The BI intercepted 177 Indonesians carrying Philippine passport at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport before they boarded the plane bound to Saudi Arabia. Aside from the Indonesians, five Filipinos were escorting the Indonesians who were purportedly undertaking a pilgrimage, said BI commissioner Jaime Morente said. Jose, who had just announced on Thursday that the DFA would start issuing “untamperable” passports on Monday, confirmed that the passports were authentike, but were illegally issued to the Indonesians. “Those are not fake passports,” Jose said, surmising that the passports must have been provided by the group’s Filipino escorts. Jose said the DFA will conduct its separate investigation to determine who in the DFA issued the passports.

Source: The Standard August 20, 2016 16:27 UTC