There will be “no more human contact” whenever overseas Filipino workers go through immigration checks in the country’s airports, President Duterte declared Wednesday.
The President said he has ordered faster and hassle-free immigration processing for OFWs, citing the recent installation of self-service automated passport control gates at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
“Now the latest ngayon is when you go in, no more human contact. No more human contact. You just swipe your – in two minutes, i-swipe mo lang ‘yung ano mo, ‘yung visa mo, you’re out,” Duterte said during the awarding of outstanding overseas Filipino individuals and organizations in Malacañang.
“Wala nang tanong-tanong. No human contact at all. And that will be true and I am ordering it now. They have to make it faster pati ‘pag swipe palabas for all OFW workers,” he said.
Duterte was referring to the Electronic Gate System project of the Bureau of Immigration that aims to reduce long queues at the airport and hasten the movement of people arriving in the country.
Eighteen automatic border gates, which allow people to use their electronic passports to enter their country, have reportedly been installed at the NAIA and Cebu Mactan and Davao international airports.
Apart from swift passport processing, the President said he has ordered airport authorities to refrain from opening the bags of Filipino workers.
“I don’t allow the opening of bags in the airport kung mag-uwi lalo na ‘yung mga mahihirap talaga. It pisses me to no end,” he said.
He said he has also directed airport officials to protect overseas Filipino workers and other travelers from falling victim to “tanim-bala” or bullet planting scams at the airport. So far, he said, no tanim-bala incident has been reported again. (Genalyn D. Kabiling)
