133 lawmakers hit DBM proposal on transfer of BI collections

MANILA, Philippines - Lawmakers want to delete a special provision from the proposed P3.002-trillion national budget for 2016 as it could lead to the removal of nearly a third of personnel of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

Some 133 lawmakers have signed a resolution urging the House of Representatives committee on appropriations to delete a provision seeking to transfer BI collections from express lane fees and other charges to the National Treasury.

It will result in the removal of about 30 percent of BI personnel whose salaries are funded by these fees, they said.

Resolution 2356 was addressed to committee on appropriations chairman Isidro Ungab, who is expected to deliberate on the BI’s budget this week.

Under the present system, the BI’s express lane fees, which are deposited in the Special Trust Fund, represent the only source of money to pay the salaries of confidential agents and overtime services of all BI personnel, according to Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, a former BI commissioner, and the resolution’s principal author.

“If such collections will be deposited in the National Treasury as income of the General Fund, which is proposed in the 2016 National Expenditure Program, 30 percent of the BI workforce will be instantly removed or separated upon the effectivity of the 2016 GAA (General Appropriations Act) or on Jan. 1, 2016,” he said.

It will leave the BI with only 1,473 permanent or regular employees and will eventually result in a shortage of more than 2,500 personnel, he added.

Of the 1,473 BI regular employees, 1,152 are currently receiving monthly net take-home pay ranging from P6,000 to P16,500, Rodriguez said.

They are likely to leave the BI and reduce the already small workforce to just 321 employees, he added.

Of the remaining 321 employees, 153 who have rendered 16 to 42 years of government service are expected to avail themselves of optional retirement, leaving the BI with only 168 regular employees, Rodriguez said.

“With only 168 personnel possibly to remain after the effectivity of the 2016 GAA, the BI cannot sustain its effective and efficient nationwide operations and undoubtedly, lead to the collapse and paralysis of one of the country’s agencies performing critical law enforcement and national security functions,” he said.

The resolution calls on the committee to delete Section 3: Special Provision (s), Paragraph 2, Article XV, Department of Justice, C. Bureau of Immigration of the 2016 NEP and allow the continuance of the present system by which collections made by the BI from express lane fees and charges are deposited in the Express Lane Trust System.

In 1988, then BI commissioner Miriam Defensor-Santiago devised and instituted the BI Express Lane Fee/Charge to be collected from “other persons served” based on Section 7-A of Commonwealth Act 613, as amended, otherwise known as the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940.

All collections derived from express lane fees and charges are deposited in the Special Trust Fund in accordance with Section 2.2.3 of Joint Circular No. 1-97 of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Finance (DOF).

The BI Express Lane Program, the fundamental objectives of which were to address the lack of personnel and to curb the graft and corrupt practices in the delivery of immigration services, was approved and ruled as legal by the Department of Justice, the Commission on Audit and the Office of the Ombudsman.