MANILA — A total of 58 immigration officers will be deployed to airports nationwide to ensure that adequate manpower is available to serve the traveling public before, during and after the Holy Week.
In a statement issued Thursday, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente said the augmentation of personnel aims to “minimize, if not eradicate, long queues of passengers” in immigration counters during the holidays when there is an influx and exodus of large numbers of travelers to and from the country.
BI port operations division chief Marc Red Mariñas recommended that BI officers assigned in field offices be temporarily deployed to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals during the Lenten break.
Morente has already signed personnel orders reassigning to various airports some 38 immigration officers assigned at the bureau’s main office and its satellite and extension offices in Metro Manila.
Another 20 officers were reassigned and dispersed to airports in Mactan-Cebu, Clark, Kalibo, and Davao. They came from various BI field offices situated in areas near these airports.
Mariñas said all 58 officers will report to their new assignments next week and will remain there until ordered to return to their old posts.
“We will continue to monitor the situation in our airports and see to it that the traveling public is provided with quick, efficient and hassle-free service by our officers as they enter or exit our international airports,” he added.
Although the Immigration officers were instructed to be fast in conducting immigration formalities, the BI official said they were directed to exercise extra vigilance in screening and assessing all arriving and departing passengers.
“We should not allow the international terrorists and other unwanted aliens to take advantage of the occasion and sneak into our country undetected,” Mariñas said. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)
