Government eyes strict measures to curb offloading of OFWs

MANILA, Philippines - The government will utilize close circuit television (CCTV) cameras to curb the abuse of the “offloading” policy at the international airports in the country, Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

Binay, presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ (OFWs) concerns and chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Committee Against Trafficking (IACAT), said CCTVs will be installed in all immigration counters at all airports in the country as part of the measure to strictly curb the abuse of offloading.

Aside from CCTVs, personnel of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) will also be included in the interview of departing passengers and guide questions will also be provided to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel.

“While the offloading policy has contributed to a decline in the incidents of human trafficking and illegal recruitment, it has become controversial because of the complaints of abuse of discretion and corruption,” Binay said.

Binay said he has ordered the technical working group to review the implementation of the offloading policy and come up with other measures at the soonest time.

Binay also urged the BI to expedite hearings of corruption complaints filed against 18 of its personnel who reportedly demanded money from departing passengers in exchange for clearance to leave the country.

“I am confident that the BI will fast-track the hearings on these complaints to emphasize to our kababayan (countrymen) that corruption will never be tolerated under the Aquino administration,” Binay said.

Binay also urged the OFWs and other passengers who have been victimized by unscrupulous immigration personnel to come out in the open and file complaints.

“I appeal to our kababayan to also do their share by coming out and filing cases against these employees so they can be held accountable. As your vice president, I assure you that these complaints will be acted upon,” he said.

On the other hand, the BI urged recruitment agencies to identify the corrupt immigration officials allowing OFWs to travel to countries where there is an existing deployment ban.

BI spokesperson Maria Antonette Mangrobang asked the recruiters to supply them with the names of these unscrupulous BI agents.

Mangrobang made this reaction on reports saying recruiters are complaining that some immigration officials demand bribes of between P30,000 to P50,000 from OFWs who want to work in Afghanistan and other countries where they are prohibited from seeking employment.

“In the past, we have always asked assistance from these individuals or agencies who have made such reports, if they could name or provide identities of those who have asked for whatever consideration to allow people to travel to (prohibited) countries, please help us,” she said.

For the government to succeed in its campaign against human smuggling, the BI would need the support of the public.

“We are trying our best to determine who are these unscrupulous individuals but we also need the support of the public, specifically the agencies since this is their business,” Mangrobang said.

Recruitment agencies also complained about the BI’s indiscriminate offloading of suspected undocumented OFWs that is reportedly driving away foreign employers.

This has reportedly prompted foreign employers to hire other nationalities due to many instances wherein newly hired OFWs were caught up in the unnecessary delay.

Mangrobang assured the public that the government has taken steps to solve this problem.

In fact, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and Binay have already formed the technical working group to study the policies that would be undertaken by the council, she pointed out.

Offloading is the policy of preventing the departure of Filipinos who are bound for certain destinations.

Binay said a total of 17 Filipinos were offloaded in October, with 13 persons classified as tourist workers, and one that has been classified as an OFW with irregularities in documents.

He said two cases of attempted human trafficking were also filed with the Department of Justice.

From October last year, Binay said a total of 491 passengers were offloaded, including 30 minors and 287 tourist workers.

Of the total, 171 were classified as OFWs with irregularities in their documents.

He said some workers pose as tourists and attempt to gain employment abroad without proper documentation, or go to countries where the Philippines currently has a deployment or travel ban.

Under the Immigration Act, Binay explained an immigration officer has the power to offload a passenger if he believes the traveler is using spurious travel documents, or using a tourist visa but intends to work abroad.

“I believe there is a need for BI to have proper guidelines in the offloading of passengers. The basis for preventing a Filipino from leaving the country should be clearly spelled out to minimize the exercise of discretion on the part of immigration personnel,” Binay said.