The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Thursday, Nov. 30, it will study the proposal to have the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reimburse Filipino passengers who were stopped from travelling abroad by immigration officers despite lack of court order.

“Kailangan muna naming pag-aralan ‘yan (We need to study it),” said DOJ Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV.

The DOJ's reaction was issued by Clavano after Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara expressed his support to the proposal of Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero to place a special provision in the BI's budget that the bureau can use immigration fees and collections in reimbursing Filipino passengers who failed to board their flights despite the absence of court orders.

“Baka maging subject of abuse pa yan kapag malaman ng mga tao na meron parang reimbursement scheme that they can avail of (This can result to abuse if people would know that there is a reimbursement scheme they can avail of),” Clavano pointed out.

He said that making available a reimbursement scheme could also cause a “chilling effect” to immigration officers who only have a certain number of seconds to determine if there are red flags that would prevent a passenger from travelling. 

“We really have to put that at the forefront, yung duty namin, yung mandate po ng IACAT na protektahan talaga yung ating mga kababayan (We have to put in the forefront the duty and the mandate of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking to protect Filipinos from human trafficking),” he explained.

The BI is also a member of the IACAT.

Clavano reiterated that “there’s still no mechanism by which we can reimburse them.”