The Bureau of Immigration in Intramuros, Manila. INQUIRER.net photo / ED LUSTAN
MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos topped the number of arrivals for the month of December this year, followed by Americans, data from the Bureau of Immigration (BI) showed.
In a statement Monday, the BI said a total of 41,216 Filipinos arrived in the country during the holiday season, many of whom are overseas Filipino workers.
This was followed by Americans with 12,455 arrivals, Canadians with 2,805, and Japanese with 1,645 arrivals.
According to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, most of those who arrived in the Philippines this month are balikbayans coming home to spend Christmas and New Year with their families.
“This is expected since many of our kababayans who are now living abroad wish to spend the holidays here with their families,” he said.
Arrivals doubled
BI Port Operations Division Chief Atty. Carlos Capulong, meanwhile, noted that the arrivals this year for Dec. 24 and 25 doubled compared to last year’s figures.
Capulong said there were only 5,478 arrivals for the said dates last year.
“While this year, it increased 100% to 11,074 for the Christmas eve and Christmas day,” he said.
“While the numbers are still relatively low, we are confident that this increase will continue until next year, given the government’s aggressive vaccination campaign,” he added.
Capulong, meanwhile, thanked the immigration officers who were on duty during Christmas.
“Our officers sacrifice their time with their families to render their duty and provide service for incoming and outgoing passengers,” he said.
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