President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday appointed lawyer Norman Garcera Tansingco as commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration.
“This is confirmed,” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a statement as Malacañang released a copy of Tansingco’s appointment paper to reporters.
He will replace Immigration officer-in-charge Rogelio Gevero Jr., who was appointed by Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla last month.
The BI is one of the three attached agencies under the DOJ.
Tansingco previously worked at the bureau for almost a decade until January 2017 as chief of staff of then-BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan.
He served as concurrent technical assistant for operations under the Office of the Commissioner, and lawyer at the BI Board of Special Inquiry.
Tansingco also worked as Libanan’s chief of staff during the latter’s stint as congressional representative of the lone district of Eastern Samar from July 1998 to June 2007.
A certified public accountant, Tansingco was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1991.
He is a native of Tacloban City, Leyte.
The BI is the primary enforcement arm tasked to ensure that all foreigners within its territorial jurisdiction comply with existing laws.
It also acts as the chief repository of all immigration records pertaining to entry, temporary sojourn, admission, residence, and departure of all foreigners in the country.