Thank you, Majority Leader.
Just a brief manifestation as well as, in support of the speech of our good Senate President.
Mr. President, ang best practice saan man parte ng mundo, istrikto ang inspeksyon ng bagahe ng sinumang lumalabas sa anumang bansa. Pagdating mo sa bansang pupuntahan mo, random na lang ‘yon at hindi na istriktong iniinspeksyon ang bagahe. Patungkol naman sa mga kababayan nating paalis—tao na ito at hindi bagahe—hindi iniistriktuhan ang pag-alis maliban sa pagkakaroon ng valid passport at visa kung kinakailangan doon sa bansang pupuntahan mo at obligasyon nung bansang tumatanggap ng dayuhan na tanungin, “May hotel ka ba? May insurance ka ba? Gaano ka ba katagal dito at kailan babalik?”
Hindi problema at hindi dapat tinatanong at inaasikaso ng immigration officials ng ating bansa, dayuhan man o Pilipino, ang mga bagay na ito. Hinahayaan dapat silang magbiyahe at hayaan nating ‘yong bansa ang magtingin, “Mayroon ka bang pambayad sa hotel? May kakayahan ka ba?” Dahil bago sila in-issue-han ng visa, Mr. President, tinignan at hiningi na lahat ‘yan. Bakit kailangan pang iprisintang muli sa ating immigration officials?
And insofar, Mr. President, the 32,404 Filipinos offloaded, may I seek the chamber’s support that in the special provision of the 2024 Budget thatuwe include a provision that states that this 32,404 and anyone who will be offloaded will be reimbursed, insofar as their expenses, chargeable against the immigration fees being collected by the Bureau of Immigration since a percentage of this goes to them anyway. Let it hurt them, Mr. President, so that they learn their lesson and so that they exercise the powers given to them, not arbitrarily but with due diligence and care.
Mr. President, I believe that discretion always equals corruption. Minimize discretion, you minimize corruption. Eliminate discretion, you eliminate corruption. This clearly gives a wide latitude of discretion based solely on profiling. Marunong bang mag-ingles? Kaya ba mag-ingles ng diretso? Ano ba ‘yung porma? Ano ba ‘yung sapatos? ‘Yung mga bagahe ba niya nasa supot, nasa plastic bag o maganda ba ‘yung bagahe niya? Rimowa ba ‘yan o ano? Mr. President, that is clearly arbitrary, unfair, and unjust. Now whatever the reason may be, there’s no proof and final decision that says that indeed this person offloaded will be engaged in prostitution or human trafficking.
Therefore, it just behooves the government to reimburse this 32,404 retroactively, Mr. President, even for previous years chargeable again from the fees collected by the Bureau of Immigration.
I hope our president can lead us, insofar as inserting that provision, the special provisions for the budget of the Bureau of Immigration is concerned in the 2024 National Budget.
Thank you.