Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 2) — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) encourages Filipinos arriving from the Undas break to use the airports’ electronic gates, which replaces face-to-face contact and speeds up processing time.
In a statement on Thursday, the BI said over 32,000 passengers arrived on Oct. 31 alone, but only around 5,200 utilized the e-gates.
“Departures significantly increased before Undas, and we project that arrivals will rise in the next few days after the long holiday,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.
The BI expects an influx of passengers this weekend as Filipinos begin to return from their provinces after the election and All Saints’ and All Souls’ holidays.
Tansingco explained that the e-gates expedite the airport processing time \”from the usual 45 seconds to as low as eight seconds.\”
There are currently 21 e-gates being used nationwide, most of them located at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
