In a letter dated 23 June 2011 to the Philippine Embassy in Thailand, Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. explained the Philippine Bureau of Immigration’s side on the issue of offloading. Below are some excerpts from the letter of the Commissioner -

“We wish to reiterate that amidst the threat of being subjected to unfair accusations and even harassment complaints, our officers are performing their mandate to implement our immigration laws at the international airports, especially their bounden duty to ensure compliance on the strict departure formalities of departing Filipino travelers in line with our government’s campaign against human trafficking.

We assure you however, that … under my watch, the Bureau will not countenance indiscriminate offloading of passengers, harassment or insulting remarks from our immigration officers, let alone, corruption on their part.

Along this line, we have issued various Memoranda requiring our immigration officers to explain such unauthorized and irresponsible conduct and even meted administrative penalties to some erring officers of the Bureau.

Likewise, to specifically prevent indiscriminate offloading, we are revisiting our Indicator Checklist and exploring ways and means to avoid offloading of legitimate travelers.”  

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