The Bureau of Immigration (BI) expects that the number of arriving passengers would continuously increase this summer season.
According to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, they project that the total average daily arrivals will reach 12,000 or more for all international airports nationwide.
“During the first week of the implementation of the loosened travel restrictions, we saw a rise from around 6,000 arrivals to around 8,000 arrivals per day,” said Morente. “These figures, which are a mix of Filipinos and foreign arrivals, rose steadily through the weeks,” he added.
Morente shared that two weeks following the approval of the national government to allow the entry of fully vaccinated foreign nationals from visa-free countries, they saw the number of arrivals rise to more than 9,000 per day.
“Now after a month, we’re seeing more than 10,000 arrivals per day,” said Morente. “This figure could reach 12,000 or more during the summer season when many foreign nationals flock our tourist destinations to enjoy the tropical weather,” he shared.
BI Port Operations Division Chief Atty. Carlos Capulong said that they are ready to service the higher number of travelers arriving in the country.
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BI projects summer season daily arrivals to reach 12k
“Our men are on full force, and we have deployed 100% of our airport personnel to conduct document inspection for arriving passengers. The e-gates are also fully operational, which would greatly lessen the processing time,” Capulong stated. “We are confident that we will be able to provide immigration services to a higher number of arriving passengers in the next few months,” he added.
The Department of Health on Monday assured that the government will still implement safety protocols in opening the country to more tourists starting April.
According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, experts have carefully studied the decision to allow more vacationers to arrive in the country.
“Hindi naman po tayo magbubukas nang wala tayong safety net or safeguard, so nandyan pa rin po yung ating patuloy na pagbabantay, meron pa rin po tayong mga protocols na ipatutupad,” she said.
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