Even in Malaysia, fixers abound as DFA warns prospective OFWs

By: Matikas Santos - 10 years ago

MANILA, Philippines — Even in Malaysia, fixers are preying on unwitting Filipinos who are applying for passport and other services.

“It has come to the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur’s attention that there are individuals and agencies which are offering to assist Filipino nationals in applying for passports or other Embassy services in exchange for money,” the embassy said in a statement Friday.

“The Embassy wishes to inform the public that applicants can apply for passports or other Embassy services without the need for third parties to facilitate the application process,” it said.

The embassy has not accredited any individual or agency to conduct business in their behalf, the statement said.

“The public is advised to deal only with Embassy personnel inside the premises. Embassy personnel could be identified through their official Embassy IDs,” the embassy said.

“The Embassy encourages those who have been victimized by unscrupulous individuals or agencies to come forward and report violations of these official policies to the Consular Section,” it said.

There are more than 686,000 Filipinos in Malaysia according to December 2012 figures of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. Majority of them, around 447,000 are irregular or undocumented Filipinos.

There are more than 212,000 who are temporary or have work contracts and 26,000 who are permanent.

Many Filipinos are able to get into the Malaysian province of Sabah illegally through the border near the Tawi-tawi islands in Mindanao.