NAIA flooded with departing passengers

The four terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City were congested yesterday with departing passengers who arrived at the airport five hours before their scheduled flight because of reported slow processing of documents at the undermanned Bureau of Immigration (BI) counters.

The long queues formed at the BI booths in the departure area, where some passengers were seen to have fallen asleep as they waited for their turn to process their travel documents.

Since January, many BI employees have resigned or gone on vacation leave to protest the non-payment of their allowances and overtime pay.

Protesting BI officers have not been reporting for work, resulting in long queues at immigration counters at the NAIA terminals that both local and foreign tourists have to deal with.

Airliners have advised passengers to be at the airport four to five hours before their departure to avoid missing their flights.

The first major casualties of the BI slowdown are the major airlines such as Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific. They fear that since they serve the most number of local and international passengers, they have to advice their passengers to come early.

PAL announced last April 4 that passengers taking international flights are advised to check in at NAIA Terminal 2 at least four to five hours before their flight’s estimated time of departure.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna assured passengers that NAIA ticket counters would be open five hours ahead of the scheduled departure, citing the long lines at the BI booths.

Cebu Pacific (CEB) and Cebgo also reminded all passengers to come early since their counters would be open three hours before departure for international flights.

Many passengers of other airliners also arrived earlier at the airport after they were informed of the advisories from PAL and CEB.

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Ed Monreal said that PAL’s advisory was “recommendatory only.”

“NAIA still maintains the three-hour arrival at the airport prior to departure, otherwise, if they arrive much earlier, there would be more congestion at the terminals,” he said. “Majority of airlines open their counters two and a half to three hours before departure.”

The Department of Tourism had raised concern over the negative effects that the row over allowances and overtime pay between the BI and the Department of Budget and Management would bring, but Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno stood his ground in the feud with BI officers.

Diokno insisted the BI officers’ demands were illegal.

He said BI personnel should not hold hostage services at international airports and seaports by leaving their posts or going on leave.

Diokno said the BI personnel had been receiving unlawful allowances and overtime pay that were up to 400 percent of their basic salary.

“Civil service rules allow the payment of allowances of up to 50 percent of basic pay only,” he said.

Diokno added President Duterte stopped the payment of excessive benefits when he vetoed a provision in the Congress-approved 2017 budget allowing the continued use of the so-called express lane fund for the payment of allowances and overtime pay.

The express lane collections will have to go to the general fund that must be appropriated by Congress for specific purposes before they could be released and used, Diokno said.

The BI yesterday said in a statement that 90 percent of their counters at the NAIA are manned in order to attend to the expected increase in volume of passengers during the Holy Week and the arrival of delegates to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

The bureau earlier said that they would deploy an additional 150 officers, mostly newly hired and trained personnel, as well as their division chiefs, this weekend.

The BI also assured the public that there is no concerted or deliberate effort by Immigration officers at the airport to go on mass leave and there were no mass resignations.

The bureau earlier said there were 30 people who resigned from different divisions from January up to present.

The BI worker’s union, the Buklod and Immigration Officers Association of the Philippines (IOAP), decried the alleged disinformation being spread regarding the non-payment of the overtime pay of employees at the NAIA.

They also denied reports that there is a concerted effort by the employees to go on mass leave.

The workers have asked Diokno to be truthful in his statements to media as his recent pronouncements did not only distort facts but have also further demoralized the bureau’s employees.

Meanwhile, PAL appealed to passengers for their understanding for the delay of flight PR 655 out of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that was originally set to depart Riyadh at 6:50 p.m. last Thursday and arrive in Manila at 10:05 a.m.

Villaluna said due to an aircraft situation, the flight did not push through and 388 passengers disembarked. PAL provided hotel accommodation to the passengers.

PAL Riyadh officials are coordinating with immigration authorities in Saudi Arabia to allow the passengers to leave the airport and return tomorrow for the flight to Manila.

PAL said that all efforts are being made to ensure the earliest departure out of Riyadh at 4 a.m. on Saturday to arrive in Manila at 6:30 p.m.