Cracking down on corruption at BI

It’s about time for President Marcos to confront the issue of corruption at the Bureau of Immigration, a good place to start the difficult but necessary battle against the menace that has long plagued the government.

Several government agencies have a lot of explaining to do on how dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo was able to fake her way to a mayoralty post despite her suspicious citizenship and ties to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).

Guo’s latest caper—slipping out of the country when there was a lookout bulletin on her for a string of crimes—has again put the spotlight on the immigration bureau’s spotty record.

The President is on point when he said that Guo’s escape “has laid bare the corruption that undermines our justice system and erodes public trust,” probably the first time since he took office that he honed in on this pervasive problem in government. Mr. Marcos warned that there was no place in government “for anyone who places personal interest above serving the Filipino people with honor, integrity, and justice.”

‘Heads will roll’

In his social media accounts, the chief executive warned: “Let me be clear: Heads will roll.” He added: “We will expose the culprits who have betrayed the people’s trust and aided in her flight. A full-scale investigation is already underway, and those responsible will be suspended and will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

On Tuesday, the President hinted that he has a “very, very good idea” of the identity of the person who had helped the fugitive ex-mayor leave the country.

It would not have escaped Mr. Marcos’ attention that not a few people on social media noted how a neighboring country—Indonesia—was faster and more efficient in arresting and deporting Guo’s sister and a Pogo executive after they left the country last month.

More troubling than Guo’s and her two siblings’ escape through the country’s porous backdoor down south was Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian’s revelation that the immigration bureau had known about Guo’s departure on July 18, but withheld that information from the President and the Senate, which has an arrest warrant against her. It took a month for the information to become public when Sen. Risa Hontiveros divulged it in a speech on Aug. 19.

Flimsy explanation

“Even the President was kept in the dark … From what I have been told, [the immigration office] knew about this two weeks ago,” Gatchalian said.

By then, Guo and her siblings had managed to travel to Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. The immigration bureau’s flimsy explanation that Guo and her siblings had left illegally and did not go through proper immigration channels does not wash, given the bureau’s notorious handling of illegal Chinese workers connected with the questionable Pogos.

Recall Hontiveros’ expose on the “pastillas” scheme that had immigration personnel allegedly allowing illegal Chinese workers to enter the country for P10,000 each between 2017 and 2020. In 2022, the Ombudsman ordered the dismissal of 45 immigration agents involved in the bribery, but this has not deterred corrupt personnel and officials from committing more bad deeds.

In 2023, Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla said the Department of Justice was monitoring the resurgence of the money-making scheme at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. In January this year, he ordered an investigation into the issuance of prearranged employment visas for thousands of foreigners supposedly working for local companies that turned out to be fake.

Pogo money

In 2023, Hontiveros revealed that, at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga, immigration officers received between P75,000 and P100,000 for every Filipino trafficked to Cambodia.

Will Guo’s escape finally bring about the much-needed cleansing at the bureau? The President should make sure it does, as there is good reason to suspect that Pogo money and powerful connections were behind Guo’s clandestine departure. On Tuesday, Hontiveros shared the information that the Guo family had paid P200 million to facilitate her escape.

With the Marcos administration approaching its third year in office, it can no longer escape accountability for the continuing rampant corruption in frontline offices like the immigration bureau and other agencies guarding our ports. Decisive steps must be taken to stem the menace that has permeated the bureaucracy and led to the wanton waste of taxpayer money that could have been used to curb poverty.

It begins, rightfully, with the President’s declaration that corruption will not be tolerated and will be punished, a message that had been conspicuously absent in his annual State of the Nation Address. It’s never too late to wage a determined battle against corruption. It’s about time to let heads roll, throw the guilty behind bars, and restore integrity in government service.