03 January 2006
Bumper collection year for BI-Dagupan office
THE Dagupan office of the Bureau of Immigration registered a total of P8.4 million in collections for 2005, an increase of P2,151,380 over last year’s P6,322,680 by the same field office.
Alien Control Officer Alberto S. Garcia said the bulk of the 34.03 per cent increase in collections came from Filipino-Americans transacting business with the office for visa extension, annual reporting fee, re-entry and exit charges, and change of status from temporary to permanent residency.
Fil-Ams were followed by Indians, Americans, Europeans, Koreans, Chinese and Middle Eastern nationals in terms of volume of transactions with the Dagupan BI office, Garcia said.Most Filipino-Americans in Pangasinan hail from the town of Binalonan, the maternal hometown of President Arroyo.
In all, he said BI-Dagupan averaged P600,000 monthly in collections, all of which were regularly remitted to the BI central office throughout the year.
Garcia said since the decentralization of operations of the Immigration bureau during the administration of former Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez, the BI provincial office based at the Dagupan City Astrodome here has zoomed up from a zero-income unit to multi-million revenue-earning office in just five years of operation.
Garcia thanked Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez for consistent support to the operations of the Dagupan office contributing to a highly motivated and efficient field workforce. Three main categories make up the collections of the BI-Dagupan: general fund, legal research fee and express lane fee.
For 2005, these three areas posted increases of P1,695,670 (33.75%), P24,710( 28.83) and 431,000 (35.52%) respectively for a total annual increase of P2,151,380 or 34.03 approximating the collections, volume-wise, of Baguio immigration office, the premier office in northern Luzon, considered the main destination and residency of most foreign nationals and Fil-Ams.
Garcia said peak months of collections this year are January followed by February and November. (BFH-PIA Pangasinan Infocenter)
