Inihayag ng Bureau of Immigration nitong Martes na inilipat na ng puwesto ang Immigration officer na naghanap umano ng yearbook sa isang pasaherong pasakay ng eroplano na nagresulta ng pagka-iwan ng pasahero sa biyahe.
Ayon kay BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval, bagama’t nailipat na ng puwesto ang nasabing Immigration officer ay itinatanggi pa rin nito ang alegasyon.
“Because of this incident, he has been relieved from his post. So he has been reassigned to a back-end office as a result of this incident,” sabi ni Sandoval sa panayam sa telebisyon.
Kung matatandaan, nag-viral nitong nakaraang linggo ang isiniwalat ng freelance writer na si Cham Tanteras kaugnay sa kaniyang naging karanasan noong nakaraang Disyembre sa airport.
Patungo sana si Tanteres sa Israel para mamasyal pero naiwan siya ng eroplano dahil sa mahabang interview umano ng taga-immigration.
Ayon kay Sandoval, itinanggi ng kanilang tauhan na hinanapan niya ng yearbook ang pasahero.
“When the officer described the incident, he described it as just a regular secondary inspection, similar to what he does every day,” sabi ni Sandoval.
Idinagdag niya na nagkaroon ng kakulangan sa “komunikasyon” ang kanilang tauhan at pasahero.
“Wherein he might not have been able to explain properly to the passenger what just happened and why were additional questions being asked, why was she undergoing secondary inspection. That’s why there was a misunderstanding on what was happening,” paliwanag ni Sandoval.
Muling nilinaw ng BI spokesperson na hindi kailangan ng pasahero na magdala ng yearbooks, graduation photos o diploma para makabiyahe palabas ng bansa.
Hindi rin umano normal na tanungin sa pasahero ang marital status ng kanilang mga magulang.
“It is not a normal question to ask, especially since the passenger is an adult already. So there’s no real relationship — the question really has no relationship with the purpose of the travel or with the details of her travel,” sabi ni Sandoval.
“So this is also one of the things that we are looking into as to why these questions have been asked by the Immigration officer when in fact they do not have any bearing on the circumstances of the travel,” dagdag niya.
Sinabi rin ni Sandoval na mayroon kautusan o memorandum ang BI sa kanilang mga tauhan na bawal na kunin o hawakan ang mobile phones o gadgets ng pasahero kung walang pahintulot para tingnan ang e-documents.
“But without their consent, if they are refusing to show these e-documents… then our officers are not allowed to get these from the passenger,” saad ni Sandoval.
