00:00 You're watching The Source on CNN Philippines.
00:05 I'm Rhea Tanwat-Cotrillo.
00:06 The Na'iyan Management says it has seen a significant increase in the volume of passengers
00:12 on Sunday, but the situation remains manageable.
00:15 The Bureau of Immigration also assures that it's ready to handle the influx of international
00:20 travelers.
00:21 Let's go straight to our source today, immigration spokesperson, Dana Sandoval.
00:25 Ms. Dana, welcome to the program.
00:27 Maybe you can tell us a little bit about the preparation of the Immigration Bureau ahead
00:32 of this long weekend.
00:34 Yes, the Bureau of Immigration really prepared for this long weekend for November and December
00:42 in particular, because this is really what we consider as the peak season.
00:48 Most of the travelers will be traveling around this season all up until January.
00:53 And we have in place additional immigration officers.
00:57 We have put up an augmentation team to ensure that there is enough personnel for our frontline
01:04 operations.
01:06 We have also put up mobile counters.
01:09 If you know, it's similar to the concept that the toll booths use during holidays wherein
01:16 they put up mobile counters, mobile booths to accommodate more cars.
01:23 Since we have limited space, particularly in Naiya, the management has thought of putting
01:28 up mobile counters just to be able to ease the flow of passengers in the immigration
01:35 area.
01:36 Yeah, hopefully that process moves a little faster.
01:38 You mentioned that you increased the number of immigration officers.
01:42 How many more are there as compared to low seasons or when it's not a holiday?
01:48 All in all, we have I think almost a thousand immigration officers nationwide.
01:54 A majority of that is in Naiya.
01:57 There are augmentation teams that were sent, I think maybe around 20, 30 additional immigration
02:03 officers that were sent to international airports to add to the manpower.
02:09 I see.
02:10 And when we're talking about arrivals and departures during the season, specifically
02:15 this week, what numbers are we looking at here?
02:18 How many passengers are we expecting to pass through?
02:23 The other day we recorded maybe almost 40,000 arrivals and departures per day.
02:30 For the entire fourth quarter, what we are projecting is that the total number of arrivals
02:37 will reach up to 4 million arrivals for the entire fourth quarter.
02:42 And the total number of departures will be around that number also, around maybe 3.8
02:46 million departures.
02:47 So we're really expecting that the numbers will be closer to the pre-pandemic figures
02:53 at the fourth quarter of the year, primarily because every country is open already after
02:59 the pandemic.
03:00 Right.
03:01 Okay, with that, we need to take a short break, but we will be back.
03:04 This is The Source on CNN Philippines.
03:06 Please stay tuned.
03:07 You're watching The Source on CNN Philippines.
03:17 I'm Rieta Nwatkotrilo, our source today, immigration spokesperson, Dana Sandoval.
03:23 Good to have you back here on the program.
03:25 Now, you know, we've spoken to several people from the airports and there is this concern
03:31 about the very strict immigration process.
03:34 Now, we understand this is done in the interest of protecting the public from preventing human
03:39 trafficking from taking place.
03:41 But you had viral incidents like that yearbook incident where somebody was supposedly asked
03:45 to produce a yearbook in order to prove their claims.
03:49 As a traveler, what should one expect when they go to the airport this week?
03:53 Ria, if it's just a regular travel just for tourism purposes, all they need to present
04:02 is their passport, their roundtrip ticket, their visa if it's required in the country
04:07 of destination.
04:09 And of course, the e-travel, they have to fill that out 72 hours prior to departure.
04:14 Apart from that, nothing else.
04:16 They don't have to bring anything else.
04:17 If it's just a regular holiday just for tourism purposes, I think what was really blown up
04:26 in social media are those cases that had red flags or cases wherein the purpose of travel
04:34 really was different from what was being presented.
04:37 Say, for example, people who are going out of the country not for tourism purposes, but
04:45 they are presenting documents that are for tourism purposes.
04:48 I see.
04:49 So if a passenger is at the airport and they feel like, you know, the immigration process
04:54 has gone overboard or they feel like maybe they're being harassed, what can they do and
05:00 where can they report this on the ground?
05:03 Yes, they can immediately report it to the duty supervisor.
05:08 We have at least two duty supervisors in the area who can resolve immediately any concerns
05:15 of the public in that situation.
05:20 On social media, we also have our helpline for the commissioner.
05:24 It's a portal that goes straight to the office of the commissioner for any concerns, resolutions
05:30 of conflict or maybe just suggestions maybe for improvement of our operations.
05:37 The portal is facebook.com/immigration.helpline.ph that goes straight to the office of the commissioner
05:44 if there are any concerns or clarifications or complaints, suggestions that they wish
05:49 to send.
05:50 All right, and they can expect a fairly timely answer or reply from there?
05:56 Yes, yes, they can expect an immediate reply.
06:00 We have personnel assigned in that portal 24/7 to resolve any concerns that they may
06:05 have.
06:06 All right.
06:07 And lastly, Ms. Dana, your advice to travelers, you know, because we do know people are still
06:11 leaving and going on holiday.
06:13 How many hours before their trip should they be at the airport?
06:17 Rhea, I went to the airport the other day and the traffic going there was really bad.
06:24 So I think one of the things that we have to make sure of is to be there three hours
06:29 before your flight because sometimes we get caught in traffic already and everything is
06:34 rushing already.
06:35 We are expecting a surge of passengers for the next few days.
06:42 So the advice really is to be there three hours before your flight.
06:46 Really check in and then go straight to immigration.
06:51 If they wish to enjoy the facilities of the airport because there are a lot of coffee
06:55 shops there, there are a lot of stores, restaurants, they can come in a bit earlier.
07:02 But three hours before, they have to be checking in already.
07:05 They have to go straight to immigration to make sure that there's no problem in their
07:10 processing.
07:11 All right.
07:12 What's the immigration process take on average given it's a holiday week?
07:18 During peak hours, it's not like this every time, but during peak hours wherein the entire
07:23 immigration area is filled, I think the line takes maybe 30 minutes.
07:29 That's for the maximum already, so around 30 minutes.
07:33 But for the entire process of checking in, we wouldn't be able to record that.
07:37 But for the entire immigration area, if it's filled up to the entrance, it will maybe take
07:43 around 30 minutes.
07:44 All right.
07:45 A 30-minute wait or less, hopefully.
07:46 Ma'am, thank you so much for speaking with us here on The Source.
07:49 That was immigration spokesperson, Dana Sandoval.
07:52 And thank you for joining us here on The Source, sitting in for Pinky Web.
07:55 I'm Ria Tanwat Cotrillo.
07:56 You're watching CNN Philippines.
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