(Manila) – Bureau of Immigration Officers
assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as well as other
immigration officers in the country have been banned from using their
cellphones while they are on duty. The move was implemented as an effort to
crackdown on corruption within the Bureau, and thus removes the opportunity for
employees to partake in dubious exchanges, says BI officer-in-charge Siegfred
Mison. He gave as examples instances wherein employees were caught on CCTV
using their cellphones to coordinate the exit of human trafficking victims as
well as foreign fugitives. Under the new
rule, employees must surrender their phones to their supervisor for temporary
custody before beginning a shift. Should they need to make an emergency phone call,
they will be allowed to use the phones officially used by the duty supervisors.
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