stay in the country, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said on Wednesday.
“We are currently looking into information that foreign nationals allegedly pay P500,000 per passport,” the senator said in a statement.
“Philippine passports are not for sale. No foreign national should treat this official document as a mere commodity,” she said, adding: “This is an offense to our Filipino identity, our history and our national dignity.”
She said such public documents, which should only be issued to Filipino citizens, were being “easily given” to Chinese workers employed in Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).
Passport violations
There was no immediate reply from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) when the Inquirer sought its comment on the senator’s statements.
Under the Philippine Passport Act of 1996, a passport may only be issued to Filipino citizens who have complied with the requirements, including submission of a birth certificate or other documents proving citizenship.
The law also punishes any person who willfully and knowingly makes any false statement in their passport application with a fine of not less than P15,000 but not more than P60,000, and imprisonment of up to 10 years.
The same penalty applies to anyone who grants, issues or verifies any passport or travel document to anyone without the lawful authority to do so.
In her statement, Hontiveros noted her office’s previous discovery of social media posts offering government-issued documents, such as birth certificates and voter’s identification cards, for a fee.
The senator said the matter should be immediately addressed by the appropriate state agencies because of national security implications amid China’s hostile activities in the West Philippine Sea.
Suspected spies
Hontiveros earlier said she suspected that some Pogo workers who fraudulently secured Philippine passports could be Chinese military spies.
“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.
Filipinos, she added, should stay vigilant and keep a close watch on foreigners who were trying to take away the country’s sovereignty.
The senator also welcomed the decision of Ombudsman Samuel Martires to conduct a motu proprio investigation into the matter, which was also raised by Sen. Ronald dela Rosa during the Senate deliberations on the annual budget of the DFA.
“I trust that the Ombudsman will investigate this exhaustively and get to the bottom of the issue,” Hontiveros said.
“It seems that there are government agencies that need to clean up their own backyard,” she added.