E-travel gains traction at departure, arrival areas

MORE than 32,000 arriving foreigners and Filipinos registered for the eTravel system while more than 14,000 departing Filipinos logged in the site.

The system, which was rolled out on April 15, is a single data collection platform for arriving and departing passengers for purposes of establishing an integrated border control, health surveillance, and economic data analysis.

The setup was an initiative of a sub- technical working group ( TWG) of the Inter- agency Task Force ( IATF) headed by the Bureau of Immigration ( BI).

It was a joint project of the agency with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Privacy Commission ( NPC).

The platform was initially launched in December at the arrival area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and subsequently expanded to cover departing passengers.

TWG head Dennis Javier said a virtual orientation and questionand- answer session was conducted on Friday with the Airline Operators Council (AOC), to address various inquiries from participating airlines pertaining to the implementation of the E-Travel system.

Javier said they also met with BI terminal heads and immigration officers to address any operational concerns.

“So far, the implementation remains very smooth, with no noted glitches or issues,” Javier said.

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the system was at par with its counterparts other countries for their arrival and departure data.

“Modernization of the bureau is really one of the priorities of the BI,” Tansingco said. “This is but the first step in many technological improvements in immigration,” he added.