THE Department of Foreign Affairs will start distributing new electronic passports on Monday and said the new design is untamperable and “one of the most secure” passports in the world, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said Thursday.
Although there are no incident of fake passport production, Jose said that this help enhance the integrity of this 44-page passbook.
“Ever since we introduced this e-passport it has become more secured. We have to maintain the integrity of the passport,” Jose told reporters in a press conference.
The maroon-color passport contains a drawing of the Philippine eagle, the Banaue Rice Terraces, Mayon Volcano and a line of the Philippine national anthem written in each page of the booklet.
“From Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao. They have unique images,” Jose said, adding the passports also contain enhanced security features, such invisible UV fluorescent ink and thread, and upgraded microchip.
He assured the public that they can still use the old passport until it expired. “The validity of the passport is still five years,” Jose added.
He added that the proposed 10-year expiration period is up to Congress to approve and if it is, they will add more pages and produce a new one.
Jose said the cost remains at P950 for regular processing while P1,200 for express.
The DFA has embarked on producing the electronic passport in 2009 under the Arroyo administration as part of the commitment to the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to computerize travel documents.
The first contract of E-passport was with French firm Oberthur Technologies which partnered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for the printing of the e-passport.
Then Foreign secretary Albert del Rosario, meanwhile, signed a new contract in 2015 with state- owned printing firm APO Production Unit to handle the production of the e-passport.
However, Del Rosario and former foreign secretary Alberto Romulo are facing graft charges before the Ombudsman for the supposedly overpriced e-passport.
The Anti-Trapo Movement filed the complaint before the Ombudsman and claimed that Romulo and Del Rosario violated the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in connection with the implementation of the e-passport and machine readable passport and visa projects.
ATM said APO has no track record for printing security documents, operating with an outdated printing equipment and is not even considered a top commercial printer.
To make up for its shortcomings, APO entered into a third party contract with United Graphics Expression for the lease of its state-of-the-art printing equipment in Malvar, Batangas.
UGEC is a private printing company that specializes in packaging materials, ads and promos and collaterals. It has a huge printing facility in Dasmariñas, Cavite.