The Bureau of Immigration (BI) assured the traveling public of unhampered service at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and other international airports after the technical glitches that hit the country's main airport on Sunday, Jan. 1.
“Following the cancellation of flights due to the technical issues experienced at the airports, we expect a huge number of arriving and departing passengers in the next few days,” said BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco.
Tansingco assured the public that BI services at the airport remains uninterrupted, and that sufficient personnel have been deployed at the country’s airports.
BI port operations chief Carlos Capulong said that while lines are expected due to the high volume of passengers both in the Philippines and in other countries, immigration officers are able to process documents expeditiously.
“We have all hands on deck during this critical period and instructed airport terminal heads to ensure all counters are manned,” he added.
Capulong also encouraged Filipinos to use the BI’s electronic gates, which could lessen processing time to as low as eight seconds per passenger.
The BI reported processing a total of 12,304 arrivals on January 1, as compared to the 32,101 arrivals on new year’s eve.
.On the other hand, a total of 19,010 departures were recorded on new year, while 24,405 were processed on December 31.
NAIA resumed partial operations at 4 p.m, and normal operations at 5:50 p.m.