GO OUT AND SEE THE WORLD? THE DUTERTE GOV'T JUST LOST OUR PASSPORT DATA

*Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on the DFA passport data loss

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) owes the entire country an explanation.

The recent admission that a privately contracted firm took the entire physical database of all of the country's passport holders indicates a serious national security risk, and is evidence of the Duterte government's gross incompetence in protecting the people's private data.

Exactly what data were lost? When, how, and under whose watch did this happen? Where did the breakdown occur? Who exactly is the responsible firm? And why aren't they being sued for running away with such vital information?

The public needs to be reassured that the data will be retrieved completely and with the highest sense of urgency and priority. Apart from that, the people responsible for such a gross display of incompetence should be held fully responsible.

They say, "go out and see the world." But how can our people do that if our government can't even provide efficient passport application and renewal services to the public? Worse, it can't be trusted to protect the citizens' sensitive data.

The Duterte government has made a lot of promises about protecting our safety, our sovereignty and our territory. If we cannot trust it to protect our people's documents, how can we trust it with anything else?