All Travellers To Philippines Read This !

[Mr Lee]

I would like to hear from some Filipinos, and 13A or SRRV holders how they are treated upon entry. My wife is always treated well when we enter Cebu, as I have been (not always as nice in Manila), and I have been told by a few Americans with 13A cards and one friend with a SRRV that the officers are always friendly to them upon entry even in Manila, so it is my opinion that residents and those that live within the country may be treated better than many who visit or stay as visitors, since we all know that some who visit may not be the type of people that immigration officers or even the local population might wish to see entering their country. I believe that those of us married to their citizens are treated better because the purpose of our entry being much clearer. I still believe courtesy goes a long way and some of those who are disrespectful upon entry will most likely be some of the same loud mouthed AH's we often see treating Filipinos poorly, so why not cut them off before they even enter. I can agree with refused entry, it is blacklisting that I feel is over the top if someone apologizes, keeping in mind that some will have just gotten off a long trip such as myself with 30 plus hours of travel and with about 24 hours inside tin cans, so might not be at our best all the time.

[Art2ro]

I'm a Fil/Am and in the 24 years I've been in and out of the Philippines numerous times single and or married and I have never had any problems dealing with airport customs or immigration officials! The trick is having all of your documents in order, never lie on your customs declaration form or just don't bring anything, except for your clothes and daily necessities, always speak politely (never a loud vocal angry manner), look presentable and don't look grumpy or mean no matter how long or uncomfortable the flight was! Patience, politeness and a good attitude is always a virtue, in the Philippines that is, but in the U.S. and other countries it may mean "Jack Sh&t"! :89: :hystery:

[Jake]

Even while in uniform on US Navy TAD orders (temporary assignment duty) back in the 80's,I was always greeted with a warm welcome. Of course I would greet the customs/immigrationofficers with a hello in Tagalog and then switch over to English. Upon retirement (1990), travelling with my wife and family at arrival and departure from Manilaalso had no issues. Low profile and a respectful smile certainly helped.Jake

[Old55]

Me too Art, never had a problem in fact we were always treated very well. Once we were asked by a baggage handler if we needed aid "fixing" anything before we entered the customs area.On the other hand all three of my wife's sisters were at least once required to pay a bribe as returning OFW's.

[Jim Sibbick]

For all the people saying it is wrong to blacklist, you must then be saying it is ok to disrespect a Filipino.The initial article was about a person who decided he could duck under a barrier at the airport. I would never think to myself that i am going to duck under a barrier. I will walk around. The writer of the article did the wrong thing. The first thing out of his mouth should have been sorry, not an expletive.I personally have had enough of the "ugly foreigners" and I suspect that Filipinos have too!Regards: Jim

[Fred & Mimi]

I'm skeptical, the source is an anonymous email. Maybe it happened as stated, maybe not.

Well I am not as skeptical ! I have heard of similiar things happening, in different areas of the Philippines, and in fact, I myself have had a couple of run ins at various times, both in Manila and Cebu. The one in Cebu was a bit different and happened on the 13th October 2007. During our visit to family there, with my wife and two little kids, we had bought two, fairly expensive (12,000 pesos each) Chandeliers, for our home. They were relatively light, and packed in two separate large boxes, and even though we had weighed all our luggage before we even went to the airport, according to our scales at the family home, our combined luggage weighed in at just on 80 kilos, which was smack on the allowable limit, for the four of us. we had even left some of our clothes and other stuff with the family because we did not want to go over weight.When we were checking in the luggage at Cebu, they told us we were 10 kilos over weight ?????? So, either our scales were wrong, their scales were wrong, or someone was trying to pull a fast one ! Anyway, I thought, this would only be a few dollars more, and was prepared to pay a little bit, just to save making waves, but you could have knocked me over with a feather, when the bloke at the weigh in counter demanded, (yes demanded, is no more politer way of putting it), that we pay $500 USD for the extra 10 kilos ! Well, I spat the dummy then, because for one, I knew we were right on the limit, as we had checked everything, and for two, I knew this was blatant extortion !I was quite prepared to take the two boxes back out and just give them to my wife's family, rather than pay this exhorbitant fee ! Anyway, to cut a long story short, my missus, quickley shushed me, and told me to go outside for a smoke with the family who was still waiting outside.About 15 or 20 minutes later she came back outside, along with the porter we had earlier enlisted, and she told me, it had cost her $200 USD, to make "the problem" (which to my way of thinking was non existant anyway), to go away ! Apparently the $200 USD was split between the couple of blokes on the weigh in counter !I could very well have ended up the same as the bloke in the original article ! It is a good thing i am married to a fiery Cebuana, who doesn't take sh&t off anyone, but in this case it still cost us more than what it should have !This sort of crap is widespread at every airport I have been in in the Philippines, and I have had other similiar experiences both at NAIA and C2 in Manila, over very trivial things, but in each case it has cost me one way or another, if not in grog, that they confiscated, (which was a present for my mate at the other end ), or DVD's or cartons of smokes or lighters, or other presents that they have helped themselves undoubtedly for the bureaucrats Christmas fund !

Unfortunately this sort of behaviour isn't exclusive to RP. I have traveled through Thailand for pleasure and also for a little work project in my younger days and I was hit at the Bangkok Airport for a $US50 import duty or whatever it was for my boom blaster. I said to the customs man that I only have $AUD20 dollars, pulled it out of my pocket and gave that to him. He accepted, put it in his pocket and ushered me through. It wasn't too bad in the end as my employer in Phuket liked the sound of my BB so I sold it to him when I left at the price it cost me originally + import duty of $20 hehehe.Its worse in Indonesia. A work colleague of mine who was working in a remote part of Indonesia was given a wad of cash and with every customs check point, a note was slipped into the passport including a lot of nodding and smiling. His wad of cash was exhausted at his international link.I think its all part and parcel of living in a third world country. The thorns on a rose.... Edited December 30, 2011 by wandibushman