(Eagle News) — Immigration chief Jaime Morente thanked the House of Representatives for including the proposed Bureau of Immigration Modernization Act as one of the top priorities for its third and final regular session.
Morente, in particular, thanked Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, who pushed for its inclusion.
Apart from the bureau’s proposed law, among those reportedly named as one of the five important measures identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council are Creating the Philippine Virology Institute Act, The Center for Disease Control Act, Amendments to the Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016, and the National Housing Development act.
According to Morente, the “new law is very timely as it will modernize border control.”
He noted the “prevailing law is a very old law, which was created in the 1940s,” and, as such, “many of the provisions do not apply in current times. ”
“The new law will reorganize the structure of the BI, specify responsibilities, define visa categories, put in safeguards for checks and balances, and improve the salaries of our men,” he said.
He said the new law also seeks to confer to the Commissioner disciplinary authority over its personnel.
“Quick and swift disciplinary action is needed to deter wrongdoings amongst our ranks,” he added.
Earlier, Morente had said the passage of the proposed law was the solution to the bureau’s problems in corruption, among others.
