DFA trains personnel in fingerprint identification

As part of its efforts to combat fraud, the Department of Foreign Affairs' (DFA) Office of Consular Affairs has enhanced training for its personnel in "dactyloscopy" or the science of fingerprint identification. Some 30 members of the DFA-OCA attended the training led by the Inter-Agency Committee against Passport Irregularities (ICPI), the DFA said. "From this pool of trainees, a core group will be formed to strengthen the Anti-Fraud and Investigation Unit of DFA-OCA's Passport Division," the DFA said in a news release on its website. The DFA noted the first batch of 30 trainees are directly in charge of the evaluation and processing of passport applications and printing of passports. National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Dactyloscopy Division chief Alfredo Kahanding is leading the conduct of the trainings. The NBI is a member agency of the ICPI. According to the DFA, the skills taught to the DFA-OCA personnel include how to properly take fingerprints from live and dead people, how to analyze these and determine a perfect fingerprints match. ePassport system Last year, the DFA introduced the electronic passport (ePassport) system, which contains the biometric data such as fingerprints, digital photo and signature of passport holders. The ePassport system can detect passport applications filed under two or more different names, thus eliminating problems regarding assumed identities. Duplicate applications under different names that are detected by the system are validated by DFA staff for appropriate action. "The specialized skills acquired in this training by DFA-OCA personnel will be valuable not only in the Department's drive to safeguard the integrity of the Philippine passport but may also prove useful in their future work at Philippine Embassies and Consulates General when there is a need to identify victims of natural calamities, as in the case of Filipinos who perished in the New Zealand earthquake," the DFA noted. Fingerprints taken from these victims can be matched with the fingerprints in DFA's passport database to determine their identities, it noted. The DFA said its OCA looks at these trainings also as a means to professionalize its personnel and meet the demands of a work environment that is getting more and more sophisticated. "Enhancing the capability of DFA's personnel to detect fraud is also crucial in addressing related issues such as border management, human trafficking and anti-terrorism," it said. – VVP, GMA News