CAISS to enhance, not duplicate,
PH border systems: Securiport CTO
The proposed Civil Aviation and Immigration Security Services (CAISS) project is
designed to fill the gap and enhance existing government border security systems, not
duplicate them, according to Nate Carpenter, Chief Technology Officer of Securiport LLC.
In a recent online interview with reporters on the sidelines of the 21st International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) Traveller Identification Programme (TRIP) Symposium held in Montreal,
Canada, Carpenter responded to concerns that the project would overlap with systems already
funded and operated by the government.
“This is actually not a duplication at all,” Carpenter said. “We built our system at Securiport to
fit into the government’s ecosystem.”
He said governments already have purchased technologies and established systems.
Securiport’s tools are meant to work within that ecosystem and add capabilities, information,
and risk-identification tools.
“They do not replace the systems that are there. They enhance the systems that are there,” he
said.
“We look at it as multiplying the government’s investment that they’ve already made.”
Carpenter spoke at the September 22–24 annual event that brought together Member States
and stakeholders from passport and civil-registry offices, border and law-enforcement
agencies, aviation security and public-health authorities, airlines, and airports, international organizations, and industry experts to explore ways to make travel more seamless, secure, and efficient.
Themed “Putting Trust into Practice: Towards Trusted Travel Identity for All,” he said
discussions focused on advancing traveler identification, border security, privacy safeguards,
and system interoperability, and aligning with ICAO standards, which are seen as key to
delivering safer and smoother journeys.
Beyond an API upgrade
A Bureau of Immigration (BI) officer earlier said the current Advance Passenger Information
(API) system launched in March 2025 covers 97.88% of international flights nationwide.
The upgrade to CAISS, however, is not limited to shifting from batch API to interactive API.
While API tells authorities who is expected, CAISS, as an intelligence layer, verifies who is
actually, present and helps turn that information into a controlled, traceable border decision.
“Yes, we’re moving from batch API to interactive API,” the officer said. “But that’s only part of
the picture.”
The P10.7 billion Public-Partner Partnership project, also seeks to integrate Passenger Name
Record (PNR) data, which becomes available four to 48 hours before departure.
PNR includes booking patterns, payment methods, email addresses, travel frequency, and
even seat assignments, providing intelligence that helps detect transnational crimes before
travelers even board.
“If you’re using cash, that’s a red flag,” the officer said, adding that API and PNR are only part
of CAISS.
Integration, key to border security upgrade
CAISS's strength is its integration, which would allow authorities to cross-reference travel
patterns, social media activity, and previous records.
It would also enable one-to-many biometric matching, in which facial, fingerprint, and iris scans
are checked against historical records. Current systems generally use one-to-one verification,
or one passport against one person.
The integrated system won't be limited to airports. It will eventually cover seaports, land
borders, and traditional sea routes in the southern Philippines—strengthening borders across
the archipelago.
E-gates, automated border control
Carpenter said e-gates and automated border control are also part of any modern border
solution.
“It allows—we call them automated border control or ABC—because it’s essential to
processing large volumes of travelers that you have e-gates, that you have electronic kiosks,
for example, and that you have contactless technology to allow people just to walk across
through a corridor to the border,” he said. “All of these have their own purpose.”
He said Securiport’s system integrates with BI’s current e-gates project. “Our system integrates with e-gates. We are happy if the government has them,” Carpenter
said, adding that Securiport has done this with multiple clients.
Carpenter’s statement clarified an online news report that the BI’s Sept. 19 bidding for Phase II
of its E-Gates expansion, worth ₱1.347 billion, raised questions about how it differs from the
separate ₱10.7 billion CAISS project, which also includes automated immigration and biometric technology.
Security and facilitation
The BI officer said that capability is key, noting that one-to-many matching could flag
discrepancies such as a face matching a different name.
Integration would serve both security and facilitation. Pre-vetting passengers through API, PNR
and biometrics would allow authorities to focus scrutiny on high-risk individuals while allowing
low-risk travelers to pass through e-gates faster.
“Long queues happen when you don’t have a targeting center,” the officer said. “With
integration, you predetermine who needs scrutiny and who doesn’t—making processing faster
and safer.”
BI said viewing API and PNR as separate tools misses the point, as the unsolicited CAISS—
which underwent an uncontested Swiss challenge—is designed to unify both data streams into
a single platform.
Like APIS, which complies with ICAO biometric and border security standards and practices,
CAISS includes advanced passenger information systems, automated border control with
contactless face pass, biometric kiosks, criminal record search engines, and deception
detection tools.
ICAO is a UN specialized agency based in Montreal that sets standards for international air
navigation.
BI hopes to begin implementation as early as December or next year, with full modernization
targeted within two to three years and a 4-year refresh cycle over a 20-year period.
“BI is dreaming of a modern immigration,” the officer said. “That is the dream of our President
—to modernize our borders, strengthen security, and show the public faster, safer processing.”
0 Comments