Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that fake documents remain circulating.
Tansingco stated after receiving the report from the BI’s Anti-Fraud Section, which reported examining a total of 241 fraudulent and counterfeit documents for 2023.
Questioned documents examined by the BI’s forensic documents laboratory included birth and marriage certificates used for visa applications, as well as passports, visas, and immigration stamps used for international travel.
Tansingco lamented the continued proliferation of fake documents, saying that most of these come from fixers who promise to provide quick processing of applicants’ documents.
He warned that the BI has modern equipment at par with other immigration agencies worldwide that can detect fraud.
The BI Chief shared that they have procured 3 new video spectral comparators, which are used for advanced forensic-level document examination and can be used to check travel and identity documents, including passports, ID cards, visas, and permits.
Another two were earlier donated by the Australian Government through the Department of Home Affairs of the Australian Embassy.
“Apart from our immigration officers who are skilled in detecting fraud, fake documents can already be detected by our modern equipment,” said Tansingco. “Those who attempt to use spurious documents will definitely be intercepted,” he added.
QC prosecutor junks grave threats complain against ex-pres. Duterte
Quezon City prosecutors dismissed the grave complaint filed by a congressman against former President Rodrigo Duterte. According to the prosecutor, it appears that the said threat was not proven to be serious.
In the 14-page resolution of the QC Office of the City Prosecutor (OCP), it recommended that ACT Teachers party-list France Castro’s complaint against Duterte be dismissed due to the lack of sufficient evidence to take the complaint to court.
“After a careful and judicious evaluation of the allegations and evidence obtained in the complaint, the undersigned finds the same to be insufficient to indict respondents for the crime charged against him,” said the resolution.
Castro’s complaint stemmed from Duterte’s statement in November in an interview with Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) that he said: “I want to kill you communists” and “I told him [Vice President Sara Duterte ], just be honest. I will use this intelligence fund for the brains of Filipinos because this is my target, you communists in Congress. Frankly, that’s France Castro.”
For the prosecutor, based on the statement and words used by Duterte, the allegation of threats does not “convincingly establish that indeed respondent intended them to be taken seriously.”
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