MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has designated a new caretaker and officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Bureau of Immigration a day after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. relieved Immigration commissioner Norman Tansingco.
In a statement by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday, September 10, Remulla named Deputy Commissioner Joel Viado as the the bureau's OIC.
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Viado will be in charge of the day-to-day operations of the bureau under the supervision of the Justice secretary.
His appointment is effective immediately.
Tansingco's alleged faults
Marcos sacked Tansingco on September 9 upon Remulla’s recommendation due to the former commissioner’s lapses.
On September 4, Remulla bared that he had stopped talking to Tansingco, after the latter’s failure to promptly disclose the timing of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo's escape from the Philippines in August.
Aside from the former mayor’s escape, Remulla said there are more issues that Tangsingo left unaddressed, such as the issuance of working visas to foreign nationals.
In a Tuesday statement, Remulla expressed his disappointment over the Immigration chief's the lack of action and failure to manage matters in ways that have “compromised national security.”
“This has been a big problem for the longest time, we have not been lacking reminders to the Immigration Commissioner about these problems,” Remulla said.
Last month, the Senate subpanel on justice and human rights raised concerns about the Immigration bureau’s delay in informing the Department of Justice about Guo's escape.
Tansingco confirmed that the agency received information from the Philippine National Police Intelligence group on August 15, but it did not verify or share this information until Sen. Risa Hontiveros made Guo's escape public on August 19.
Tansingco denied the omission, stating that the Justice department was notified on August 20, as the escape was only confirmed that day.