The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Thursday encouraged travelers arriving in the country to use electronic gates (E-Gates) stationed at airport terminals for faster processing.
The E-Gates would help reduce the processing time of passengers from the usual 45 seconds to only 8 seconds, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said in a statement.
According to the BI, on the last day of October, total of 32,045 passengers arrived, but only 5,210 utilized the E-Gates.
“Departures significantly increased before Undas, and we project that arrivals will rise in the next few days after the long holiday,” he said.
The BI recorded a total of 32,352 departures on October 31, and sees that this could rise up to 35,000 in the next few days.
Tansingco said that upon approval of the BI’s budget , they plan to increase the number of E-Gates as part of its program to automate.—Jiselle Anne Casucian/LDF, GMA Integrated News
