30 December 2014

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) wishes to set straight some of the points raised in the article “Passport printing woes,” published yesterday, December 29, by Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Biz Buzz column: 

1. There is no existing deal between the DFA and a private entity that will expire on 31 December 2014. Technical support is in place for the e-Passport system and it will continue during the lifetime of the said system.

2. The technology being used is not 1990s-era programming. A special software is being used for the e-Passport system which is current and secure.

3. Manual intervention on the data page is not possible. The software being used was designed to secure personal data from the point of capture to the personalization site.

In fine, the DFA assures that there will be no service disruption in the issuance of passports after 31 December 2014. END