BI still determining foreign detainees eligible for bail —spokesperson

The Bureau of Immigration is still determining who among its hundreds of foreign detainees are eligible for temporary release as it moves to decongest its detention facility in an effort to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak inside.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente instructed the bureau's legal division to come up with a list of detainees eligible for bail or recognizance within a week, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

The BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City has 418 detainees, well over its capacity of 140, but Sandoval said detainees can roam around open spaces like a covered court and common areas in the facility, which she earlier stressed is not a jail.

More than 200 of the 418 are Chinese nationals, followed in number by Koreans, Japanese, Americans, and Vietnamese detainees, Sandoval said.

Detainees are usually in for violations of the Philippine's immigration law; working without permit and overstaying are common causes of arrest and detention. Some of them have pending immigration cases and some are awaiting deportation due to a pending criminal case in the country.

Around 10% of detainees are foreign fugitives who are prioritized in deportation as they are wanted in their home countries, Sandoval said.

The BI said two weeks ago that it will recommend several detainees who have pending court cases for bail. Earlier this week, Morente ordered the concerned bureau offices to speed up the resolution of deportation cases and the implementation of deportation orders.

Sandoval explained that foreigners are deported in coordination with their embassies, which arranges travel documents and tickets for their citizens.

There are mounting calls for authorities to ease prison and jail populations amid the COVID-19 crisis. Several inmates and staff in different jail facilities in the country have already tested positive for the infectious disease. —AOL, GMA News