Immigration frontliners also face risks

Among the most overlooked frontliners in the battle against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are personnel of the Bureau of Immigration.

BI officers meet and process repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). In a phone interview with

The STAR, Erika Roxas of the BI said immigration officers usually meet the OFWs on the tarmac of NAIA Terminal 1, and they do so without personal protective equipment (PPE), using only masks and goggles.

“We do not have PPEs. The Bureau of Quarantine personnel have theirs. We only have masks and we buy our own protective gear, such as goggles,” she told The STAR, adding that the Department of Health has yet to release their PPEs.

“Maybe we are just not on top the heirarchy (of priorities)... We are mandated to still be on duty. We provide for ourselves, but there are some donations of masks, gloves,” she said.

She has asked her staff to just use jackets as protection from the virus. Some 26,000 OFWs are expected to return home from various countries hit by COVID-19.

Roxas said those who have come back are about half of that number. BI personnel are on three shifts at the NAIA Terminal 1 – morning, mid shift and graveyard. They are on duty for three days, then take 12 days off.

Since some are afraid to bring home the virus to their families, they sleep at the NAIA or, in her case, in her car. “We just sleep in our areas, or in our cars. We have been doing that, especially now. We just have to make do with the quarters at Terminal 1,” she added.