MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is augmenting its manpower at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) this December in view of the expected influx of travelers during the holiday season.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente directed immigration officers assigned at the bureau’s main office and other satellite, extension and field offices in Metro Manila to be deployed at NAIA to render primary inspection duties at the airport’s immigration arrival and departure counters.
“This is a temporary measure that we are taking proactively,” Morente said.
“While we do not expect a major rise in the number of travelers this holiday season, we’d rather err on the side of caution and beef up our deployment,” he added.
The directive comes after the recent update on international travel restrictions by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) which again allowed the visa free entry of balikbayans.
Immigration officers presently assigned at BI offices in Metro Manila are required to comply with the directive.
This order exempts division and section chiefs, seniors and those suffering from serious illnesses.
BI port operations division chief Atty. Candy Tan said she sought the augmentation of immigration personnel at NAIA in anticipation of a slight increase in the number of international flights and volume of passengers in the coming weeks despite travel restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
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