The proposed P240 fee for a modernized border security project is among the cheapest globally, Bureau of Immigration (BI) commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said during a House of Representatives hearing on the Department of Justice’s proposed 2027 budget.

Viado defended the charge as a necessary measure to upgrade border control across the country's airports.

The P10.74 billion public-private partnership (PPP) project, proposed by US-based Securiport LLC, involves installing an integrated border security platform across 11 airports and borders.

Under a Build-Train-Maintain-Transfer scheme, the private partner will front the investment and recover costs through a USD4 (approximately P240) fee per international traveler—totaling P480 round-trip—integrated directly into airline tickets.

Lawmakers questioned the charge, prompting Viado to cite international fee standards.

"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.

He outlined regional comparisons: Australia charges about P2,600 per passenger, Singapore P2,400, Thailand P1,800, Hong Kong P1,500 and Japan P1,200.

Addressing concerns that the charge contradicts government efforts to reduce travel costs for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), Viado stressed the distinction between a tax and a service fee.

"This is not a form of tax. This is a service fee," Viado said. He added that the cost will not fall on ordinary taxpayers or the general public, but solely on traveling individuals.

For OFWs, Viado clarified that foreign employers bear the financial responsibility under Section 53 of the Revised POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-Based Overseas Filipino Workers of 2016.

Regulations mandate that recruitment and placement costs, including airfare and administrative fees, remain the obligation of the principal or employer.

The proposed Comprehensive Airport and Immigration Security System (CAISS) includes advanced capabilities such as facial recognition, behavioral analytics, and AI-assisted open-source intelligence linked to Interpol databases across 194 countries.

Viado explained that the platform can evaluate high-risk indicators through behavioral cues and scan historical public social media data for potential security threats.

The project underwent a Swiss challenge, drawing no counter-proposals. Under the terms, the government will receive 5 percent of the projected P202 billion in total collections over 20 years, with the remaining 50-year project split yielding 95 percent for the private proponent. Government shares will go directly to the National Treasury to fund BI initiatives.

Responding to data sovereignty concerns, Viado assured lawmakers that the Philippine government retains full control over all data.

"Sovereignty and control over this data are retained by the Philippine government," Viado said, noting that the private proponent only supplies tools and operational training.

Viado stressed that the contract remains under review and has not yet been finalized, with the user fee component undergoing evaluation by the Department of Finance, the Office of the Solicitor General, and the Public-Private Partnership Center.