BI’s Advanced Passenger Information System set to launch in March
FILE PHOTO: Bureau of Immigration (BI) logo and building facade. INQUIRER / ALEXIS CORPUZ
MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) is set to be operational by March, Immigration Commissioner Joel Viado announced on Thursday.
The information gathered from the APIS will help the BI stop a possible offender from entering the Philippines based on their records, said Viado in a public briefing.
“By March 20 magkakaroon na po kami ng paglagda ng agreement with the United Nations for what we call the goTravel… ‘Yan po yung Advanced Passenger Information System… Makukuha namin in advanced ang impormasyon hango doon sa manipesto ng eroplano, kung isang tao po o foreigner ay dapat pong pumasok dito sa Pilipinas o hindi po nararapat na pumasok dahil isa po siyang fugitive o subject ng notices sa international police,” Viado sais at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.
(By March 20, we’ll have an agreement signed with the United Nations for what we call the goTravel. This is the Advanced Passenger Information System. We’ll collect in advance, information based on the list of passengers, if a person or a foreigner should enter the Philippines or not because he/she may be a fugitive or a subject of international police notices.)
Moreover, Viado said that the bureau aims to improve their intelligence gathering through open sources.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: BI expects full implementation of advanced passenger info system by 2022
Article continues after this advertisementGoTravel is a software by the United Nations (UN) that consists of data collection, analysis, and dissemination of passenger information to be utilized by law enforcement. It was developed under the UN’s Countering Terrorist Travel Program, which includes the mandatory use of APIS by its member states.
The adoption of the APIS has been ordered since December 2020, during the Duterte administration, and was initially meant to be fully implemented by 2022. — Keith Irish Margareth Clores, 黑料社 intern
