Bogus diplomats
THE ingenuity of Filipinos is recognized worldwide. But it is in the art of deception that their superiority is regarded as limitless.
Sad to say, in the pursuit of their acquired skill overseas, many of their compatriots – the overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), especially – succumb to the craftiness of some.
The number of double-dealing victims overseas has become alarming in countries where there are a big concentration of OFWs.
A news item in this newspaper last May 24 carried this headline: “Filipinos in Saudi warned against bogus Embassy officials.”
Filipinos living and working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are advised against dealing with some personnel in the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh. These rogue Pinoys represent themselves as “consuls” who can facilitate passport services and assist OFWs in repatriation – all for a fee, unreceipted, that is.
The Department of Foreign Affairs issued the warning in the face of mounting cases of Filipinos victimized by those bogus “consuls.” There are 1.2 million Filipinos in KSA.
It now appears that the scoundrels at our Riyadh Embassy must be doing their chicanery at their best — they looked and acted like real diplomats, victims claimed. “We paid genuine money to fake consuls.”
Part of the DFA warning said, “The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh reminds the public to transact only with officials of the Embassy and its attached agencies, and exercise caution when dealing with individuals claiming to be officials of the Embassy.”
I dare say, we will never see the end of this sham. The ingenious Pinoys will resort to the same acts of legerdemain on fellow Filipinos, especially those applying for jobs in newly opened employment opportunities in England, Ireland, and Canada.
Call it a coincidence, but a frontpage story in The New York Times International Weekly, the Monday loose-page supplement of the Manila Bulletin, May 25, 2015, carried this fivecolumn banner headline story:
“Fake Diplomas Issued on a Global Scale.” It tells of a new cyber-space racket where diplomas from supposedly well-known and prestigious educational institutions in the United States can be given to anyone willing to part with their money.
Readers are invited to go over the opening paragraphs of the wellresearched news report written by Declan Walsh:
“Seen from the Internet, it is a vast education empire: Hundreds of universities and high schools, with elegant names and smiling professors at sun-dappled American campuses.” Offered are on-line degrees like nursing and engineering, and dozens more disciplines.
There are endorsements, video testimonials and State Department authentication certificates bearing the signature of John Kerry, the American Secretary of State.
“We host one of the most renowned faculties in the world,” boasts a woman introduced as head of the law school. “Come be a part of Newford University to soar the sky of excellence.”
Yet, this picture shimmers like a mirage. The news reports are fabricated. The professors are actors. The university campuses exist in name only. The degrees have no true accreditation.
This virtual academic realm appears in 370 websites, which is real. And so with the thousands of people around the world who pay tens of millions of dollars each year to a secretive Pakistani software company called Axact.
“The heart of Axact’s business is the sales team – young and welleducated Pakistanis, fluent in English or Arabic, who work the phones with customers who have been drawn in by the websites.”
Their sales pitch – high school diplomas for $350, and doctoral degrees for $4,000.
Come to think of it. We have been told of these spurious documentations for years.
In fact, there are these long-running “diploma mills” somewhere in the periphery of the university belt which locals simply call, “Sa Recto.”