By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA
MANILA — Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Tuesday said the agency will take the word of APO Production Unit Inc. (APUI) that no data breach occurred during the transfer of passport printing services from its previous contractor.
“For now, the Department of Foreign Affairs is taking the word of APO Production Unit that there is no breach in passport data and as sufficient justification in removing the birth certificate requirement in the renewal of passports,” he said in a statement sent to reporters.
However, he stressed that only a Senate investigation can assure the public that no data was loss or stolen.
Last Wednesday, Locsin claimed that the previous contractor “made off” with the data.
Before the contract for the production of Philippine electronic passports was awarded to the APUI, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), through a French firm, had been printing the country’s passport booklets.
