NEWLY installed Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente said he will reshuffle personnel holding key positions in the bureau.
In a press conference after the turnover ceremony in Manila, the BI chief said that it will not be an overall reorganization of personnel.
"Based on the examination of the qualifications of those already in position at present. It will not a sweeping (movement) of personnel but may be key positions,” he said.
Asked on when the reshuffle will be implemented, Morente said, "(There is) no timeline but may be in a month or so."
One of the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte is for him to end corruption in the bureau.
“There is an instruction of the President to stop corruption. Basic mandate given by the President. I intend to address it immediately. There are some reports, although not sweeping accusations sa bureau,
gaya ng ibang organization big as bureau meron naliligaw na landas,” the BI chief said.
Aside from fighting corruption, Morente said his other key priorities are: strengthen border control and improve service efficiency.
"With escalating levels of terrorist activities happening across the globe, it is imperative the Bureau secure Philippine borders by shoring up border control, especially its anti-terrorism and anti-crime efforts, to guard against the entry of foreign and local criminal elements into the country," he said.
The BI chief added, “The first order of business internally: Simplifying frontline services to meet the 72-hour processing mandate by the President, eliminating red tape by reducing the number of processors and signatories, and modernizing the current ACR I-card system efficiency and anti-cyber attack purposes.”
Morente noted that also included in his agenda is to improve revenue collect by making the registration and re-registration of aliens/foreign nationals more seamless, relevant and professional.
Likewise, he vowed to intensify Counter Intelligence Operations to ensure that BI personnel themselves do not engage in illegal activities.
“We’re making it our mission to account for all overstaying and undocumented aliens who negotiate for their unauthorized stay for a fee. Anti-human smuggling also ranks high on our priority list,” Morente added.
On the other hand, former BI Chief Ronaldo Geron said with Morente succeeding him, “the bureau is in better hands.”
He also assured the new bureau Commissioner of his support and ready to extend assistance to him.
Geron served the bureau for six months. (Sunnex)