THE Department of Foreign Affairs has identified three recruitment agencies involved in spreading “misinformation” among applicants for authentication of public documents, which is believed to have caused the influx of 800 people, mostly overseas Filipino workers, camping outside the DFA Aseana Business Park building in Parañaque City Tuesday night.
In a statement, the DFA said it did a preliminary investigation on the cause of the incident, having been surprised at the number of people who patiently queued, slept on the sidewalk overnight, just to get a slot at the walk-in Apostille application.
Apostille is the term used for public documents whose signatures are certified by the DFA as authentic and can be accepted overseas for work, business, study and other legal purposes.
“DFA’s preliminary investigation into the incident revealed that several recruitment agencies had disseminated misinformation among their applicants regarding the Department’s walk-in policy. According to accounts of applicants, their recruitment agencies urged them to line up and stay overnight at DFA Aseana so that all their travel documents could be expedited. Other applicants conveyed that their agencies instructed them late at night to proceed to DFA-Aseana immediately,” said the DFA statement.
It added: “DFA considers this behavior of certain recruitment agencies highly irresponsible and malicious, not only for disregarding the DFA’s announced limits for walk-in applicants and attempting to monopolize DFA’s walk-in services to the detriment of other eligible applicants, but also for disregarding the welfare of our OFWs whom they ought to protect by putting them out in the streets in the middle of the night,” the DFA said in a statement.
The DFA identified the recruitment agencies which allegedly gave their applicants instructions to proceed to DFA as: Silver Skilled Recruitment Inc., First Select International Manpower Services, Inc. and J.A.S. Empire International Promotion Corp.
Business Mirror tried to reach the offices of Silver Skilled, First Select and J.A.S. Empire, but the first firm could not be reached until press time.
BusinessMirror was later able to talk to a representative of Silver Skilled Recruitment, but she declined to give an official statement on the matter for now.
‘If ever, they went on their own’
In a phone interview, a representative of the J.A.S. Empire International Promotion Corp. told BusinessMirror they did not instruct their applicants to spend overnight in the Aseana as claimed by DFA.
The recruitment agency said it relied on the online scheduling system of DFA, when sending its applicants for processing for apostille walk-in application.
If any of their applicants went there, “they did it on their own volition,” said the J.A.S representative, who decided to maintain her anonymity.
“There is no truth [on the allegation] that we are instructing our applicants to line up [in Aseana] and stay there overnight because we are concerned with their security,” she said.
J.A.S. Empire said it was surprised at being included by DFA in its statement on the incident. The recruitment agency said DFA has yet to reach out to them about the incident, but stressed it is ready to cooperate with the agency’s investigation.
Asked about the incident, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Administrator Bernard P. Olalia said they will coordinate with the concerned recruitment agencies to determine their possible involvement in the incident.
No backlog in Apostille
Unlike passport services which have a backlog of 4 million applications after two years of pandemic lockdown, the DFA clarified they have no backlog for Apostille application, Christian de Jesus, executive director of the DFA Office of Consular Affairs, said in a press briefing.
De Jesus said anyone who wants to have their documents authenticated can book a slot at the DFA Aseana through their portal https://co.dfaapostille.ph/dfa/. Recently, they have opened the booking for the entire month of April for Apostille applicants in Aseana, which can accommodate 1,400 per day.
On Monday, March 22, the DFA also opened for walk-in applicants for Apostille services for Aseana and 10 other DFA consular offices in Metro Manila and provinces.
DFA reminds the public that only a limited number of walk-in applicants for Apostille can be served per day:
· DFA Aseana Park – 300 applications
· Megamall – 100 applicants
· SM Manila – 150 applicants
· Robinsons Star Mall – 80 applicants
· Alabang Town Center – 150 applicants
· Robinson’s Place Iloilo – 60 applicants
· Ali Mall Cubao – 80 applicants
· CSI Mall in La Union – 50 applicants
· SM City Davao – 90 applicants
· Pacific Mall Mandaue – 100 applicants
· SM Downton Premier in Cagayan De Oro – 37 applicants
Applicants with “emergency and urgent need” to have their documents authenticated can email the DFA : oca.apostilleconcerns@dfa.gov.ph.
De Jesus said the DFA would also likely assign a point person in Aseana during this first week of implementation for walk-in Apostille applicants to cater to OFWs who came all the way from the provinces to get their records authenticated at the DFA.
He noted that almost 80 percent of those requesting for Apostille are OFWs applying to Middle East countries which require NBI clearance.
“For safety and health reasons, the Department urges the public not to line up beyond operational hours,” it said, as they discouraged people from transacting with fixers who claim to offer assistance in obtaining passport and authentication appointment slots while charging high fees.
The DFA assured the public it is “continuously working on improving” its processes and systems by exerting “all efforts and coordinating with relevant agencies” to put a stop to the abuse of government slots by enterprising individuals and groups.
Image credits: Official Gazette