Marcos institutionalizes eTravel system for int'l passengers, crew

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has institutionalized the electronic travel information system (eTravel) as the country's official travel declaration mechanism for international passengers and crew.

In his Administrative Order 24 issued August 27, Marcos declared that the eTravel system shall be used by the government to efficiently conduct border control, health surveillance, tourism statistics analysis, and other travel-related procedures.

"The eTravel System is hereby institutionalized as the government's one-stop electronic travel declaration system for all international inbound and outbound passengers and crew members," the order read. It was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin by authority of the President.

Under AO 24, Marcos formed a Technical Working Group (TWG) on the eTravel system to study and adopt measures to improve the international travel declaration scheme in line with its usage, management, and operation, in accordance with existing laws, rules, and regulations.

The TWG on the eTravel system will be composed of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) as chairperson, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) as co-chairperson, and the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), and Bureau of Customs (BOC) as members.

"All relevant departments, agencies, bureaus, offices and instrumentalities shall provide full support to, and cooperation with the TWG to ensure effective implementation of this order,” the AO read.

"For this purpose, the TWG and all relevant departments, agencies, bureaus, offices and instrumentalities shall ensure compliance with RA No. 10173 (Data Privacy Act of 2012) in the implementation of this Order, as well the usage, management and operation of the eTravel system," it added.

The DICT started the eTravel system in 2022—in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), DOTr, BI, BOQ, and DOT—to streamline travel processes for those entering and exiting the Philippines.

Recently, the BOC announced the rollout of the enhanced eTravel system on July 10, 2024.

Under the enhanced system, a single QR code will be generated for each passenger to cover his or her customs, immigration, quarantine, migrant workers, and tourism travel passes.

The BOC said it teamed up with the DICT and DMW to establish key features in the eTravel pass, such as adding the Customs Baggage Declaration Form, Currency Declaration Form, and the Overseas Employment Certificate for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Another new feature of the e-Travel pass is the addition of the seaport or cruise forms to simplify the registration process.

With regard to the funding requirements in implementing the eTravel system, the President declared that these should be charged against the current and available appropriations of DICT, BI, DOT, DMW, DOTr, BOQ, and BOC "subject to pertinent budgeting, accounting, and auditing laws, rules, and regulations."

"Thereafter, funding requirements necessary for the continued implementation of this Order shall be included in the budget proposals of said agencies, subject to the usual budget preparation process," the order said.

The AO will take effect immediately upon publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. — VDV, GMA Integrated News