The Bureau of Immigration (BI) expressed their readiness for the planned increase of the arrivals cap for international passengers to accommodate more returning overseas Filipinos.
In a statement, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said that he has instructed the BI’s Port Operations Division to conduct an assessment of manpower needed to service the proposed increase of arrivals.
The move comes after the announcement of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) that it plans to increase the arrival cap by exploring alternative gateways to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Clark International Airport (CIA), and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).
“With the recent hiring of almost a hundred immigration officers, we are confident that we can supply the needed manpower for the possible increase in arrivals,” said Morente.
It can be recalled that earlier this month, 99 new immigration officers have been deployed to NAIA. Said immigration officers are undergoing their on-the-job training prior to their full deployment in the immigration counters.
“An additional batch of newly-hired immigration officers are expected to be trained by the year-end,” said Morente. “We are currently fast tracking their application so they can be deployed in time for the increase of the number of international passengers,” he added.
BI manpower readied for increase in arrival cap
Morente said he remains hopeful that international travel will bounce back soon, following the aggressive vaccination campaign of the government.
The agency said that they are pushing for the vaccination of all its frontline personnel.
According to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, the BI’s Medical Section disclosed that a total of 1875 employees have been inoculated already by both the agency’s vaccination drive, as well as through local government units.
“This is a good sign, that we have gone beyond the 50% mark in vaccinations. We are endeavoring to inoculate all our personnel, especially those assigned in the frontlines, as our way of protecting the transacting public from this virus,” said Morente.
Deputy Commissioner Aldwin Alegre, who heads the BI’s Task Force Against Covid-19, shared that the BI has been very active in its vaccination drive.
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