To prevent Chinese and Koreans from being duped by fixers loitering around the premises of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the agency is now looking for interpreters to assist foreign nationals in the processing of their papers.
BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said they are looking for Filipinos who can speak fluent Mandarin and Korean to help them communicate with Chinese and Korean nationals.
“We have noticed that many of the Chinese and Koreans coming to the country have difficulty speaking the English language and so there is a problem in communication. This situation makes these non-English speaking foreigners easy prey for fixers,” said Libanan.
He added that even BI personnel have difficulty understanding said nationals, causing them to give the wrong documents.
“Actually, we already have one interpreter for Chinese nationals at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). We need one more and another one for the Koreans who would be based at the BI head office,” he added.
He said the interpreters could be utilized whenever there is a need to question a Chinese or Korean arrested for violating immigration laws.
But Libanan clarified that these interpreters would only be hired as casual employees of the agency.
Meantime, he said there is no need to hire interpreters for Japanese nationals since many of them are fluent in English.