By JUN RAMIREZ
Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel assigned to international airports nationwide have been prohibited from going on leave starting next month to ensure that sufficient number of officers are on duty to serve the traveling public during the Christmas holiday season.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the ban for vacation leave will take effect on Dec. 1 and end on Jan. 15.
“We have to make sure that our Immigration booths at the airports are adequately manned in anticipation of an increase in the number of international travelers who will enter and exit the country during that period,” Morente said.
However, he said that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the BI expects only a slight to moderate rise in the number of outbound and inbound passengers.
The BI chief noted that many countries worldwide, including the Philippines, have not yet lifted the travel restrictions that were imposed after the pandemic started last March.
“Thus, we are confident that the number of Immigration officers currently deployed at the ports are enough to facilitate the efficient conduct of immigration formalities for arriving and departing passengers,” Morente added.
According to lawyer Candy Tan, BI port operations division chief, the leave prohibition applies to all Immigration personnel assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as well as the airports in Mactan Cebu and Clark, Pampanga, Kalibo, Iloilo, Davao, Laoag, and the Zamboanga international seaport.
She also disclosed that the she has designated several immigration officers detailed as office administrative staff to be on call and ready to perform supervisory and primary counter duties should the need arises.
