Proposed BI Modernization Act gets final House nod; ranking solons explain its importance

House of Representatives (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)


The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading late Monday afternoon, May 29 the proposed Bureau of Immigration (BI) Modernization Act in unanimous fashion. Embodied in House Bill (HB) No.8203, it was also the second of two Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC)-listed bills to get final approval from the congressmen during Monday's busy plenary session. Based on their nominal voting, the measure garnered 287 affirmative votes, with zero negative votes and zero abstentions. The BI is attached to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and implements local immigration, citizenship, and alien admission and registration laws. House Speaker Martin Romualdez and independent minority congressman Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman gave perspective to the importance of HB No.8203. "It is two-pronged in that it will improve travel experience and at the same time tighten up our border security," Romualdez, Leyte's 1st district representative, said in a statement. "This measure is also a long time coming, as it has been filed and re-filed for around 20 years. A lot of technologies have changed in that span of time and this bill ushers the BI into the digital age," he noted. Lagman echoed Romualdez's sentiments, as he said in a speech plenary Monday: "The law on the Bureau of Immigration is of Jurassic vintage. It was enacted during the Commonwealth Period under Commonwealth Act No. 613, otherwise known as the 'Philippine Immigration Act of 1940' or 83 years ago." "There is urgent need to modernize the Bureau of Immigration to make it comparable with similar agencies in other countries and place it in step with the advances in communications and technology," added the Liberal Party (LP) president. Among the key provisions of HB No.8203 is the agency's ability to keep an Immigration Trust Fund (ITF) of no more than P1.2 billion from its annual income sourced from fees, fines, and penalties. The money would then be used to fund the BI’s information technology (IT) projects, among other modernization plans, and to build up the capabilities of immigration officers. "The ITF shall be managed by the Board in accordance with existing government auditing rules and regulations, and shall be used exclusively for the following: a) 50 percent for the modernization of equipment, facilities and offices used by employees of the bureau, including capital outlay for the establishment of new buildings and field offices for the effective implementation of this Act; b) 30 percent for the payment of employee benefits provided in this Act, and as may be hereafter provided by the Board with the approval of the Secretary of Justice; and c) 20 percent for the further professionalization of the employees of the bureau including trainings, seminars and other career advancement programs," the pprovision read. In addition to international airports and seaports, there shall be established border control checkpoints which shall be manned by immigration officers appointed as border control officers by the BI commissioner. The border control checkpoints shall be placed in specific areas. In order to attract qualified staff, the salary grades assigned to junior immigration officers would also be elevated by two notches under the measure. The low pay has been pinpointed as chief reason for the vacancy of 742 out of the BI’s 2,795 authorized permanent positions. The bill also provides additional benefits to its employees, specifically 1) night shift differential, which shall be subject to Republic Act (RA) No. 11701; and 2) overtime pay for actual work rendered in accordance with the existing rules and regulations. Among the top proponents of the measure is House Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino Nonoy” Libanan, himself a former BI Commissioner during the presidential term of Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 2nd district Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He first authored the measure in 2004. Other principal authors include Reps. Elpidio “Pidi” Barzaga, Stela Luz Quimbo, Sonny Lagon, Daphne Lagon, Juliet Marie de Leon Ferrer, Rufus Rodriguez, Jurdin Jesus Romualdo, Gus Tambunting, and others.