20 August 2013 - A team of participants from the Philippines, led by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Office of Consular Affairs Executive Director Wilfredo Santos, successfully attended the workshop on Passport Fraud Detection at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Bangkok, Thailand.
The workshop was held from August 13 to 15.
The team was composed of representatives from the DFA, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the Bureau of Immigration. Other delegations participating in the course were from Indonesia, Thailand and, Laos.
The workshop included various topics and exercises geared towards improving the participants’ knowledge and skills in Passport Fraud Detection, as well as provided avenues for the sharing of best practices, policies, and infrastructure in addressing the issue of passport fraud.
The Philippine delegation actively participated and took the lead in the discussions and activities and DFA Office of Consular Affairs Executive Director Santos was selected as class representative.
In his address to the class, he noted that the seminar was a welcome opportunity for all concerned agencies in the Southeast Asian region to enhance their knowledge and skills in detecting passport fraud. He emphasized that it is necessary to strengthen efforts in combating passport fraud due to its strong correlation to illegal activities and transnational crime.
Executive Director Santos added that through capacity building programs and sharing of best practices on this issue, Southeast Asian governments take one step towards securing their borders and preserving the integrity of their passports and travel documents.
The course was the first of its kind conducted for Asian participants under the ILEA program, sponsored and presented by the United States Department of State.
ILEA-Bangkok was established through a cooperative endeavor between the United States of America and Thailand in 1998, and has since then conducted training programs for law enforcement officers in Southeast Asia. END