Philippine Embassy, rome raises alarm over tampered passports 

13 October 2006 — Philippine Ambassador to Italy Philippe J. Lhuillier reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Embassy has noticed a rise in the number of OFWs who have been turned away by Italian airport authorities for possessing spurious travel documents when entering Italy. 

Ambassador Lhuillier said that these Filipino victims were found using either photo-substituted (‘baklas’) passports, whose original owners are permanent residents of Italy, or fake Schengen visas.  

Those who were held at Rome’s Fiumicino airport were deported back to the Philippines, but not until they had paid the fees demanded by the airlines for their return tickets. 

To avoid incidents such as these, the Ambassador and the Department advise OFWs to carefully check their travel documents and if needed, verify their issuance with the concerned foreign embassy before leaving the Philippines. The Philippine Embassy in Rome is making representations with Italian authorities for the issuance of Travel Documents to those denied entry to Italy in order to prevent the arrest of deportees who need to stop over in other cities en route to the Philippines. 

In a related development, Ambassador Lhuillier also advises OFWs to carefully check their residency status before going abroad on vacation, and when needed to renew their stay permits. 

The Ambassador was once called to the airport to assist an OFW who was refused entry after his application for the renewal of his residence permit (soggirono) was disapproved without due notification. The OFW was later allowed entry through the Ambassador’s intercession.  END

/jay

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