BI detains 16 Indonesian math contestants at NAIA

MANILA, Philippines -  A delegation of Indonesian grade school students who were scheduled to attend the 8th International Math and Science Olympiad (IMSO) were detained by immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) over the weekend.

The 16 students, ranging in age from 10 to 12, were held for two hours after Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers claimed they were not accompanied by their parents and they each had to pay P3,750 from their “pocket money” as “waiver of exclusion grounds” or WEG fee. The students were accompanied by their teachers.

Officials of Indonesia’s delegation to the IMSO, which is being held in Naga City, Camarines Sur, complained that the BI officers imposed the fee even if their delegates carried official documents issued by the Department of Justice, which exempted the students from paying any fees. The BI is under the DOJ.

Department of Science and Technology representatives, who were there to welcome the delegation, also told the BI examiners that the students were indeed participating in the IMSO.

Personnel working for Naga City Mayor John Bongat and the olympiad’s local organizer, the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines, said the immigration examiners embarrassed them since Indonesia was a warm and gracious host of the International Mathematics Competition in July.

Bongat asked help from former Naga City mayor and now Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, who told Justice Secretary Leila de Lima of the incident. De Lima ordered immigration officers to return the amount collected from the Indonesian delegates, which totaled P60,000.

BI sources told The STAR there had been proposals to cancel the WEG fee, as it is a provision from “antiquated” immigration laws. They said the WEG fee is reportedly imposed only in the Philippines.