Employees of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) were urged Thursday to support ongoing ‘house efforts’ being undertaken to reform and eradicate graft and corruption in the agency.
BI officer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledesma issued the call following earlier affirmation by Justice Secretary Leila De Lima of her support to initiatives being implemented in the bureau.
De Lima affirmed her support to the BI Officer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledesma in a speech delivered by DoJ undersecretary Francisco Baraan III during the bureau’s 70th anniversary over the weekend.
She acknowledged that Ledesma’s ongoing revamp at BI will receive stiff resistance from officials and employees who benefited for years from what she described as “corrupt and crooked” status quo.
She urged bureau officials and workers to support the “house cleaning” efforts being undertaken not only in the interest of government, the BI particularly, but its clients, and officials and employees.
The Justice Secretary admitted that “cleaning” the BI is not an easy task and that, in certain cases, resistance will be fierce.
”We know they will not give up without a fight but neither will we,” De Lima said, noting that the “process of house cleaning” is already well underway even as she underscored the need to build up the momentum for reform so it would “snowball to greater effect.”
OIC Ledesma had sacked 39 BI officials, including terminating the services of at least 350 or so confidential agents believed responsible for most of the illegal activities in the immigration bureau.
He stressed that the services of some more ‘unwanted’ employees will terminated as soon as investigation into their cases and background are completed.
De Lima said immigration officers are performing a great service as one of the gatekeepers of the country by filtering the flow of people in and out of the country.
“You help make the first contact, and we therefore look upon you to ensure that this contact is one which enhances our reputation and boosts our image in the eyes of the world. There is therefore no place for graft and corruption in the BI,” De Lima pointed out.
