Immigration hiring 200 officers to meet expected influx of tourists

The Bureau of Immigration is hiring 200 immigration officers who will be deployed to eight international airports across the country as tourist arrivals are expected to rise next year.

 

The Department of Tourism has set a target of 6.8 million arrivals for 2014, up from the target of 5 million this year.

BI officer-in-charge Siegfried Mison said the bureau is looking for new officers because "we want to make sure that we could accommodate the influx of foreign nationals." 

 

Mison added the Bureau of Customs has 4,000 authorized plantilla items against BI's 1,200. “I think we should be at par in terms of personnel with our brothers at the port of entry which is the BOC,” he said.

 

Aside from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, the Philippines also has international airports in Laoag in Ilocos Norte, Clark in Angeles City, Subic in Olongapo City, and Puerto Princesa in Palawan.

 

There are also international airports in Iloilo, Kalibo in Aklan, Cebu, Zamboanga, Davao, and General Santos City in South Cotabato. — JDS, GMA News