Manila – A Philippine lawmaker has expressed confidence that the bicameral conference committee working on the 2024 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) will approve a provision for reimbursing Filipino passengers offloaded from flights due to lengthy immigration interrogations. Senator Chiz Escudero, who proposed the special provision in the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) 2024 budget during Senate deliberations, believes that the government should compensate the over 32,000 affected passengers from 2022.
According to Philippines News Agency, Escudero explained that this reimbursement would not require additional budget allocation, as it would be covered by the BI’s earnings from collections. He assured that immigration officers’ overtime pays and other expenses would remain unaffected by this proposal. BI records indicate that out of the 32,404 Filipino passengers not allowed to proceed with their flights last year, 472 were identified as victims of human trafficking or illegal recruitment.
The proposed provision is retroactive, allowing all previously offloaded passengers to claim reimbursement. The specifics of these claims will be determined by the BI. Escudero also suggested that the Department of Justice and the BI should develop a policy guideline or checklist for screening outbound Filipino passengers, aiming to protect them from human trafficking. He expressed hope that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. would not veto this provision, considering its small proportion within the PHP5.7-trillion budget for the next year.