SEN. Imee Marcos yesterday called for an investigation into how foreign workers, mostly employed by Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) outlets, have been able to obtain legitimate government-issued identification cards and pushed for sanctions against those involved in the modus.
In an interview with Teleradyo Serbisyo, Marcos said the investigation should focus on the reported rampant selling of Philippine passports, and IDs issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA or the Philippine Identification System ID cards), the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), among others.
She stressed it is time to put an end to the unlawful activity, which she lamented has made the Philippines a “playground of criminal syndicates.”
“Maganda bang pakinggan na ang Pilipinas ay playground ng lahat ng krimen sa mundo?
Parating Pilipinas ang starring sa krimen ang sagwa eh (Is it good to hear that the Philippines is a playground of all crimes in the world? Philippines is always the ‘star’ in crimes, and it not good),” Marcos said.
Marcos made the call after the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission earlier said that a certain group provides authentic government-issued IDs to foreign workers of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs). The PAOCC did not give details as to the group.
The PAOCC is part of the combined government agencies which recently raided a POGO building in Pasay City and discovered a torture chamber and a sex hub, among others. The raiding team likewise confiscated several government-issued IDs in the POGO hub, among them BIR and PhilHealth IDs.
Marcos said that while the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has assured that stricter regulations will be implemented on Internet Gaming Licensees, the new name for POGOs, illegal activities still occur.
She said authorities should “once and for all” go all out against syndicates behind the unlawful acts.
“Tignan natin kasi ang mga regulasyon, hihigpitan daw, babaguhin. Pero ang nakikita natin mismo, pareho pa rin, pareho pa rin ang mga pangalan, mga lisensiya. Ano ang nagbago diyan? Baka nagbago lang ang inaabutan (Let us take a look at the regulations. They said it will stricter, it will change. But what we see is the same operation itself, the same name, same licenses. What’s the change there? Maybe the change they are saying is the people they are paying off),” she said.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, on the other hand, said senators can recall and reconsider the approval of the more than P24 billion proposed budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for 2024 to get into the bottom of the reported issuance of Philippine passports to foreigners who pretend to be Filipinos.
Dela Rosa said senators can require the DFA to submit a position paper on the issue and discuss this in plenary, then come up with a consensus on how to address the matter.
The senator made the proposal after the Senate on Thursday recalled the approval of the proposed 2024 of the PSA, which was already endorsed on Wednesday, after senators learned that the agency allegedly issued authentic birth certificates to foreigners which enabled them to get Philippine passports.
Dela Rosa said the same can be done with the proposed budget of the DFA.
“Pinapa-recall ang budget ng PSA although nakapasa na. Pinabalik niya, pinapasalang ulit.
Pwede rin natin gawin ‘yan sa DFA kung sakaling hindi tayo satisfied sa gagawin nilang position paper tungkol sa kanilang actions taken (The PSA budget was recalled even if it was already deemed submitted for plenary approval. The senators want to review it again.
We can also do that (with the DFA budget) if we are not satisfied with its position paper on the actions taken),” Dela Rosa said.
The DFA proposed budget was approved by the Committee on Finance last September. The following month, the Bureau of Immigration disclosed in a budget hearing that its agents intercepted 10 foreigners for using Philippine passports even if they do not look like or speak Filipino.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the DFA was the issuing authority of the Philippine passports found in the possession of the foreigners.
Senate president pro tempore Loren Legarda, sponsor of the DFA budget, read the official statement of the agency on the issue, which stated: “Foreign nationals pose themselves as Filipinos by issuing Filipino identities through the presentation of authentic and genuine birth certificates, with valid government-issued ID cards that are accepted for passport application.”
She said the foreign nationals also pretend to be persons with disabilities and were accompanied by “relatives” in applying for passports.
Senate majority leader Joel Villanueva said the DFA’s initial findings indicated that the documents were verified by the PSA. He then moved to recall the PSA budget.
“I will make a formal move to reconsider the submission of the budget of the Philippine Statistics Authority and direct the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office to issue the necessary notice and inform the body of the schedule of the PSA budget discussion,” Villanueva said.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri has directed either the Blue Ribbon Committee or the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs to investigate the matter.
Zubiri said he got information from the National Bureau of Investigation that a civil registry in a town in the Caraga region has been giving out birth certificates to several Chinese who do not speak English or any Filipino language.
Sen. Francis Tolentino, in an interview with radio dzBB on Sunday, said foreigners having Philippine passports is a national security concern.
“National security concern po iyon. Pwede rin sila kumuha ng gun license, pwede rin sila kumuha ng permit to carry. So, hindi natin alam saan patungo iyon (It is a national security concern. They can get gun licenses, they can get permit to carry [firearms outside of residence]. So, we cannot really tell where this will go),” Tolentino said.
He said foreigners having authentic government-issued IDs can also avail of free government medical care which is not good since the country’s resources should be exclusively given to Filipinos.
“So not just bordering on national security concern pero pati yung resources po na dapat nasa ating mga kababayan eh napupunta na rin sa kanila, kaagaw pa sila. So, maraming implication, maraming consequences sa pagkakaroon ng ganyang dokumento, (So, it’s not just bordering on national security concern, but it also involves our resources which should be for Filipinos which these foreigners partake. So, it has several implications, so many consequences in having those kinds of documents),” he added.
Tolentino, chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee, said he is open to investigate the matter even as he said that a syndicate could be behind these illegal activities.
