But July Ramirez Manwong, assistant secretary for immigration and cyber crimes of the Department of Justice (DOJ), said in a forum of the Capampangans in Media, Inc. (CAMI) here that the proposed overtime pay would not exceed the prescribed overtime pay for government workers, even if such pay is sourced from private airline companies.
Last April, Pres. Duterte vetoed such overtime pay being received by Immigration officers for express lanes at airports, despite the fact that the 30-year-old practice had been financed by airline companies. This led some protesting Immigration officers to skip work that led initially to long lines at airports.
Manwong noted that before the veto, an immigration officer whose basic salary was only about P16,000 a month would get another P80,000 as overtime pay derived from express lane fees from airports.
She said the proposed EO seeks the restoration of overtime pay from airline companies, but at official government rates that do not allow overtime pay to be more than 50 percent of their basic pay.
“This could be a palliative measure, because there is also a move for Congress to pass legislation that would calibrate the salaries of Immigration personnel,” she said.
