The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has ordered all its offices in "NCR-plus bubble", which is under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), to downsize their workforce in order to prevent coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission.
In an advisory, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente announced that all BI offices in the so-called “bubble” composed of the National Capital Region (NCR), Laguna, Rizal, Cavite, and Bulacan will operate with a skeletal workforce and on shortened working hours, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. until April 4, or until the ECQ is lifted.
BI officials and employees who are pregnant and those with immune deficiency, comorbidity, and other serious health problems were instructed to work from home.
Aside from the BI main office in Intramuros, Manila, the bureau operates satellite and extension offices in Makati, Pasay, Taguig, Quezon City, and Las Pinas.
The agency also has field offices in Dasmariñas City, Cavite; Santa Rosa City, Laguna; and Taytay City, Rizal.
Morente said the directive is in line with the recommendations of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), which had urged President Duterte to place NCR-plus under ECQ. The strict lockdown began Monday, March 29.
Morente, however, stressed that the said working arrangement does not apply to BI personnel assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). He said they would continue to report for duty via three shifts daily to ensure that all international flights are served and processed by immigration officers without interruption.
“Nonetheless, we have also instructed our port operations division (POD) to temporarily reduce the number of its personnel reporting for duty in each shift and lessen the number of their duty days until such time that the surge of the coronavirus is contained,” the BI chief said.
The move follows the announcement that the international inbound passenger capacity at NAIA shall be limited to a maximum of 1,500 passengers per day.