BI posts P1.74-B revenue in 2007

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has posted P1.74 billion in collections in 2007, surpassing its assigned target of P1.5 billion by some P240 million, Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said yesterday.

He said the revenue raised by the BI last year was highest in the last seven years — P218 million higher than the collection in 2006, P463 million than 2005, P627 million than 2004, P647 million than 2002, and P846 million over that of 2001.

Libanan said the main reason for the BI’s high revenue collection is that he had instituted reforms to simplify procedures and requirements, particularly for visa applications, when he assumed office in May last year.

These reforms, he said, led to the continued influx of foreigners into the country and resulted in increased collections for the BI. He noted that close to five million foreigners arrived in the country last year.

Libanan added that during the second semester of last year, there was a dramatic upsurge in the number of foreigners applying to extend their stay in the country and for work and investment visas.

BI finance chief Elvira Presado disclosed that the bureau’s annual collection has steadily risen from only P891 million in 2001 to P1.07 billion in 2002, P1.09 billion in 2003, P1.1 billion in 2004, P1.27 billion in 2005, and P1.46 billion in 2006.

Last year, Department of Justice officials lauded the BI for being among the five government agencies with the highest contribution to the national coffers from 2001 to 2006.

It was in 2002 when the BI’s income reached a billion pesos for the first time, which qualified it to join the “billionaires’ club” of government agencies.                                                 – Edu Punay