BI’s e-Travel System rolls out today

MANILA, Philippines — Starting today, April 15, travelers to and from the Philippines are required to use the e-Travel system of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for faster and more convenient airport procedures.

In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco explained that the e-Travel system is a single data collection platform for arriving and departing passengers in the Philippines that establishes integrated border control, health surveillance and economic data analysis.

“Not only does this speed up immigration clearance, this initiative also ensures interoperability among border management agencies and saves

government resources,” Tansingco said.

He said this online system is an initiative not only of the bureau, but also of the other agencies and stakeholders.

Under the new system, all passengers and crewmembers arriving in the Philippines are required to register through etravel.gov.ph not earlier than 72 hours from their intended arrival.

Those who fail to register through e-Travel will be assisted by the airline staff upon arrival and before assessment by the quarantine office.

But the BI clarified that as a replacement of the paper-based departure cards, only outbound Filipino passengers are required to register in the system at least 72 hours, but not less than three hours, from their scheduled departure from the Philippines.

Departing Filipinos who fail to register or update their e-Travel record may do it before the immigration inspection or may fill out departure cards, which are readily available inside the immigration area.

Registered passengers may update their status under the “Edit Registration” tab and the crew, under the “Registered Crew” tab.

“The paper-based arrival and departure cards can only be used by passengers who are incapable of e-Travel registration and in the event that the e-Travel site is inaccessible,” Tansingco said.

Registering and updating records are free of charge.

The system is a joint project of the Bureaus of Customs and of Quarantine, National Privacy Commission and the Departments of Information and Communications Technology, of Tourism, of Health, of Transportation and of Justice (DOJ).

The e-Travel system was launched in December to initially cover arriving passengers, but was expanded to include departing travelers.

Human trafficking

On another concern, Tansingco said he hopes lawmakers would look into the country’s human trafficking problem and recognize that addressing it requires a whole-of-government approach.

“I hope the Congress (House of Representatives) and the Senate look into this problem, particularly this recent trend of recruiting professionals who end up being subjected to corporal punishment by their recruiters,” his statement read.

The BI chief stressed that he supports the recommendation of Deputy Speaker Camille Villar of Las Piñas City to conduct a legislative inquiry on illegal overseas job offers that shuttle Filipinos to work for companies that operate online scams.

“Trafficking is not solely the burden of the BI, as we are only able to intercept victims when we encounter them in formal ports. But trafficking happens everywhere. In the barangays, in cities and now even online,” he pointed out.– Rudy Santos, Paolo Romero