The pronouncements of President Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Romualdez Marcos, Jr. during the third State of the Nation Address delving on better tourism and a total ban on all POGOS are being supported fully by the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
BI chief Norman Tansingco noted that in his speech, President Marcos highlighted that air transport and tourism have been made more convenient “because of the shift to paperless immigration and customs forms, thanks to the eTravel system”.
The system was hailed for lessening paper-based requirements for travelers, using a system similar to that used by other advanced countries. It serves as the single data collection platform for arriving and departing passengers and establishes an integrated border control, health surveillance, and economic data analysis.
It is a joint project of the agency with the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Privacy Commission (NPC).
Tansingco said that the BI shares the vision of the national government to provide seamless immigration processing to boost the overall tourist experience, as he also mentioned that the BI’s medium-term target is to replace 50% of its manual counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to electronic gates.
Currently, there are 21 e-gates are distributed in major international airports. Tansingco sees the need to expand this to further increase the efficiency of their services and lessen decongestion at airports.
A total of 61 new e-gates are being procured by the BI for the phase 1 of the e-gate expansion project, which are set to be deployed at the end of the year.
He added that foreign nationals in the country will better feel the hospitality of the Philippines through its e-services platform, which provides key immigration services through a secure website. The platform, which can be accessed via e-services.immigration.gov.ph allows foreign nationals to apply for their immigration documents while in the comforts of their own homes, hotels, or even by the beach.
Meanwhile, Tansingco said that the agency will coordinate with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the cancellation of permits issued to online gaming companies and its foreign employees. As a result of the cancellation, the BI will also revoke granted visas to said foreign nationals.
Tansingco said he shares the President’s view that the social costs of online gaming companies outweigh its benefits and cited having deported more than 2,300 working in scam hubs that operate in the country in the guise of gaming companies.
