BI workers bare visa scam at Clark

ANGELES CITY—Officers and staff of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) here have asked Commissioner Siegfred Mison to investigate and transfer an officer for supposedly violating the processing of visa extensions forwarded weekly for Chinese guests and employees of a company based at the nearby Clark Freeport.

The officer, Janice Christine Corres, called the allegations “untrue and without basis.”

“I am willing and ready to face and fully participate in any proper investigation to bring out the truth in these malicious imputations,” Corres said by telephone on Wednesday.

Manuel Sequeira, chief executive officer of Fontana Leisure Estate, said the firm’s transactions with BI were aboveboard. He said Corres’ husband, Albert, an employee of Fontana’s owner, Jimei International, was authorized to facilitate the applications for visa extensions of high-rollers and those hired by Jimei’s Next Gaming for online gaming and call center operations.

The appeal, signed by nine of 11 personnel of the BI Angeles City field office, is contained in a Nov. 19 letter certified by a notary public and sent to Mison on Tuesday.

‘No personal appearances’

Citing transparency and accountability, they informed Mison that Corres, as alien control officer, approves 100 to 200 visa extensions weekly “without the personal appearances of the foreign applicants and oftentimes with insufficient documentary requirements.”

The fingerprints of applicants appear on immigration clearance certificates despite their nonappearance, giving BI employees no way to find out if those are authentic.

“This is a clear violation of an immigration law that states that only authorized BI personnel should take fingerprints,” they said.

Corres said no irregularities could be committed because the BI field office uses a step-by-step system where transactions are logged at every point.

“Everything is transparent and cannot be edited,” she said.

Sequeira said Fontana is willing to open its records to prove that everything was aboveboard.

He disputed the volume of visas cited by the BI personnel, but said online gaming and call center employ 500 to 600 workers.

Conflict of interest

BI personnel cited conflict of interest, referring to the role of Albert Corres, Jimei’s airport and VIP services manager, in the transactions.

“Every time applications for extension are lobbied … their usual reason is that these will be used in the application of the foreigners’ special work permit or special Clark working visas, though they know for a fact that these are beyond our jurisdiction and that these should be processed by the BI Clark One-Stop-Shop,” they told Mison.

Albert said he has been transacting with BI even before he married his wife. “Our transactions are official and regular to protect our guests and employees and the integrity of Jimei,” he said.

Aware of privilege

The BI employees said they were aware of the privilege of leniency given to Fontana but expressed worry over the volume of applications Albert brings to the agency.

“It is highly dubious that all passports are indeed from Chinese nationals entitled to the leniency afforded to Fontana Leisure Estate,” they told Mison.

They suspected the privilege is being abused. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon