‘They offer a package deal. It’s totally fake because we don’t outsource the document’s processing’
ABU DHABI: A Philippine embassy official said Filipinos wanting to send a relative to the UAE should not resort to travel agencies offering package deals that include the required Affidavit of Support and Guarantee (ASG) because the document will turn out a hundred percent fake. Vice Consul Von Ryan Pangwi, in an interview with The Filipino Times, explained only embassy personnel are legally authorized to process ASG.
“We have noticed,” Pangwi said, “that among certain travel agencies, I won’t name names ha, parang package na yung ASG, but pag ino-ofer yan deretso ng isang travel agency, yung ASG, automatically peke na yun because the ASG can only be filed by the client himself, the sponsoring individual, in the embassy or the consulate general in Dubai.” Pangwi added, “Otherwise pag hindi ganun ang nangyari at one package, something like that na ipro-provide ng travel agency…ang lumalabas kasi (sa imbestigasyon) sasabihin ng travel agency ay galing sa embassy yan, no that’s not true.”
“Ang payo ko ay huwag kumuha ng ASG sa travel agency because totally, automatically peke yun.” Pangwi’s remarks came at the heels of an advisory issued by Ambassador Constancio R. Vingno, Jr. cautioning Filipinos against doing business with fixers lest they end up with fake documents.
Vingno said the embassy has come across 10 fake ASGs in recent months all signed by Pangwi, who himself has assumed post around May. “Pinepeke nila pirma ko eh, pero malayo pa rin,” Pangwi said, reiterating, “We don’t outsource the Affidavit of Support and Guarantee.
Our services are only directly provided in the embassy if you are in Abu Dhabi or at the Philippine Consulate General if you are are in Dubai.” An embassy official disclosed on condition of anonymity that the travel agencies involved are legitimate businesses. “What the victims can do is to themselves press charges,” the official said. According to Vingno, fixers ask up to Dh400 for an ASG, which actually only costs Dh100.
