An immigration worker takes break with a cool smoothie to beat the summer heat at Terminal 1, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Pasay City, April 13, 2018. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) stressed Monday that they are prioritizing the swift deportation of workers arrested in POGO hubs following a call-out from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission on deportees who took connecting flights and did not end up in their home countries.

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PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said over the weekend that the deportees, mostly Chinese, take flights via Macau or Malaysia but evaded their flights back to China.

In a statement, BI commissioner Joel Anthony Viado emphasized that the swift removal of the individuals from the Philippines remains their top priority. 

“The longer they stay in the country waiting for schedules, the longer the government shoulders the cost of their detention,” Viado stated.

Viado said that the BI takes whatever flights are available because their priority is to send the deportees out of the country at the soonest possible time.

The BI noted that deportation procedures require only three essential documents: a valid passport or travel document, a National Bureau of Investigation clearance to confirm no pending accountability, and an outbound ticket.  

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The BI also said they are coordinating with the NBI for the expedited issuance of clearances to further accelerate the process.

“We all want the same thing—for them to leave our country as quickly as possible,” Viado added.  

The BI also emphasized that last January, a group of deportees was successfully sent back to their home country in just two weeks.

“If we can do it fast, we will find ways to do it even faster,” Viado said.

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