My IO Experience

While waiting for our flight to Japan, I saw on Threads thing trend where people would post their experiences with the immigration officers (IO). This came after some reports of people missing their flights because their immigration officer asked for things that no one could normally prepare for like pay slips for the past few months or copy of diploma or some weird document.

Most of the entries in this trend simply had the IO ask them where they're going and when they'd be back then stamp their passport and let them through. I was quite amused that many of the posts also featured the Cebu airport and how much they love the IOs in the Cebu airport. One guy even mentioned that his IO in Cebu asked him so many questions but it was all borne out of curiosity and it was after he had stamped his passport and returned it to him. It was chitchat, basically.

I love the Cebu airport, it underwent a facelift a few years ago and Megawide-GMR really did a number on it and it's an airport the Cebuanos can be proud of. It's smaller, of course but it gets the job done well! I've often advocated to my friends from abroad that if their destination isn't Manila or Cebu that they should pass through Cebu if they could and avoid Manila at all cost. Some of my friends have said that they do this exactly because the Cebu airport is so nice.

But I don't have much in the way of IO stories except I did have a particularly bad one in 2023. It wasn't with the IO themselves. It was in how they managed their lines. It happened in the Manila airport on our trip to Bali. We saw a sign that said "Priority lane for seniors and those with infants". We were traveling with seniors and infants so we lined up there. The line was so slow as they only assigned one counter for the whole "priority lane" that it would've been faster for us if we lined up in the regular lane. The other counters also didn't think it was a big deal that no other counter accepted the others lining up in the "priority lane".

This time around in Cebu, however, the priority lines worked as intended. However, the reason for this post is when we got back from Cebu - it's a long intro, I know. We had just arrived from Japan and as a little test for the airport, I took note of the time we exited the plane and would stop it when we left the terminal. We had lined up for immigration after everyone went to the bathroom to pee. If we were all just adults, the immigration counter would've been done using that scanner and you do your own "stamping" on the passport. But since we had kids and they can't do all of that, we needed to go to a counter.

So our little group went to the counter and the IO called me out first. I went to the counter and took off my cap. I don't remember if he took my picture but he said everything was done and proceeded to call Joey. I picked him up so he could see him and he was done as well. I told Nikki that we would go to the carousel ahead to get our bags while Nikki, Pia and the yayas finished their immigration stuff.

Nikki was called last and the IO had more questions for her than the rest of us.

"Maam, imung bana ba, artista to?" (Ma'am, is your husband a celebrity?)

"Huh? Dili!" (Huh? No!)

"Ah. Mao ba maam? So negosyante to siya?" (Ah. Really? So he's a businessman?)

"Oo." (Yes.)

"Kay mura gyud siyag naay artista na kaparehag nawng." (He really looks like a celebrity.)

"Ayaw siya ingni ana kay mulupad gyud to iyang atay." (Don't tell him that coz he'll be flattered.)

"Ataya nimu, maam!" (Hahahaha!)

He then stamped her passport and let her through.

Well, Nikki was right. I was flattered and that all the more cemented my love for the Cebu Airport. It was probably a good day for me, looks wise. Or maybe it was because I wore a baseball cap which added to the "artista" look but whatever the case is, our IOs are friendly and I think that really makes the difference. Most IOs keep it short and simple. I think the Cebu IOs add a bit of the Filipino friendliness to the mix and you know what? I'm all for it.