WITH an overwhelming 287 votes, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading Monday a bill that would allow the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to aggressively pursue the modernization of the agency.
House Bill (HB) No. 8203, or the proposed BI Modernization Act, which also seeks to professionalize its staff, was approved.
“This bill’s importance cannot be overstated, being one of the listed Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) bills. It is two-pronged in that it will improve travel experience and at the
same time tighten up our border security,” House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said.
“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,” Romualdez said.
The measure says that no person shall be appointed to the position of immigration officer unless such person meets the qualification standards set by the BI and approved by the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
The BI is attached to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and implements local immigration, citizenship, and alien admission and registration laws.
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.
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.
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.
