The so-called “travel escort service” involving erring Immigration officers continues unabated at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
This prompted the Bureau of Immigration to issue a memorandum prohibiting its personnel assigned to NAIA from “loafing, facilitating and escorting” any arriving and departing passenger.
NAIA chief immigration officer Grifton Medina reiterated the bureau’s policy issued eight years ago, and warned that employees who defy the directive will be meted stiff disciplinary sanctions and slapped with administrative cases.
Immigration agents were also restricted from entering areas outside their tour of duty or terminal assignment.
Medina explained the directive is just one of several preventive measures being implemented by the agency.
In the same memorandum, Medina also disclosed that NAIA’s immigration areas have been “sanitized” by making them off-limits to non-BI personnel.
He said BI employees should desist from escorting or facilitating arriving and departing passengers, either personally or via text messaging or phone calls, for the purpose of expediting the conduct of immigration formalities by immigration officers in the counters. Joel E. Zurbano
An Immigration Official Business pass last year was discovered being used by individuals to escort foreign nationals.
Bridget Cunanan, a supervising officer at Okada Manila Hotel and Casino in Parañaque City, was arrested at the restricted Immigration area of NAIA Terminal 1 for the unauthorized use of the pass.
According to the Manila International Airport Authority, an Immigration Official Business Access Pass is exclusively issued to government officials.
In 2017, the MIAA in close coordination with the Bureau of Immigration also came up with a policy to put a stop the wanton disregard of an airport regulation prohibiting unauthorized individuals from entering immigration areas to give special treatment to VIP (very important person) passengers.
The airport management also cautioned air travelers against an ongoing extortion racket in which unscrupulous people would pretend to be Immigration personnel providing “escort service.”
It added the public, especially overseas Filipino workers, should not deal with fake BI agents “who are only out to extort money.”