菲律宾移民局前3季度收入16亿比索

The Bureau of Immigration yesterday reported a P1.6 billion income generated from immigration fees paid by foreigners in the last three quarters of the year, surpassing the agency's revenue target for 2008.

In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan disclosed that the bureau's income from January to September totaled P1.579 billion, up by 7.3 percent or P108-million over its P1.47-billion collection target for 2008.

Libanan said the nine-month take was P125-million or 45-percent higher than the P1.24 billion the bureau earned in the same period last year.

He said he is optimistic that the Philippines would be able to attract more foreign tourists and investors despite the global economic slowdown.

He added that before the crisis shook the world's financial markets, foreigners were entering the country in droves as evidenced by the 4.3 million aliens who arrived from January to September, an eight-percent increase in the number of aliens who came in the same period last year.

"Whatever happens, 2008 will definitely be another banner year for our bureau not only in terms of revenue collection but also in the matter of improving our services to the transacting public," Libanan said as he noted that the BI was just P112-million short of equaling the P1.69 billion income it earned last year. - Helen Flores (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com