IBMATA urges Philippine ports to adopt e-gates, boost anti-trafficking drive

A top official of the International Border Management and Technologies Association is urging port regulators to install e-gate systems at all ports to further strengthen border control and protect the country against human smuggling.

Although the latest report of the United States Department of State in 2025 said the Philippines fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking—placing the country in Tier 1 due to sustained efforts during the reporting period—Sharon Ayley, chief executive officer and secretary of IBMATA, said the Marcos administration should not be complacent.

“There are enormous benefits in using e-gates. I and the Philippine immigration chief (Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado) spoke about that not just from a security perspective but from a facilitation perspective. I understand a lot of your islands are tourist destinations, and you are making a good impression that when tourists arrive, they can get through quickly and seamlessly,” she told the Daily Tribune in a roundtable discussion in Manila on Wednesday.

Biometric e-gates at major Philippine airports—primarily NAIA Terminals 1 and 3—allow Filipino travelers to clear immigration in roughly 20 seconds using facial recognition and passport scanning. Currently, these upgraded e-gates are being deployed by the Bureau of Immigration for faster, label-free processing of arrivals and departures, aiming to reduce manual queue times.

“And there is a real drive not just here in the Philippines but around the world to enable seamless travel, so that you make the process for a traveler as smooth as possible. E-gates not only aid facilitation but also security. So, there’s definitely a push toward automation,” Ayley said.

Awareness campaigns

However, Ayley said she is impressed with the efforts of the Philippine government in protecting the country from backdoor entry and exit, but noted that awareness campaigns still need to be strengthened.

“Upon talking to the BI commissioner, he told me that there is current recruitment to increase the number of officers to alleviate the pressure on more remote ports of entry and exit. It’s an enormous challenge. But citizens should protect themselves and not just rely on the government to do it for them. You have to take accountability, and we need to educate ourselves and our children, and create awareness about human trafficking,” she stressed.

Earlier, Joel Anthony Viado warned Filipinos against illegal “backdoor” exit schemes amid the continued repatriation of trafficking victims.

The warning followed a report from the agency’s Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) on the repatriation of a 24-year-old Filipina who arrived on March 23.

The victim arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 via a Hong Kong–Philippines flight from Cambodia.

According to the report, the victim departed the country on May 31 last year via boat from Tawi-Tawi, passing through Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, and Kuala Lumpur before reaching Phnom Penh and Bavet in Cambodia.

She disclosed that she was recruited online through Telegram for a supposed receptionist position in Myanmar, with a promised salary ranging from $900 to $1,200.

After being coerced into working as a love scam operator for two months, she was subsequently sold to another company, where she was again forced to engage in scam activities for additional months.