Philippines to Fully Implement Pre-examination of Inbound Passengers

On November 25, Dana Krizia, a spokesman for the Immigration Bureau, said at a televised press conference held on the same day that the Immigration Bureau plans to fully introduce a pre-examination system for the information of tourists arriving in the Philippines in early 2022, so that it can check their personal information before travelers arrive in the Philippines.

Sandoval explained: The passenger information system will be linked to airline and government databases to help the Immigration Department find out whether the relevant personnel have been downgraded, whether they have been linked to terrorist incidents, and whether they have been included in the Interpol watch list at the moment when passengers book flights to the Philippines.

She said: "In fact, we expect this system to be fully implemented in early 2022. The technology in this area is under development and our personnel are already in place, so we expect it to be implemented immediately."

Sandoval revealed that the immigration department has extended working hours and suspended employees to prepare for the surge in the number of tourists who may arrive before Christmas and the new year.

She said: "We can say that we are ready, especially for the upcoming holiday."

Sandoval pointed out: The number of arrivals in the first three quarters of this year has dropped by about 72% compared with the same period in 2020. The immigration department's number of arrivals last year was about 152, compared with 17 million before the epidemic.

The government is currently drafting guidelines to open the border to foreign tourists as soon as possible.

"We are prepared for the holidays, including preparations for the possible opening of our maritime crossings to international visitors," Sandoval said."