BI, NAIA scramble to solve manpower woes

MANILA, Philippines - The crisis over unpaid overtime work rendered by Bureau of Immigration officers is getting worse, as more BI personnel assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals have resigned or filed vacation leaves ranging from six months to one year.

Red Mariñas, BI Port Operations Division chief at NAIA, said that since January this year, 35 immigration officers (IOs) have resigned and more are planning to quit. “They have applied for certificates of employment from our personnel section to be used for job applications,” he said.

He said at least 17 to 18 IOs are absent almost daily at the four NAIA terminals.

The IOs are those assigned at the immigration counters to process the travel documents of departing and arriving passengers.

Mariñas said that he asked members of the Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU) and the supervisors to man the vacant counters.

Mariñas is also planning to recruit immigration officers from the Clark and Subic international airports in time for the Holy Week rush next week when thousands of passengers are expected to arrive or leave the country.

Passengers of Philippine Airlines (PAL) taking international flights were advised to check in at NAIA Terminal 2 at least four to five hours before their flight’s estimated time of departure due to insufficient staffing at the immigration counters.

The queues become longer during peak hours from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Before the issue on overtime pay, at least two to three IOs were absent in the four terminals due to illness or emergency matters. but about 17 to 18 officers are absent daily.

Mariñas added that some of the regular employees who quit are lawyers fed up with the overtime pay issue.

Mariñas said that an Immigration Officer 1 has salary grade 11 with basic pay of P16,000 a month but take-home is only P13,000 after deductions if the employee has no loans.

There are 900 contractual workers who have ceased receiving salaries and overtime pay since January this year, while overtime pay for some 1,600 organic personnel was also stopped.

Mariñas said Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno assured the BI that P224.835 million has been appropriated in the 2017 budget specifically for overtime pay of its employees.

Diokno said since there is a specific funding for the overtime pay of BI employees in the 2017 budget, there is no need to tap into the express lane funds.

The BI charges express lane fees from foreigners to expedite the processing of their permits.

Collections from the express lane fees were previously placed in a trust fund, which was used to pay additional benefits for BI personnel who rendered overtime until President Duterte vetoed it because “there is already funding in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for this purpose.”

“We hope Duterte would hear the wishes of the employees and take action,” Mariñas added in Filipino.

Mariñas added that the manpower shortage due to the resignation of IOs might adversely affect their operations, especially during peak months, amid the plan that the bureau will add 700 IOs who will undergo months of training.

BI spokesperson Ma. Antonette  Mangrobang said the bureau would deploy starting April 9 some 150 newly hired IOs at the NAIA terminals to augment the shortage of personnel during the Holy Week.

Mangrobang said that Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente called for a management committee meeting last Monday where they crafted a contingency plan.

She said that 21 other new immigration personnel would be assigned at the international airports in Cebu, Clark, Davao and Iloilo.

Mangrobang explained that even without the reports of BI airport personnel going on leave, the bureau has long been experiencing manpower shortage. There are currently about 1,700 BI regular personnel plus around 300 contractual employees and they hope to raise the number of workers to 4,000.

Malacañang expressed hope that the DBM and BI would reach a compromise to resolve the problem at the NAIA.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the budget department has agreed to create additional posts to address the concerns of the BI regarding the salaries of confidential agents related to job orders and overtime pay.

Abella said the BI has not responded to the budget department’s proposals.

“According to the explanation of Secretary Diokno, they have made a proposal and they’re waiting for the BI to make the proper response. It’s as simple as that. In a sense, it’s almost a household accounting job,” Abella said.

Abella said Malacañang is hoping that a compromise would be reached to spare the public from inconvenience.

“Somebody should be able to accommodate. There should be some form of compromise and find a way to resolve the situation,” Abella said.

“They cannot hijack the government into giving them all their demands through threats of work stoppage and thereby endanger public safety. We recognize their right to overtime allowances, but this must be compliant with pertinent laws and rules that apply equally to all government agencies,” he added.

Diokno said the funds for the overtime pay would be released as soon as the BI submits a special request with the budget department.

 Soldiers as immigration officers  

Diokno said the government would deploy soldiers to temporarily replace immigration officers at the NAIA.

“We are training 200 soldiers to replace them,” he said in a television interview.

He was commenting on reports of numerous complaints from arriving and departing passengers about long queues at immigration counters.

According to one television report, there were only three counters with immigration officers at NAIA Terminal 3 last weekend. Normally, there should be more than 20 immigration personnel on duty.

Diokno did not say if soldiers would be ready to man the counters in time for Holy Week.

The NAIA officers are protesting President Duterte’s decision to disallow the use of the express lane fees for their allowances, which Diokno said amounted to an average of 250 percent of their basic salary in 2016.

He said compensation rules allow the payment of allowances amounting to a maximum of 50 percent of basic pay.

He said the President ordered the express lane fees to be remitted to the national treasury and the BI should just request the DBM for funds for the payment of overtime work.

However, he added that Morente has made no such request.

Diokno pointed out that there is P245 million in this year’s budget for BI personnel doing overtime.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II apparently does not share the policy of Duterte and Diokno for immigration fees collected at the airport and seaports to be turned over to the treasury.

He said he would talk to the President so that the “old practice” would be restored.

In the past, investigations by lawmakers showed that such practice was a source of corruption.

Aguirre had warned the government that the lack of BI officers could affect national security since the agency is in charge of regulating entry of foreigners in the country, adding that there is already a shortage in the bureau’s personnel to begin with. 

The BI used to collect express lane fees from airlines and ships arriving after office hours. Many flights arrive at night and the early morning hours. The bureau was not required to turn over the money to the treasury, kept it and distributed it among immigration officers. Its officials, including the commissioner, his two deputies and intelligence chief, were given their share.

Some officials of the Department of Justice also partook of what was then known as a slush fund. – With Alexis Romero, Evelyn Macairan, Jess Diaz, Edu Punay