Guidelines will soon be issued on how Filipino passengers can refund their airfares after having missed their flights due to departure formalities enforced by immigration officers, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Tuesday, Feb. 6.

BI Spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval said the bureau’s approved budget under the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA)  included a special provision for the travel expenses of overseas-bound Filipino passengers who missed their flights.

Sandoval said that under the GAA, "11 percent of the BI's income from express lane fees shall be remitted to the national treasury as income of the general fund,” she explained.

“In the same section, it is stated that travel expenses incurred by Filipino passengers who were deferred or denied boarding without a court order shall be charged from the balance of the special trust fund account,” she said.  

Despite allowing the refund of airfares, Sandoval noted that “President Marcos mentioned that the guidelines should not render nugatory the mandate of the BI to administer and enforce immigration laws, as well as RA No. 11862 (Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act).” 

“The guidelines to be issued by the BI, Commission on Audit (COA), and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to implement this Special Provision shall prescribe the necessary and sufficient standards to ensure the balance between the protection and convenience of Filipino passengers and the duty of the BI to effectively enforce immigration and related laws,” she said. 

She added that "the BI will also be seeking the guidance of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking under the Department of Justice, our mother department, in the crafting of said guidelines."

At the same time, Sandoval said the BI supports “the direction of the national government, and see this as an added check and balance for immigration personnel to ensure proper implementation of laws while remaining faithful to our core values of patriotism, integrity, and professionalism.”

She then expressed the BI's gratitude to the President and the national government “for approving the budget for the BI, and again considering the augmentation of the salaries of its personnel.”