Passport data loss could've been prevented if BSP, NPO did the printing —Bayan Muna

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate and chairman Neri Colmenares believe that the passport data loss incident involving a passport maker previously tapped by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) could have been prevented had government entities like Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) or the National Printing Office did the printing.

"Ito kasi ang hirap kapag sinu-subcontract sa mga private corporations ang mahahalagang gawain na gobyerno lang dapat ang gumagawa," Colmenares said in a statement on Monday.

"Ngayon ay nasa panganib ng identity theft ang mga kababayan nating nakuhanan ng kanilang personal data," he added.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. explained that the reason why DFA is requiring passport holders to submit their birth certificates in renewing their passports was because the passport maker took all the data when its contract was terminated.

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. shared his knowledge on the issue, saying that the DFA in October 2015 awarded the contract for the printing of the e-passports to APO Production Unit Inc. (APUI), which then "subcontracted" it to United Graphic Expression Corporation (UGEC).

This, however, is in violation of the provisions for the awarding of the contract to APUI, which stipulated that the agency could not subcontract the project to a private company.

Zarate himself filed House Resolution 1608 which seeks to investigate the passport anomalies under the DFA, which includes the joint venture agreement between the APUI and UGEC.

Under the agreement, UGEC is mandated to print 3.4 million passports per year, yet it is no longer using abaca component for security paper.

Aside from this, UGEC was also reportedly running out of paper, which then slows down its production of passports.

“The removal of the abaca material is not only a possible contractual violation but may also compromise the security and reliability of UGEC-printed passports,” Zarate said.

Zarate said that Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo had already commented that the agreement between APUI and DFA for the passport project was "questionable" after the former subcontracted it to UGEC.

It was also reported that APUI and DFA "rescinded" the agreement, Zarate added, and that the BSP agreed to resume the printing under a new contract, but UGEC was still doing the printing of e-passports.

"So it imperative that DFA Sec. Teddy Boy Locsin should participate at the Congress hearings investigating the issue because there may be some very serious security implications that may be unearthed," Zarate said. —KBK, GMA News