SEN. Nancy S. Binay has filed Senate Resolution 111 urging the chamber to investigate the alleged P200-million scam involving government officials and employees in the issuance of Philippine Hajj passports to foreigners.
Binay said the fraudulent processing and issuance of Hajj passports to non-Filipinos undermine national security and exposes the Philippines to increasing risk of terrorism.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) recently barred 177 Indonesians from leaving the country after they were found out with fraudulently obtained Philippine Hajj passports.
The Philippine passports were allegedly provided to the Indonesians by their Filipino escorts who organized the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
“It was reported that this elaborate scheme costs each Indonesian from $6,000 to $10,000 and, thus, may involve the greasing of hands inside relevant agencies with jurisdiction over the Hajj travelers,” Binay said.
Reports indicate that Philippine Hajj passports are being issued to other nationals for P25,000 each. The total amount would reach about P200 million.
The scheme is being facilitated by officials and employees, who would issue passports to foreigners to enable them to perform the Hajj, using the quota reserved for Filipino Muslims.
The government personnel would broker the special passport to foreign applicants, which would be endorsed to the consular office as Muslim Filipinos, reports said.
In 2013 the BI uncovered the racket of a Mindanao-based syndicate providing foreigners with Philippine passports after intercepting 22 Indonesians in Tawi-Tawi.
The Indonesians claimed that they wanted to acquire Philippine passports from the syndicate so they could avail themselves of the quota for the Mecca pilgrimage allotted to the Philippines.
“It is imperative for the Senate to conduct an investigation on the alleged involvement of government officials and employees in this corrupt practice,” Binay said.
Earlier, the Department of Justice has assigned 16 prosecutors to investigate the 177 Indonesians earlier caught by immigration authorities for illegal possession of Philippine passports while attempting to leave the country for Saudi Arabia to participate in the hajj to Mecca.
“We are getting their depositions-sworn statement before they are deported to Indonesia,” Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II told reporters.
Aguirre said Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva would supervise the taking of the depositions of the Indonesians.
The prosecutors have been tasked to determine how the said Indonesian managed to obtain Philippine passports.
The Indonesians told investigators that they arrived individually as tourists in the past few weeks before their pilgrimage was facilitated by their escorts.