More immigration officers deployed at ports outside Metro Manila

The Bureau of Immigration main office. (File photo by ALEXIS CORPUZ / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday announced that it had started deploying more immigration officers to international ports outside Metro Manila.

In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the increased deployment would boost the country’s security by hindering the entry of foreign terrorists and other undesirable aliens.

The additional immigration officers were deployed at the international seaport in Zamboanga City and at airports in Mactan-Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, and Kalibo.

BI port operations division chief Marc Red Fariñas said he was the one who recommended that deployment of officers to the provinces because the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) now had enough immigration personnel.

BI was able to deploy more officers in the province with its speedier recruitment process.

“We are still in the process of selecting qualified applicants to hundreds of vacant positions for immigration officers,” Morente said. –Daphne Yann Galvez, trainee /atm