HINDI pinapayagan ng Bureau of Immigration (BI) ang kanilang mga Port personnel na mag-leave nang tatlong linggo upang masigurado na may mga opisyal na magsilbi sa pagbiyahe ng publiko bago at pagkatapos ng Mahal na Araw.
Ayon kay Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, hindi pinapayagan ang mag-leave mula March 24 hanggang April 15 partikular sa mga empleyado na naka-assigned sa Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at iba pang international ports sa buong bansa.
Dagdag pa ni Tansingco na sa nasabing araw, wala ring papayagan sa mga empleyado na mag-apply ng vacation leavess at pagbiyehe abroad.
“We are constrained to implement this leave ban to make sure that our service to the traveling public are not interrupted or compromised during the Lenten break when there will surely be a sharp upsurge in the number of passengers who will enter and exit the country,” ayon sa BI chief.
Paliwanag ni Tansingco na ang dagsa ng pasahero ay inaasahan sa NAIA gayundin sa Mactan, Clark at Kalibo.
“We have to see to it that our immigration booths at the airports are fully manned in order to cope with the long queues of passengers who will be arriving from or leaving for abroad to spend time with their families and relatives,” ayon pa Tansingco.
PAUL ROLDAN