Nothing immoral with 'Belo' immigration cards — private firm

The private firm that prints the arrival and departure cards for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) said on Friday there was nothing "immoral" with the so-called "Belo cards." Charles Stephen Sy, director for marketing and operations of e.Xtend Inc., told GMANews.TV that there was also no need to get the approval of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in printing the advertisement of the Belo Medical Group on the arrival and departure cards. Sy said their company did not violate a 2009 agreement with then Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan when ads and coupons for the Belo Group were printed on the cards. "Based on the contract e.Xtend has the right to place any sponsors and advertisements as long as they are not contrary to the public morals or standards or compromise the image of the Bureau of Immigration," Sy said. In exchange for the firm's free hand at choosing advertisers, the government is getting e.Xtend's services free of charge. Sy said if the BI deemed an advertisement as "offensive," the agency should send them a written notification first and allow the firm to remedy the situation within two months. However, Immigration Officer-In-Charge Ronaldo Ledesma had earlier told GMANews.TV that he did not find anything wrong with the "Dra. Belo" cards but said his agency should have first been consulted about it. [See: Immigration to stop using ‘Dra. Belo’ airport cards] Sy argued: "There is nothing in the contract that states we have to get a clearance from the Bureau of Immigration." In the first place, there was nothing "malaswa" (lewd) about the advertisement, which features popular celebrity dermatologist Vicky Belo in his medical uniform, according to Sy. "The Belo Medical advertisement does not violate any public moral standards or is it offensive to the image of the Bureau of Immigration as the ad simply promotes Filipino medical/cosmetic services to tourists coming in the country," he said. Asked what their next moves would be if the Immigration bureau pushes through with its plan to have their contract terminated, Sy stressed there was "no legal basis to junk the contract... But we'll cross the bridge when we get their. Our lawyers will still have to talk about that." Since they have yet to receive any notice from the BI regarding the matter, Sy said e.Xtend still will continue to distribute the airport cards with the Belo ads on them, adding: "We have to sustain the cards lest we be accused of a breach of contract." The firm e.Xtend is a system integrator company. Apart from printing the cards, the company also provides the following services: scanning, document management, and handling of high-end servers, validation machines, and work stations. –VVP, GMANews.TV