(Eagle News) — The government has allowed the establishment of a trust fund funded by express lane fees to increase the salaries of Bureau of Immigration personnel.
“There is a need for an interim measure to augment the salaries of BI employees, in recognition of the indispensability of their functions, the apparent disparity between the basic pay of BI employees and employees of government agencies performing comparable functions, and to promote the continuous and unhampered delivery of basic government services,” Memorandum Order 24 dated July 13 said.
According to the order, 64 percent of the express lane funds “shall be used to augment the salaries of the BI’s organic personnel who render service beyond regular hours; 25 percent shall be used for the salaries of the BI’s contractual personnel; and 11 percent shall be remitted to the National Treasury as income of the General Fund.
“Thus, the release of augmentation pay covering the months of January to May 2018 for the entitled organic personnel shall be immediately released,” the order said.
The order is in effect until December 31.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente welcomed the development.
“The men and women of the Bureau are very grateful to the President and we pledge to reciprocate his support by doing our jobs more diligently and conscientiously,” he said.