Immigration waives fines for stranded passengers bound for Europe

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Immigration has agreed to waive the immigration penalties and fines for the hundreds of overstaying Europe-bound foreigners who were stranded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for several days as a result of the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

Lawyer Norman Tansingco, BI chief of staff said that BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan decided to waive the fines on the Schengen visa holders at the request of the concerned European governments through their embassies in Manila.

Tansingco said that in making the request on behalf of their citizens, the embassies informed Libanan that their governments will reciprocate the humanitarian gesture by waiving the fines on Filipino tourists who overstayed in their country, also as a result of the eruption.

Libanan for his part, said the eruption gave governments and private organizations lessons on how we can help each other in a crisis like what happened in Iceland.

“Although we are miles away, we were able to communicate effectively to help citizens from different countries and are in distress,” Libanan said as he extends his deepest gratitude to different European embassies and private organizations deeply involved in assisting foreigners and Filipinos alike.

According to Tansingco, Libanan’s office was swamped with requests from the official of the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR) and embassies, particularly envoys from France , Belgium , Switzerland, Austria and Sweden , who sought a waiver of immigration fines on their respective nationals.

“In fact, some of the stranded passengers from Germany even came to our office personally to submit their handwritten requests for waiver of fines due to financial constraints,” Tansingco said. He said there was no reason for the BI not to grant the requests because “it was not the fault of the foreign passengers that they overstayed in the country.”

In particularly Tansingco cited the letter of a German national to Libanan who requested that the bureau waives the visa extension fee as his flight back to his country was cancelled due to the volcanic eruption.

As of presstime, news organizations have reported that flights to and from Europe have now resumed as the volcano in Iceland had already calmed after days of sending massive volumes of ash that clouded skies all over Europe, prompting many airlines to suspend operations.

The foreigners who were stranded in Manila were forced to check-in with various five-star hotels in the metropolis while awaiting the resumption of their cancelled flights.

It was reported, however, that some of the airlines and embassies came to the rescue of their stranded citizens by shouldering the expenses for their hotels and accommodations.