The Bureau of Immigration (BI) welcomed the call of President Rodrigo Duterte during his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) urging Congress to pass a new immigration law on Monday.
President Duterte underscored the need to replace the old Philippine Immigration Act that was passed in 1940, or during the Commonwealth period and modernize the agency
“We are elated and gratified upon hearing the President exhorting our lawmakers to pass a new Philippine Immigration Law. That measure is already long overdue,” Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said.
“We are hopeful that with the President’s support, our senators and congressmen would finally see the urgency to pass a new Immigration law for our country. This should have been done a long time ago,” Morente added.
Morente mentioned that this is new in “recent memory” that a Chief Executive during SONA calls on Congress regarding the matter. – Report from Kenneth Paciente
