MANILA: The Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration (BI) is planning to install a biometric identification system at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) that will be linked to Interpol databases, media reports said.
The system will take photos of all passengers, whether arriving or departing, and will be checked against Interpol’s criminal databases to flag any fugitives, reported The Daily Tribune.
The necessary cameras are already in place, according to the Bureau of Immigration, with the next step being to link them to a facial recognition system, the report said.
Reportedly, the Bureau has not offered a timeline on the project, but Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente has suggested that the project will make the Philippines the first country in southeast Asia to establish such a program with Interpol, suggesting authorities are aiming to realize the plan quickly.
In a country that has embraced biometric identification for its voting population, and that has a notoriously tough-on-crime president, the move comes as no surprise. It may in fact be part of a global trend as governments around the world explore biometric screening at airports and other points of entry as a national security measure, said the news portal.
