IMMIGRATION officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airports and other ports of entry nationwide have been placed on heightened alert for the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders’ summit.
“‹Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente instructed Marc Red Mariñas, the bureau’s port operations division chief, to raise the alert order in the different ports to thwart the possible entry of international terrorists who could create trouble during the international event.
Morente said the BI was coordinating with other law enforcement and intelligence agencies of the government and their counterparts abroad in seeing to it that the Asean summit was conducted peacefully to enhance the country’s prestige in the international community.
“It is imperative that our men at the ports exercise extra vigilance in monitoring and screening all arriving foreign passengers so that those intending to disrupt the summit are not able to sneak into our country,” the BI chief said.
The Philippines is hosting next month’s Asean summit to be attended by heads of state from various countries, including the US, Japan and China.
In compliance with Morente’s directive, Mariñas issued the other day a memorandum directing immigration personnel in all international airports and seaports to be on a high state of alert.
The memorandum instructed immigration officers to conduct strict arrival and departure formalities and rigid primary inspection on passengers and crewmen, including those of special and chartered flights.
Mariñas also ordered personnel assigned to the BI’s border control and intelligence units to not only monitor and ensure that all passengers pass immigration inspection but also assist in the “profiling” of the latter.
Suspicious looking passengers and those with doubtful purposes in visiting the country should be referred and meticulously subjected to secondary inspection by members of the bureau’s travel control and enforcement unit.
Members of the BI-Interpol unit at the Naia were instructed to maintain open lines of communication with the bureau’s counter terrorist group and intelligence division as well as with their counterparts from other government agencies such as the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency and the Interpol.