THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) is ready to provide a special lane for participants and the people behind the staging of the 2016 Miss Universe pageant, which is scheduled to be held in the country early next year.
According to Commissioner Jaime Morente, they would be asking the Department of Tourism (DOT) for the names of the production staff and other people who will be involved in the preparations for the January 2017 event.
"Sa amin madali lang. We would just get the names of who are the participants, people coming in so that we could have a special lane for them," he said in an interview.
He said that as of press time, they have yet to receive any call from the 2016 Miss Universe organizers.
"Actually wala pang tawag na meetings sa DOT for Miss Universe. Pero we would do our regular border control activities para ma-ensure na secure 'yung ating borders during the conduct of the Miss Universe pageant," the BI chief added.
The prestigious pageant will be held on January 30, 2017 at the Mall of Asia arena in Pasay City.
Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo earlier said the cost to host the pageant is pegged at $11 million, noting that the government will not be spending a single centavo.
The reigning Miss Universe is Pia Wurtzbach, the third Filipina to win the prestigious crown.
This is also the third time the country will be hosting the event: the first one was in 1973 while the recent one was in 1984. (FP/Sunnex)