“Remulla must not allow the claim of political backing by these characters to dampen the ongoing reforms in this agency”
JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla should conduct a thorough probe and find out for himself the veracity of the loud whispers spreading around the halls of the Bureau of Immigration.
He should do so quickly if he wishes to preserve the latter-day gains of this erstwhile beleaguered agency and sustain the support it has gotten from key lawmakers.
BI insiders recently said there appears to be an alleged “cabal” within the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the agency. Scuttlebutt has it that the cabal has attempted to railroad the bidding of an important BI project to favor a particular supplier for a technology requirement.
According to the insiders, there was an alleged attempt to tweak the terms of reference of the bidding to favor a particular supplier close to one of the members of the cabal.
We do not know how true these reports are, but it is imperative that Remulla—under whose Department the BI is attached—should take an immediate look at them.
A recent incident at a BI meeting apparently validates the credibility of the rumors. It appears there was a shouting match at one of the BAC meetings between BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado and the alleged members of the rumored cabal.
According to insider accounts, Viado had confronted the latter, asking why they appeared to be drafting terms that run counter to an earlier directive by Remulla himself to make sure that the bidding is “above board” and “ensures a level playing field.”
Despite the direct instructions for transparency coming from Remulla himself, rumors have it that the cabal proceeded with an alleged effort to come up with terms that would favor the relative’s recommended favored supplier.
When Viado questioned what he allegedly perceived as a deviation from Remulla’s clear directions, the cabal stood up to the BI chief and a shouting match ensued.
We hope the reports would prove untrue.
Should the rumors prove true, this should really worry Remulla.
This could mean that the cabal may have attempted to throw its weight and send the signal that they have strong political backers, enabling them to defy the very instructions of the Secretary of Justice.
If the rumors prove true—and again, we say, we hope they are not —then the alleged try to railroad the award of a project could definitely reverse the recent, hard-earned gains of the immigration bureau.
It could also prove that the BI remains vulnerable to the influence of outside forces—the very same source of previous BI woes.
Many have been silently cheering the BI for the gains it has marked lately.
We recall that senators who had been critical of the agency were quick to note the wisdom of the moves by the BI to correct the mistakes of the past.
These wise moves include a ban on loading deportees on flights with long layovers. The move prevents syndicates from hijacking and spiriting the deportees away while on stopover.
The recent feat by BI operatives of quickly re-arresting undesirable aliens who have escaped from the detention cells run by other law enforcement agencies also did not go unnoticed.
The fast action by BI agents to bring these escapees back in detention has earned plaudits for the agency and helped restore some of the public’s trust it lost due to a series of debacles and controversies over the past years.
So, it would be best for Remulla to put an end to ongoing rumors that the BI BAC is controlled by a cabal purportedly with strong political backers and which is attempting to railroad a vital BI project.
It would be best for all parties mentioned in the controversy for the good Justice Secretary to probe the veracity of the stories circulating inside and outside that agency.
If the suggested probe disproves the story, then, well and good.
The parties mentioned can then clear their name.
If the story that a cabal had dared defy Remulla’s direct orders to ensure that the bidding process is transparent, and had dared engage the BI chief in a shouting match, then heads should definitely roll.
Remulla must not allow the claim of political backing by these characters to dampen the ongoing reforms in this agency.
That would ensure that the BI could be free from external influences that have mocked its internal processes. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)