Senator Francis Escudero said the Bureau of Immigration should reimburse the travel expenses of those more than 32,000 passengers who were offloaded from their flights due to prolonged interrogation by immigration officers "in the guise of fighting human trafficking."

Escudero made this suggestion as he backed Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri in denouncing the new departure guidelines of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.

"To teach the BI a lesson, they should pay for the troubles they caused Filipinos wanting to travel," Escudero said.

He added that immigration officers should be held accountable for the travel woes experienced by the offloaded passengers.

Escudero urged his colleagues to support his call against BI.

"May I seek the chamber's support that we include a provision in the proposed 2024 national budget that these 32,404 passengers and anyone who will be offloaded will be reimbursed in so far,  as their expenses, is concerned," he said.

"This will be chargeable against the immigration fees being collected by the BI since a percentage of this goes to them anyway. Let it hurt them, Mr. President, so that they learn their lessons and they exercise the power given to them not arbitrarily but with due diligence and care," he added.

As of the latest immigration records, a total of 32,404 Filipino passengers were not allowed to proceed with their flights in 2022, with only 472 found to be victims of human trafficking or illegal recruitment.

"Up to this time, there is no proof and final decision that says that indeed those offloaded will be engaged in prostitution or human trafficking," Escudero noted.

"Therefore, it just behooves the government to reimburse these 32, 404 retroactively, even for previous years, chargeable from the fees collected by the Immigration and I hope that you, Mr. President, can lead us insofar as inserting that special provision in the budget of the BI for 2024," he pointed out," he added.