A Taiwan-bound passenger was full of resentments and became depressed after being offloaded and was allegedly asked for ten birth certificates by an Immigration officer.
Ammie Liau’s cousin’s plan to go to Taiwan for a 2-week vacation was postponed.
According to Amie Liau’s story, her cousin was offloaded twice after failing to provide the ten birth certificates required by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) officer to prove the relationship between the two of them as relatives.
This would have been Ammie’s cousin’s first ‘out-of-the-country’ trip.
And because of what happened, her cousin became depressed and resentful.
“She’s depressed. It’s like she’s disappointed because she has the feeling that just because she is poor, this is how she’s being judged.”
“She was really upset because that’s what she was feeling – extremely insignificant. Her character was degraded,” Ammie Liau, cousin of the passenger, said.
Immigration: traveler in viral ’10 birth certificates’ story had multiple red flags
The BI denied that their officer asked for ten birth certificates from Ammie’s cousin.
Immigration Deputy spokesperson Melvin Mabulac said they saw that the said passenger had red flags.
Apart from failing to prove her relationship with her cousin who is in Taiwan, they found out that the passenger was not really going on vacation there but was actually looking for a job.
“During the interview, it was mentioned in the document that one of the purposes, if there is an opportunity, is to find a job,” Melvin Mabulac, Deputy Spokesperson BI, said.
The law recognizes the right of anyone to travel outside the country.
But Mabulac said that it was stated in the en banc decision of the Supreme Court on December 13, 2011 that the Bureau of Immigration can offload passengers on three grounds.
Two of them, he said, are the ‘doubtful purpose of travel’ and ‘possible victim of trafficking’.
“Because the nature of the agency is preventive, we will not wait. That’s what Immigration does. And that’s when we saw the reason why the government will not allow you to go and work [abroad] without going through Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). Why? Because there is no guarantee. There is no accountable local agency that will be responsible for you if something happens to you abroad,” Mabulac added.
But for Ammie, the BI is just making an excuse to clear the agency’s name from offloading her cousin.
“They are just clearing their name as if they did nothing wrong. But for me, I don’t think my cousin will lie because I know her. I know my cousin very well,” Ammie Liau, added.
“We understand her emotion but it is in the guidelines, Memorandum Circular 035 and we implement,” Mabulac said.
Offloaded passenger’s cousin asks Immigration to issue specific guidelines
Ammie is asking the BI to have specific guidelines and a checklist of documents that a passenger needs to bring abroad so that the Immigration officers don’t ask for different requirements.
“There must be uniformity in the requirements. They shouldn’t ask for things that people do not naturally bring with them – things that are impossible for people to carry,” Ammie Liau said.
It can be recalled that a certain traveler’s complaint went viral online when she did not make it to her flight after an Immigration officer asked for her yearbook.
Immigration reminds passengers how to avoid being offloaded
The BI has reminders for passengers traveling outside the country to avoid being flagged or offloaded.
“When we go to Immigration, please ensure you have the complete documents.”
“The Bureau of Immigration does not only look at documents. We look at the person and assess his/her behavior. Who’s accompanying?”
“What are the documents? Tickets – who bought them? What monetary unit was used? Statement – what is the person saying?” Mabulac said.