DFA beefing up measures vs foreigners eyeing PH passport

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) assured the public on Wednesday that it is taking necessary measures to prevent foreign nationals from obtaining Philippine passports. 

This comes in response to reports of foreigners fraudulently acquiring Philippine passports.

“We activated the Inter-Agency Committee Against Passport Irregularities (ICPI)  […] in fact, in our next meeting, we will be signing a memorandum of agreement between the DFA and all the participating security agencies on how to better improve policing and ensuring the sanctity of passports,” DFA Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Adelio Cruz said in a press conference in Paranaqie City.

The ICPI is composed of the DFA, Bureau of Immigration (BI), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police, among others.

Cruz added that the DFA’s office in Parañaque City alone has prevented 58 attempts from foreigners trying to get their hands on Philippine passports.

“What we can assure you is that our colleagues here, in the Office of Consular Affairs, are being very very careful in ensuring that only legitimate, qualified applicants can avail Philippine passports. Only Filipinos,” Cruz stressed.

In November, Senator Risa Hontiveros said that her team is looking into the supposed scheme of foreigners paying up to P500,000 to obtain a Philippine passport.

According to the DFA, it issued a total of 3,179,842 passports in 2023.