MANILA, Philippines — Taking “special note” of the plight of the bureau’s employees, President Rodrigo Duterte has allowed the Bureau of Immigration to put collected express lane fees and charges into a “trust fund” for the payment of salaries and overtime of its employees. Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1The BI used to put the express lane fee — paid by foreign tourists to speed up processing — into a trust fund. However, Duterte vetoed it in the 2017 national budget, effectively barring BI employees from using the express lane charges as fund source, thereby prompting many bureau workers to resign and leave the BI undermanned. The employees had said the express lane fee has been in place for almost 30 years and has been their source of ultimate compensation. READ: Immigration staff ask Duterte to let bureau use express lane fees

Source: Philippine Star December 27, 2017 09:56 UTC