Immigration chief claims being targeted for his ‘reforms’
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado on Monday denied allegations of corruption and misconduct in the Bureau of Immigration (BI), saying it was “black propaganda” and a retaliation by “underground operations” affected by his reforms in the agency.
“For the record, I unequivocally state that all the allegations contained in the alleged ‘white paper’ are patently false,” Viado said in a statement, referring to a letter dated June 2 addressed to President Marcos and duly received by Malacañang, although it was sent by a group claiming to be BI employees who chose to remain anonymous.
“Should any pertinent agency of the national government decide to look into the supposed ‘allegations,’ I reiterate the commitment of the Bureau to lend its fullest support,” he added.
In the letter to Mr. Marcos, Viado was accused of abusing his authority. It also claimed, among other things, that he had a “special agenda” in speeding up the bail release of foreign nationals involved in the now-banned Philippine offshore gaming operators or Pogos.
The “employees” also claimed Viado recently stopped the transfer of 39 foreigners caught illegally working in Taguig City.
They alleged further that under his administration, permanent quota visas—or visas granting permanent residency to a specified number of foreign nationals—were “auctioned off” to the highest bidder among these travelers.
Alleged links, work ethic
The letter to the President also cited a May 28 letter to Viado sent by lawyer Gilbert Repizo, chief of the BI’s Board of Special Inquiry.
In his letter, Repizo affirmed that the price of a quota visa for Chinese nationals was P5 million, compared with only P500,000 for Europeans.
The said employees also cited a Facebook post by Repizo in which he questioned the “special treatment” given to several foreign nationals apprehended by the bureau.
They also claimed that Viado had links to Pogos and human trafficking and even criticized his “deplorable work ethic” and “blatant lack of commitment” to his job as BI chief.
‘Smear campaign’
Viado, in response, said: “We have been warned about the possible retaliation coming from vested interests whose erstwhile prolific underground operations at the BI have been thwarted and halted by our ongoing reforms.”
His statement did not cite the reforms on his watch. Nevertheless, he said those behind the “orchestrated and well-funded campaign aimed at shoving the agency into a negative [light] once again” have been identified and would soon be exposed.
He said one of these people was a “senior BI official” pretending to be a whistleblower—who was actually pressuring his office “to release a Chinese national linked to a powerful political figure from the previous administration.”
“I was also told that my rejection of [this] plea… to release the said Chinese national may have fueled the smear campaign. I have disregarded these warnings because the mandate I accepted was never about protecting myself, but about cleaning up a system long plagued by abuse,” Viado said.
The immigration chief alleged further that some employees had been threatened with the agency’s “one-strike policy” and pressured to take part in this “smear campaign.”
‘Close ties’ to DOJ
The said employees also claimed in their letter that Viado could not be held “accountable for his actions” because of “his close ties as a fraternity brother [of the] current DOJ (Department of Justice) leaders.”
Viado said Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has been informed about the developments in the bureau—including the identities and motives of the parties behind the campaign to discredit the BI chief.
The DOJ, in turn, also issued a statement on Monday saying, “Let us not use the political climate to further personal agenda.”
Viado, in his statement, maintained that he was a reformer being targeted in his agency.
“If the price of reform is to be the target of black propaganda, then so be it,” he said.
