CLARK FREEPORT—Clark and Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on Friday setting in motion a policy regulating the entry of foreign visitors and workers in the Clark Freeport Zone.

The MOA was signed by Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) executive vice president and chief operating officer Alexander Cauguiran, and Clark Development Corp. (CDC) executive vice president Philip Panlilio.

The MOA stipulates that “all nonimmigrant visas, including, but not limited to, Special Work Permit, Provisional Permit to Work, Special Clark Working Visas (SCWV) and Special Clark Investors Visas (SCIV) shall be implemented by duly authorized immigration personnel in the Clark Freeport.”

The three agencies will maintain a database and process applications for SCWV, SCIV and other types of working visas for foreign visitors or workers upon submission of complete documentary requirements that include an alien employment permit  issued by the Department of Labor and Employment with the endorsement of CDC.

Libanan said BI will provide for ID capture machines, computer hardware, software and other peripherals to improve its database at no cost to CDC and CIAC, adding he has already coordinated with the Interpol and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.

There are around 850 foreign workers in the Clark Freeport—most of whom are Americans, Japanese and Koreans. With the new setup, Libanan said applicants will no longer have to travel to the BI headquarters in Manila.

The Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark processes over 40,000 foreign and local passengers monthly. Last year over 480,000 passengers passed through the DMIA with the number expected to increase this year as OFWs and US-based Filipinos who hail from Pampanga and Central Luzon provinces extensively utilize the airport in Clark.

At the same time, Libanan said the bureau has already conducted 27 retraining programs for its personnel with more immigration and newly hired personnel slated to undergo trainings at the Immigration Academy in the Clark Freeport.

He said the BI will hire more people to beef up its operations in the country, adding some 300 workers will be filling positions for Immigration Officer l scheduled to be deployed all over the country. The BI currently has 997 personnel all over the country.

He pointed out that BI operations at the DMIA in Clark will be expanded due to the influx of passenger arrivals every month. 

“At Naia alone, we get more than 4 million foreigners a year. So we can see the spillover effect of foreigners coming to Clark, especially through the DMIA,” the BI chief added.

He said the BI is already preparing to expand operations in Clark to coincide with the grand plan of President Arroyo to make DMIA the next premier gateway in the country.

“We have to be ready for this, because this is the next premier gateway,” he told a press conference following the signing.

He emphasized the importance of immigration in Clark as it attracts foreign investors, as well as protecting the Filipino people from terrorists, fugitives and international mafia syndicates.

For his part, Cauguiran said the MOA is vital to the development of the DMIA as he pointed out that passenger capacity at the DMIA will increase to 2 million a year after the terminal expansion is completed by January 2008. The planned premier gateway terminal, meanwhile, will accommodate 5 million passengers yearly.

“I can assure you that in our lifetime, the DMIA will be the future premier airport of the country,” Cauguiran said.

A MEMBER of the European Union (EU) Parliament said the Philippines can soon deploy highly skilled workers in any of the 27 member-countries of the regional bloc once the EU’s “blue card” is approved. It is a proposed institutionalized EU work permit.

CLARK FREEPORT—Clark and Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on Friday setting in motion a policy regulating the entry of foreign visitors and workers in the Clark Freeport Zone.

THE government has recently decided to cancel the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) loan for the Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corp.’s (PNOC-EDC) Northern Luzon Wind Power Project Phase 1.

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has expressed fear that the soaring prices of crude in the world market would prompt employers to lay off their workers.

THE main collection arms of government have thus far posted collection growth rates lower than the minimum 16-percent growth required to sustain the fiscal momentum, the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) said.

THE country’s macroeconomic fundamentals may be improving in recent years but it needs to be strengthened further to weather downturns and external shocks, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

CEBU CITY—The members of the multipartite monitoring team (MMT) set up to oversee the exploratory oil- drill operations in Tañon Strait are set to go to the field after they were convened for the first time over the weekend in Cebu City.