PROTECTING THE country's borders by continuously improving security measures and infrastructure were the major accomplishments at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in 2019.
"For the fourth consecutive year, we were granted the Tier 1 status by the US Department of State. Tier 1 is the highest in anti (human) trafficking index," Bureau of Immigration (BI) Port Operations Division chief Grifton Medina said in an interview.
The Tier 1 status was given not just to NAIA, but to other international airports in the country.
"In Asia, only Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines were given the Tier 1 status," he said.
Medina said in 2019, there were around 100,000 international departures that were referred for second screening at the Immigration.
Out of these 100,000, there were at least 24,753 who were deferred in the first half of the year alone.
"Deferred" refers to passengers who were not allowed to leave the country due to incomplete documents, among others.
From January to June, the BI has also recorded 286 cases of suspected trafficking.
From January to July, there were 3,594 excluded passengers or foreigners who were not allowed entry to the Philippines for presenting fake documents, for instance.
Almost half (1,643) of them are Chinese, Medina said.
Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Ed Monreal, meanwhile, said NAIA has passed all the security audits in 2019, which resulted in the lifting of the US Homeland Security's travel notice in 2018 regarding the apparent poor security condition at the airport.
In the travel notice, the US Homeland Security said NAIA does not carry out effective security consistent with the security standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
To protect the country's borders, the Bureau of Customs (BOC)-NAIA managed to seize a number of prohibited items at the country's main gateway. Data from the BOC showed that in 2019, it has intercepted shabu with an estimated worth of PHP370 million, ecstasy with an estimated value of PHP8.6 million, and cocaine worth around PHP7.8 million.
Marijuana, valium, smuggled gun parts, concealed live ammunitions, and meat products without a permit, were also among the items confiscated by the BOC-NAIA.
Improved facilities
NAIA and the other international airports in the country were noticed because of the improvement in facilities or having the e-gates. In 2019, Medina received the Recognition of Excellence from OpenGov Asia because of this.
OpenGov Asia is a Singapore-based content platform dedicated to sharing knowledge and information between governments.
Medina earlier said OpenGov Asia representatives walk around the airports to see improvements, and the e-gates at the Philippine airports were noticed.
There is now a total of 13 e-gates at NAIA Terminals 1, 2, and 3. About 3 million Filipinos have used the e-gates in NAIA, Clark, and Davao in 2019, Medina said.
He said BI's legal department is still studying the use of e-gates at the departure areas.
Although these e-gates were installed, these might be used only by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) since they have the lowest risk in terms of assessment.
"They (OFWs) have been already screened by the Overseas Workers Welfare Association and the Department of Foreign Affairs," he said.
To further ease queuing at the NAIA, Medina said immigration officers implement pre-screening for OFWs, and there are separate lines for first time OFWs, as well as for "balik manggagawa".
In coordination with MIAA, the BI has added six counters to be manned by four officers per counter to reduce long lines in the airport.
The official also described how the BI handled arrival and departure of the delegates of the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games as "seamless”.
The BI has recorded no problems or suspected terrorists during the country's hosting of the SEA Games.
As with the other improvements, the BI has launched capacity building for its officers. They are also currently undergoing language courses, and are trained to speak Mandarin.
To further improve NAIA's image, Monreal noted that in 2019, the MIAA has launched a civility campaign called "DisipliNAIA".
The campaign intends to lessen the stress of air travelers, Monreal said, adding that queue jumpers", those who are crowding around the baggage claim area, those who are putting their bags and feet on the seats, are just among the concerns other passengers at the NAIA.
In line with the campaign, MIAA has placed tarpaulins and signs, encouraging airport users to be more courteous, in the vicinity of the four terminals of NAIA. (By Ma. Cristina Arayata)
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