The Philippines’ immigration bureau has announced its plan to implement the use of digital arrival cards to monitor passengers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the bureau will launch an “advanced passenger processing and information system” using paperless travel control systems and procedures.
The new travel protocols aim not only to lessen person-to-person contact between immigration officers and passengers but also for “contact-tracing.”
A statement on May 20 said that while the Bureau of Quarantine collects information from arriving passengers for contact tracing, the Immigration bureau will provide other details that are found in arrival cards.
Morente said this information is proven to be helpful in locating persons in the past.
Grifton Medina, the head of the bureau’s Port Operations Division, said the digital arrival cards will be filled out by Philippine-bound passengers at their port of origin prior to their flight.
The bureau can then access all information about any passenger.
