September 2009

PHILIPPINES IMPLEMENTS THE ELECTRONIC PASSPORT SYSTEM

1 September 2009 – The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney announced
that the Philippines commenced on 11 August 2009 the issuance of electronic
passports (e-passports), with regular implementation scheduled for October 2009.

The e-passport has advanced technology security features which protect this
important identity and travel document from forgery and tampering. One major
feature of the new passport is an embedded chip that contains the data of the
passport holder and a digital signature that verifies the authenticity of its stored data.
The chip uses contactless microchip technology that allows stored information to be
read by special chip readers and passport reading machines.

The Philippine e-passport’s additional security features include microscopic
lettering of the passport holder’s information in the passport picture and ghost image,
the printing of customized invisible images on each passport page, laser perforations
on visa pages, and a holographic laminate that protects the passport information
page.

The Philippine e-passport is highly secure against tampering and illegal
reproduction. To complement the issuance of the e-passport, the Philippines is also
implementing a passport database system that detects impostors and guards against
multiple passport issuances to the same person.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Philippines said that the
requirements for an e-passport will remain the same as that for a Machine Readable
Passport (MRP). The e-passport initially will be available through the Manila Office of
the DFA, eventually through Philippine embassies and consulates throughout the
world and the DFA’s regional offices throughout the Philippines.

Philippine Consul General Eva G. Betita said that the Philippine Consulate in
Sydney will announce at a later date when it will implement the processing of the epassport. In the meantime, the Consulate will continue to issue the Machine
Readable Passport.