Corrupted immigration officers in Philippine Airports

  There are many corrupt countries in this world, and to a certain level I guess most countries have corrupted police and officials, but at very different levels.

In this post I will discuss a problem that is typical for the Philippines.

It happens time and time again, EVERY day, that dozens of filipinos wanting to travel abroad, are being withheld by the immigration police, according to some internet discussion sites.
Even though all their papers are in order, and they do fulfill all requirements for the destination they are planning to go to, here may the NIGHTMARE start!

I have experienced this personally twice within a year, as I am married to a Filipina. Last time it happened, was in June 2014.
She had already been with me to Indonesia back in June/July 2013, and at that time we almost lost our flight from Manila to Jakarta due to this bullshit.
First, we had been waiting and finally paid A LOT! of money to get her papers right (CENOMAR) and then a valid passport. It cost me 2000 usd just to finalize these documents, having to bribe officers who had kept all documents so long that the old ones had already expired.

Now with all documents in place, with a return ticket from Indonesia to Manila, they still did not want us to leave - or her rather. A lot of people, especially women, were in the same situation. Some cried, some screamed.
The female officer in charge called us ahead of the others, as she "realized" that maybe we were serious.
I was asked about my relationship with her. I said she is my fiance. I was asked if I had any photos of the 2 of us together, as I was per se defined as a possible human trafficking agent. First I did not remember about those photos in my camera, but anyway, that is IRRELEVANT!
When I told her that I have in my possession all documents for our marriage, due in 2 days in Jakarta, she let us go.
She excused her and her fellow officers actions by saying that they were trying to protect the filipinas from falling victims to human trafficking. BULLSHIT!
Who are they to treat their citizens like that? To destroy the plans and economy and liberties for their own countrymen? When will they realize that nobody is buying their bullshit?
Every person should be considered innocent until otherwise proven. But in that country, it seems that is is the other way around.

My wife was supposed to fly and meet me in Bangkok last June. I had sent her money, she had tickets to Bangkok, and also back again. She has a copy of our marriage certificate etc.
The tickets were bought from Cebu city, via Manila, to Bangkok, with Cebu Pacific Airlines.
When she arrived in Manila, she was told by the Airlines staff that she was too late for the plane going to Bangkok. She had been kept by the police again.
I had no more funds to buy her another ticket, but luckily she had money to pay for a ticket back to Cebu in the morning, after waiting for many hours in the airport in Manila.
I somehow blamed her for this, as I could not believe what she said. I have personally travelled on several occasions the same route, with Cebu Pacific, and I had no problems.
But when searching for this topic in the Internet, I realized that this is a HUGE problem for a lot of people. Sometimes the officers will ask up to 30 000 pesos in bribes to let u on to the plane, but basically it seems as if they are very happy to destroy people's lives and happiness just to feed their own pumped up ego.

It is a human right to travel! Here we can see the evil of GOVERNMENT itself. They like to play God, and to oppress people in different ways.

Even though the Philippines is a lovely country, this kind of corruption MUST be dealt with QUICKLY!
The reputation of this nation does not need more of such abuses.
IT IS MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES is a slogan they have, and obviously they like their own people to not be able to have fun in other countries. It seems like a giant prison to me.

Some people even suggested that Cebu Pacific Airlines somehow do dirty business with the immigration police, so they can overbook their flights, and be assured that the police officers deny access to a certain number of passengers. I have not seen proof of this practice, but it may seem possible due to the immense amount of passengers being denied boarding and thus freeing a lot of seats on the flights. Even thought they had no overbookings, it is obvious that the airlines may benefit from this practice in different ways.

Here is a part of that discussion:

Cebu Pacific Immigration Scam flight Manila - KL

Nov 11, 2010, 8:45 AM

Today this happened the second time.

My brother in law was denied access to the plane in Manila (Clark ) for his flight Manila –KL by immigration officer in spite of a valid pass port, return ticket and invitation letter stamped and paid for at the Philippine embassy in KL. I don’t believe that coincident any longer.

Of course there is no refund for the ticket.

It seam to be a scam. Cebu Pacific sells cheap ticket and cooperates with the immigration department that they don’t allow people on to their planes.

(http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298573-i3261-k4046629-Cebu_Pacific_Immigration_Scam_flight_Manila_KL-Manila_Metro_Manila_Luzon.html)

Posted 24th September 2014