Immigration officers at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) have barred a total of 864 passengers from leaving the country on suspicion of being “tourist workers” or undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) disguised as tourists, it was learned yesterday.
In his report to Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, Romeo Dime, BI’s regional director at DMAI, disclosed that most of the OFWs were offloaded for not having the required clearances from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) although their purpose in going abroad is to work.
“Most of them presented bogus documents such as fake letters of invitation or affidavits of support from their alleged friends and relatives in the countries where they intended to go and work,” Dime said.
He added that nearly all of the OFWs were bound for Malaysia and are believed to be victims of illegal recruitment syndicates.
Libanan issued an order to immigration officers at the DMIA to be always vigilant and implement the ban on the departure of undocumented OFWs.
Libanan said was alarmed by reports that the former Clark Air Base was being used by illegal recruiters and human traffickers as the major exit point for their victims.
He also cited reports that some of these illegal recruitment victims end up as prostitutes or become victims of abuse in their countries of destination.
“We shall continue to tighten our watch in DMIA to protect our OFWs, especially our women, from harm’s way,” Libanan said.
Last week, a composite team of policemen and BI operatives led by Vice President Noli de Castro intercepted five women before they could board their flight to Kuala Lumpur.
The women later admitted upon questioning that they were were going to work as domestic helpers in Malaysia and that they are not tourists as they initially claimed.
It was gathered that the operation was carried after informants tipped authorities about the scheduled flight of the women who were allegedly hired by illegal recruiters. (BI News)
The Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) has lauded the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for successfully combating corruption, cutting red tape and improving the quality of its services to the public.
In a speech delivered at the 2nd Quarter Integrity Development Action Plan (IDAP) conference held in Malacañang recently, PACG Chair Constancia De Guzman hailed the BI’s success in instituting programs that helped curb corruption and enhanced the integrity of the bureau.
De Guzman thus congratulated BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan for his accomplishments as it was under his stewardship that the bureau landed in seventh place of the PAGC’s top 10 list of most compliant government agencies.
In 2005, the BI was in 76th place or in the fifth bottom of the said list that comprises 81 government agencies.
De Guzman cited the launching BI’s visa-issuance-made-simple (VIMS), Libanan’s flagship project, which reduced the processing time for visa applications at the bureau by an average of 58 percent.
She noted that as a result of the VIMS, person-to-person transactions at the BI were cut by at least 50 percent thereby cutting red tape by the same percentage.
BI Associate Commissioner Roy Almoro, who chairs the bureaus composite committee on good government (CCGG), described how the VIMS was painstakingly introduced for adoption to the BI employees and stakeholders but it yielded positive results in the long run.
Almoro also reported that the BI will soon implement in its regional and field offices the performance management system – office performance evaluation system (PMS-OPES) of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) where the bureau is currently ranked first in the area of enforcement of a code of conduct for its workers and in evaluating their performance.
The PAGC chief included the BI in her assessment of the reports submitted by heads and officials of 80 government agencies who attended the conference held last July 7 at Malacañang’s Mabini Hall.
Aside from the BI, the Department of Science and Technology, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Department of Finance, and National Housing Authority are also in PAGC’s list of 10 most compliant agencies. (BI News)
MORE than 850 passengers at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Pampanga were barred from leaving the country on suspicion of being “tourist workers,” the Bureau of Immigration said on Saturday.
According to a report received by Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, 864 passengers were offloaded for lacking required clearances from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA).
Immigration Regional Director Romeo Dime said the offloaded passengers had failed to secure the POEA clearances although their purpose for leaving was to work abroad.
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For reducing the number of foreign detainees COA commends BI for "Good Performance"
0 comments Posted by The Legal Alien at 4:30 PMIn a Value for Money Audit done by the Commission on Audit for the government operations last year, the Bureau of Immigration was cited for the speedy disposition of detainees’ cases resulting in the dramatic decline in the number of detainees at the BI detention center in Bicutan, Taguig City.
In a report to Congress on its audit of operations of all government agencies, the COA cited BI’s success in reducing the number of detainees at the Bicutan detention center as “notable efforts of decongesting the BI Detention Center thru fast and rational resolution of cases.”
“This resulted in the reduction of expenses even as it eased the agony of waiting on the part of detainees,” the COA report added.
“Considering the short period the program was implemented that started in midway of 2007, the bureau accomplished a major task that is worth a commendation,” Reynaldo Villar, COA Chairman, said.
The COA cited the decrease in the number of detained aliens by 76 percent as of December 31, 2007 as proof that the decongestion program of the bureau through disposition of cases was effectively implemented.
The report also said that at the beginning of 2007, a total of 411 detainees were housed inside the facility but 314 cases were acted upon with dispatch.. 97 of these cases were dismissed, 109 foreigners were deported, 44 were placed under recognizance, 61 aliens were allowed to post bail, and 3 were transferred.
“We recommended that the bureau continue its notable efforts of decongesting the BI Detention Center thru fast and rational resolution of pending cases in order to reduce expenses and ease the agony of waiting on the part of the detainees,” COA report added.
Last May 2008, only 96 aliens were in detention at the Bicutan jail. (BI News)
MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday reported that it has posted a record income as it breached its billion-peso target for the first six months of the year.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said the agency’s revenue has totaled to P1.015 billion from January to June – the first time in history that the agency’s first semester income exceeded the billion-peso mark.
Libanan said the revenue in the first half of the year was P269.7-million or 36-percent more than the targetted P745.7 million for the period, and P204.8-million or 25-percent higher than the P810.4 million earned in the same period last year.
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