Travelers who miss flights can complain to DOJ, says exec

Travelers who miss their flights due to lengthy interviews with Immigration officers may file complaints before the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), the DOJ said Thursday.

Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty said there is a 45-second limit for the primary inspection and a limit of 15 minutes for the secondary inspection.

“Ideally, masundan ‘yung mga time limits na ‘yun and I think BI (Bureau of Immigration) is making a point to ensure that the traveler is able to have an opportunity to depart,” he said in a media briefing.

“Pwede kayong magreklamo sa amin,” he later added.

He said the agency may commit to look into the case and to possibly investigate the Immigration officer concerned.

Videos of some travelers who missed their flights following lengthy interviews at the airport have gone viral in the past months.

This included the traveler who missed her flight after an Immigration personnel asked her to show her yearbook and a first-time traveler who missed his flight as he was not called for his second interview.

On Tuesday, IACAT approved the revised departure guidelines for Filipinos traveling outside the country to address the “emergent trends in human trafficking” and not to hamper Filipinos’ right to travel.

During the briefing, the DOJ stressed that the revised guidelines did not impose additional requirements for travelers.

“A careful comparison of the revised departure formalities with the former rules reveals that we have not imposed any additional burden on outbound international travelers,” Justice spokesperson Mico Clavano said.

“Instead, what the revised departure formalities have achieved is a formalization and streamlining of the existing requirements that pertain to different categories of travelers,” he added.

Clavano said that 95% of travelers would only be required to present the basic documents such as a passport, boarding pass, confirmed return ticket, and a visa only when required.

As an example, Clavano said that travelers no longer need to get the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) Guidance and Counseling Program (GCP) certificates — which are requirements for those seeking to go abroad to meet or marry their foreign spouse or partners — if they are not in “permanent” setups with their partners.

“Ngayon po, kung hindi masyadong permanent ang set up, for example boyfriend pa lang o girfrield, jowa, hidni pa po kailangan pumunta ng CFO,” Clavano said.

“It is only for those more permanent arrangments, mga set up, kagaya ng fiance or those who are seeking for a long term visa who have a long term visa who have to go CFO,” he added.

Ty, meanwhile, said that travelers will only be required to present proof of their financial capacity when there are red flags present.

“We can do that, we can require proof of financial capacity but we only do that in very limited instances,” Ty said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News