BI braces for influx of Holy Week travelers

FILE: NAIA (Photo: NAIA International Airport/ Facebook)

MANILA — Two weeks before the Holy Week, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has started its preparations for the arrival of a huge volume of tourists in the country.

With this, Commissioner Jaime Morente instructed BI port operations division chief Marc Red Mariñas to ensure that adequate personnel are deployed to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as international travelers are expected to converge at the country’s premiere port.

Likewise, he directed BI chief personnel officer Grifton Medina to come up with list of immigration officers currently deployed at the main office and other sub-ports who could be temporarily reassigned to the NAIA during the holidays to prevent long queues in immigration counters.

“I will sign the personnel orders reassigning them to the NAIA so as to minimize, if not totally prevent, long queues of passengers in our counters,” Morente said in a statement Thursday.

“We assure the traveling public that we have enough personnel to man our booths at the airport during the holidays,” he added.

The BI chief also urged passengers to come to the airport early so they won’t miss their flights.

Some foreign tourists are travelling to the country to witness the observance of the annual religious activity or to visit beaches and other islands.

This year’s Holy Week starts on March 25 (Palm Sunday) to April 1 (Easter Sunday).