MANILA, Philippines - If you're a member of the powerful Iglesia Ni Cristo and you will be flying in from outside the country to attend the church's centennial anniversary two years from now, you just might find yourself getting a courtesy lane for faster immigration clearance processing at the airport.
Reps. Winnie Castelo (2nd District, Quezon City) and
Jorge Banal (3rd District, Quezon City) filed House Reolution 2183, "for practical and courteous purposes of ushering" INC members who are expected to fly in from all over the world for the church's centennial celebrations in 2014. They urged the bureaus of Immigration and Customs to designate an Iglesia ni Cristo centennial lane upon the arrival of its members at the international airport for the celebrations.
With Metro Manila as the center of the INC centennial celebrations, Castelo said the arrival of considerable number of INC members coming from abroad is expected.
“It will be in the best interest of the government to assign a lane which will be labeled as INC Centennial Lane at the customs, which will allow the incoming Iglesia ni Cristo members’ continuous and smooth ingress,” Castelo said.
The process will relieve BI and BOC of cumbersome perfunctory tasks, she added.
On the other hand, Banal also urged the INC administration to coordinate with the government for the efficient implementation of the resolution.
“It is deemed practicable to request the Church Administration to instruct the incoming members to present proof of their church membership for an orderly and efficient entry,” Banal said.