MANILA (UPDATED) — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Sunday said the first day of the rollout of the new e-travel system was successful.

In a statement, BI said over 32,000 arriving foreigners and Filipinos registered for the system, while more than 14,000 departing Filipinos logged on the site.

The new system was rolled out on Saturday, April 15. It is a single data collection platform for both arriving and departing passengers.

Launched in December, the e-travel system used to only cover arriving passengers, but it has now been expanded to also cover departing passengers.

“So far, the implementation remains very smooth, with no noted glitches or issues,” TWG Head Dennis Javier said.

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the system is at par with systems used by other countries.

"Modernization of the bureau is really one of the priorities of the BI," he said, adding: "This is but the first step in many technological improvements in immigration."

In a public briefing Monday, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said they have been receiving "great feedback" on the new system since its implementation.

“So far po, wala naman po tayong nakitang aberya during the first few days of the implementation of the system sa departure area. Iyong mga airlines po ay pinakiusapan na i-assist po iyong mga passengers dito sa requirement na ito kung saka-sakali po na kinakailangan nila ng assistance. Ang mga airlines po, mga partners natin sa airlines are ready po to assist arriving and departing passengers in filling out these online forms,” Sandoval said.

She also said the new system is more convenient to passengers, as they no longer need to fill up paper forms prior to their departure or arrival.

“So malaki po iyong tulong nito doon sa mga bumibiyahe because there’s no more hassle of having to write on sheets of paper na paulit-ulit po nilang ginagawa. Lalo po kung marami po tayong kasama in our family, marami pong isusulat at marami pong gagawin na mga departure and arrival forms,” she added.

The e-travel system is a joint project of BI together with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Privacy Commission (NPC).

BI is set to retire the use of paper-based departure cards starting May 1.

• BI retires paper-based departure cards beginning May 1
• Ano ang e-travel system at mga saklaw nito?

—with a report from Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN News

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