Offloaded Filipinos can get fare reimbursement

Makati City Rep. Luis Jose Angel Campos Jr. on Sunday said that outbound Filipino passengers could still recover their airfare expenses should they miss their flights due to lengthy scrutiny by immigration officers.

Campos, who is vice chair of the House committee on appropriations, said that the 2024 national budget includes a special provision for the travel expenses of passengers bound abroad who missed their flights due to “prolonged secondary inspection” by Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers. Campos said: “We are still awaiting the guidelines to be issued by the BI, the Department of Budget and Management and the Commission on Audit with respect to the implementation of the special provision.”

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The lawmaker noted that Sen. Francis Escudero pushed for the reimbursement of the travel expenses of Filipino passengers who were offloaded from their flights due to lengthy interrogation by immigration officers “in the guise of fighting human trafficking.”

Escudero cited immigration records showing that 32,404 Filipinos were not allowed to fly in 2022 and “only 472 of them were found to be victims of human trafficking or illegal recruitment.” —JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE