The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Monday they did not face issues in the first few days of the implementation of the e-travel system.

“So far, we did not experience any issues during the first few days of the implementation of the system in the departure area,” BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said at the “Laging Handa” briefing.

“We have requested airlines to assist passengers with this requirement should they need assistance. Our partners in the airlines are ready to assist arriving and departing passengers in filling out these forms,” she added.

The e-Travel system, which the BI defined as a single data collection platform for arriving and departing passengers for purposes of establishing integrated border control, health surveillance, and economic data analysis, was first rolled out on Sunday.

Sandoval said more than 32,000 arriving foreigners and Filipinos registered on the system while more than 14,000 Filipinos logged on to the site during its first day.

Even before the implementation of the e-Travel system, Sandoval said fake websites were showing up but the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) help in shutting them down.

The BI has been receiving good feedback for the convenience the e-Travel system provides, Sandoval said.

“This is a big help to travelers because there’s no more hassle of having to repeatedly write on sheets of paper. Especially if you are with your family, you need to do a lot of writing and you need to fill up many arrival and departure forms,” she said.

Passengers are advised to register 72 hours before their flight schedule.

The e-Travel system was initially for arriving passengers but later included departing passengers.

It is an initiative of a technical working group, chaired by the Bureau of Immigration, which includes the 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). Jaspearl Tan/DMS