CALOOCAN CITY, (PIA) -- Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente has expressed his thanks to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) for approving their request to have an agency-wide eligibility examinations.

According to Morente, the CSC Central Office and the CSC National Capital Region Regional Office has granted the agency’s request to conduct exams for their contractual employees to be held on December 12.

BI Personnel Section Chief Grifton Medina shared that 150 BI employees were given slots in the examination.

“This would greatly help many of our contractual employees who have been in the service for many years,” said Medina.

“The Bureau has only about 2,000 permanent employees nationwide, and this is an opportunity to regularize our contractual staff,” he added.

He likewise shared that while the examinations will be conducted in-person, strict health protocols shall be implemented, and only fully-vaccinated applicants would be allowed to take the exam.

“Otherwise, they would need to present a negative RT-PCR test result,” he explained.

Medina stated that they have requested for another batch of examinations for January next year.

“This is a first in the history of the BI. It’s the first time that we have partnered with the CSC for an agency-wide eligibility exams for our contractual employees,” said Morente.

“We are really pushing for improving the quality of our manpower through these efforts, and we truly appreciate the CSC for giving our personnel this opportunity,” he added.

The examinations will be held at the Universidad de Manila in Ermita, Manila. (BOC/PIA-NCR)