Bertiz: No need for Congress inquiry into supposed passport data breach
Published January 17, 2019 5:21pm
By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News
ACTS OFW party-list Representative
John Bertiz III on Thursday said there is no need for an investigation at the
House of Representatives into the supposed passport data breach at the
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
In a media forum, Bertiz said that instead
of an investigation, the House could just look back to the recommendations they
gave after their inquiry into the delay in the release of passports and make
sure that they are being implemented.
"Huwag na nating imbestigahan
'yun kasi meron namang House resolution and recommendations sa Congress,"
Bertiz told reporters.
"Since meron nang House
resolution na inilabas ng Kongreso, balikan na lang natin kung ito ay
naipapatupad o kung ano na ba 'yung roll-out plans ng DFA tungkol dito sa House
resolution na ito," he said.
At the same time, Bertiz said the
National Privacy Commission is already conducting its own investigation into
the issue.
Bertiz said that in 2016, he filed
House Resolution 646 seeking an inquiry into the delays in the issuance of passports
to Filipino applicants and the utilization of the passport revolving fund.
After almost a year of inquiry,
Bertiz said the Committee on Foreign Affairs came up with a number of
recommendations, including implementing an e-payment system for passport
processing; increasing the budget of the DFA and adding more consular offices;
and enacting a law that mandates the government to do the printing of
passports.
"We gave several recommendations
sa resolution na 'yan, at 'yun ang babalikan natin," Bertiz said.
The Gabriela Women's Party on
Tuesday filed a resolution seeking to
investigate the supposed passport data breach, citing the
possible violation of the right to privacy of the passport holders.
In the Senate, at least two resolutions also
seeking a probe have been filed, authored by Senators Antonio
Trillanes IV and Risa Hontiveros. — BM, GMA News
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