FB pixel

Philippines sets aside millions in funding for biometric airport gates

Philippines sets aside millions in funding for biometric airport gates
 

The Philippines is putting additional funds of PHP1.347 billion ($24.1m) for the electronic gates (e-gates) project for major international gateways across the country.

The automated biometric border control gates project upgrades the inspection process at international airports and seaports in the Philippines, using face biometrics to address immigration congestion and security. The project is in Phase 2 as the government released PHP1.976 billion ($35.4m) for the procurement of e-gates for Phase 1.

“This will continue until Phase 2 in 2026,” said Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman. “This year, we are already in Phase 2, and we are appealing to the BI [Bureau of Immigration] to expedite the procurement process so that the E-gates Project can become fully operational as soon as possible.”

50 percent of the overall manned inspection counters are expected to be replaced with biometric gates. Some have been installed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the country’s main international airport in Manila, where President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. recently spoke on the push for face biometrics to streamline the airport experience.

The president toured NAIA and was briefed on the improvements made since the airport’s operations were taken over by the New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation (NNIC). The NNIC is formed of the San Miguel Holdings Corp. (SMC), RMM Asian Logistics, Inc., RLW Aviation Development, Inc. and Incheon International Airport Corp., which snagged the PHP 170.6 billion ($3.05bn) public-private partnership in 2024 to operate and rehabilitate the NAIA, with a proposal that the government take the biggest revenue share of 82.16 percent.

Back in March this year, the NNIC partnered with Collins Aerospace to introduce systems designed to streamline airport operations and align NAIA (also known as Manila International Airport) with international aviation standards. The partnership will address long queues and outdated systems, with biometric screenings expected to reduce documents checks and baggage drop-off self-service kiosks. The NNIC aims to increase the main gateway’s current annual passenger capacity of 32 million to 60 million.

In November 2024, America’s UltraPass and the Philippine Department of Transportation (DOTr) signed an MOU to pilot privacy-first digital identity verification across airports in the Philippines.

Funds for the deployment of biometric airport gates will be distributed to NAIA Terminals 1 and 3, Clark International Airport, Mactan Cebu International Airport, Davao International Airport, Kalibo International Airport, Boracay-Caticlan International Airport, Zamboanga International Seaport, Laoag International Airport, Bohol-Panglao International Airport, and Puerto Princesa International Airport.

The target date for the full employment of operational e-gates is set on or before December 15.

Related Posts

Article Topics

 |   |   |   |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

Indonesia digital transformation gets boost from UNDP, National Economic Council

In Indonesia, the National Economic Council (DEN) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Indonesia have signed a Statement of…

 

Here comes the age check: BU Podcast talks age assurance with AVPA’s Iain Corby

 Like it or not, age assurance is going mainstream. As regulators in the UK and Europe begin enforcing new…

 

Keyless’ ‘Zero-Knowledge Biometrics’ enable crypto wallet to meet MFA requirements

Swiss-licensed crypto wallet Relai has integrated biometric authentication from Keyless for logins, account recovery and account deletion. Keyless’ privacy-preserving authentication…

 

CBP biometric expansion at US borders moves ahead with new global entry plans

As the Trump administration doubles down on biometric surveillance at U.S. borders, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is preparing for…

 

New Oloid privacy architecture to protect enterprise biometrics unveiled

Many enterprises scrambling to adopt biometrics to defend against fraud are struggling to ensure regulatory compliance and the trust of…

 

Biometrics top consumer choice to fend off AI fraud in finance

Veriff’s latest “The Future of Finance” report reveals that online identity verification fraud in financial services has surged with the…

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Biometric Market Analysis

Most Viewed This Week

Featured Company

Biometrics Insight, Opinion

Digital ID In-Depth

Biometrics White Papers

Biometrics Events