{"id":21267,"date":"2026-09-07T16:34:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T08:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/?p=21267"},"modified":"2026-09-07T16:34:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T08:34:43","slug":"proposed-ph-p240-border-fee-cheapest-in-the-world-bi-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/2026\/09\/07\/proposed-ph-p240-border-fee-cheapest-in-the-world-bi-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"PROPOSED PH P240 BORDER FEE CHEAPEST IN THE WORLD \u2013 BI CHIEF"},"content":{"rendered":"

MANILA — Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado on Monday said that the proposed P240 fee for the use of a modernized border security project is a small fraction of what other countries charge and is one of the cheapest in the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Viado, in a recent House of Representatives hearing on the proposed 2027 budget of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its attached agencies, defended the charge as a necessary step to modernize border control.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The P10.74-billion public-private partnership project proposed by US-based Securiport LLC aims to install an integrated border security platform across 11 airports and borders. Under the Build-Train-Maintain-Transfer scheme, the private partner fronts the investment and recoverscosts through a $4 (around P240) fee per international traveler\u2014or P480 round-trip\u2014integrated into airline tickets.<\/strong><\/p>\n

GLOBAL COMPARISON<\/strong><\/p>\n

When pressed by lawmakers, he justified the proposed fee by citing international standards, emphasizing that the Philippines would charge significantly less than other nations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Compared to other countries, this is way below. This is actually the practice in other countries. The U.S., Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan have been doing this at costs that are much higher than what we are proposing,” Viado said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He provided a comparative breakdown: “Australia charges about 2,600 pesos per passenger. Singapore charges 2,400. Japan charges about 1,200. Hong Kong charges about 1,500. And Thailand charges about 1,800, Your Honor. We charge 240 pesos.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

NOT A FORM OF TAX<\/strong><\/p>\n

Viado stressed the distinction between the proposed charge and taxation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Itong po kasi ay hindi po ito form ng tax. Ito po ay service fee,” he said, responding to concerns from lawmakers that the fee contradicts the government’s policy of reducing travel costs for Overseas Filipino Workers. “Hindi po namin pwedeng ipasa sa madlang bayan, taong bayan, sa ordinary taxpayer po ang paggastos po dito. Ang gagastos po dito ay ang mga taong nagta-travel.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

ADVANCED FEATURES AND OFWS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Viado detailed the system’s advanced capabilities, including facial recognition, behavioral analytics, and access to Interpol databases.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Kahit po yung behavior ng isang tao, at the point wherein kinukuha yung information regarding him, any nervous tick, any facial contortion po can be read by the system to determine kung high risk po siya,” he explained.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The system also includes AI-assisted open-source intelligence, allowing authorities to access publicly available information from social media platforms.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Meron din pong AI-assisted open-source intelligence, meaning, kung nagkataon po na, let’s say, 15, 20 years ago, on Facebook, meron po kayong nasabi which would\u2014the system would read as amounting to or gearing towards terrorism, mababasa rin po yan, Your Honor,” Viado said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice raised concerns about the burden on OFWs, Viado clarified that foreign employers who benefit from Filipino labor bear the cost.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Ang employers po, under an executive order and under various agreements with other countries, ang sumasagotpo niyan ng gastusin po sa pamasahe, at including na po, kung sakaling ma-approve-an po ito, yung service fee po na ito ay sasagutin ng companies that intend to employ our OFWs.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

He added: “Ito po yung mga kumpanyang kukuha po sa kanila ang magbabayad.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

He was referring to Section 53 of the Revised POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-Based Overseas Filipino Workers of 2016 (Governing Board Resolution No. 07-16, issued February 26, 2016.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The rules of the POEA, now the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), state that the costs of recruitment and placement are the responsibility of the principal or employer. This includes visa, work and residence permit, round-trip airfare, transportation from the airport to the jobsite, POEA processing fee, OWWA membership fee, and additional trade test or assessment if required by the employer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

CONTRACT STILL UNDER REVIEW<\/strong><\/p>\n

Viado maintained that the project has not been finalized.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The contract is still under review. We have not signed any contract,” Viado clarified. “The CAISS project remains a proposed public-private partnership initiative intended to enhance immigration operations systems, real-time risk assessment, data integration and automated border control technologies.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

REVENUE SHARING<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the hearing, Viado confirmed that the government would receive 5% of the projected P202 billion total collections over 20 years, with the private proponent getting 95%.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He said the government share would be remitted to the National Treasury to fund BI projects that will benefit the government.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SWISS CHALLENGE AND FOREIGN ACCESS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Viado said the project underwent a Swiss challenge, but no competitors submitted counter-proposals.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On concerns about a foreign company accessing Philippine data, he assured lawmakers that the government retains sovereignty and control.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Sovereign function at control po dito sa datos po na ito is retained by the Philippine government,” he said. The (proponent) only provides the tools and teaches our people how to operate them. But ultimately, ang control po\u2014they will have no control over the data.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The CAISS project includes access to billions of facial images, risk scoring, and integration with Interpol’s global network covering 194 countries. The system aims to combat human trafficking, smuggling, terrorism, money laundering, tax evasion, and organized crime.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The proponent proposes to fund the next 5 years of capitalization, with regular system upgrades every 4 years over the next 20-year period\u2014at no cost to the government.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The bidding process is moving forward, and Viado assured lawmakers that the user fee component remains under review by the Department of Finance (DOF), the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), and the Public-Private Partnership Center (PPPC).<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA — Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado on Monday said that the proposed P240 fee for the use of a modernized border<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/viado.jpg",415,260,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/viado-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/viado-300x188.jpg",300,188,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/viado.jpg",415,260,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/viado.jpg",415,260,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/viado.jpg",415,260,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/viado.jpg",415,260,false],"kreeti-slider-full":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/viado.jpg",415,260,false],"kreeti-featured":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/viado.jpg",415,260,false],"kreeti-medium":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/viado.jpg",415,260,false],"kreeti-medium-square":["https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/viado-350x260.jpg",350,260,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"National<\/a>","tag_info":"National","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21267"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21267"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21269,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21267\/revisions\/21269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}