Immigration bureau: P3.14 billion in revenues raised in first half of year despite pandemic

(Eagle News)–The Bureau of Immigration has raised more than P3 billion in revenues for the government during the first half of the year.

The bureau said the P3.14 billion raised were despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, although it was 39-percent lower than the P4.3 billion the agency remitted to the national treasury in the same period last year.

Bureau Commissioner Jaime Morente said the revenues were collected from January to June.

“We still consider this as a significant accomplishment considering that even amidst the pandemic we are just 50-percent short of attaining our target of P6.18 billion for 2020,” Morente said in a statement.

He said the bureau’s collections would have already reached record-levels at this time without the pandemic which forced the bureau to suspend services and scale down operations in most of its offices.

Bureau Financial Management Division Chief Judith Ferrera said that in January and February total collection already stood at nearly P1.8 billion.

Revenues dropped to P481 million in March when Luzon was placed under an enhanced community quarantine due to the pandemic.

Morente also noted the 95-percent drop in the number of local and foreign travelers who entered and exited the country, which meant less clients for the bureau.

Nonetheless, Morente said the bureau was optimistic that it would attain its income target for the year as the country transitions to “new normal” under less restrictive quarantine measures.

“We are seeing a resurgence in the number of people transacting in our offices and as the economy slowly reopens and travel restrictions are eased, we anticipate a steady rise in our revenues in the next few months,” he said.

Ferrera said last year the bureau deposited to the national coffers more than P10.5 billion, or 111-percent more than its revenue target for 2019.