The government is accelerating the installation of electronic gates (e-gates) at airports nationwide to enhance immigration processing and improve passenger convenience, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Tuesday.

In an ambush interview, Remulla explained that e-gates are now operational at both arrival and departure areas of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), with more units currently active at arrival sections. “We want to have a unified system across all our airports, so the operating system will be the same,” he said.

He added that once a traveler’s passport is scanned at the e-gate, the data is immediately entered into the system, ensuring a smooth and secure process.

Remulla assured, “As long as you go through, you just go through. Nothing can be injected or tampered with in the system.”

The DOJ chief compared the goal to the seamless airport experiences in Hong Kong and Dubai, where passengers simply scan their passports, walk through the gate, look at the camera, and proceed without hassle. “We want that experience here too,” he said, noting that the government is making improvements step by step.

For now, the priority is installing e-gates and improving the time-and-motion efficiency of immigration management systems to ensure passenger comfort. “That’s really our aim here,” Remulla emphasized.

He also thanked Secretary Vince Dizon, whom he described as “very proactive” in addressing these issues, and acknowledged the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) for helping ensure the required infrastructure and government systems are seamlessly integrated at airports.

He stressed that the system must be integrated and not implemented piecemeal.