MANILA, Philippines – Member associations of the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFCP) are asking legislators not to pass the cost of overtime of Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel to airline companies and shippers.

The JFCP appealed to the Senate and the House of Representatives committee on justice not to include in their deliberation on the proposed Philippine Immigration Act a provision that would authorize the charging of overtime fees against airline companies and shippers.

The group argued that overtime pay of BI personnel should be shouldered by the government, a practice being observed in other countries.

“Part of the modernization of immigration services is the ability of the government to match the 24/7 operations of international airlines, our major partner in tourism development. The practice of charging overtime fees, meals, and transportation allowances to international airlines should now be removed and replaced with one where services provided by BI personnel, as employees of the government, are duly compensated by the state from its budget. This will accord with international practice and the current policy of the Aquino administration,” the JFCP said in a statement.

The business groups said this setup would generate jobs across export-oriented sectors and, at the same time, boost the country’s tourism industry.

The JFCP asked the lawmakers to consider deleting the section authorizing the BI commissioner to assign immigration employees “to do overtime work or services to be prescribed at rates fixed by the commissioner of immigration when the service rendered is to be paid for by the airline, shipping companies or other persons served.”

Instead, the group said the bureau should be authorized to allocate a percentage of its income to pay for 24/7 operations and to include overtime payments in its annual budget.

For his part, BI Commissioner Siegfred Mison said it is up to Congress to decide on issue of overtime payment of their personnel.

“We will defer to the wisdom of Congress in retaining or deleting this overtime provision. For now, BI needs more personnel for its workforce. Since we have a shortage in manpower, we resort to requiring our employees to render overtime work,” Mison said in a text message to The STAR.

The JFC is a coalition of the American, Australian-New Zealand, Canadian, European, Japanese and Korean chambers of commerce and the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Operating Headquarters Inc.