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Ex-DFA chief Del Rosario denies irregularity in contract with new passport producer


Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on Thursday denied allegations that the agency entered into an anomalous deal with a new passport producer, saying such move was vetted by appropriate government agencies before the contract was signed last year.

The DFA officially transferred the production of e-passports to APO Production Unit, one of the three authorized government printers, in October 2015 through a memorandum of agreement, after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas informed the department that it no longer wishes to continue printing the passports.

A graft case was filed against Del Rosario and several other individuals at the DFA with the Office of the Ombudsman by anti-corruption watchdog, Anti-Trapo Movement (ATM), for awarding the passport printing contract with APO.

Del Rosario was DFA chief from 2011 to March 2016.

“I understand the reputation of the DFA is being tarnished because of two allegations,” Del Rosario told journalists at the sidelines of a South China Sea forum in Manila.

“Why is the DFA being pilloried, why is our reputation being tarnished? I’m not with the DFA anymore, but I feel for the people there who are saying morale is so low because of this allegation that it’s the DFA that is overcharging the people for these passports.”

Del Rosario defended the transfer to APO, saying there was nothing irregular with it.

He said the law stipulates that Philippine passports can only be produced or sourced from three authorized government printers – BSP, National Printing Office (NPO) and APO Production Unit.

“We can show you documentation that the BSP officially told us that they officially don’t want to do that anymore that we have to look for another provider,” Del Rosario explained.

“[The] NPO told us ‘No, we are not interested,’ so the only one that stepped us is APO. So we worked with APO and we got other agencies in terms of vetting the capability and the contractual provisions and making sure that we are signing a contract that was clearly to the advantage of our people,” Del Rosario said.

Del Rosario noted the DFA does not have the capacity to draft and negotiate contracts so it went out to “corresponding experts in the government to help us.”

“So we signed this contract that was approved by all government  agencies that looked at it and recommended it. We signed it with APO,” he said.

In the same complaint, a third-party contractor to APO is also being questioned for not providing a cost effective service to the government printer.

Del Rosario said the DFA has nothing to do with the APO contractor.

“I think whoever is making these allegations should look into the details of what transpired here and he will come into the conclusion that we have nothing to do with this third-party contractor, that we signed a contract with APO and that this was vetted by all appropriate government agencies.” — RSJ, GMA News

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