PNP open to help DFA on passport data mess

PNP chief, Director General Oscar Albayalde, considered the incident a threat to national security as well as to the identities of Filipinos. (File Photo: Philippine National Police/Facebook)

MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) is willing to assist the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on the alleged passport data mess involving a former contractor, Director General Oscar Albayalde said Monday.

PNP chief, Director General Oscar Albayalde, considered the incident a threat to national security as well as to the identities of Filipinos.

“Not only threat to national security but also on the threat of our identities na napakaraming Pilipino na kumuha ng passport nandun lahat ang iyong information (A lot of Filipinos who obtained their passports before because all of their information is there). That is one threat,” he told reporters during the press briefing at Camp Crame.

He said the PNP’s Anti-Cybercrime Group, the Information Technology Management Service, Directorate for Information and Communications Technology Management, and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group can assist with DFA’s passport data breach.

“We still have no initial coordination with DFA. Probably, they are trying to resolve this on their level so we don’t want to join the investigation unless the DFA will ask for our assistance,” Albayalde said.

On Wednesday, DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted that the previous contractor has made inaccessible the data it was entrusted to after its printing contract was terminated.

Before the contract for the production of Philippine electronic passports was awarded to the APO Production Unit Inc. (APUI), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), through French firm Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciare, had been printing passport booklets.