‘Inefficient’ BI protocols probe sought

Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Friday said the Senate should investigate reports of “unprofessionalism and inefficiency” in the Bureau of Immigration’s departure protocols and procedures for international-bound passengers.

Ejercito earlier filed Senate Resolution 560 in response to recent incidents of Filipino travelers missing their flights due to “tedious and unreasonable” departure protocols and procedures.

“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,” said the senator.

“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,” he added.

In the recent week, a slew of complaints against “abusive” immigration personnel surfaced on social media, including a Filipina passenger who recently missed her

Israel-bound flight after dealing with lengthy, irrelevant and unreasonable inquiries from an immigration officer.

According to the traveler, who has made rounds online after narrating her experiences on Tiktok, the immigration officer asked her about her parents’ relationship status and requested her to present either a graduation photo or yearbook to prove her educational background.

The said incident cost her around P50,000, which included the cost of her missed flight, as well as her rebooking fees.

The BI explained that the worsening situation of human trafficking and illegal recruitment in the country has prompted the agency to adopt stricter measures in monitoring departing passengers.

However, out of the 32,404 Filipinos who deferred departure in 2022, only 472 passengers were found to be victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment, according to the bureau. A total of 873 travelers were caught misrepresenting themselves or presenting fake documents.

Ejercito stressed that the data itself is an “indicator” of an inefficient procedure of the Bureau in screening departing travelers, adding that the incidents call for a review of the “outdated” Philippine Immigration Act and the modernization and professionalization of the BI.