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EIGHT
foreign chambers of commerce in the Philippines are
reportedly backing the proposed job-generation visa
being pushed by the Bureau of Immigration (BI), amid an
ongoing review of the impact of a controversial kind of
“investor visa” popularized by the BI since last year.
The
Philippine-based foreign chambers of commerce were
present in a public consultation conducted by
immigration officials on August 22 on the proposed grant
of an indefinite-stay visa to foreigners who will employ
at least 10 Filipinos.
Lawyer
Rolando Villones of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in
the Philippines described the new job-generation visa as
a step in the right direction in gaining the interest
and trust of foreign investors.
“There
was unanimous agreement among us to support the proposed
visa program for the investors,” Villones said.
Ram
Sitaldas of the Indian Chamber of Commerce said the new
visa program for the businessmen deserved support. The
Indian chamber is one of those that had endorsed dozens
of businessmen who came into the country on “investor
visas” that drew controversy because they did not fall
under the usual norm embodied in guidelines adhered to
by government agencies, mainly the Departments of
Foreign Affairs (DFA) and of Trade and Industry. While
chambers of commerce like those of India are allowed to
endorse certain investors applying for visas, the BI had
given five-year, multiple-entry visas to hundreds of
such applicants on the say-so of community and
friendship associations, and not the chambers of
commerce. This, sources told the BusinessMirror, had
adverse implications on security, on trade and commerce
and tended to blur the mandates of agencies.
In
earlier reports, however, BI officials led by
Commissioner Marcelino Libanan had stressed that the
visas were not being abused, and these were part of the
bureau’s reinventing itself into a “business-friendly”
agency.
Also
present at Friday’s public consultation on the
“job-generation” visa were Robert Sears of the American
Chamber of Commerce and top officials of the chambers of
commerce of Korea, the Philippines, Australia and New
Zealand, as well as the Phil-Chinese Chamber of Commerce
and Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, among others.
Libanan
justified the introduction of his latest visa program,
even as the DFA is still reportedly seeking an
explanation on why the BI seems to be increasingly
infringing on the role of the Philippine consulates in
various posts by issuing so many visas upon arrival.
“This is
a solution to migration of our countrymen,” Libanan said
of the new proposed “job-generation” visa.
According to him, Filipinos now often leave the country
to work in foreign lands with foreign companies. The
idea with the new visa is to encourage these foreign
companies to come to the Philippines instead.
The
proposed job-generation visa is given to a foreigner who
employs 10 Filipinos in a local enterprise.
The
American Chamber of Commerce sought clarification on who
should be given the privilege of the visa, since most of
the employers are private corporations, not individuals.
Immigration associate commissioner Roy Almoro explained
that the visa is issued to individuals and, in the case
of foreign companies, the visa entitlement is to the
expatriates and executives in the employ of the foreign
company.
Almoro
conceded that there are still some issues to be resolved
with the Department of Labor and Employment to harmonize
the proposed visa policy with the existing labor laws of
the country.
Ferdinand Arbas, BI Technical Chief of Staff, said the
proposed indefinite-stay visa is guarded from abuse by a
proposed regulation that foreigners who will avail
themselves of it would have to be reassessed yearly to
determine whether they are complying with the minimum
requirement on the number of hired Filipinos.
Arbas
said Libanan conceived of the job-generation visa as the
BI takes steps to make the BI a tool for luring foreign
investors into the country and support the agenda of
President Arroyo to create a million jobs.
“The BI
is absolutely serious in creating a climate friendly to
the legitimate and responsible foreign businessmen
intending to bring into the Philippines financial
capital and technology,” Arbas said. (P. Atienza, L.
Fernandez) |
