(Eagle News)–Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Tuesday, Jan. 15, clarified the data of passport applicants at the Department of Foreign Affairs was merely “made inaccessible” by former contractor Oberthur Technologies.
Locsin issued the clarification after he said the former contractor “ran away” with all data after the contract with the firm was terminated.
Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, however, said what Locsin said was impossible, as Oberthur complied with its contractual obligations when APO Production Unit came into the picture under then-President Benigno Aquino III’s term.
“Data is not run-away-able but made inaccessible. Access denied,” Locsin said in a Tweet.
He said although APO was able to access the data from Oberthur, this was of “not much use” and there were “parts corrupted.”
The National Privacy Commission is conducting a probe into the incident.
The Palace said it would also ask the DFA, the Presidential Communications Operations Office and one of the private firms to explain the passport data mess.
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