DOTr bats for fully-manned immigration counters, automated ticketing for shipping lines

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Tuesday recommended airports to have fully manned immigration counters and for seaports to employ automated ticketing systems for a smoother travel experience in transport terminals.

In a Balitanghali interview on Tuesday, DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon said a discussion with relevant government agencies and private operators at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport resulted in a decision to open all immigration counters during the Holy Week.

The move yielded positive results for the first few days of the Holy Week exodus according to Dizon.

“Nakita po natin na kung mapupuno po natin lahat ng immigration counters ay talagang mawawala po ang pila sa immigration sa NAIA, at nakita po natin ‘yan ngayong umaga. Kahit na peak hour na mga 4:30 hanggang 5 na usually napakahaba ng pila diyan dahil nga dagsa ang ating mga kababayang [papunta] abroad lalong lalo na ngayong Holy Week, ay kanina po ay talagang walang pila,” he said.

(We observed that if all the immigration counters are fully staffed, all lines at NAIA immigration will disappear, and we saw that this morning. Even during the peak hours of 4:30 to 5 where there are usually long lines due to the influx of our citizens [travelling] abroad, there was no line earlier.”

Based on these developments, Dizon said the solutions should be applied permanently to ensure short immigration lines at all times.

“Ang kabilin-bilinan po natin sa ating mga ahensya at sa ating private operator [ay] gawin lahat para tuloy-tuloy ito. Hindi lamang [sa] Holy Week kundi tuloy-tuloy na at siguraduhing laging puno ang ating immigration counters, kahit kinakailangan na maagang pumasok ang ating immigration officers,” he said.

(“We instructed our agencies and our private contractors to do everything to make sure this continue. Not just for the Holy Week, but to keep this going and to ensure that all immigration counters are full, even if it means our immigration officers have to report earlier.)

Sea travel

Meanwhile, Dizon said that manual inspections of sea vessels in Philippine seaports will ensure that ships are not overloaded with passengers during the annual holiday.

Vessels caught overloading have already been issued Show Cause Orders.

“Sa ngayon, dahil mano-mano yung sistema natin, kailangan chinecheck yan ng ating [Philippine Coast Guard] at ng ating Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) at ng ating Marina… kailangan po talaga maging strikto tayo. Mayroon tayong nahuli… Nahuli po sila at pinadalan na din po ng show orders ang mga to at mag-iimpose tayo ng penalties sa mga shipping lines na ito,” he shared.

(As of right now, since our system is manual, the [Philippine Coast Guard],  Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), and our Marina have to check each vessel... We really need to be strict. We have caught some of them... They were caught and sent show cause orders, and we will impose penalties on these shipping lines.)

The DOTr chief noted the solution he sees for overloading would be to automate ticketing systems for sea vessels, similar to how airlines operated.

“Ang solution talaga ay kailangan nang i-automate ang ticketing system sa ating barko, tulad ng ginagawa natin sa airline. Pag napuno na ang seats, di na makakabook at siguradong walang overloading sa eroplano. Dapat ganoon din gagawin natin sa shipping lines sa barko,” he shared.

(The solution is to implement automate ticketing systems for our ships, similar to how it is done for airlines. Once the seats are full, you will not be able to book and it's sure that there will be no overloading on planes. That should also be done for shipping lines.)

Earlier, the PPA shared they have already reached their expected peak after catering to 500 passengers at around 5 a.m. on Tuesday.

"Kaninang umaga may bumyahe na, 'yung 5 a.m., nasa around 500. Actually ito na ang peak sa Holy Week kasi nasa estimate, 1,400 [passengers] kasama 'yung kaninang umaga," said PPA port manager Jenneliza Rebong.

(Around 500 passengers already boarded as of 5 a.m. This is already the peak of the Holy Week rush here because we estimate around 1,400 passengers, including those who traveled this morning.)

DOTr also said that they were expecting around 150,000 passengers to course through NAIA everyday during the Holy Week. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/RF, GMA Integrated New