(Eagle News) — Senators have agreed to require the Bureau of Immigration to coordinate with the Department of Labor and Employment before it issues special working permits to foreigners who intend to work in the Philippines for less than six months.
The senators came to an agreement upon the advice of Senator Joel Villanueva, who questioned the BI’s authority to issue the permits even with what he said was its lack of technical capability to vet the entry of the workers.
Villanueva noted that the BI issued 185009 special working permits from January to November 2018 , “a stark contrast from the 115,652 alien employment permits issued by the DOLE from 2015 to 2017.”
He said the BI data showed special working permits were issued to foreigners whose roles can easily be filled by Filipino workers.
“Only the DOLE has the capability to assess whether foreigners seeking to work in the Philippines could be allowed to do so. Clearly, the BI went a step too far in issuing its special working permits,” Villanueva said.
