A Facebook post recounting the bitter experience of a passenger at the hands of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has garnered 37,000 shares.
According to the netizen who posted it, they were left behind by the plane to Singapore after being held at the immigration counter.
Their fifteen thousand pesos went to waste as they were unable to leave the country.
The netizen felt as though they were robbed, causing great trauma.
“One of the things we observed, in this case, is that the passenger checked in an hour and 27 minutes before departure, which allowed limited time for the immigration to inspect the subject’s documents,” Dana Sandoval, Spokesperson, Bureau of Immigration said.
This is not the first complaint against immigration officers.
There was an incident this year where a passenger was allegedly asked for a yearbook by an Bureau of Immigration officer.
As a result, the passenger missed the flight to Israel.
Due to this, netizens once again criticized the Bureau of Immigration for what happened.
However, Sandoval clarified that passengers should not be afraid as it is a misconception that all passengers are being harassed by immigration officers.
“But just to clarify, not all passengers going through our airports are interviewed and asked for their particulars. It’s really only those who may have red flags, inconsistencies in their documentation, or patterns similar to cases we have encountered in the past,” Sandoval said.
Sandoval emphasized that only a small number of Filipinos have experienced such incidents.
In fact, only 0.5% of the total Filipinos who traveled abroad from January to June this year were not allowed by the Bureau of Immigration to fly.
Therefore, immigration advises passengers to avoid being left behind by the plane.
“That’s why we always remind our fellow citizens to check in at least 3 hours before their flight to allow immigration to conduct proper inspections on departing passengers,” Sandoval added.
