Forensic lab for aliens' papers set

Immigration Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez announced yesterday that the Bureau of Immigration is set to put up a forensic laboratory capable of detecting fraudulent travel documents and identifying illegal aliens who try to sneak into the country.

Rodriguez said that he has already formed a committee headed by Associate Commissioner Linda Hornilla which will conduct a feasibility study and discuss details of the project with officials of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

Rodriguez said INS officials agreed to assist the bureau in putting up the forensic laboratory when he met with them in Washington early last year.

A team of INS officials led by Giedeon Epstein has arrived in Manila to brief immigration officials on the state-of-the-art equipment needed for the laboratory, the training of the required personnel, and the cost of the project which is estimated at P8 million.

Rodriguez explained that the laboratory will detect forged and altered travel documents used by human smuggling syndicates to transport illegal aliens, including fugitives, terrorists and criminal elements, into the Philippines.

The laboratory, according to Rodriguez, will also be used to assist the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime, an inter-agency committee formed by the government to combat the activities of international crime syndicates.

Rodriguez announced the project after the INS team conducted a training seminar for 39 Philippine immigration officials in the art of detecting fraudulent travel documents.

The INS experts came to the country pursuant to an agreement forged by member-countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to conduct technical training and assist immigration officials in the region, Rodriguez added.

The INS experts observed that many of the APEC economies lack the required skills and technology to quickly identify non-bonafide travelers, thus resulting in longer immigration processing time that inconveniences genuine travelers. --