TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Philippines holds own probe on accosted Indonesians with haj passports
Change Size
Indonesians carrying Philippine passports wait after being intercepted by immigration authorities on Aug. 19 at Manila's airport, before boarding their flight for Saudi Arabia to participate in a haj pilgrimage. (Bureau of Immigration via AP/-)
T
he Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is holding an independent investigation on 177 Indonesians who were nabbed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and found to be carrying valid Philippine passports.
The Bureau of Investigation (BI) arrested some 177 Indonesians at the NAIA terminal 1 while they were about to board an aircraft bound for Saudi Arabia last week.
DFA spokesman Charles Jose said the department awaited the formal turnover of the passports of the arrested Indonesians, currently under the custody of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
“We will conduct a separate investigation on this once the passports of Indonesians are turned over by the BI,” said Jose in an interview on Monday.
Jose said the Indonesians were carrying haj passports usually issued to Filipino pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia for the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Mecca is one of the holy sites of Islam and a visit there is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims.
“The haj passport is different from the regular passport. This is issued to Filipino haj pilgrims,” said Jose.
The DFA official explained that arrested Indonesians might have resorted to getting Philippine passports to qualify for the limited number of pilgrims allowed to visit Mecca.
“Other nationals who can’t be accommodated in their country’s quota, use Philippine quota to join pilgrimage, using spurious documents to acquire Philippine passport,” said Jose.
