DOJ releases new rules on appeal of immigration decisions

Foreigners ordered deported from the Philippines should leave the country within 30 days of the decision of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), new rules released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sunday revealed.

In a message to reporters on Sunday, Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete announced a new time frame on orders, resolutions, and decisions of the BI on immigration and immigration-related matters.

According to Perete, the new rules now provide that deportation orders must be executed within 30 days after the promulgation of the decision.

"Deportation orders become executory after 30 days from promulgation unless countermanded by the President," he said, citing Section 10, Chapter 3, Title I, Book III of the Administrative Code.

The new rules were issued under Department Circular No. 23 dated October 9, 2019, and were hinted on by the DOJ earlier this month.

Published on November 6, the rules took effect last Thursday, November 21, 2019.

Perete said that under the rules, the appeals process is now initiated by filing a notice to the Office of the Secretary within 15 days from receipt of the decision, resolution, or order.

From the filing of such notice, the appellant will then have another 15 days to file the appeal memorandum.

"An alien deportee may apply for the interim relief of stay from execution pending appeal. If such application is denied or unacted upon within the period of 30 days from promulgation of the challenged order, the alien deportee must leave," said Perete.

Among the considerations made for the new rules, Perete said, is the decongestion of the BI detention facility, since many of those it is currently accommodating cannot be deported because of pending appeal.

"The rules simplify the appeals process which is now initiated by mere filing of a notice to the Office of the Secretary within a period of 15 days from receipt of the decision resolution or order which appellant seeks to challenge," he said.

"From the filing of such notice, appellant has another 15 days within which to file the appeal memorandum. The rules specify the contents of such memorandum," added Perete. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/LBG, GMA News