Inbound travelers at around 10K daily after a month of eased restrictions —BI

Around 10,000 passengers have been arriving in the Philippines daily after more than a month of the easing of travel restrictions, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported Saturday. 

At the Laging Handa briefing, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said arrivals were at around 8,000 passengers daily during the first week of the implementation of loosened travel restrictions, then steadily climbed to around 9,000 passengers daily after two weeks.

"Currently, after more than a month of implementation, we're seeing around 10,000 passengers arriving in the country daily," Sandoval said.

"Which is really what we are expecting. We are seeing that it will gradually increase. We're expecting that it may reach 12,000 on the average per day given the summer season," she added.

Sandoval said more foreign nationals are expected to visit in the summer season in the Philippines.

"Perhaps this will reach to around 12,000 or perhaps even more on the latter part of March and early April."

Love scam

With the increase of foreigners arriving in the country, Sandoval reported that the "love scam" modus has reemerged.

"Nagulat kami na biglang bumalik itong modus na ito. Siguro ito ang isa sa mga unexpected natin na lalabas because of the loosened travel restrictions," she said.

(We were surprised that this modus has returned. Perhaps this is one of the emerging concerns because of the loosened travel restrictions.)

"Love scam" is a modus that targets Filipinos who are looking for love interest with foreign nationals whom they meet online, Sandoval explained.

The suspects would pretend to be flying to the Philippines often to meet or marry their victims.

But upon arrival in the country, the suspects will tell their victims that they were being held at the immigration or other government agencies for various reasons.

The suspects will then tell their victims that they need to pay their "gifts" for a certain amount.

Sandoval urged citizens to verify the foreign nationals who were being excluded in airports through immigration.gov.ph/ to avoid being victimized by the modus. —KG, GMA News