FILIPINOS continue to flock to various passenger terminals with only five days left before the world welcomes the New Year.

This developed even as many have already returned to work after the Christmas break. 

Thousands of passengers went to seaports in Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, and Quezon, while others waited for bus trips at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX). 

To increase the number of trips, the PITX management reportedly deployed an extra 30 buses per day.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said that a total of 161,664 passengers arrived during the Christmas weekend.

Around 81% of the passengers arrived via the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Also, 130,497 passengers departed from December 23 to 25.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BI saw an average of 55,000 daily arrivals and 47,000 departures during the month of December.

“International travel is not just on the rebound,” Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.  

“Figures show that the number of travelers is almost surpassing pre-pandemic numbers. It’s a cause for celebration for the tourism and international travel sectors.”