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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Sec Remulla bares plan to have a global firm, no longer DFA, to issue visas to Chinese entering PH

Sec Remulla bares plan to have a global firm, no longer DFA, to issue visas to Chinese entering PH

Published Nov 20, 2023 09:59 am

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla on Monday, Nov. 20, disclosed a plan to have a global outsourding and technology services firm, Visa Facilitation Services (VFS), to handle the issuance of visas to Chinese nationals coming to the Philippines instead of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Remulla cited issues on national security with China and the continued human trafficking of Chinese nationals to the Philippines.

Wikipedia says: :"VFS Global is an outsourcing and technology services company for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide. The company manages visa and passport issuance-related administrative and non-discretionary tasks for its client governments."

In a press briefing, Remulla said: “Sinisikap namin pag-aralan muli o review ‘yung visa issuing system natin (We are trying to review our visa issuing system)."

“Itutulak muli ng ating gobyerno sa Pangulo na huwag na DFA ang maghandle ng visas papasok dito galing China kundi gawin na VFS na merong kakayanan na tingnan kung totoo o hindi ‘yung mga submission ng data ng mga nag-aapply ng visa (We will again push before the President that the DFA no longer handle the issuance of visas for those in China and instead VFS be the one because it is capable of verifying the documents submitted by applicants," Remulla said. 

He lamented that the DFA has no capability to verify the documents submitted by visa applicants.

“Kaya lumulusot ang maraming pekeng credentials at napupuno tayo ng mga taong hindi natin gusto pumasok dito (That’s why there are fake credentials that get through and our country gets filled with people we do not want),” he said.

“Marami d’yan pumasok sa pamamagitan ng kumpanya ‘yun pala non-existent ‘yung kumpanya (There are many instances where they get into the Philippines through non-existent companies),” he cited.

He pointed out that the proposal is nothing new and has been discussed before with DFA Secretary Enrique A. Manalo

“Sinabi kasi ng DICT na sila muna ang mag-uusap ng DFA pero wala nangyari (The Department of Information and Communication Technology asked that it be the one to talk to the DFA but nothing came out of it),” Remulla recounted.

If VFS is the one to verify the visa applicants, he said “napakadaling ivalidate lang sa loob ng Tsina (it is for it to validate inside China).”

VFS, he said, "is the largest third party service visa issuance provider in the world”  and has been in existence for about 30 years.

He cited that many countries including those in Europe have been using VFS.

“Mas strikto sila at mas navavalidate nila kung totoo ‘yung mga nakatala sa talaan ng mga requirement na hinihingi ng bawat bansa (It is stricter and it can validate the requirements submitted by the applicants as required by the countries),” he said.

Meanwhile, Remulla said there is an ongoing investigation on how unqualified Chinese nationals got their hands on Philippine visas.

He expressed suspicion that there are people inside the Bureau of Immigration (BI) who are involved and warned them.

“Kataksilan sa bayan (They are betraying the country),” he declared.

 

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