Long lines at immigration counters in the country’s main airports will soon be a thing of the past as the government will start installing “e-gates” in June, Immigration port operations division chief Red Mariñas said.
“Using the e-gate will only take 12-15 seconds as passengers will only have to swipe their passports, have biometrics, and undergo facial capturing,” he said.
The inauguration would be in June at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
At least 18 e-gate units will be deployed in the country’s major airports, including those in Clark, Davao, Kalibo, and the new airport in Cebu.
“Hopefully, [all of the e-gates] will be in place by the end of the year,” he said, adding the government has allotted P340 million for the facilities.
Mariñas clarified that having e-gates will not result in fewer immigration officers manning the airports.
“The e-gates will be used by Filipinos only. So immigration officers will still need to cater to foreigners,” he said.
Some 99 more immigration officers have been deployed at Naia Terminals 1, 2, and 3 last week, with 53 more new officers in the pipeline.
He said the Bureau of Immigration follows the international standard of 45-second rule for screening passengers.
“There’s more to the screening of documents. They also do profiling. We’re talking about national security here,” he said.