January 7th, 12:05am January 6th, 10:26pm Anthony Ching

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) issued far more temporary or special permits last year compared to the regular employment licenses for foreigners which the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) now believes had contributed greatly to illegal workers flooding the country.

The DoLE is now considering the withdrawal of the BI’s authority to grant Special Working Permits (SWP) due to its apparent abuse.

In 2005, an agreement was entered between DoLE and BI where foreign workers will no longer be required to get an Alien Employment Permit (AEP) from DoLE for work contracts that last not more than six months.

AEP is processed for long-term employment but the DoLE requires a labor market test prior to granting the employment permit.

DoLE, in coordination with the Department of Justice, is seriously considering to revoke the authority.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said DoLE is seriously considering the revocation of the authority in coordination with the Department of Justice (DoJ) which is the parent agency of the BI.

A report reaching DoLE said the BI had issued 186,613 SWP within 11 months, or from January to November last year, compared to 120,000 AEP issued in the past three years based on DoLE records.

Based on BI data, the bureau earned a total of P1.2 billion from SWP fees alone in 2018 while earnings from other charges, such as visa extension, have yet to be released by the bureau.

The BI office at SM Aura, where Commissioner Jaime Morente holds office, earned a total of P436.7 million, followed by the BI main office in Intramuros Manila with a total of P411.12 million.

Third biggest earner was BI-SM North EDSA with a total of P65 million.

DoLE said it would ask the DoJ to investigate several immigration officials who issued SWP outside their jurisdictions, citing a report that BI-SM North EDSA had issued a number of commercial visas to Chinese workers but these were not honored by the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone.

BI Deputy Commissioner Tobias Javier said he would recommend the revocation of all SWP issued from the BI office at SM North EDSA since it was not authorized to issue the permits.

“Justin Galvez, who previously headed BI-SM North EDSA, was transferred to a different office after the probe of the incident and was replaced by Ailen Sta. Ana,” a BI official said.

The DoLE vowed to push for the restriction on the issuance of the SWP, including a limit on its scope.

Bello said he will discuss the issue with Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and they will look at the possibility of either minimizing or completely abolishing the SWP scheme.

However, Bureau of Local Labor Director Dominique Tutay said it would be impossible for DoLE to process all alien work permits without the help of other government agencies, thus the need for temporary certificates.

He added a better alternative would be for the SWP to specify the work of the applicant while its effectivity will not go beyond six months.