The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) is ready to participate in any possible investigation that may arise should the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) pursue the filing of charges against foreigners who illegally obtain genuine Philippine passports.

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra noted that the issue of foreigners obtaining Philippine passports fraudulently “was not really a big one before” but seems to be getting worse over the years.

Guevarra acknowledged that if a syndicate is behind such illicit operation, then the government may need to form an inter-agency task force to fully work on the problem.

“I suppose that, I do not want to preempt the DFA, but in time, I’m sure that a certain task force may have to be created, to be composed not only by the DFA, but by other local enforcement agencies as well, and probably including also the OSG,” Guevarra told reporters at the sidelines of the Senate's plenary debates on the proposed 2024 national budget.

Guevarra also said the OSG is prepared to take the lead in filing the appropriate cases against the foreigners who, by fraud, will claim Philippine citizenship on the basis of a genuine Philippine passport.

“The cancellation of passport will be done administratively by the DFA, but when the issue goes deeper into a question of, for example, citizenship, na meron nang claim of citizenship on the basis of a genuine passport held, then it’s the OSG that will take the lead in filing the appropriate judicial action to question the citizenship of that person,” the Solicitor General said.

“And if that person, by fraud, was able to obtain Philippine citizenship, then that revocation of that citizenship will have to be initiated by the OSG as counsel for the state,” he added.

“We are ready for something like that. We have the necessary lawyers and ah solicitors to handle matters like this,” Guevarra also pointed out.

Nevertheless, he said it is up to the DFA to conduct the necessary investigation.

“And if the DFA believes that there’s a prima facie case based just on the face of the document, that is genuine, but obviously there are doubts as to his eligibility to possess a Filipino passport, then the appropriate investigation will be initiated initially by the DFA,” said Guevarra.

“And then, down the line, maybe the law enforcement agency, like the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), may have to be involved when an actual investigation is initiated by the DFA upon a complaint filed by any interested person,” he said.

Senators earlier sought the help of government intelligence agencies in chasing down those behind the fraudulent issuance of Philippine passports and other government-issued documents to Chinese nationals and other foreigners.

During Senate plenary debates into the proposed 2024 national budget, Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri urged the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and the National Security Council (NSC) to help track the involved corrupt government officials in the modus which could compromise the country’s national security.

Because according to the DFA, the foreigners were able to submit genuine birth certificates issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in applying for a passport.