IMMIGRATION Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said the proposed P10.7-billion Civil Aviation and Immigration Security Services (CAISS) project is crucial to protecting the country from terrorists, human traffickers and other transnational criminals.
Viado said the proposed public-private partnership with US-based Securiport LLC would modernize the country's border control system through biometrics, advanced analytics and passenger information systems without requiring government capitalization.
"We need a more integrative program covering a border security platform with biometrics, advanced analytics, and passenger information systems to enhance national security and immigration control," Viado told the House of Representatives during a budget hearing on Aug. 24.
He said the existing system, which relies heavily on manual checks and outdated databases, is inadequate against increasingly sophisticated methods used by criminals and other security threats.
Viado said the government currently has no similar program that could be funded at the P10.7-billion level.
Under the proposal, Securiport would provide P10.74 billion in capitalization over five years, upgrade the system every four years for the next 20 years and train Immigration personnel.
The proposed system would be funded through a P240 one-way service fee, or P480 for a round trip, which Viado stressed is not a tax.
He said the fee is lower than similar charges imposed in other countries, citing amounts of about P2,600 in Australia, P2,400 in Singapore, P1,200 in Japan, P1,800 in Thailand and P1,500 in Hong Kong.
"Compared to other countries, this is way below," Viado said, noting that similar systems are already being used in the United States, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.
During the hearing, Mamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and Caloocan 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice raised concerns over the additional cost to travelers, particularly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Viado said OFWs would not shoulder the fee when it forms part of their travel costs because employers are responsible for the expenses under existing rules governing overseas employment.
He cited Section 53 of the Revised POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-Based Overseas Filipino Workers of 2016, which places recruitment- and placement-related costs on the principal or employer.
"This is not a form of tax, Your Honor. It is a service fee," Viado said, adding that the cost would be borne by people who travel rather than ordinary taxpayers through government funds.
Viado said CAISS would also allow authorities to identify high-risk passengers before they board flights bound for the Philippines.
The proposed system would use advanced biometrics, behavioral analytics, Interpol data, open-source intelligence and passenger information to assess travelers.
He said the technology could analyze behavioral indicators such as nervous tics and facial movements during questioning to help identify potentially high-risk passengers.
CAISS would be connected to Interpol databases covering 194 countries and use online information, including social media activity, as part of its intelligence capabilities.
Viado said passenger data could be screened even before a traveler boards a flight, allowing Philippine immigration authorities to receive information about passengers considered inadmissible or high-risk in real time.
"The target is to increase — expand the borders," he said, noting the system would allow Philippine authorities to monitor threats beyond the country's physical borders.
He said that advance screening could benefit airlines by preventing them from transporting passengers who would ultimately be denied entry and would otherwise have to be flown back.
