MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) three-man board of commissioners (BOC) is now complete with the appointment of Marc Red Mariñas, as concurrent officer-in-charge deputy commissioner, replacing lawyer Aimee Torrecampo-Neri.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said Wednesday Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, through a department order signed last week, has designated Mariñas to the new post, in addition to his duties as the bureau’s port operations division (POD) chief.
Mariñas will remain in his post until Malacañang appoints a permanent official deputy to replace Neri who resigned two weeks ago for personal reasons.
He will join Morente and Deputy Commissioner Tobias Javier as members of the BOC, which hears and decides deportation cases against foreigners charged with violating Philippine immigration laws.
The BOC also deliberates and approves or disapproves all applications for immigrant and non-immigrant visas filed by foreigners with the agency.
Mariñas has been with the bureau for more than 15 years and headed the POD since July 2016. The office is credited with preventing the entry of thousands of undesirable foreigners into the country.
Records show that POD port personnel deferred the departure of more than 37,000 passengers on suspicion they could be victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment syndicates last year.
The POD has also been at the forefront of the bureau’s campaign against human trafficking, which is being done through rigid screening of departing Filipino tourists. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)
