Beginning September 3, overseas-bound Filipino travelers must have a specific set of documents ready to ensure a smooth departure process at immigration counters.
Published recently by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), the revised guidelines provide a list of supporting documents that an immigration officer might request from a Filipino traveler based on the stated purpose of travel.
For other types of travel, the list of requirements can be accessed on the website of the Department of Justice.
Those who don’t pass the primary immigration officer’s evaluation will be sent for a secondary inspection, where they will be asked about their purpose of travel and have their supporting documents further examined.
The grounds for referral to secondary inspection are the following:
The secondary inspection must not exceed 15 minutes unless ”extraordinary circumstances require a longer period of inspection,” the guidelines stated.
The following are the grounds for deferring a passenger’s departure:
Right to travel
Many people have expressed disapproval of the revised guidelines, saying they will unfairly burden travelers and serve as a cover for immigration officers’ misconduct.
Cagayan de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez said the ”more stringent rules will unduly interfere with the Filipinos’ right to travel” and would allow immigration officers ”to exercise ‘subjective judgment, whims, and discretion’ on departing passengers.”
”I am afraid that’s where extortion, harassment, and corruption will arise,” said Rodriguez, a former immigration commissioner.
Senator Risa Hontiveros added that while it is necessary for the Philippines to do more in the fight against human trafficking, ”Filipinos traveling out of the country should not be treated as second-class citizens within our own airports.”
At a news conference on August 24, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said that the new guidelines are a clarification of the already existing guidelines on departure formalities.
“The guidelines streamline the requirements and do not add more to departing tourists,” he said. “More than 95% of departing Filipinos would not need to present more documents apart from the basic ones.”
Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the revised guidelines merely identify the requirements for other categories of departing Filipinos.
Tansingco said that, as in the past, only Filipinos that depart with red flags may be required to present additional supporting documents, which are now specified in the guidelines.
The list, according to the BI chief, will make sure immigration officers focus on specific requirements and avoid requesting unnecessary documents.
“There is no new policy for departing tourists being implemented by the BI,” Tansingco said.
“The guidelines have been here since 2012—which is more than a decade ago—and have been refined by IACAT to address concerns raised by the public. Departing tourists need not worry.”
