What started when Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teddy Locsin said he was puzzled with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) policy requiring the birth certificate for passport renewals exploded into something much bigger.
It opened up the "mystery of the missing passport data" and even more.
It all began with a Twitter exchange with an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who encountered a problem renewing his passport, Locsin questioned why it is necessary for applicants to submit their birth certificates when renewing their passports.
Locsin then directed his questions to Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato asking, “Isn’t the expired passport sufficient ID? How many times do you have to prove you are what the State declared you are in the expired passports?”
“Why even need to show a birth certificate when he is holding a government-issued passport that’s expired and he wants it renewed,” Locsin added.
Then Cato, in a series of now-deleted tweets, explained that the birth certificate requirement would allow the department to capture additional data, particularly from those who have yet to obtain an e-passport.
A few days later, on January 12, 2018, ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE when Locsin announced that the 'pissed' contractor 'took all' passport data.... and without missing a beat, Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros took advantage of the situation.
Huh? Duh Riza, WTF?
Out of nowhere, Risa Hontiveros said the Duterte administration "owes the entire country an explanation" over the stolen data.
Teka... wait lang Riza. Let's backtrack a little bit.
Background of the problem:
On August 1, 2006 the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) entered into a Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA) covering the procurement and centralized production of Machine Readable Electronic Passports or MREPs in compliance with the standards required by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Then the BSP awarded through bidding the main part of the project to Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciare (FCOF) of France through its Philippine Office in Makati.
Philippine passports have long been produced at the security printing plant of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in Quezon City.
This is when the problem began.
It all began in October 5, 2015 under the administration of President Noynoy Aquino and his Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario.
On October 5, 2015, "Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciare's contract" with BSP was still subsisting then the DFA violated their contract.
Although the Machine Readable Electronic Passports made by Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciare continued to be fully compliant with the standards of International Civil Aviation Organization, the DFA awarded the production of a new E-Passport system to APO Production Unit Inc.
The DFA, therefore, a breached its contract with Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciare.
‘Fishy’ P8-B DFA Contract Bared
As early as June 20, 2015, the www.manilatimes.net published an article titled ‘Fishy’ P8-B DFA Contract Bared wherein Akbayan party-list Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez questioned the awarding by the DFA of the contract to the APO Production Unit Inc, a government-controlled corporation.
Gutierrez said he is puzzled as to why the DFA awarded the printing contract to APO considering that Philippine passports have long been produced at the security printing plant of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in Quezon City which is technically equipped to handle the printing of bank notes, documents and forms that need security features.
What?!? APO Production Unit Inc. outsourced the printing!
Why did the DFA under then Secretary of Foreign Affairs Del Rosario transfer the printing to APO which could not print the passports and had to subcontract the printing to another party?
According to www.manilatimes.net article, Gutierrez claimed that APO virtually admitted that it could not handle the job and outsourced the printing to United Graphic Expression (UGEC), a private commercial printer.
In the Facebook post of former Secretary of Foreign Affairs Perfect Yasay, he said "...no part of the contract can be subcontracted or assigned to a private printer. In stark violation of this condition APUI engaged the services of the United Graphic Expression Corporation (UGEC) for the production of the new E-passports.
Done without bidding
As Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez said, “DFA’s awarding of the e-passport printing contract to the APO Production Unit...were all done without the benefit of public bidding"
Gutierrez asked, "What is the reason for all the haste and the secrecy? Why did the DFA suddenly agree to transfer the production of the country’s passports to the APO Production Unit, a private firm that has no established track record for printing security documents?”
Back to Senator Riza Hontiveros.
The Senator demanded that "Duterte owes the entire country an explanation". Shouldn't she be saying "PNoy owes the whole country an explanation"?
The timing of the sudden change of printer FRANCOIS-CHARLES OBERTHUR FIDUCIARE / BSP to APO raises a lot of questions especially since 2016 was an election year.
It reminds me of the curious case of the Dengvaxia where there also seemed to be a rush in implementing the program.
Hmmmm.... I am really wondering.
https://am-i-right-rightttt.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-dfa-passport-data-scandal-has-eerie.html?fbclid=IwAR3saYgDs5vLMs2KYkcWROTg5q8CFAoxUXY5LAGVKIqkHN-bxlsqv6kBm2I
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