THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has projected that the number of arriving passengers would continuously increase this summer season.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the total average daily arrivals may reach 12,000 or more for international airports nationwide.
“During the first week of the implementation of the loosened travel restrictions, we saw a rise from around 6,000 arrivals to around 8,000 arrivals per day,” said Morente.
“These figures, which are a mix of Filipinos and foreign arrivals, rose steadily through the weeks,” he added.
Morente said two weeks following the approval of the national government to allow the entry of fully vaccinated foreign nationals from visa-free countries, they saw the number of arrivals rise to more than 9,000 per day.
“Now after a month, we’re seeing more than 10,000 arrivals per day,” said Morente. “This figure could reach 12,000 or more during the summer season when many foreign nationals flock to our tourist destinations to enjoy the tropical weather,” he said.
BI Port Operations Division Chief Carlos Capulong said they are ready to serve the higher number of travelers arriving in the country.
“Our men are in full force, and we have deployed 100 percent of our airport personnel to conduct document inspection for arriving passengers. The e-gates are also fully operational, which would greatly lessen the processing time,” Capulong said.
“We are confident that we will be able to provide immigration services to a higher number of arriving passengers in the next few months,” he added.