BI now hiring personnel for airport lanes

The Bureau of Immigration’s counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)

MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration is hiring more employees to address itslack of manpower which stemmed from the non-payment of overtime pay in the past months.

The agency recently announced 49 job vacancies on its website, www.immigration.gov.ph,  to encourage prospective job seekers to apply.

In an interview with Church-run Radio Veritas, BI spokesperson Antonette Mangrobang said they have been following a hiring process to fill up the vacancies.

“There is a hiring process. We know that it takes a while, but this is a long term solution for our manpower crisis,” she said.

Earlier this year, massive queues have plagued empty immigration counters at the airport.

This is because some employees have resorted to filing leaves or even resignations because of the non-payment of their overtime work.

This stemmed from President Duterte’s veto of the use of the BI’s express lane fees, in the past 30 years, for the payment of the overtime pay of immigration officers.

Among the job vacancies posted in the BI’s website are for the positions of chief immigration officer, supervising immigration officer, senior immigration officer, immigration officers and assistants.

An entry level immigration officer is ranked salary grade 11, which has a monthly salary of around P19,000.

On the other hand, a chief immigration officer is ranked salary grade 24 with a monthly salary of around P56,000.

Interested jobseekers may submit their applications through the BI’s online job application portal at https://careers.immigration.gov.ph before May 22.

For inquiries, prospective applicants may call the BI personnel section at (02) 4652400 local 321 and 322, or (02) 5276340.

Mangrobang admitted that some immigration officers, given the non-payment of the overtime work rendered, have resorted to augmenting their wages by looking for other means of additional income.

“When the employee says he can’t go to work because he doesn’t have the money to pay for his transporation fare, we understand because all of us are in the same boat,” she added.  SFM/rga