The Senate will continue its investigation into the Departure Formalities for International-Bound Filipino Passengers imposed by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking or IACAT despite the suspension of its implementation.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that while the suspension of the “stricter” guidelines for outbound Filipino passengers was a welcome development, the upper chamber is still keen on knowing the basis for the guidelines.
“First of all, we thank them for the suspension because they’re supposed to implement it on 3 September. So, they will suspend it but at the same time, they have to explain to us how they came up with the guidelines,” Zubiri said.
He said IACAT must explain the basis for requiring international-bound Filipino travelers to provide various documents, such as original copies of birth certificates and affidavits of consular service for the traveler’s destination, among others.
“There is no law that requires us to do so. So, in the absence of a law, we want to ask them their basis for these added requirements for Filipinos to travel abroad,” he added.
He made the remarks after the Department of Justice on Thursday suspended the implementation of the IACAT’s revised guidelines on departure formalities.
On Wednesday, the Senate approved an unnumbered resolution seeking to stop the implementation of the revised guidelines on 3 September.
This was followed by a separate unnumbered resolution that aimed to challenge the constitutionality of the travel guidelines before the Supreme Court.
Zubiri lauded Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla for suspending the implementation of the “stricter” travel guidelines, which had been criticized by Filipino travelers.