Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros on Monday, August 28 said she can only foresee the Bureau of Immigration (BI) being unable to carry out its promise to fix the long queues at the country’s airports especially if the government refuses to address concerns regarding its new rules for outbound Filipino travelers.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros (Senate PRIB Photo)

Hontiveros said she hopes the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) would take into consideration the various inputs from lawmakers, legal experts and everyday Filipinos about the new pre-departure guidelines and not shrug these off as mere “miscommunication.”

“Sana ay huwag natin balewalain ang hinaing ng mga pasahero na sa huli ay maaabala kung palpak ang ating international travel guidelines (I hope we don't ignore the complaints of passengers who will ultimately be inconvenienced if our international travel guidelines are sloppy),” Hontiveros said in a statement.

“We shouldn’t turn a blind eye to warnings that some of the requirements would only promote delays and are prone to exploitation by corrupt immigration officers,” she said.

Hontiveros further urged the government to rectify its new departure rules for traveling Filipinos and study how they can make their travel requirements be reasonable.

“Are all first-time travelers required to present ‘proof of hotel booking or accommodation?’  How can the requirement of ‘notarized Original Affidavit of Support and Guarantee’ for sponsored travelers be complied with without unduly burdening such persons?” she asked.

“If these problematic requirements are not rectified, then the ‘45 second’ processing time for travelers being promised by the BI will become an empty promise,” the senator pointed out.

“The 163 percent increase in budgetary allocation being requested by the BI will be of no use if flawed rules are allowed to fill the immigration process with delays and complaints from aggrieved travelers,” she added.

Hontiveros also noted that the Senate Committee on Public Services has been actively conducting hearings and receiving inputs from various stakeholders on the issue of airport delays and inefficiencies. 

“I urge the IACAT to integrate the findings and recommendations of this committee - as well as earlier findings by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality hearings on human trafficking—before implementing any new international travel guidelines,” she said.  

Nevertheless, Hontiveros said the IACAT’s efforts to save lives and end human trafficking in the Philippines is commendable as it is “a grave problem that demands urgent solutions.”

“However, insisting on dysfunctional guidelines will only derail our nation’s anti-trafficking efforts,” she said. 

“Imbes na ipagkibit-balikat, pakinggan natin ang hinaing ng ating travelers, at gamitin ito para palakasin ang ating mga polisiya (Instead of shrugging it off, let’s listen to the pleas of our travelers and use this to strengthen our policies),” the senator stressed.

The BI has made a pledge to process incoming and outgoing travelers within 45 seconds when it defended its proposed 2024 budget request of P4.24-billion. 

However, lawmakers are wondering how the IACAT’s new departure rules will affect the BI’s promise of faster processing, with House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto believing that IACAT’s new, more stringent travel rules will only create a logjam “that would hassle not just travelers, but immigration officers as well.”

The government is eyeing the imposition of stricter requirements for outbound travel starting September 3, 2023.