perspicaciousness

MEANING:

noun: Keenness of perception and discernment.

Sentence

No wonder this perspicacious Justice accounts for seven of the thirty-eight selections

PAGASA: Giant asteroid may be visible on Nov. 9

By Ding Cervantes (The Philippine Star) Updated November 03, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (3)

ia Anto
Government eyes strict measures to curb offloading of OFWs
By Jose Rodel Clapano

MANILA, Philippines - The government will utilize close circuit

television (CCTV) cameras to curb the abuse of the offloading policy

at the international airports in the country, Vice President Jejomar Binay

said yesterday.
Binay, presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)
concerns and chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Committee Against
Trafficking (IACAT), said CCTVs will be installed in all immigration
counters at all airports in the country as part of the measure to strictly
curb the abuse of offloading.
Aside from CCTVs, personnel of the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA) will also be included in the interview of
departing passengers and guide questions will also be provided to the
Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel.
While the offloading policy has contributed to a decline in the incidents
of human trafficking and illegal recruitment, it has become controversial
because of the complaints of abuse of discretion and corruption, Binay
said.
Binay said he has ordered the technical working group to review the
implementation of the offloading policy and come up with other
measures at the soonest time.
Binay also urged the BI to expedite hearings of corruption complaints
filed against 18 of its personnel who reportedly demanded money from
departing passengers in exchange for clearance to leave the country.
I am confident that the BI will fast-track the hearings on these
complaints to emphasize to our kababayan (countrymen) that corruption
will never be tolerated under the Aquino administration, Binay said.
Binay also urged the OFWs and other passengers who have been
victimized by unscrupulous immigration personnel to come out in the
open and file complaints.
I appeal to our kababayan to also do their share by coming out and
filing cases against these employees so they can be held accountable. As

your vice president, I assure you that these complaints will be acted
upon, he said.
On the other hand, the BI urged recruitment agencies to identify the
corrupt immigration officials allowing OFWs to travel to countries
where there is an existing deployment ban.
BI spokesperson Marnette Mangrobang asked the recruiters to supply
them with the names of these unscrupulous BI agents.
Mangrobang made this reaction on reports saying recruiters are
complaining that some immigration officials demand bribes of between
P30,000 to P50,000 from OFWs who want to work in Afghanistan and
other countries where they are prohibited from seeking employment.
In the past, we have always asked assistance from these individuals or
agencies who have made such reports, if they could name or provide
identities of those who have asked for whatever consideration to allow
people to travel to (prohibited) countries, please help us, she said.
For the government to succeed in its campaign against human
smuggling, the BI would need the support of the public.
We are trying our best to determine who are these unscrupulous
individuals but we also need the support of the public, specifically the
agencies since this is their business, Mangrobang said.
Recruitment agencies also complained about the BIs indiscriminate
offloading of suspected undocumented OFWs that is reportedly driving
away foreign employers.
This has reportedly prompted foreign employers to hire other
nationalities due to many instances wherein newly hired OFWs were
caught up in the unnecessary delay.
Mangrobang assured the public that the government has taken steps to
solve this problem.

In fact, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and

Binay have already formed the technical working group to study the
policies that would be undertaken by the council, she pointed out.
Offloading is the policy of preventing the departure of Filipinos who are
bound for certain destinations.
Binay said a total of 17 Filipinos were offloaded in October, with 13
persons classified as tourist workers, and one that has been classified as
an OFW with irregularities in documents.
He said two cases of attempted human trafficking were also filed with
the Department of Justice.
From October last year, Binay said a total of 491 passengers were
offloaded, including 30 minors and 287 tourist workers.
Of the total, 171 were classified as OFWs with irregularities in their
documents.
He said some workers pose as tourists and attempt to gain employment
abroad without proper documentation, or go to countries where the
Philippines currently has a deployment or travel ban.
Under the Immigration Act, Binay explained an immigration officer has
the power to offload a passenger if he believes the traveler is using
spurious travel documents, or using a tourist visa but intends to work
abroad.
I believe there is a need for BI to have proper guidelines in the
offloading of passengers. The basis for preventing a Filipino from
leaving the country should be clearly spelled out to minimize the
exercise of discretion on the part of immigration personnel, Binay said.