In anticipation of the holiday season and peak of travelers going in and out of the country, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) launched its electronic gates (e-gates) at the departure area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
The agency hopes that opening these e-gates before Christmas would hasten processing and reduce passenger queues in immigration counters at the country’s premiere port during the holiday rush.
In a a statement, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente revealed that a memorandum of agreement has been signed with service provider to test the e-gates initially located at NAIA-2.
The e-gate system has been implemented in NAIA 3 terminals, Mactan-Cebu, Davao and Clark airports.
“The noticeable drop in incidence of long queues at the airports has been attributed to successful implementation of the project,” the statement said.
“We are optimistic that the same success will be replicated when the scheme becomes fully operational in our airports’ immigration departure areas,” Morente said.
Morente clarified that the e-gates will only cater to departing OFWs to fastrack immigration proccesses.
“We also thank President Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Bong Go for their support in this project. The welfare of our OFWs are always their top priority and concern,” he said.
At least 100,000 passengers are expected to benefit from the system before it will be fully operational.
