The Bureau of Immigration (BI) successfully intercepted and apprehended an Indonesian national attempting to depart the country at Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last December 21.
The man, identified as Angga Pratama, 34, attempted to board a Cebu Pacific flight to Singapore on Thursday morning.
He was flagged by immigration authorities upon noting a derogatory hit in the BI’s database bearing his name.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco commented on the incident, stating, “The BI remains vigilant in its efforts to safeguard our borders against individuals involved in illegal activities. We are committed to ensuring the security and integrity of our nation’s borders”.
Information from the BI’s Border Control Intelligence Unit (BCIU) revealed that Angga is charged with overstaying and working without permit, for his alleged involvement in cybercrime while employed at Xinchuang Network Technology Inc. (XNT) located in Las Piñas.
It can be recalled that said online gaming company was ordered shut down after it was raided by the Philippine National Police (PNP) earlier this year for trafficking and cybercrime.
According to the BI, Angga will temporarily be held in the BI’s holding facility in Bicutan, Taguig prior to his eventual deportation.
Nationwide daily arrivals almost 60K a day
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said that nationwide daily arrivals rose significantly during December.
Figures released by the BI show that arrivals increased from around 50k during the first week of December to almost 60k during Christmas week.
On December 1, the BI recorded 51,390 arrivals in all international airports of the country. The figure rose to 59,541 on December 22 and 58,993 on December 23.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco shared that more than 85% of passengers arrive via the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The BI Chief also shared that they recorded a total of 31,408 departures on December 23, far from the 25,759 processed on the first day of December.
He assured travelers that they are always fully manned, and have deployed rapid response teams and augmentation teams to ensure efficient immigration processing.
Tansingco also urged arriving Filipinos to use the e-gates for faster immigration clearance.
He reminded passengers to register via the etravel portal at etravel.gov.ph at least 72 hours prior to arrival or departure from the country.
Meanwhile, Tansingco lauded immigration officers who remain on duty during the holiday season.
“All hands on deck for our immigration officers,” said Tansingco. “We commend our frontline personnel who remain on duty and sacrifice time with their families during the holidays to be able to service the traveling public,” he added.
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