By Brian Jules Campued
More than 161,000 arrivals were recorded in the country during the Christmas weekend, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.
Around 62,000 arrivals were logged on Dec. 23 alone, BI Spokesperson Dana Sandoval said in an interview with Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon on Friday.
Of the number, 81% of the passengers arrived via the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Meanwhile, around 30,000 daily departures were also recorded.
Said figures, however, are set to change after the New Year celebration since a lot of travelers will go back to their countries of origin.
“Usually ang nakikita natin even before the pandemic kapag Pasko o bago mag-Pasko nagsisidatingan ang mga kababayan nating OFW as well as yung mga residente po sa ibang bansa para dito po mag-spend ng holiday season,” spokesperson Sandoval explained.
The Bureau also said no major problems were reported regarding the use of electronic gates which was established to shorten the processing time to about eight seconds per individual.
Other measures that were placed to facilitate faster processing time include deployment of more immigration personnel on the ground as well as extensive promotion regarding the use of e-gates to help speed up the processing of their documents
Around 55 immigration officers were deployed this month in addition to the augmentation and rapid response teams and mobile counters to assist more passengers during the holiday season, the BI added.
Spokesperson Sandoval reminded travelers to fill out their e-travel information 72 hours before their flight to ensure smooth travel and also cautioned them against fake websites asking for payment.
“This is free and this is easier na po compared doon sa mga old paper-based natin na maraming sinusulatan for different government agencies,” the spokesperson said.
