BI hiring more immigration agents at NAIA

July 19, 2017

Seventy new immigration officers assumed their jobs as the Bureau of Immigration prepares for the peak travel seasons this year, a statement by the bureau said Wednesday. According to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, these 70 newly-hired immigration officers assumed their posts at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport this July. ​He said 70 more new immigration officers who were recently recruited began training for their jobs this week. ​ “Before the year ends, we expect to hire a hundred more immigration officers who will be deployed at the NAIA and other international airports throughout the country,” Morente added. The new personnel were recruited to fill up the nearly one thousand immigration officer plantilla items that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) created to address the problem of lack of manpower in the BI. ​Morente said the new employees were hired after passing written exams and interviews conducted by the BI not only in Metro Manila but in Cebu and Davao as well in order to accommodate job applicants from the Visayas and Mindanao. ​ He said many recruits came from within the BI ranks, particularly former contractual employees who have served the bureau for many years but whose job applications were always bypassed under previous administrations. “This time we made sure that these old-timers, who for so long had persevered in their work as contractual employees, are finally rewarded for their services by including them in our roster of permanent employees,” Morente declared. ​The period between November and April is considered as peak travel season as it is best to travel to the Philippines during the cool and dry seasons and local vacationers often go abroad during the Christmas and summer holidays. An influx of foreign visitors into the country is usually observed this same period as nationals from North America, Europe and northern Asia prefer to vacation here. DMS