Senator Bong Revilla Slams Immigration Over Viral Offload Incident
Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla slammed the officials of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) due to the viral offload incident.
Following the viral unloading event at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Senator chastised the BI (NAIA). In a viral video on social media, a Filipina traveler on her way to Israel revealed her experience at the hands of an Immigration Officer (IO).
The IO allegedly asked her irrelevant questions until he allegedly requested her school yearbook. This incident prevented it from leaving the Philippines many hours before its scheduled departure time.
To make matters worse, the traveler must pay an extra fee to cover the expense of rebooking the flight. According to Revilla, his agency has received numerous complaints about the prevalence of arbitrary offloading in the NAIA, and they are examining the matter before it becomes a public issue.
“Tinitingnan na namin ito since last year, at eto at pumutok na. Mismong kaibigan ni Congressman Bryan Revilla na papasyal lang sa Singapore twice inoffload despite our correspondence with BI,” said the senator.
“Ang katwiran ng BI, iba raw yung nasa legal at head office nila sa mga nasa airport. Wala daw silang control sa mga nasa airport. Tama ba ‘yun? Sa pagkakataong ito, it looks like the solution being implemented is worse than the problem,” said the senator, based on the article of Senate of the Philippines.
According to BI, out of 32,404 Filipinos offloaded in 2022, 472 were linked to human trafficking, 873 were allegedly misrepresented,’ and 10 were children. Less than 4.2% of the more than 30,000 people who were offloaded and disrupted by that immigration have a basis. What’s more aggravating is that they claim only 1.45% is linked to human trafficking, according to Revilla.
“Over 95% talagang inabala at pinagastos lang. Ibig sabihin, isa lang sa bawat dalawampung inoffload nila ang medyo may basis. ‘Di ba kalokohan ‘yan? Sobrang daming naabala. Sobrang daming nasayang na oras at pera. This really says something about the accuracy and efficiency of their [Bureau of Immigration] performance,” the Senator emphasized.
Revilla was upset and declared that if the supposed foolishness does not stop, the BI staff will resign. The senator argues that what BI is doing violates Filipinos’ travel rights. He further stated that this could be a flagrant breach of the Court’s authority to issue Hold Departure Orders (HDO) with justification.
“Anong nangyayayari sa Bureau of Immigration? Nakakahiya! Hindi ganyang klase ng serbisyo publiko ang dapat natatanggap ng mga tao. Ngayon kasi, para bang all Filipinos are human traffickers unless proven otherwise! Bakit niyo hahanapan ng yearbook? Bakit niyo hahanapan ng graduation photo? Hindi ko maisip para saan. Our people deserve to be treated better, if not fairly. Kaya kung hindi niyo matutuwid iyang di matapos-tapos na kalokohan niyo, mag-resign na lang kayo!” the Senator said.
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Tama ka Senator Bong Revilla dapat na silang mag resign. Halimbawa sila yong nalagay sa gigawan ng ganyan. Di kaya sila nag alburoto???
We were victim of this unjust BI. My daughter was offloaded also last Dec 2021. The reason? This is because she went there as tourist then was employed. Yun lng… Ganun lng din ggawin khit my return ticket anak ko. Gusto ko pabayarin yun IO officer ng nasayang na visa at rebooking fee. My something Dyan Kung bakit mg 2nd room for offload. Dun their IDs aren’t display. Ayaw aq pagsalitain but I insist very humiliating magsalita yang lalaking IO na Yan. Nung nilabas ko ang ID and he saw may Republic of the Philippines ang agency ID ko… Govt employee din aq Kaya ayun nag labas ng form ng affidavit of support. Meron Pala ganun why not make things easier for the traveler. Dpat tlaga rekisahin n yan mga immigration officials Dyan. Masyado n silang nkaka perwisyo. Willing aq makausap yang IO na Yan nag offload sa anak ko last Dec 2021 at pabayarin ng expenses nmin Yan
tama naman! khit sabihin nating medyo kulang ang simpleng Pilipino sa kaalaman sa batas DAHIL HINDI YAN TINUTURO NA PANGKALHATAN SA HIGHSCHOOL dapat justified pa rin ang paghihingi ng verification.
sorry sa word pero ano bang katangahan yung hahanapan mo ng yearbook yung taong kelangan nang umalis kase may schedule? YEARBOOK! tapos na ko ng college pero WALA AKO NUNG YEAR BOOK NAMIN. 2016 PA KO NAGKARON NG DEGREE HA COLLEGE ID LANG ANG MERON AKO AT TOR
nangpapower trip lang ata yung BI na imbis na tanggalan ng trabaho nilagay sa back office sheesh yung audacity HAY NAKO
The head of Bureau of Immigration should resign.
For once Revilla is doing something.