Two lawmakers have sought to criminalize the act of confiscating or withholding a person’s passport without any legal authority, with proposed penalties ranging from six to 12 years imprisonment and fine amounting to P1 million to P2 million.
The proposal is embodied in House Bill 6201, or the proposed “Illegal Withholding of Passport Act of 2015,” principally authored by Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City) and his younger brother Rep. Maximo B. Rodriguez Jr. (Party-list, Abante Mindanao) seeks to protect the rights and promote the welfare of every person, especially the overseas Filipino worker.
The elder Rodriguez said many OFWs suffer from the unfair act of their passports being illegally withheld or retained either by the workers’ recruitment agencies here in the country or their employers overseas for various reasons.
“The unauthorized withholding of passports of our OFWs is a form of coercion that needs to be criminalized in order to afford full protection to our OFWs, who we consider to be our modern-day heroes,” Rodriguez, a lawyer, said.
In recognition of the unique situation faced by OFWs, Rodriguez, a former immigration commissioner, said the bill provides for its extraterritorial application and mechanism for any person, who has personal knowledge of the commission of any offense under the proposed Act, to file the appropriate complaint.
“With these two mechanisms in place, our OFWs and their respective families would not be left without a remedy to enforce their rights under the law,” said Rodriguez.
Under Republic Act 8239, otherwise known as the “Philippine Passport Act of 1996,” a passport is a document issued by the government to its citizens, its issuance of which is equivalent to a request to other governments to allow Philippine citizens to pass safely and freely, and in case of need, to give them lawful aid and protection.
More importantly, Rodriguez said a passport is a proclamation of the citizenship of a Filipino, hence, it is a document superior to all other official documents such that its unauthorized withholding or retention brings untold hardships to its holder whose mobility and capacity to transact are greatly impaired.
HB 6201 declares that the State shall endeavor to protect the OFW from all threats and coercion done through the confiscation, retention, or withholding of the OFW’s Philippine passport, which is considered the property of the State.
The bill provides any person who confiscates, retains, or withholds, without any legal authority, any valid Philippine passport issued to an OFW shall be guilty of the crime of “Illegal Withholding of Passport.”
Moreover, the act of withholding or denying passports or travel documents from applicant workers before departure, for monetary or financial considerations, or for any other reasons other than those authorized under the Labor Code and its implementing rules and regulations, shall continue to be considered as “illegal recruitment” and be penalized as such crime under Section 6 (k) and Section 7, respectively, of Republic Act 8042, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, as amended by RA 10022.
Under the measure, any person found guilty of the crime of “Illegal Withholding of Passport” under Section 4 of the Act shall be penalized with imprisonment ranging from six years and one day, to 12 years, and a fine amounting to P1 million to P2 million, the bill provides.
If the offender is an alien in the Philippine territory, he or she shall, in addition to the penalties prescribed above, be deported after serving the sentence and be permanently barred from entering the country.
If the offender is a corporation, partnership, association, or any juridical person, then the penalty shall be imposed upon the president, partner, manager, and/or any responsible officer of the organization who directly participated in the commission of the violation of the Act or who knowingly permitted its commission or who, having knowledge of the perpetration of the violation of the Act, allowed its perpetuation and continuance.
In every case, the criminal conviction of the liable officer or officers shall cause and carry the automatic revocation of the business license and/or special certificate of accreditation or certificate of registration of the corporation, partnership, association or juridical person.
The provisions of the proposed Act shall be enforced not only within the Philippines but also outside its territory, whether or not the act or acts constitute an offense at the place of commission, except to the extent that this may be limited by treaty obligations.
If the prohibited act is committed outside Philippine territory, the Regional Trial Court, where the criminal action is first filed, shall take cognizance of the case to the exclusion of all other courts, HB 6201 states.