For the second year in a row, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) was again cited for championing freedom of information (FOI) due to its high rate of response to requests for information from the public.
The BI was one of several government agencies who received a freedom of information (FOI) award conferred by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) during a virtual awarding ceremony.
The BI was given the award for being one of the agencies that resolved at least 90 percent of requests for information from the public.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente welcomed the news and congratulated BI personnel for the achievement.
Morente vowed that "the BI will not cease to uphold the public's right to information by always giving prompt access to needed data on the various types of services offered by our agency."
According to Morente, the BI’s National Operations Center (BINOC) is BI’s FOI receiving office which ensures that all queries posted under the government’s eFOI portal are acted on in a timely manner.
Apart from this, Morente disclosed that the BI has put up several hotlines through which the public may send their concerns.
“We have set-up our hotlines to attend to queries 24/7, as well as our emails and social media pages that are known to immediately address concerns of the public,” said Morente.
“Apart from those, we also have public assistance units at our main office and other offices nationwide that entertains queries from persons who transact in their offices,” he said.