The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is on alert to oversee the immigration needs of foreign delegates attending the year-long meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in the country.
The agency has mobilized almost 100 personnel for the immigration processing of delegates, who will be arriving starting this month.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente has also created a special task group which will oversee Asean-related immigration concerns of the foreign delegates.
“We have designated special counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport where the Asean delegates are to be exclusively processed by our immigration officers upon their arrival,” he said.
The Philippines will be hosting the Asean leaders’ summit for 2017 after the Asean chairmanship was formally turned over to the country in September.
The BI is expecting the foreign delegates to the Asean meetings to arrive beginning this month until November next year to take part in the year-long international event.
The special task group will also implement measures to guarantee the safety and security of the foreign delegates during their stay in the Philippines.
The BI’s port operations division (POD) has also placed all international airports and seaports on heightened alert given the Philippines’ hosting of the Asean summit and its preliminary meetings.
The BI-POD’s intelligence operatives is coordinating with the Interpol and other agencies in identifying personalities and organizations who might pose threats to the Asean meetings. RAM/rga
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