In the Philippines, security personnel will no longer be allowed to handle passengers' passports: here's why

Hands off passenger documents. From Philippines comes a curious and very interesting case concerning the management of the passports at the airport.

To security personnel at Philippine airports, including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) of Manila, it was ordered to Keeping hands away from people's travel documents trying to get into one of its terminals.

So he is no longer authorized to physically handle passengers' passports, and from now on, in order to carry out checks, it should be limited to. View documents displayed in the hands of passengers.

"For Better protect travel documents and reduce unnecessary contact, all Naia security personnel have been instructed not to touch passports during terminal entry and security verification," New Naia Infra Corp. (NNIC) said in a press release.

This decision is not accidental but comes after a woman reported on social media That his 78-year-old father was not allowed, by Cebu Pacific Air to board the flight bound for Bali, Indonesia, on April 15, after budget carrier staff at Naia Terminal 3 discovered A small tear in his passport.

NNIC confirmed that the incident occurred at an airline check-in counter at Naia 3, but said that "There has been no report of any mismanagement involving Naia security personnel."

But according to DoTr, the Indonesian immigration authority in Denpasar, Bali, the passport of the passenger involved Was deemed "damaged and therefore would not be accepted upon arrival of the passenger".

They added that had he been allowed to board the flight, he would have been denied entry into Indonesia.

This is not an isolated incident but new policy is the response to the Growing complaints about damaged passports, a phenomenon that has raised concerns among travelers and is locally called "punit passport."