There will be no Lenten break for Bureau of Immigration (BI) personnel, as the agency prepares for a surge of international travelers during and after Holy Week.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said he has ordered a ban on BI officers taking leave from March 15 to April 1 to ensure that all immigration booths at the airports are fully manned to process the large volume of passengers who are expected to enter and leave the country during the long holidays.
The prohibition applies to all employees assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and all other international ports of entry and exit nationwide.
He stressed that the leave ban was implemented to ensure that immigration services to the traveling public are not interrupted during the Lenten break when there is a definite upsurge in passenger volume at the airports.
“We assure the traveling public that our counters are fully manned to process them in our counters,” he said.
The BI projects around 39 to 44 thousand arrivals per day in the next few days, while they expect around 40 to 44 thousand international departures.
The BI chief said that they expect the volume of departing passengers to rise by Wednesday, while the volume of arriving passengers is expected to rise by Sunday.
He added that he has already issued personnel orders temporarily deploying almost 70 additional personnel to augment manpower at major international airports, and have mobile counters on standby to help process travelers.
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