Filipinos required proof of financial capability to travel



MANILA: -- The Bureau of Immigration (BI) of the Philippines on Friday issued strict guidelines designed to deter the exodus of undocumented Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) by making the said blanket requirement for all who travel as tourists.

Bureau of Immigration chief SiegfredMison said the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) assisted the bureau in the formulation of the new procedure.

Mison appealed to Filipino travelers for understanding as they would be inconvenienced by the new procedure aimed at protecting Filipinos from being victims of human traffickers.

Presently, more than 40 suspected illegal workers disguised as tourists are offloaded daily at the Ninoy Aquino Internal Airport (NAIA).

He said the bureau adopted the policy to fight the nefarious activities of human trafficking syndicates

“Undocumented OFWs are prone to abuses by their employers,” he said.

According to Mison it is easy to spot undocumented overseas workers who are posing as tourists because their itinerary are not popular tourist destinations like countries in Middle East.

He said the OFWs pretending to be tourists use Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangkok and Hong Kong as transit points to their final destinations.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/filipinios-required-proof-financial-capability-travel/


-- Thai PBS 2014-03-15

Good idea. A sensible way to try and thwart the human traffickers.

I think this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease... Yes it is a problem, and yes it has to be dealt with but limiting the right to freely travel abroad is not the way to do it.

Have heard so many horror stories about Filipinos trying to board their plane being abused by their own government Officials ...

Of the 40 people yanked from planes every day, how many were to have later been found to be victims of traffickers and how many just normal folks trying to go on vacation?

Also guessing the airlines are not refunding costs for plane tickets...

Gotta agree with Granuaile on this one ... Cure is worse than the disease

There are better ways to handle

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Filipino gov isnt protecting their people. They do whatever they can to keep their citizens at home, even though philippines dont have work for their citizens.

All well and good...but there goes Freedom...if that ever existed.

When I went to the US I had to prove I had enough money to do so.

This proof had to be shown on Arrival. (+ Return ticket - which I was forced to obtain. I wanted to buy a return ticket - when I was ready)

I also had to give proof of First nights address - but not any other...

I am not Mexican!

(Just joking Mexico)

I think this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease... Yes it is a problem, and yes it has to be dealt with but limiting the right to freely travel abroad is not the way to do it.

Well they do try to get work where ever they go.

No more cheap staff for Tony ? :-)

Have heard so many horror stories about Filipinos trying to board their plane being abused by their own government Officials ...

Of the 40 people yanked from planes every day, how many were to have later been found to be victims of traffickers and how many just normal folks trying to go on vacation?

Also guessing the airlines are not refunding costs for plane tickets...

Gotta agree with Granuaile on this one ... Cure is worse than the disease

There are better ways to handle

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm new to this topic and not trained in such matters. What are some suggestions?

They use this tactic just to distort money from people by limiting their rights to travel. Just like in Thailand that they set up barrier on the road to block the migrants from other country to come in to Thailand but actually they set up to distort money from smugglers and get bribe from smugglers.

I think this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease... Yes it is a problem, and yes it has to be dealt with but limiting the right to freely travel abroad is not the way to do it.

I think you may not have understood the whole story.

The headline is:

Filipinios required proof of financial capability to travel

and this restricts freedom- how?

Surely it is true that a genuine tourist should have sufficient funds to support themselves during their holiday. If not what? Ask for assistance from the Government of the country they are visiting?

If you are from Asia, I suggest you apply for a general visitor visa to the UK.

If you are not from Asia, go to the website and see just what hoops Asians have to jump through to apply. Open the application form and start to fill it in, then I think you may have a very different understanding of "Freedom".

The UK Border Control will refuse the visa if they believe "That on the balance of probabilities, we feel that you have insufficient funds to support yourself during your visit, that you may overstay and require support from the UK Government". This is what they said in response to an Asian wife of a UK male citizen who stated that they had £5,000 available for the two to three week trip.

If a trafficker gives a single ticket and a few dollars to a "Tourist", the tourist will be refused travel and quite right so in my opinion. They may well be saved from a very sordid fate.

I also don't like more and more restrictions on our privacy and freedom, but there are a few cases where some action is necessary and I believe that this is one of them.

It seems (to me at least) that it is a fair question - Do you have sufficient funds to support yourself on your vacation?

It's a no brainer!

Totally false report according to Philippine Officials.

No need to prove financial capacity when traveling abroad, BI says

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/03/15/14/no-need-prove-financial-capacity-when-traveling-abroad-bi-says

A complete load of B.S. They unload as many as 20 per plane. I have had several friends who have been unable

to fly there girlfriends out of the Philippines. Contrary to popular belief 99% of human trafficking has nothing to do

with sex trafficking and is mostly slave labour on fishing boats or working on farms picking fruit and vegetables.

As for the countries listed as transit points, they are places where people want to vacation. Most of the women

offloaded are married (Philippines, Vatican City, are the only remaining countries that do not allow divorce, only

expensive annulment) Immigration denies there departure because they are not travelling with there husbands

which they have not seen or heard from in years. Some times I think the airlines are involved, off loading Philippinas

when they have oversold flights. Make no mistake they only offload women. Even Cuba lets its citizens leave

the country. This policy is a disgrace and is promoted by the UN.

I think this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease... Yes it is a problem, and yes it has to be dealt with but limiting the right to freely travel abroad is not the way to do it.

I think you may not have understood the whole story.

The headline is:

Filipinios required proof of financial capability to travel

and this restricts freedom- how?

Surely it is true that a genuine tourist should have sufficient funds to support themselves during their holiday. If not what? Ask for assistance from the Government of the country they are visiting?

If you are from Asia, I suggest you apply for a general visitor visa to the UK.

If you are not from Asia, go to the website and see just what hoops Asians have to jump through to apply. Open the application form and start to fill it in, then I think you may have a very different understanding of "Freedom".

They're not being denied entry to another country - they're being denied exit from their own.

I think this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease... Yes it is a problem, and yes it has to be dealt with but limiting the right to freely travel abroad is not the way to do it.

I think you may not have understood the whole story.

The headline is:

Filipinios required proof of financial capability to travel

and this restricts freedom- how?

Surely it is true that a genuine tourist should have sufficient funds to support themselves during their holiday. If not what? Ask for assistance from the Government of the country they are visiting?

If you are from Asia, I suggest you apply for a general visitor visa to the UK.

If you are not from Asia, go to the website and see just what hoops Asians have to jump through to apply. Open the application form and start to fill it in, then I think you may have a very different understanding of "Freedom".

They're not being denied entry to another country - they're being denied exit from their own.

I understand that.

Why do you think it's OK for a "Tourist" to travel with insufficient funds?

Immigration: Do you have sufficient funds for your intended holiday?

Tourist: No.

Immigration: Denied exit.

or

Tourist: Yes, here's the proof.

Immigration: OK Have a nice time.

What's wrong with that?

I think this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease... Yes it is a problem, and yes it has to be dealt with but limiting the right to freely travel abroad is not the way to do it.

I think you may not have understood the whole story.

The headline is:

Filipinios required proof of financial capability to travel

and this restricts freedom- how?

Surely it is true that a genuine tourist should have sufficient funds to support themselves during their holiday. If not what? Ask for assistance from the Government of the country they are visiting?

If you are from Asia, I suggest you apply for a general visitor visa to the UK.

If you are not from Asia, go to the website and see just what hoops Asians have to jump through to apply. Open the application form and start to fill it in, then I think you may have a very different understanding of "Freedom".

They're not being denied entry to another country - they're being denied exit from their own.

I understand that.

Why do you think it's OK for a "Tourist" to travel with insufficient funds?

Immigration: Do you have sufficient funds for your intended holiday?

Tourist: No.

Immigration: Denied exit.

or

Tourist: Yes, here's the proof.

Immigration: OK Have a nice time.

What's wrong with that?

The questions you ask are for the country they intend to visit to satisfy themselves about not the country that they're leaving. If Filipino Immigration had a list of the required 'sufficient funds' for every country in the world your system might have some merit but it doesn't. They're just exercising arbitrary power against people that they don't like. Did the country you left to visit Thailand ask you how much money you had before you left?

Have heard so many horror stories about Filipinos trying to board their plane being abused by their own government Officials ...

Of the 40 people yanked from planes every day, how many were to have later been found to be victims of traffickers and how many just normal folks trying to go on vacation?

Also guessing the airlines are not refunding costs for plane tickets...

Gotta agree with Granuaile on this one ... Cure is worse than the disease

There are better ways to handle

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm new to this topic and not trained in such matters. What are some suggestions?

Education of the public on things to be aware of and danger signs to look for and strong prosecution of any recruiter's found to be involved in trafficking

It should not be to restrict the freedom of travel of its own citizens

Although if they really feel the need for some sort of screening before some one can leave the country, it should be done PRIOR to the person being able to apply for visas to other countries or buying plane tickets

It is definitely wrong to have some arbitrary judgment being made at the time of checking in at the airport , when many people may have gone through long process for visa to destination country or bought non refundable tickets or may have prepaid for hotels or other travel plans

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another crap policy from a corrupt, incompetent, and first class bully of a president! i guess Filipinos don't refer to him as BS Aquino for nothing.

Does anyone believe that the trafficker rings have no funds to provide faked bank statements to bypath this regulation in a heavily corrupt country?

I think this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease... Yes it is a problem, and yes it has to be dealt with but limiting the right to freely travel abroad is not the way to do it.

Inclined to agree there.

I worked for a reputable company in Saudi and we employed many Filipinos. Some had tales of having to hand over money, and borrow a lot to get there... arriving with very little. They had 2 years to wait before they could get a trip home.

I have quite a few expat friends living in the Philippines. One had a long-term girlfriend (they couldn't marry since she and her husband had split up for something like 10 years but could nor divorce) with whom he had a child. They wanted to visit Thailand in conjunction with a meeting my friend was to attend: three days at the meeting, then a week in Phuket. They lived together, and my friend took care of all expenses.

At the NAIA (Manila's airport) she was denied an exit. My friend was there, and he argued with them saying that he had the money to take care of them, that they could call her mother who was babysitting the kid, that they could see her return ticket, but still, they would not allow her to exit. As a result, neither boarded the flight and their vacation was ruined.

So big brother has arrived for the pinoys. It really is none of their business why people travel out of there. A child? Ok, sure, interrogate, but adults?

What happened to:

Article 13.

• (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
• (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

Iknow it is constantly abused by refusal to issue passports but

should not be.

When I went to the US I had to prove I had enough money to do so.

This proof had to be shown on Arrival. (+ Return ticket - which I was forced to obtain. I wanted to buy a return ticket - when I was ready)

I also had to give proof of First nights address - but not any other...

I am not Mexican!

(Just joking Mexico)

I think this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease... Yes it is a problem, and yes it has to be dealt with but limiting the right to freely travel abroad is not the way to do it.

The onward/return ticket is a standard requirement of most countries (including Thailand), but the issue here is not the destination country restricting travel abroad but the home country. I have known a couple of Filipinas traveling abroad to be refused boarding - they were traveling for fun, tourism, not to work but were still denied. I thought to invite a couple of friends in Philippines to invite to visit here (actually I just need a standard letter from embassy here to do so) but seems to me there is no justification for the Philippines to deny their citizens the right to travel. As one poster earlier noted the answer is to provide jobs so they have no reason to travel abroad to work. Just MHO...

Again this is not the destination country imposing restrictions, as citizens of an ASEAN nation they can come here without a visa,... it is a matter of their home country imposing restrictions on their ability to travel...

I think this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease... Yes it is a problem, and yes it has to be dealt with but limiting the right to freely travel abroad is not the way to do it.

I think you may not have understood the whole story.

The headline is:

Filipinios required proof of financial capability to travel

and this restricts freedom- how?

Surely it is true that a genuine tourist should have sufficient funds to support themselves during their holiday. If not what? Ask for assistance from the Government of the country they are visiting?

If you are from Asia, I suggest you apply for a general visitor visa to the UK.

If you are not from Asia, go to the website and see just what hoops Asians have to jump through to apply. Open the application form and start to fill it in, then I think you may have a very different understanding of "Freedom".

The UK Border Control will refuse the visa if they believe "That on the balance of probabilities, we feel that you have insufficient funds to support yourself during your visit, that you may overstay and require support from the UK Government". This is what they said in response to an Asian wife of a UK male citizen who stated that they had £5,000 available for the two to three week trip.

If a trafficker gives a single ticket and a few dollars to a "Tourist", the tourist will be refused travel and quite right so in my opinion. They may well be saved from a very sordid fate.

I also don't like more and more restrictions on our privacy and freedom, but there are a few cases where some action is necessary and I believe that this is one of them.

It seems (to me at least) that it is a fair question - Do you have sufficient funds to support yourself on your vacation?

It's a no brainer!

All people especially poor people should have the right to get work - worldwide (If that country needs them)

Keeping Poor/starving people at home will not.

[The industry of] Philippines abroad, send money home AND pay Workers Exit Tax for the priviage of visiting their home country!

But the country needs every penny.

On a side Note:

USA/UK visitors are increasingly visiting PH.

In Thailand they are decreasing (Before the Movement)

Wake up TAT

Clean up

Tidy up

Clarify (Easy-up) Immigration (Make a Rule Book AND Tell everyone about it! - Have a Look at ISO9000 or something...)

Filipino gov isnt protecting their people. They do whatever they can to keep their citizens at home, even though philippines dont have work for their citizens.

one of the problems is that the american government gave the philippines a lot of money a few years ago to combat human trafficking. they now want to show that they arearedoing a great job, and hopefully get some more cash.

It is unlikely any genuine OFW is going to have a big bank balance after paying the agency fees etc they need to go overseas to work.

Clark airport is the worst for stopping filipinas from leaving and there is no appeal against their decisions

Airlines workers can shout us anytime they don't treat us good.

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I'll take this up with the girls on Jalan P Ramlee in May - I expect that there is a 'Departure Tax' payable to someone in a uniform. Difficult to believe that a country as corrupt as the PI doesnt offer a way out of this little roadblock.