Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista announced that beginning October 28, 2023, the security checking process for US-bound passengers will be reduced from nine minutes to only nine seconds.
Bautista made the announcement as he inspected the operations at the NAIA Terminal 1 joined by Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) headed by general manager Bryan Co, public affairs office chief Ma. Connie Bungag, airport senior assistant general manager for security and emergency services Col. Manuel Gonzales, corporate board member Adrian Carlos Bersamin, DOTr head executive assistant Eugenio Paguirigan, the new administrator of the Office for Transportation Security Jose Briones, Jr., and Atty. Carmelo Arcilla, head of the Civil Aeronautics Board.
Co said that while the usual process for checking of handcarry or boxes of passengers of US-bound passengers involvess swabbing and opening them, new baggage screening machines have been deployed that will decrease the time for such security checks from nine minutes to nine seconds only. Said check is based on requirements from US-TSA.
“Usually, ang swabbing at pagbukas ng maleta or bag takes nine minutes bago ma-repack ulit ng pasahero. Now as per instruction of Secretary Bautista for better passenger experience, we deployed two x-ray machines para dun na lang ipapasok ang handcarry bags and balikbayan boxes especially. No more need to open, x-ray na lang. Pag me nakita, pwede pabuksan pero unlike before na swab at bukas talaga,”said Co.
A similar screening machine will also be utilized by the United Airlines as it begins to mount its US flights on October 30, Co added..
Bautista meanwhile said that the number of people who will be traveling via land, air and sea during the ‘Undas’ season is expected to reach at least one million a day.
The number of those traveling by land, he said, reaches least 110,000 passengers a day,while those traveling by air reaches 130,000 a day minimum.
