GLITCH The Bureau of Immigration says Monday (Jan. 2, 2023) it will deploy more personnel as it expects an influx of passengers in the coming days. Thousands of passengers were stranded at NAIA terminal 3 on New Year's Day due to a technical glitch. (PNA photo by Avito Dalan)
MANILA – Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco on Monday said sufficient personnel have been deployed at the country’s airports as inbound and outbound passengers are expected to peak in the coming days after the technical glitch at NAIA on Sunday that affected more than 60,000 passengers.
“Following the cancellation of flights due to the technical issues experienced at the airports, we expect a huge number of arriving and departing passengers in the next few days,” the BI chief said in a statement.
“This adds to the already high number of travelers due to the holidays,” he added.
BI Operations Division chief, lawyer Carlos Capulong, in a separate statement, said while they expect long lines of passengers to go through immigration counters, BI officers are able to process documents fast.
“We have all hands on deck during this critical period. We have likewise instructed airport terminal heads to ensure all counters are manned,” he added.
He also urged Filipino passengers to use the BI’s electronic gates, which could lessen processing time to as low as 8 seconds per passenger.
BI reported having processed a total of 12,304 arrivals and 19,010 departures on Jan. 1.
On New Year’s Day, around 60,000 passengers were affected when 361 flights to and from Manila were either canceled, delayed, or diverted due to glitches.
The traffic system was restored at 7:45 p.m. Sunday or 10 hours after the system went down, said Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Director General Manuel Tamayo in a press briefing.
Malacañang, for its part, assured that “a thorough investigation” is being conducted by appropriate agencies following the technical glitch at NAIA. (With Azer Parrocha/PNA)
