DSWD’s automation of travel permit system closes doors for middlemen, ‘fixers’

For the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the automated processing of travel clearance for minors travelling abroad is a vital tool in expediting transactions and doing away with the interventions of ‘fixers’ and ‘middlemen’ in the process of obtaining government-issued permits.

Assistant Secretary Ada Colico of the DSWD’s Protective Programs, the oversight office for Minors Traveling Abroad (MTA), told reporters that the newly-launched system only allows parents or guardians to apply for minors’ travel clearance.

“Ang pwede lang pong gumawa ng account para sa ating MTA is una, the parents, the accompanying adult o guardian, other than that hindi po pwede ang fixer kasi ang kailangan po natin sa account na ito ay identifying information ng magulang o companion,” Assistant Secretary Colico said during the DSWD’s Thursday Media Forum (March 13) at the New Press Center in Quezon City.

As part of the government’s preventive measures against child-trafficking, a travel clearance is issued by the DSWD for minors or individuals below 18 years old travelling outside the Philippines who are not accompanied by any of the parents or persons having parental responsibility or legal custody over the child.

Asst. Secretary Colico explained that in the old manual MTA, the system was time-consuming on the part of parents and guardians, which often prompted them to rely on the services of middle men such as travel agents, or worse, fixers in order to obtain travel clearance or certificate of exemption from the DSWD.

“Minsan meron lang Special Power of Attorney or SPA na binibigay yung ating travel agents and sila na po yung nag-poprocess ng MTA which is risky on our part, kasi tayo po ang held accountable doon. Pag tayo ay nagbigay ng permit which is ibig sabihin po binibigyan natin ng authority itong tao na not related sa bata na mag-process and at sumama sa minors going out of the country,” Asst. Secretary Colico explained.

Under the streamlined process of securing travel clearance, parents or guardians no
longer need to physically visit the DSWD regional offices and can now submit their applications directly via the MTA online system.

Applicants can receive their requested document in just 1-3 working days upon their compliance to complete and verified documents.

According to Asst. Secretary Colico, the digitized system is a sustainable way to address red tape and the public’s vulnerability to fixers while ensuring that minors\’ travelling outside the country have received the full consent of their parents and legal guardians.

“With MTA, we have simplified, and streamlined the processing of application and we made it clients-centric, ensuring the protection of children from the perils of abuse, trafficking and other forms of exploitation,” Asst. Secretary Colico pointed out.

Spearheaded by Secretary Rex Gatchalian, the digitization of MTA is in compliance with the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) or Republic Act (RA) No. 11032, which also recognizes digitalization as an essential tool in enhancing transparency and accountability in government transactions while minimizing human interventions.

The new MTA system is also anchored on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr’s socioeconomic agenda on digitalization of government processes and operations. (LSJ)

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