BI in ‘full force’ for holiday travelers
THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) said its personnel is in “full force” following the expected surge of passengers during the holiday season.
According to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, he has instructed the Port Operations Division to ensure that an adequate workforce is deployed to service arriving and departing passengers.
BI Port Operations Division Chief Atty. Carlos Capulong reported processing around 35,000 daily arrivals and around 29,000 departures for all international airports.
The increase in the number of travelers, according to the BI, is a sign that worldwide tourism is picking up.
“We recently attended an immigration forum in Japan, and we were able to discuss with other immigration agencies worldwide that there is really an evident increase in travelers. Many reported long immigration lines in their own countries,” said Tansingco.
Tansingco said that while long lines are inevitable, they ensure that passengers are processed expeditiously.
“All counters are manned, and passengers are processed within the 45-second international standard,” said Tansingco.
“The e-gates are also operational and allow decreasing processing time to as low as eight seconds for Filipinos,” he added.
The BI earlier reported that frontline personnel is barred from going on leave during the holiday season. By Jun I. Legaspi and Hector Lawas
