155 BI officers ready as back up at NAIA amid surge of COVID 19 

Commissioner Jamie Morente

By NERIO AGUAS

At least 155 Immigration officers are on standby to augment its operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) AMD Clark International Airport amidst a surge in the number of its officers affected by Covid-19.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said that these back-up officers will serve as augmentation to render primary inspection duties as some of our frontliners are in quarantine and battling Covid-19.

The augmentation team is composed of officers and acting immigration officers assigned in different back-end offices of its Port Operations Division (POD) as well as its Main office and other offices in the metro.

At present, the BI recorded a total of 158 Covid-positive employees assigned at the POD, 132 of which are assigned at the NAIA, while 14 are assigned at the CIA.

Their NAIA ops also recorded a total of 180 officers in quarantine for being exposed to Covid-positive cases.

“We are keeping our augmentation team on standby to be deployed immediately if the number of officers affected rises further,” said Morente.

Morente shared that their office provides swabbing through their Medical and Dental Section for its employees, as well as Covid-19 vaccines, boosters, and Pneumococcal vaccines.  “We have a Covid Task Force in charge of crafting proactive measures to fight this virus, as well as ensure that protocols are strictly implemented,” he added.

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