Bureau of Immigration implements ‘no leave, no absence’ policy

MANILA,Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has imposed a “no leave, no absence” policy in a bid to address the expected increase of passengers in all terminals during the holiday season and the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the country. 

“Our men have been instructed not to go on leave during the peak season to maximize our manpower,” said Grifton Medina, chief of the BI port operations division.

In a statement, he said the BI is expecting the number of passengers in all terminals to increase by at least three percent due to the holiday rush, with an additional increase of around 8,000 delegates coming for the SEA Games. ?

Data from the BI showed that more than 1.5 million passengers arrived in the Philippines in December 2018 alone, while more than 1.2 million people left the country during the same period. ?

To avoid getting stuck in the build up of passengers in all terminals, Medina urged travelers to “arrive early, at least three hours” before their scheduled flights to avoid getting inconvenienced.

“Sudden buildups sometimes happen, especially when there are delayed flights that arrive simultaneously. We appeal to everyone to bear with us should there be some build up, which sometimes happen during peak season,” he added.

But given this, he assured the public that processing in the terminals is now faster than in previous years because of the numerous improvements introduced this year, including the hiring of more than 600 immigration officers. 

Medina said the installation of e-gates would also speed up the processing by almost six times or by at least eight seconds from the regular 45-second processing period.

The MWM Terminals Inc., a subsidiary of engineering and infrastructure company Megawide, said it is also ready to accommodate the expected influx of passengers at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) with the upcoming start of the SEA Games.

The venues for the biennial regional multi-sport event include the Mall of Asia Arena and Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City. Other venues are in Tagaytay City, Cavite province, and Calatagan in Batangas.

“We expect a significant increase in passenger traffic nearing the days of the events in these areas. We’ve already made the necessary improvements to still ensure passenger convenience,” said PITX general manager Mariano Arroyo Jr.

“Most importantly, PITX will ensure that there will be enough rides to accommodate the higher influx of passengers come SEA Games 2019,” he said.

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) also launched yesterday a 24-hour hotline for the SEA Games. Those who have queries on SEA Games-related issues may text 0915-983-4636 or 0998-325-5626.

Policemen manning the NCRPO Operations Division will monitor the dedicated numbers.

NCRPO chief Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas said in a statement that the police would have prompt responses to the queries, reports and complaints raised to the hotline.

The quadrennial sporting event will run from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 with about 11,000 athletes and coaches participating in the events. – With Ralph Edwin Villanueva, Richmond Mercurio, Romina Cabrera