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(Eagle News) — The Department of Foreign Affairs has asked the assistance of Indonesian authorities after the family of a Filipina who had only gone on vacation in Bali was reported missing by her family. In a statement, the DFA said the embassy in Indonesia filed a missing persons report for Ella Balmaceda Paaño, a resort worker at Coron. Earlier, Paaño’s sisters traveled to Manila from Camarines Sur to ask the DFA to help them locate […]
(Eagle News)–The remains of the newlyweds who drowned while on their honeymoon in the Maldives have been flown to Sri Lanka. In a statement on Wednesday, Jan. 16, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the remains of Leomer Lagradilla and his wife Erika left the Maldives on board a Sri Lankan Airlines flight for Colombo at 12:50 a.m. Tuesday, Manila time. The couple’s remains will be embalmed in the Asian country before they are flown […]
(Eagle News)– Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Tuesday, Jan. 15, said he would issue an order that would remove the submission of birth certificates as a requirement for passport renewals. “Old passport is more than sufficient,” Locsin said in a Tweet. According to Locsin, “in one hour, I will have the text of the order I’ve been dying to give to resolve a more (sic) blockage in passport processing system.” Locsin issued the […]
(Eagle News)—The Department of Foreign Affairs will shoulder the repatriation costs of the remains of the Filipino newlyweds who drowned while on their honeymoon in the Maldives. In a Facebook post, Nikko Quiogue, friend of victims Erika and Leomer Lagradilla, said the information was relayed to him by Leomer’s sister Mhapz, after the family met with Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. The DFA tweeted a picture of the meeting, tweeting alongside it Locsin’s condolences […]
(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 […]
(Eagle News)–The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday, Jan. 15, expressed hope the five Filipino seafarers reported missing off the waters of Hawaii would be found. In a statement, the DFA said the five were among 21 Filipino crew members of the MV Sincerity Ace who “abandoned the Panamanian-flagged vessel after it caught fire on New Year’s Eve some 1,800 nautical miles northwest of Oahu.” The ship was on its way to Hawaii when it caught […]
(Eagle News)—A newlywed Filipino couple drowned while snorkelling during their honeymoon in the Maldives, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday, Jan. 14. The DFA did not identify the victims, but said the 29-year-old wife and her 30-year-old husband were guests at a resort in Dhiffushi island when the incident took place. The two are from Laguna and had gotten married on Dec. 18. “Both were rescued by resort workers but were pronounced dead […]
(Eagle News)—–The Palace on Monday, Jan. 14, said it would ask the Department of Foreign Affairs, a private firm and the Presidential Communications Operations Office to explain the passport data mess at the DFA. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the statement after former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay defended Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciare from allegations it stole passport applicants’ data when its contract was terminated. Yasay said the French firm had already complied with its contractual obligations […]
(Eagle News)—-Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday, Jan. 14, said there was so far “no leak” of data, even with the reported passport data mess at the Department of Foreign Affairs. In a Tweet, Locsin said it was possible the data was “hopelessly corrupted and at any rate inaccessible now..” “..Or we are being lied to as usual,” Locsin said. Locsin said a former passport maker of the DFA made off with passport […]
(Eagle News)–The Palace on Monday, Jan. 14, said it backed a probe into the passport data mess at the Department of Foreign Affairs. In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the incident was, after all, a “grave and serious matter.” Panelo said the National Privacy Commission “has been directed” to look into the incident and determine whether certain provisions of the Data Privacy Act of 2012 have been violated, “particularly with respect to the […]
(Eagle News)–Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Sunday, Jan. 13, said he would name present and past Department of Foreign Affairs officials behind the passport data mess at the agency. Locsin said, however, that he was not keen on summoning them. “Let the Senate investigate and the DOJ (Department of Justice) prosecute if ever,” he said. Locsin also confirmed it was the contract with French firm Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciare for the production of e-passports that […]
(Eagle News)—Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay on Sunday, Jan. 13, revealed a private company has been printing e-passports illegally at the Department of Foreign Affairs. According to Yasay, the DFA on Oct. 5, 2015 awarded the contract for the e-printing services to APO Production Unit Inc., a government printing facility, without bidding despite the contract for the procurement and production of machine-readable electronic passports being awarded beforehand to François-Charles Oberthur Fiduciare of France through its Philippine […]
