SURIGAO del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers urges PBBM to scrap Erap’s EO 285 which allows the Bureau of Immigration to convert tourist visas to student visas.
“In today’s setting, this particular power by the BI can be abused. This arbitratry power to convert visas is the worst legalized scheme that can be used by unscrupulous personnel for monetary gain”, Barbers said.
“The 16,200 student visas that the BI granted to Chinese nationals in 2023 is simply unacceptable. Nevermind if other countries grant more, we should never use that as our yardstick given our tense relationship with China”, Barbers said.
“The DFA should be the sole agency in charge of granting visas to foreigners. It alone possesses the expertise to determine whether the applicants are eligible or not”, Barbers added.
Under EO 285, an inter agency committee on foreign students was created chaired by CHED, with the DFA, NBI, NICA and DepEd as members.
