By Macon Ramos-Araneta
Sen. Chiz Escudero assured employees of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) that their salaries and benefits will remain untouched even with the inclusion of a provision in the 2024 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) that allows the reimbursement for thousands of passengers who missed their flights due to long immigration assessment.
Addressing the issue on his social media account X (formerly Twitter) over the weekend, the veteran legislator said there is nowhere in the 2024 GAB that says the funds to repay the affected passengers will be coming from the budget for employees’ salary and augmentation allowances.
“Any diminution from the salary and augmentation of BI personnel is illegal and unauthorized,” Escudero said.
He reiterated that, based on his proposal that was adopted in the final GAB, the reimbursement fund will come from the excess income of the Immigration bureau that is being returned annually to the National Treasury.
“The money to refund offloaded passengers will not come from/nor will it be deducted from BI (personnel’s income),” he said.
“I will look closely into this to ensure that the intent and mandate of Congress regarding this is followed to the letter.”
Earlier, Escudero said the proposed payment will not need additional budgetary requirement since the money will be charged against the BI’s earnings from collections.
According to BI records, a total of 32,404 Filipino passengers were not allowed to proceed with their flights last year, of which 472 were found to be victims of human trafficking or illegal recruitment.
Escudero also remains hopeful that President Marcos will not veto the provision in the GAB, to be signed into law according to Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.
