DOJ to study proposal to reimburse offloaded passengers

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will look into the proposal of several senators to reimburse some offloaded passengers as a result of the Immigration officers' scrutiny, Justice spokesperson Mico Clavano said Thursday.

“Well, kailangan muna naming pag aralan ‘yan. There are challenges, of course, that we see regarding ‘yang reimbursement. Baka maging subject of abuse pa ‘yan kapag malaman ng mga tao na meron palang reimbursement scheme that they can avail of,” Clavano said in an ambush interview.

(We need to look into this first. There are challenges, of course, that we see regarding the reimbursement. It may become a subject of abuse if people find out that there’s a reimbursement scheme available.)

He added that the DOJ must first discuss the proposal with Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco as well as the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.

“Pero as of now, kagaya nung sinabi ni SOJ, there’s still no mechanism by which we can reimburse them,” Clavano said.

Senator Chiz Escudero earlier pitched to include a special provision in the 2024 budget of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for the reimbursement scheme.

As he expressed support for the proposal, Senator Sonny Angara said this would allow the BI to use its immigration fees and collections to reimburse Filipino passengers who were forced to spend money after their flights were deferred or they were unable to leave the country due to a lack of court order. 

Clavano said that Immigration officers have the discretion and duty to look into possible red flags among passengers.

“Kapag makita nila talaga na meron talagang red flags at sa tingin nila, medyo may fraudulent representations doon sa mga requirements, we really have to put that at the forefront, ‘yung duty namin, ‘yung mandate po ng IACAT na protektahan talaga yung ating mga kababayan,” he said.

(If they see that there are red flags or somewhat fraudulent representations of the requirements, we really have to put at the forefront our duty [and] the IACAT’s mandate to protect our countrymen.)

 Clavano said the proposal may create a chilling effect.

“With the reimbursement, you know, we see na baka matakot pa ‘yung Immigration officer na mag offload, even if it’s the duty of the Immigration officer to really do that,” he said.

(With the reimbursement, you know, we see that the Immigration officer may become afraid to offload passengers, even if it is his duty to do that.)

“So of course we are looking into it. We are going to discuss and study kung ano talaga yung posibleng compromise or arrangement,” he added.

(Of course, we are looking into it. We are going to discuss and study what are the possible compromise or arrangements here.)

Meanwhile, when sought for comment, Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said the BI will seek guidance from the DOJ and other departments. —LDF, GMA Integrated News