Manila, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DoJ) acknowledges that the on-going revamp at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) will receive intense resistance from individuals who benefited for years from the “corrupt and crooked” status quo.

In her speech during the bureau’s 70th anniversary held last week, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima also urged the bureau’s employees to support the “house cleaning” efforts being undertaken to reform and eradicate corruption in the agency.

De Lima’s speech was delivered by DoJ Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III. The justice secretary admitted that “cleaning” the BI is not an easy task and that, in certain cases, resistance will be fierce.

“They will not give up without a fight but neither will we,” De Lima said, as she affirmed her support to recent initiatives implemented in the BI by officer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledesma.

De Lima noted that the “process of cleaning house” is already well underway even as she underscored the need to build up the momentum for reform so it would “snowball to greater effect.”

De Lima added that immigration officers are performing a great service as one of the gatekeepers of the country by filtering the flow of people in and out of the country.

“You help make the first contact, and we therefore look to you to ensure that this contact is one which enhances our reputation and boosts our image in the eyes of the world. There is therefore no place for graft and corruption in the BI,” De Lima stressed.