An ordinary traveler’s account of being separated from her lone companion at a Bureau of Immigration (BI) priority lane has spread widely online, reviving longstanding public complaints about inconsistent enforcement and unwritten rules at Philippine airports.
In a Facebook post that gained traction, Ashley Domingo said she was traveling as a person with disability (PWD) through Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 when an immigration officer denied her one companion access to the PWD priority lane. According to her account, the officer said the companion, whom she described as her nephew’s girlfriend, could not accompany her because the two were not biologically related, and would instead have to join the regular line.
Domingo questioned what she called the core contradiction of the situation. “Ano ang point ng PWD priority lane kung paghihiwalayin ninyo ako sa taong kasama at uma-assist sa akin,” she wrote, noting that she had traveled multiple times before with non-relatives without issue. She said she repeatedly asked officers to cite the specific BI memorandum, circular, or written guideline requiring a PWD’s companion to be a blood relative, and that none was produced.
She also described shifting explanations from staff. When she first complained to another officer, she said, the reason given changed to passengers being processed “isa-isa lang” — one at a time — even though she observed groups being processed together after her. “So alin ba talaga?” she wrote, arguing that “one passenger at a time” and a blood-relation requirement are two entirely different justifications.
Domingo framed the issue as one of accountability rather than special treatment, saying she expected “clear rules, consistent implementation, professionalism, and accountability” from a government officer. She said she intends to file a formal complaint after obtaining the supervisor’s surname, and that her central request will be for the BI to produce the exact written policy behind the restriction — adding that she would acknowledge being wrong if such a policy exists.
The post taps into a broader, long-running grievance against BI operations at NAIA. Filipino travelers have for years criticized the bureau over practices such as offloading — barring outbound passengers at the counter based on an officer’s discretion — with recurring complaints centering on unwritten criteria, uneven application, and difficulty getting officers to point to a written basis for their decisions. Supporters of the bureau’s discretion cite anti-trafficking mandates; critics argue the same discretion enables arbitrary and inconsistent treatment of ordinary travelers.
As of this writing, the Bureau of Immigration had not publicly responded to Domingo’s post. The account of the incident is based on her own statement and has not been independently verified.
