On November 30, 2023, Officers from the Bureau of Customs & Border Protection (BCBP) took part in the U.S. Passport Training hosted by the American Embassy in Manila Philippines. A Criminal Fraud Investigator Mr. Rholie Besona from U.S. Embassy Manila conducted training on the Security Features of the U.S. Passports (Next Gen and E-Passport). The training was conducted at the conference room on 3rd floor of the Bureau of Maritime Security and Fish & Wildlife Protection Building. The training covered the following:
- The differences of a genuine and a false U.S. Visas/Passport document Offset Printings.
- The 3 main common security features that could help them in identifying legit documents. They are INTAGLIO, OPTICAL VARIABLE INK (OVI), and LATENT IMAGE
in which these print methods are contained within your passport.
- Other manual methods for detecting false documents (VISA’s and Passport) like LED lights and a magnifying glass.
There were total of 26 Officers. Although it was only a short training for our officers, such training is crucial for the future to prevent potential human trafficking/smuggling at our borders as well as potential threat of identifying false passports and other transnational crimes.