BUREAU of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco shared that the first day of the rollout of the eTravel platform was very successful.

More than 32,000 arriving foreigners and Filipinos registered for the system while more than 14,000 departing Filipinos logged in the site.

The system, which was rolled out on April 15, is a single data collection platform for arriving and departing passengers for purposes of establishing an integrated border control, health surveillance, and economic data analysis.

The system is an initiative of a sub-technical working group of the IATF, chaired by the BI. It is a joint project of the agency with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Privacy Commission (NPC).

The platform, which was initially launched in December, was initially rolled out at the arrival area and was expanded to cover departing travelers.

TWG Head Dennis Javier shared that a virtual orientation and question-and-answer session was conducted virtually on Friday with the Airline Operators Council (AOC).

The purpose of the session was to address various inquiries from participating airlines pertaining to the implementation of the E-Travel system.

Javier shared that they also conducted a meeting with BI terminal heads and immigration officers to address any operational concerns.

“So far, the implementation remains very smooth, with no noted glitches or issues,” said Javier.

Tansingco said that the system is at par with systems being used by other countries for their arrival and departure data. “Modernization of the bureau is really one of the priorities of the BI,” said Tansingco. “This is but the first step in many technological improvements in immigration,” he added.