Duterte allows BI to compensate employees using express lane funds

President Duterte has allowed the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to get the salaries and overtime pay of its employees from the Express Lane Funds (ELFs) and other charges, saying the overall protection of government employees remains to be one of his primordial concerns.

Duterte said this in his veto message on the 2018 General Appropriations Act (GAA), or the 13.7-trillion national budget for 2018.

According to Duterte, government agencies should

leverage the facilities given to them to secure for government employees the most favorable terms possible for the protection of their rights and the promotion of their interest.

Duterte cited how 936 additional positions have been created in the BI and that under the 2017 GAA, 1224.83 million has been allocated for overtime pay of immigration personnel, whom Duterte called the first line of defense in securing the country’s borders.

“Sadly, their basic month pay, on which overtime rates are based, has remained extremely low in relation to the nature of work that they perform, thereby leading to a large number of resignations and causing prejudice to the efficient delivery of front-line service,” Duterte’s veto message read.

Duterte said until the Congress enacts a new Immigration Modernization Law in 2018 which will upgrade the compensation system in the BI, he will allow the Bureau to compensate its employees using the ELFs.

“I will allow the establishment of a trust fund to be constituted from the express late fees and charges collected by the BI for the payment of salaries and overtime employees of the BI,” the President said.

Last April, 2017, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said hundreds of BI employees may resigned if the government fails to augment their salaries.

He said as many as 500 workers have requested for their certificates of employment in case the government does not address the issue of their overtime pay.

A number of immigration officers went on leave supposedly due to the non-payment of their overtime. This left longer lines in Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

The issue on the compensation of Immigration employees erupted after Duterte vetoed a 2017 budget provision on the use of ELFs to augment the salaries of BI personnel.

The ELF, fees taken from fees charged at the airport Express Lane, had been the source of overtime pay of BI employees for 29 years. However, Duterte’s amendment ordered that the funds from the express lane be deposited with the National Treasury.

In 2017, the BI was able to collect 11.4 billion in express lane fees.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier pointed out that the presidential veto on the use of ELFs was not the problem but the BI itself.

“The problem is with the Bureau of Immigration because [it is] protecting a corrupt system,” Diokno had said, ordering the Commission on Audit (CoA) to audit the ELFs. (Argyll Geducos)