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Friday, March 29, 2024

DOJ chief: BI agents should carry handcuffs

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Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Thursday said Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel assigned at airports, ports, and other entry points in the country should be allowed to carry handcuffs.

Remulla stressed that handing out BI personal handcuffs symbolizes “sovereignty authority” aside from being a tool for protecting the country’s borders.   

Remulla said he believes that having handcuffs would make immigration personnel more efficient in performing their functions.    

According to the DOJ chief, BI personnel assigned at the airport should be allowed to carry handcuffs so that in case an arriving or departing passenger causes trouble while at the Immigration area, they could immediately take action by restraining the person.    

“This is a police function and you are the territorial guard of the country,” Remulla said.   

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Remulla also stressed the need to “re-think the relation of the immigration to the other armed services of the country.”     

Meanwhile, Remulla expressed objection to the possibility that the BI would be separated from the DOJ to become another department of the government.       
“I don’t have problems with turf. If it is necessary, and it becomes a department so be it,” he said.     

However, Remulla said it might be difficult to separate the BI from the DOJ due to their “intimate relationship.”     

He explained that the BI and the DOJ share the same concerns and interests such as citizenship, naturalization, and cross-border crimes.   

“So you cannot really divorce it that well. But administratively it can be its own department. I have no problem with that. All the legal repercussions of all actions would just have to be considered, they should be in sync with our justice system,” he said.    

According to him, in other countries Immigration is already a department and in countries such as Singapore and Thailand, the highest paid government officials are in Immigration.

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