27 October 2004.
My family were at the NAIA Airport leaving for Bahrain to witness my wedding. And this was what happened…Note : There were 3 of them, my mother, brother and father. Luckily, the first two respectively went in without interrogation. Passports and original copy of visas were checked and that’s it! They let them in!
But not my father! Check this out…
Immigration Officer : Nasaan yung “Letter of Authorization to Travel” niyo?My father : Wala naman akong ganyan pero may visa ho ako, eto yung original.
Immigration Officer : Kelangan yun. Magprovide kayo. (Duh! Magprovide daw eh ilang oras na lang kaya flight na nila!)
My father : Di pa ba enough itong visa? Eto na yun di ba? Saka bakit yung misis ko at anak ko nakapasok na eh visa lang naman dala nila?
Immigration Officer : Basta kelangan mong i-provide yun. O kaya pwede naman nating gawan ng paraan yan! (Yun na, kapal!)
My father : Ano hong paraan?
Immigration Officer : Bayad ka ng P5,000.00 para makapasok ka.
My father : Wala na ho bang ibang paraan kasi ho wala naman akong dalang pera. Makapagbigay man ho ako pwede P3,000.00 lang.
Immigration Officer : Eh madami kami dito. O sige gawin mo na lang P4,000.00. (Kapal talaga, nagpresyo pa!)
My father : O sige ho.
Just to finish the discussion, my father gave P4,000.00. And he got in! That easy!
After several months, I received a forwarded email about the same issue but for people who were leaving for Dubai. I simply clicked “reply all” and shared what happened to my family months ago. Luckily, one of the recipients was working for Balitang Middle East as a Correspondent and gave attention to my email. The email was sent to Danny Buenafe, ABS-CBN Middle East Bureau Chief and they had conducted investigations. It was featured on TFC, but unfortunately, I missed to watch it.
Anyway, I heard that the people from the Immigration denied from doing so, obviously they would. Case was closed! I don’t know what happened next. But I was hoping that they will refrain from doing that practice as it was already featured on TV – Global.
I was wrong…..
16th January 2006. A week before I gave birth, my mother was at the Airport leaving for Bahrain again.
And this was what happened…
Ms. Immigration Officer : Nasaan yung letter from your sponsor?
My mother : Wala naman ho akong hawak na ganyan, pero andito ho sa akin ang original visa ko.
Ms. Immigration Officer : Kelangan namin yung letter from your sponsor.
My mother : Eh yung employer ho kasi ng anak ko ang nag-sponsor pero wala naman pinadalang letter sa akin, basta eto lang visa.
Ms. Immigration Officer : O siya siya, pwede naman nating pag-usapan yan. (Wala kaya silang magawang matino kundi laging “mag-usap” at “gumawa ng paraan” kuno?)
Dinala daw sya sa isang office, di ko matandaan kung kaninong office yun pero malamang yung nasa left side kapag palabas ka ng NAIA Immigration counters.
Tapos may sumunod daw na porter sa kanya. Pinaghintay sya. Chineck ang visa. Madami din daw tao dun na naghihintay. Eto ang sumunod na nangyari…
Porter : Tara na ho, pwede na kayong pumasok. (Di daw alam ng mother ko kung ano ng nangyayari kasi chineck lang naman visa. Nung palabas na daw sya ng office sabay sabi..)
My mother : Salamat naman!
Porter : Ate, bahala na ho kayong “mag-ipit” sa passport niyo tutal ho tinulungan kayong makapasok”. (Amp!!! Ang kakapal talaga, di maghintay na abutan ng kusa!)
My mother : Pwede na kaya ang P1,000.00?
Porter : Gawin niyo naman hong P2,000.00, wala naman kayong kahirap-hirap eh!
My mother : O sige na!!!! (Asar na daw sya nun!)
At lalo syang naasar nung eto ang sinabi ni Ms. Immigration Officer:
Ms. Immigration Officer : Chocolates ho pagbalik niyo ha?
Ang kakapal nila di ba? Di man lang nagpasalamat sa nakurakot nya! I know it’s wrong to tolerate them and give what they ask for, pero syempre ayaw mo na lang maabala sa byahe. Lalo na tulad namin na bumabyahe pa ng ilang oras para makarating sa Manila.
Ang kakapal talaga! Tse!
ay super kainis talaga! nakuuuuu!
i remember last sat ang pinilahan ko sa immig na queue is superbagal tumakbo. nakaka-3 na ang iba sya 1 pa lang. i dont know kung ano ang ginagawa ng mama. 😀
buti ng dumating sa turn ko, he just mentioned my family name and i said “yes?” tapos tinatakan na ang passport ko.
sana hindi mangyari sa akin to, mitch! baka bumalik ako sa dating ugali ko na war-freak. hehehe!
Sinabi mo! Sa akin di uubra yang lagay lagay!
Kaya tuloy nung dumating sila dito, sila ang napagalitan ko hehehe!
Sabi naman ng father ko, eh kesa maabala di ganun din gagastos din ulit pauwi at pabalik sa amin.
Re : Attempted extortion, nung time na nakikipag-usap ako sa officer, bulong bulong at sinisiko ako ng mother ko, wag ka masyadong mataray baka di tayo makalabas lalo. Kasi atat na syang makauwi hahaha!
Di pwede sa akin yun!
i’m lucky i haven’t had that bad experience yet, mitch. althou i have had inspectors asking for “huling hirit” before going to the boarding area.
i think most of the people having problems are the ones going to the middle east. even if dubai is my stop over, i don’t get much hassle from the immigrations officers in NAIA
@ Sheila : I noticed that too! Coz most of the people who had experienced the same thing are majority based in the Middle East!What could be wrong then?
You’re not alone! Just yesterday my brother went to the same problem. We sponsored my brother to come visit us here in Abu Dhabi, and when he got there, they told him that they don’t believe his affidavit letter was a real affidavit, they told him it’s fake, they say that they don’t believed that we signed it, so I told my brother to call their manager and I will talk to him, so they let him ‘thru. Those fu***n idiots are nothing but a shark, they want to make money on all of us Filipinos, such a fu***n shame. Sorry folks for my language, but until now I’m still livid. F***n ignorant bastards. Word of advise from me to all Filipinos who’ll read this, next time if you think is happning to you, just say NO and ask for the supervisor, mga kapal ng mukha, kaya walng asenso.