All Travellers To Philippines Read This !

[Candyman]

CLARK IMMIGRATION BLACK LISTING TRAVELERSThe Department of Immigration has reassigned all the local Pampangan personnel at DMIA (Clark). The new personnel are Black Listing anyone that doesn't treat them with respect.This new team is routinely stopping Philippine girls trying to go to Thailand even if they are with their boyfriends saying they suspect Human Trafficking. If the guy is rude or raises his voice they are finding themselves Black Listed the next time they return to the Philippines. I have now heard of 4 different guys being Black Listed in the last 30 days.Here is another email I got this morning:"A few days ago, I arrived at Clark around midnight via Tiger Airways. I reached the immigration desks far earlier than any other passenger, and since there was no one ahead of me or behind me, I ducked under the cordon and stepped up to the start of the line. The immigration officer saw this and scolded me for not "following the line". I replied that I was sorry and next time I would walk around (even though I consider it ridiculous to have to walk the maze when there's no one ahead of you).Well, that wasn't enough for this fella. With his eyes bulging, he ordered me to go back to the end of the line and walk up to the desk again, this time following the lines. At this point, there was still no one behind me .. no one was even approaching yet. I asked him in disbelief if he was serious - if he really wanted me to basically walk in a circle for no good reason. He just repeated his order, and being pissed off at his stupidity and arrogance, I muttered "this is bullsh&t" and did as he demanded. When I got back to his desk a few seconds later, he left his booth, approached me, and confiscated my passport. After keeping me waiting behind his booth for about an hour with no explanation, I was approached by other officials who told me that I was "excluded" and would be put on the next flight back. The official reason stated on the Exclusion Order was "arrogance".I spoke with the officer again and apologized, but he didn't want to hear it. No one at the airport would even let me approach the immigration office to appeal this ridiculous exclusion. After about 6 hours of waiting on a couch in a back office area, I was escorted to the next available flight and didn't receive my passport until I was off the plane at my destination.So, after speaking with an attorney in the Philippines, I would be able to get off the blacklist in 7-10 days for a fee of 350,000p. Yeah right. I guess I'm going to have to figure out how to jump through the hoops by myself. Anyway, thought I'd share this experience of my run-in with an immigration officer on a power trip".posted by JC on 2011-12-02Full Article here : http://www.margarita...dfull.php?m=667

[Old55]

A few Filipinos in a position of authority can become dangerous individuals. It is rare this kind of thing would happen but it still goes on. Some of those clowns have LIFE and DEATH power always smile be respectful and polite. Philippines is their playground play along and you will have few problems.

[ironmaiden]

A friend of mine got blacklisted about a month ago. His ticket out of the Philippines said pending in stead of confirmed and when they wanted to send him back to Singapore he replied " this is fuckin bullsh&t". Result : back to Singapore and on the blacklist. Though he was being rude I don't think this justifies a blacklisting at all. By the way, just before this happened his daughter got hospitalized with Dengue fever (while being in Singapore), so he was already on edge for a while...

[Steve & Myrlita]

Remember, foreigners have absolutely NO RIGHTS here.

[Garpo]

It is this type of stuff that is going to end up costing the Philippines in the long run. Less people coming to retire here, less people coming to visit here, adds up to less money coming into the country. Here is a link to the foreign assistance program that you might be able to relay to your friends for assistance.http://www.foreign-assistance-center.com/

[Jollygoodfellow]

And this is the country saying just the other day about increasing tourist numbers and becoming a retirement haven. I understand there are some stupid people out there that arrive or depart the airports but if the attitude of the welcoming committee is just as bad or worse then the Philippines may as well put up a sign saying Welcome to a third world country,now and forever.

[MikeB]

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

[Candyman]

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 !

[Jollygoodfellow]

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 !

I've never had a problem but one immigration guy was rather un welcoming once but anyway your story above must be about airline staff not immigration as only airline staff would be weighing luggage. I would have seen who ever was in charge of the airlines you were traveling on.

[Candyman]

I've never had a problem but one immigration guy was rather un welcoming once but anyway your story above must be about airline staff not immigration as only airline staff would be weighing luggage. I would have seen who ever was in charge of the airlines you were traveling on.

That is what I wanted to do, but my missus, had very quickly shushed me up and almost pushed me outside, saying she would handle it ! Maybe she was right, and maybe she knew something I didn't, because her, the porter, and the weigh in bloke, were all yabbering away in Cebuano, and I could not understand what they were saying !Anyway, it did not make a good impression on me one little bit, and I have been very particular on every trip since, but they always seem to find some way to wind you up, usually over trifles.As a side note. I travelled back to the Philippines with my cousin, nine months later, flying PAL, the same airline as before, but this time, when we left Sydney, both my and my cousins seats were upgraded to first class, on the trip over, without any request from me or my cousin ! It just came out of the blue ! It has never happened before or since, but I wonder if that was a coincidence ?