JV Ejercito blasts abusive, unreasonable immigration officers
March 20, 2023
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito lashed out
at immigration officers who were allegedly harassing travelers through
unreasonable questioning.
The visibly infuriated Ejercito cited a recent
incident where a freelance writer missed her flight after going through a
lengthy interview with an immigration officer at the Ninoy Aquino International
Airport.
The immigration officer reportedly requested
to see her yearbook as proof of her educational attainment.
“Problema talaga sa NAIA, diyan ang hub. Ang
hirap. Nakakahiya, two to three hours, hihingian ka pa ng diploma ng
immigration officer. Diyos ko, di na nakakatulong itong mga taong ‘to,” he
said.
“Meron bang hangin diyan sa airport na pag
Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Immigration, pag napunta diyan, yumayabang? Sarap
pagbabatukan minsan,” he added.
Ejercito said these incidents could
potentially discourage tourists and investors from visiting the country.
“Nakakasira kasi the airport sets the first
and last impression. And then you see these people doing these things. Sorry,
but this is really affecting our tourism and our business climate,” Ejercito
said.
This is not the first time airport and
immigration officials have attracted the ire of the lawmaker from San Juan.
In January, Ejercito slammed air traffic
management officials for failing to prevent the sudden shutdown of the
country’s airspace on New Year’s Day.
Technical glitches involving NAIA’s air
traffic management system downed more than 3,000 inbound and outbound flights
throughout the country and affected around 65,000 international and domestic
passengers during the first week of the year.
