House probe sought on passport service outsourcing in 3 countries
A PARTY-LIST group has filed a resolution seeking an investigation on the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) outsourcing of passport services to a third party in three countries, citing it is against the law and costs more for applicants.
Bayan Muna filed House Resolution 2475 last Friday, which calls on the House of Representatives to probe DFA’s contract with BLS International Services for passport processing in Italy, Malaysia and Qatar.
The contract is under the department’s e-Passport Renewal Center (e-PaRC) project.
The resolution, introduced by Bayan Muna Representatives Ferdinand R. Gaite, Carlos Isagani T. Zarate and Eufemia C. Cullamat, cites objections raised by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in November last year when embassies announced the outsourcing plan.
“(T)he outsourcing of consular services clearly puts an additional burden on our OFWs, as well as other Filipino migrants in Italy, who are now suffering from pandemic-induced economic hardships,” the resolution read.
The solons also said that outsourcing consular services violate parts of the Philippine Passport Act of 1996 or Republic Act 8239, which does not allow any private company or person to be authorized to issue passports.
The Bayan Muna representatives suggested that the government should instead hire more workers for the embassy and to improve office systems.
“Instead of privatizing a government service like passport renewal, the OFWs sought additional employees and a more efficient system in consular offices to expedite and improve the services for Filipino compatriots abroad,” the resolution said. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan
