Airlines oppose Bureau of Immigration's machine-readable 'A-D' card

MANILA, Philippines - The Airline Operators Council (AOC) protested yesterday the implementation of the new machine-readable arrival-departure (A-D) cards, calling the scheme “arbitrary, unreasonable and contrary to law.”

“With due respect, the AOC would like to register its vehement objection to the sudden implementation of the memorandum circular because its implementation is arbitrary, unreasonable and contrary to law,” AOC chairperson Ma. Lourdes Reyes said.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) started distributing the A-D cards to arriving and departing passengers last Monday.

Many of the travelers were taken by surprise as they tried to fill up the 10 by four-inch card folded into four equal parts, where they have to register their names, citizenship, residence, birthday, occupation, passport number and its date of validity.

The forms are usually distributed by the air carriers – which have a supply of the cards for the next six months – and passengers fill them up while aboard the plane.

The document are usually inserted with the passport and scrutinized by immigration officers upon arrival before being given the stamp of approval.

The process takes time if the cards are filled up only at the port of arrival or departure, and travelers are often delayed.

The AOC opposed the new scheme, saying that thousands of passengers fill up such cards in major airports daily.

The BI had notified the AOC that the implementation would start on June 1, but Reyes said the notice was too short and “insufficient to notify more than 15 million passengers.”

“We expect some birth pains during the early implementation of the new A-D cards,” BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said.

He said the cards are imprinted with bar codes for security reasons, which only the BI would print and distribute.

“In line with its fight against red tape, international terrorism and other threats, the BI has implemented an innovative machine readable arrival card,” he added.

He said although the AOC has registered its objection, the BI would continue to issue the new cards because it would improve Philippine immigration and be in step with international aviation standard.

Libanan has set a dialogue with AOC officials today at the BI main office to talk about the problems.

BI anti-fraud chief Sammy Vallada said local airlines and some international airlines have already accepted BI’s new A-D card without any opposition.

“The BI has distributed sufficient supply of A/D cards to airlines and travel agencies to address the issue of alleged airport congestion,” Vallada said.

He said that international airlines have also started distributing A-D cards to their stations abroad so their flights can prepare early upon arrival in the Philippines.

Vallada said the shift to the machine-readable arrival-departure cards is another component of BI’s pro-active reform programs intended to cut processing time in the bureau and give better services to the people. – Rudy Santos