Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito Senate PRIB file photo / Bibo Nueva España
MANILA, Philippines — Senator JV Ejercito on Thursday submitted a Senate Resolution seeking an investigation into the “unprofessionalism and inefficiency” of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on its departure protocols and procedures.
Senate Resolution No. 560 directs the appropriate Senate panel to inquire into the matter after incidents surfaced in which Filipinos traveling abroad have been offloaded due to the BI’s “inefficient” process.
“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,” Ejercito’s resolution read.
“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,” it added.
Earlier, a Filipina traveler narrated on social media that she missed her flight as an immigration officer asked her “irrelevant” queries during the primary and secondary inspection. She was even asked to present a graduation photo or yearbook.
The BI argued that the tight measures resulted from the “worsening” human trafficking cases.
Ejercito said there is a need to review the 80-year-old Philippine Immigration Act and the BI modernization and professionalization.
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