Senate probe bares details of foreigner using ‘legit’ PH passport

Cases of a foreigner holding a legitimate Philippine passport and an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) being barred from leaving the country due to supposed identity theft were disclosed at a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation on Wednesday.

In her opening statement, Senator Pia Cayetano, chairperson of the Senate panel, revealed that a Vietnamese national was deported by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) after “being discovered in possession of a fraudulently obtained Philippine passport.”

The Philippine passport of alias “Nguyen” bore a name alongside her photo which was different when compared to her Vietnamese passport. The document, however, was “found to be genuine and duly issued” by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Cayetano said.

Also during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s own investigation into the foreigners who were able to obtain genuine Philippine passports, Cayetano said they stumbled upon the case of alias “Jane,” an OFW who was supposed to depart for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last January 25 this year but was barred from leaving the country after BI flagged her “inconsistent statements.”

Identity theft

Jane supposedly explained that her recruiter in Maguindanao changed her birthdate and altered her birth year from 1993 to 1990. She further claimed that she paid P1,5000 for a new birth certificate and the recruiter was said to have taken possession of her passport and other documents.

Cayetano said Jane’s recruiter blocked her off since their interaction in 2014.

The DFA and BI both confirmed that they are aware of the case of Jane.

“[Jane] is Pilipino naman talaga pero may gumamit ng identity niya, identity theft…In the first case, it appears to be a foreigner who now has found a way to obtain a Filipino passport…Those are two separate cases… Those are our very troublesome issues… Ang pinakamasakit is the question that I am about to raise: Nabebenta na ba ang Philippine citizenship? At magkano para maging Filipino citizen?” Cayetano asked.

“It’s sad that I have to ask that question, but that is the effect of what we are seeing. Nabebenta ang Philippine Citizenship,” she went on.

The Senate Blue Ribbon committee is investigating the alleged unauthorized proliferation and use of government documents by foreign nationals, such as certificates of live births, passports, and tax identification numbers.

The motu proprio investigation stemmed from the information revealed during the deliberations of the 2024 national budget that the BI had intercepted at least 10 foreigners for using Philippine passports even if they did not look or speak like Filipinos.

The DFA, the issuing authority of Philippine passports, earlier said that foreign nationals pose as Filipinos through “the presentation of authentic and genuine [Philippine Statistics Authority] birth certificate, with valid government-issued ID cards that are accepted for a passport application.”

The PSA revealed last year that at least 308 fake birth certificates were used for Philippine passport applications in 2023. —VAL, GMA Integrated News