by Argyll Cyrus Geducos, Manila Bulletin
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has named lawyer Norman Tansingco as the new Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), Malacañang confirmed.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles made the confirmation after Tansingco’s appointment circulated on social media on Monday, September 12.
The President signed his appointment paper on Monday.
Tansingco’s appointment came two weeks after reports circulated that Marcos had appointed lawyer Abraham Espejo Jr. as Immigration Commissioner.
Tansingco is no stranger to the BI. He has been with the Bureau for nearly a decade and was the chief-of-staff of former Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan.
He was also once a technical assistant to the Commissioner.
The Bureau of Immigration enforces the country’s immigration and foreign nationals registration laws.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla once named BI a department that “needs their help.”
Remulla lamented that the BI was the “face of the country” but was embroiled with “extortion syndicate, human trafficking syndicate, and protection syndicates” issues.
Over the past years, the BI was under fire for the so-called “pastillas” scheme that was first exposed in 2020. Under this scheme, Chinese nationals had supposedly entered the country without background checks in exchange for bribes.
It was named “pastillas” because the rolls of grease money involved in the illegal activity, which had supposedly reached P40 billion in October 2020, looked like the said Filipino snack.
