DFA blocked 171 passport applications of ‘questionable nationalities’

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) thumbed down the passport applications of 171 “questionable nationalities.”

At Senate on the 2025 budget of DFA, Sen. Loren Legarda asked officials about measures against foreigners getting Philippine passports.

“Since November last year, we were able to prevent the application of questionable nationalities applying for a Philippine passport.

More than 171 attempts were prevented from the Office of the Consular Affairs,” DFA Assistant Secretary Adelio Cruz said.

Some of these nationals had a genuine birth certificate while others were fake. All of them had delayed registration of births.

The Senate investigation into former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo’s probe into Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) has been a hotbed of concerns. One of them was the legitimacy of Philippine IDs liks the birth certificate and passport. Cruz said that they are coordinating with Philippine Statistics Authority, the Bureau of Immigration and more about these questionable applications.

“We have already submitted 71 cases to the National Bureau of Investigation,” Cruz said.

The DFA also canceled the fraudulent passports of 66 foreign nationals.

These foreigners attempted to acquire the passports from different areas, including the DFA Aseana, the main headquarters.

Once a questionable attempt is flagged, their biometrics are taken and input into the system to prevent them from trying again.

Legarda said that the DFA should immediately refer to law enforcement agencies once they flag these cases. Cruz said that they are working on a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine National Police to enable them to easily coordinate such cases.