Sun.Star: Identity theft in RP passport prompts Israel to bar Pinoy

CLARK FREEPORT -- A top official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) here said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is now looking into many cases of Filipino passport holders with false identities. DFA Regional Director Ernesto Belardo revealed that several cases of persons who were able to obtain Philippine passports with false identities, despite stringent measures imposed by the agency's personnel on thousands of passport applicants at his office. This after retired banker Ricardo Miranda, a 51-year-old volunteer for Gawad Kalinga in the City of San Fernando, was denied entry to Israel last September 12 in the course of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Miranda related his "harrowing experience" as he was escorted by armed Israeli policemen to the Taba border after he was denied entry to Israel. The denial was based on records in the Israeli immigration office that a person sporting his identity had overstayed in Israel and had to be deported in January 2001. Miranda said he was with a group of about 55 tourists from Pampanga who joined a package tour to the Holy Land as arranged by a local travel agency. They landed in Cairo, Egypt last September 9. On September 12, the group, on board a bus, headed to Israel where they were to pass an immigration check at the Taba border. At the Israeli immigration office, about 50 meters from the border, a female Israeli immigration official told Miranda that in January 2001, a man using his name - including his middle initial - and birth date was deported from Israel for overstaying. The Israeli official also noted that both Miranda and the deportee had listed Horacio as the first names of their fathers. Because of the incident, Miranda was denied entry. He said the experience was also embarrassing as he was escorted like a criminal to the border where he was abandoned without any assistance. "What worries me now is that the person who used my identity could be traveling in other parts of the world and this could again get me into trouble. I also think the government should look into such anomalies because I don't want others to experience what I did in Isreal," Miranda said. Miranda even produced his Philippine passports covering the period from 1991 to January 2001 which indicated that he was in the Philippines at the time his namesake was deported from Israel. His wife, who also was in the pilgrimage and was not denied entry, opted to accompany him on the way back to Cairo. "We were escorted to the border where there were hardly any people. We were left on our own as the tourist guide from Cairo had already left and the tourist guide from Isreal had to go with my group," he said. Miranda said he and his wife pleaded to a taxi driver to take them back to Cairo about 430 kilometers back through a desert. "We agreed on US$150 for the fare, but when we reached Cairo, we were so glad for our safety that we gave the driver a little extra," he recalled. "As the taxi drove us through the darkness of the desert, we did nothing but pray the rosary for our safety," Miranda said. The couple cut short their trip and was back in their home in the City of San Fernando last Sunday. Identity theft Belardo said that the DFA has been monitoring cases of stolen identities, specially those used in passports. "We already have sought the help of the NBI on such cases," he said, even as he advised Miranda to formally file a complaint with his office which had issued Miranda’s passport. "Some applicants falsify their identities, while there are others who actually allow other persons to use their identities in passports so they could cheat on age so as to land jobs abroad," he noted. Miranda went to the Israeli Embassy in Manila last Tuesday to air his complaint. Embassy officials forwarded his complaint to Tel Aviv. - Sun.Star