MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) should file a case against its former outsourced passport maker for supposedly taking all applicants’ data after its services were terminated.
Sen. Franklin Drilon said in a radio interview that the former outsourced passport maker should also be compel to return the applicants’ data it stolen since it was part of public record.
“Dapat sampahan ng kaso (ng DFA) kung ‘di isasauli ng dating service contractor to compel that company to return the records. Public record po ito,” the Ilonggo senator said.
He added: “We should compel the contractor to return this data. Ito ay pag-aari ng gobyerno, public record. Wala silang karapatang panghawakan ito. It will cause inconvenience dahil sa mga magre-renew uulitin na naman.”
“I don’t want to comment on (DFA’s) liability dahil ‘di ko alam ang nangyari. Ang nabasa ko lang ‘di isinauli ng service contractor. Bawal sa batas na hawakan ‘yan at may sapat na batayan na kasuhan ang service contractor,” Drilon stressed.
DFA secretary Toedoro Locsin Jr. on Saturday said those who will renew their passports were required to bring their birth certificates after DFA’s outsourced passport maker “took all” the data of passport holders.
The submission of birth certificates is being required only for those renewing the older Machine Readable Ready Passports (MRRP) and Machine Readable Passports (MRP) issued before e-passports were first rolled out in 2009.
Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said there is nothing to be worry about with the stealing of passport holders’ data as he is confident that Locsin is on top of the situation.
“Palagay ko hindi naman dapat ikabahala pero dapat ikainis,” Sotto said. “Hindi naman naaalarma si Secretary Locsin kung…hindi naman siya maalaarma eh. Parang naiinis lang siya eh, di ba? Parang bakit pinagkakait ‘yung mga data eh.”
“Tingin ko makukuha natin ‘yun, di maaaring hindi. Magkakaproblema sila,” added Sotto, who also said that the former outsourced passport maker should better return what it stolen to avoid complications./PN
