Immigration bureau 2020 revenue down to P5.88-billion due to pandemic
MANILA, Philippines — The COVID-19 pandemic has cut the Bureau of Immigration’s collection to around P5.9 billion in 2020, recording a 36.1% fall from 2019 records.
In a statement Monday, the bureau said it collected a total revenue from immigration fees of P5.88 billion, which was more than P3 billion below that what the BI recorded in 2019.
Prior to when the pandemic hit in 2020, the BI collected P9.3 billion for its income in 2019.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente they had expected the decrease in revenue. “With more foreign nationals going out of the country than going in, we were able to collect less revenue from visa applications,” he explained.
The suspension of transactions in the bureau for more than two months in 2020, due to the enforcement of the lockdown, also greatly affected BI’s revenue collection, Morente added.
BI Finance chief Judith Ferrera explained that bulk of the BI’s revenue is sourced from visa processing and extension fees, fines and penalties, clearance and certification taxes and immigration tax.
BI previously said the pandemic also hampered their operations to nab foreign fugitives in the country due to the pandemic.
Ferrera also said the bureau was poised to post a record high income in 2020. She noted that collections in January and February reached P1.8 billion, but revenues dropped to P480 million in March as the Philippine government placed Luzon under enhanced community quarantine.
Morente however said the bureau’s revenue collection efforts may “gradually return to normal this year” when the government rolls out its vaccination program and international travel restrictions are eased. — Kristine Joy Patag
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