No Christmas leave for immigration personnel assigned at international ports – Manila Bulletin

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has cancelled all leave applications of its personnel assigned at international ports to ensure adequate manpower to service Christmas season travelers.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the ban on vacation leaves from Nov. 15 to Jan. 15, 2023 will be implemented to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of services to large number season travelers.

Tansingco noted that the volume of passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has already started to peak up due to the approaching long holiday and the easing of Covid-19 travel restrictions.

He said maintaining sufficient number of immigration officers at airports will avert long queues of coming and exiting passengers.

“The services of our immigration officers are most needed at airports during Christmas, a traditional sacrifice we have to face to serve the travelling public,” Tansingco said.

Airport operations chief Carlos Capulong said the leave ban applies to all BI employees assigned not only at the NAIA, but also in other international ports like in Mactan, Clark, Davao, and Kalibo.

Capulong said that except for medical and emergency reasons, no application for leave would be approved during the month-long period.

He also said the BI management has created augmention teams to assist in processing arriving and departing passengers.