Passenger from Sulu caught using shared identity

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Friday warned of the continued use of “shared identities” among outbound passengers after intercepting a 35-year-old woman from Sulu who reportedly attempted to use documents linked to another individual to travel.

According to the Bureau of Immigration, the passenger was intercepted at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Monday before she boarded an AirAsia flight to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. She was referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) after inconsistencies were found in documents and biometric records.

The passport and birth certificate of the passenger were genuine, but the facial image on the passport did not match her biometric profile stored in the immigration system. Her previous travel records under her name also carried a different image.

“She also admitted to having left the country through an illegal migration corridor or ‘backdoor’ route in 2019,” the Bureau of Immigration said.

A counterfeit Philippine departure stamp dating back to 2020 was also found in her passport.

The Bureau of Immigration said such incidents point to the use of an assumed or “shared” identity, where individuals borrow or interchange passports and documents with relatives or look-alikes for overseas travel.

Immigration Commissioner Joel Viado said this is not the first “shared identity” case, citing that some individuals, especially those from remote areas, “mistakenly believe they can share passports or personal documents with relatives to facilitate travel.”

“What they do not realize is that this is identity theft, a serious offense that can lead to criminal charges, and possible long-term harm to the real document owner.”

The passenger remains in the custody of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation.