JV Ejercito calls for probe on “unprofessional, inefficient” departure protocols
March 24, 2023
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito has urged
the Senate to investigate reports of unprofessionalism and inefficiency in the
Bureau of Immigration’s departure protocols and procedures for
international-bound passengers.
Ejercito earlier filed Proposed Senate
Resolution No. 560 in response to recent incidents of Filipino travelers
missing their flights due to “tedious and unreasonable” departure protocols and
procedures.
“The power of the Bureau has been a subject of
abuse over the years where there have been previous incidents of its officers
subjecting travelers to a tedious and unreasonable departure procedure, causing
travelers to miss their flights or their departure deferred by the officer
altogether,” the Senator said.
“There is an urgent need to review the
processes and departure protocols being implemented by the Bureau for
international-bound passengers to avert similar incidents and to ultimately
protect every Filipino citizen’s guaranteed constitutional right to travel,” he
added.
The lawmaker from San Juan cited a Filipino
passenger who recently missed her Israel-bound flight after dealing with
lengthy, irrelevant, and unreasonable inquiries from an immigration officer.
According to the traveler, who has made rounds
online after narrating her experiences on Tiktok, the immigration officer asked
her about her parents’ relationship status and requested her to present either
a graduation photo or yearbook to prove her educational background.
The said incident cost her around P50,000,
which included the cost of her missed flight, as well as her rebooking fees.
The BI explained that the worsening situation
of human trafficking and illegal recruitment in the country has prompted the
agency to adopt stricter measures in monitoring departing passengers.
However, out of the 32,404 Filipinos who
deferred departure in 2022, only 472 passengers were found to be victims of
human trafficking and illegal recruitment, according to the bureau. A total of
873 travelers were caught misrepresenting themselves or presenting fake
documents.
“The data is an indicator of an inefficient
procedure of the Bureau in screening departing travelers and an inadequate
system of preventing cases of human trafficking and illegal recruitment,”
Ejercito said.
Ejercito said these incidents call for a
review of the “outdated” Philippine Immigration Act and the modernization and
professionalization of the BI.
“There are pending proposals to modernize and
further professionalize the Bureau as the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940
governing its operation is an 80-year old law and has outdated provisions that
have ceased to be responsive to present day situations despite its several
amendments and revisions,” he said.
