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Remulla wants BI to be on par with PNP, AFP

Philippines | National

Remulla wants BI to be on par with PNP, AFP

By Jeffrey Damicog

Bureau of Immigration

“As the territorial guard of the county,” the Bureau of Immigration (BI) should be on par with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said.

He said the BI should have police powers and can arrest foreigners, including those who enter illegal in the country.

Thus, he said “we have to re-think of the relation of the immigration to the other armed services of the country.”

“If I were to redesign the uniform of the immigration, black yun (that’s black), I would even put there meron silang posas na hawak hawak (they are holding handcuffs),” he also said.

But, he said, Congress has yet to pass a bill for the modernization of BI. “We have been trying to pass this law for the past 15 years,” he lamented.

BI’s current law which was passed in 1939 is already obsolete, he noted.

Foremost is that the salaries of BI personnel should be upgraded, he stressed.

“In fact, in several countries right now like Singapore and Thailand, the highest paid government officials are those in immigration,” he cited.

“Ngayon sa Pilipinas ang baba ng salary grade natin sa Bureau of Immigration. That’s why we have to modernize and upgrade para yung international standard maabot natin (In the Philippines right now, the salary grade at the BI is low. That’s why we have to modernize and upgrade so that we can meet international standards),” he added.

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