A traveler who needed to endure a prolonged interview by Bureau of Immigration personnel who requested her to point out a yearbook missed her flight to Israel final December.
The story of freelance author Cham Tanteras went viral on social media after she did not catch her flight as a consequence of a prolonged interview on the immigration counter.
She was additionally requested by the immigration officer to current a yearbook.
“Hindi naman ako magdadala ng yearbook while traveling, kahit saan pa (I’m not bringing my yearbook while traveling). Sabi niya (The immigration officer said), ‘if you didn’t bring your yearbook, do you have your graduation photo with you?,’” Tanteras stated in Maki Pulido’s “24 Oras” report on Friday.
She was ultimately allowed to journey after present process a secondary inspection. However, it was too late for her to board the flight.
“We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused the Filipina passenger and other Filipino passengers,” the BI stated in an announcement in response to Tanteras’ case.
The company additionally stated it performed an investigation into Tanteras’ case and reassigned the immigration officer who requested for her yearbook.
Another passenger, Rie, had an identical expertise final January.
When the immigration officer discovered that she had beforehand labored in Dubai, she was requested plenty of questions on her expertise as an abroad Filipino employee (OFW).
She additionally underwent a secondary inspection.
“Sobrang haba na ng pila, kasi ang marami ng Pilipino na for the second interview. Sabi ko hala ma’am 10 na, 10:30 po yung boarding ko. ‘Ay pasensiya na may pila tayo pang number 7 ka,’” Rie stated.
(The line was already very lengthy as a result of there have been many Filipinos for the second interview. I stated ma’am it is already 10; my boarding is at 10:30. The officer stated, “I’m sorry we have a queue, and you are number 7.”)
After an hour and a half within the second interview, Rie was permitted to move by way of immigration, however she was not capable of board the plane.
Nonetheless, Rie made the choice to ebook a brand new flight as a way to proceed along with her trip.
Rie has already filed a criticism with the Office of the Ombudsman towards two immigration officers for grave abuse of authority, oppression, and conduct prejudicial to the most effective curiosity of the service.
The BI has but to launch an announcement on the case of Rie.
However, the company defended its thorough means of screening outbound passengers, particularly in gentle of circumstances of human trafficking and unlawful recruitment.
“The landscape now of human trafficking is very different from what it was before. Nare-recruit po ngayon ay yung mga professionals na may magagandang trabaho dito sa Pilipinas (They are recruiting professionals with good jobs in the Philippines), came from good families with good backgrounds and are graduates of big schools,” BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval stated.
Based on BI knowledge, a complete of fifty,509 Filipinos skilled deferred departures in 2022.
Of this quantity, round 26,000 Filipinos lacked paperwork, and 392 had been attainable circumstances of human trafficking.
The BI stated those that want to journey overseas should current a passport, a visa if relevant, a roundtrip ticket, and supporting paperwork.
If there are inconsistencies within the passenger’s responses and the way they got, a second interview might be performed.
Going by way of immigration screening should not essentially end in vacationers lacking their flight, in keeping with the BI. — Richa Noriega/VBL, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
