A SENATOR has called out the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for its prevailing inspection practices wherein frontline officers abuse their power over departing travelers. 

“Of the more than 30,000 that were offloaded and disturbed by the immigration, less than 4.2% had a semblance of a basis,” Senator Ramon B. Revilla, Jr. said in Filipino in a statement on Tuesday.   

“Over 95% were troubled and made to spend. This means that only one out of every twenty they offload has basis. Is that a joke?” he said.   

“This really says something about the accuracy and efficiency of their performance.”  

Citing data from the BI, the senator said only 472 of 32,404 departing Filipinos inspected in 2022 were related to human trafficking, while 873 allegedly misrepresented themselves and 10 were minors. 

With the current procedures, it was as if all Filipinos were being treated as human traffickers unless proven otherwise, Mr. Revilla said.  

“Why are you looking for a yearbook? Why are you looking for a graduation photo? I can’t think for what reason,” he said, referring to a recent incident that went viral on social media and for which the bureau has since apologized.  

The affected passenger, who posted a video narrative of what happened, said she had to spend for a new ticket after she missed her flight due to a lengthy interrogation by the immigration officer who went as far as asking for her school yearbook.   

Mr. Revilla called embarrassing the BI’s “brazen disregard” of a person’s guaranteed right to travel, saying that it may even be a transgression on the power of the courts to issue hold departure orders upon cause.  

“It’s like they are beyond the court,” the senator said.  

Based on the Department of Justice’ Memorandum Circular 036, only tourist passengers identified by the immigration officer to have doubtful purpose of travel, fraudulent travel documents or identified as a potentially trafficked person may be stopped from leaving the country and turned over to the Travel Control and Enforcement Unit.   

The memo also states that “as much as practicable, secondary inspection shall not exceed 10 minutes unless extraordinary circumstances require a longer period of inspection.”  

“This is obviously being abused. The latitude being given to these (immigration officers) is enormous,” Mr. Revilla said. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan 

A SENATOR on Tuesday said the proposed law that will set up the Maharlika Investments Fund (MIF) must have clear provisions that ensure transparency and accountability in managing the financial pool.  

“The top consideration is transparency. People should know where the funds will go, and any mishandling of funds must lead to prison terms,” Senator Robinhood “Robin” C. Padilla said in a statement on Tuesday.  

“Apologies are not enough because we are talking about the people’s money,” he said, noting that recent Senate investigations on various questionable government contracts have resulted to admission but “no one gets jailed, no one resigns.”  

Similarly, Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros-Baraquel found the provision on penalties inadequate.   

“Imagine, from the bill to the committee report, the maximum penalty was only raised from P2 million to P5 million. In the crime of graft and corruption in billions of pesos, there are only penalties, no jail time, and there are still no guarantees against money laundering,” she told a media conference via Facebook.   

Ms. Hontiveros also maintained her stance that it is not the right time to push for the measure.  

“In fact, I am not even convinced that this is timely, that this will actually generate excess revenues for capital, nor is this an urgent issue that needs to be allocated with limited government funds,” she said.  

She vowed to place as many safeguards as possible as the bill goes through deliberations and amendments at the plenary.  

Meanwhile, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) welcomed the Senate’s sponsorship of the measure, saying that the proposed Maharlika fund will help the country in increasing its fiscal space, catalyzing economic growth and achieving its development goals.  

“More importantly, present and future generations will reap these benefits afforded by the MIF Act,” the DBM said in a statement on Tuesday.  

The department vowed to continuously offer technical assistance to lawmakers to ensure the integrity of the fund, while upholding the rule of law and respecting the process of legislation. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

THE REPUBLIC of Korea has donated 10,000 bags of milled rice, equivalent to 400 metric tons (MT), to disaster-hit areas in the regions of Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, and Davao in southern Philippines.   

Beneficiaries are those affected by flooding and landslides caused by the shear line and low-pressure area in recent months.

“I am very much pleased to turn over the 400 MT of rice to the Philippines through the APTERR (ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve) program, and hope that these sacks of rice will give the affected people renewed hope and strength,” Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Kim Inchul said in a statement on Tuesday following the turnover ceremony held in El Salvador, Misamis Oriental.  

“This gift of generosity is essential and truly immeasurable as the affected people move forward towards recovery and rehabilitation,” National Food Authority Administrator Roderico R. Bioco said.  

Under the APTERR Tier 3 Program, Korea is the biggest contributor of rice, with a total donation of 19,000 MT, including 2,750 MT given to the Philippines since 2017. 

Korea will be hosting the 11^th Meeting of the APTERR Council from April 25 to 26 in Seoul. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan