Daily thoughts - PHILIPPINE CUSTOMS OFFICIAL, soliciting "FEES", is this "customary"

A friend of mine requested for me to blog about this schmuck to warn fellow Filipinos about some corrupt customs officials at the airport. Im embarrassed to post this but people have to be informed of such flagrant display of corruption even on such a small scale.

(my apologies for those who dont understand Tagalog, I will translate the rest later. for now I just had to put this up this because my friend has been prodding me for days to do so.)

MAG INGAT SA'KIN!!! (In English, beware of me!)

Customs 1: wala ba kayong idedeclare? 
Customs 1: Do you have anything to declare?

Achi: wala. 
Achi: none

Customs 1: may electronics ba kayong binili? 
Customs 1: Are there any electronics (gadgets) you bought?

Achi: wala
Achi: none

Customs 1: paki buksan ang maleta! Pwede kayo magpasok ng gamit from hongkong ng 10k per person lang pag lumagpas may tax ng babayaran.

Customs 1: kindly open the suitcase. You are allowed to bring in items from HongKong worth 10k PHP. This is per person. However if the amount exceeds 10k, you have to pay taxes

Nilagay namin black na maleta sa table para mauna buksan.

We put the black suitcase first on the table so the guy could check it.

Customs 1: ung pula!

Customs 1: the red one!

Princess thinking: choosey to ah ipapakita naman pati ung red nauna lang ung black ayaw pa!

Princess thinking: this guy is so impatient and choosy, we were going to open the red one too but we thought of opening the black one first

Customs after opening the bag: “dami nito ah! Puro bago! Wala bang resibo?”

Customs after opening the bag: "this is a lot! All new items. Is there a receipt?"

Achi: wala e kasi puro sa tiangge lng nabili, pero ung iba meron.
Achi: None because we just bought it from the tiangge (street bazaar?) but some have receipts.

Achi binigay ung ibang receipt sa customs 
Achi gives receipts to customs official
 
Customs nagcompute how much lahat. Wala pang 10k so nag isip ng other way
Customs official computes all the receipts but realized that the total amount does not exceed 10k PHP. He seem to be thinking of another way to "tax" the Pinoy travellers.

Customs 1: ang dami nito ah ibebenta niyo to!
Customs 1: this is a lot, You are planning to sell these! (take note, it was a statement not a question)

Achi: hindi, personal use yan tska pasalubong.
Achi: nope. its for personal use and the other items are meant as gifts
 
Customs 2  lumapit kay Customs 1. Custom 1 binigay computation ng babayaran daw naming tax”
Customs offical 2 approaches Customs offical1. Custom 1 gives computation of the tax we were required to pay.

Customs 2: eto ung babayaran niyong tax 4k plus.
Customs 2: here is what you need to pay as tax. 4thousand plus PHP.

Achi: ang laki naman! Tska sbi nyo 10k per person pwede e wala pa 10k yan.
Achi: Thats too much! You said 10k php per person is allowed, those items arent worth 10k.

Customs 2: e ibebenta nyo yan.
Customs 2: you are going to sell those eh (eh is an expression we use over here) take note: again the guy just assumed the items bought were meant to be sold here.

Achi: personal use yan tska pasalubong.
Achi: thats for personal use and gifts.
 
Customs 2: kapag personal use 2-3 items lang.
Customs 2: if its for personal use it should be 2-3 items only.

Princess thinking: bobo! So pag lumagpas ng 2-3 items automatic ibebenta na namin!
Princess thinking: dumb ass! so if it exceeds 2-3 items it automatically means we will be selling it??!


Customs 2: bayaran niyo na 4k LANG naman total kayang kaya niyo yan.
Customs 2: pay the tax since its ONLY 4k besides you guys can afford it.

Princess: hindi LANG ang 4k!!! tsaka sabi mo pag lumagpas ng 10k tsaka may tax e d naman lumagpas.
Princess: 4k is not cheap! and besides you said, if the items exceed 10k php worth, then it will be taxable. But you computed the receipts and it did not exceed that amount.

Customs 2: lahat ng pumapasok sa bansa may tax. 15% ng total na binili niyo ang babayaran niyo plus 12% tax. 
Customs 2: All items that enters the country are taxed. its 15% of the total value of the items, plus 12% tax.

Achi & I: siraulo to ah paiba iba ng sinasabi kanina hinahanapan tayo ng electronics nung wala sbi pwede 10k each person ung gamit na dala natin tapos ngayon pinag pipilitan na ibebenta natin ung binili natin tapos biglang 15% ng total na binili natin ang babayaran natin plus 12% tax. Siraulo!!!!!!


Achi and Princess thinking: This guy is nuts! He keeps changing his statements! earlier he was asking if we brought in electronics and said 10k php worth is allowed for each passenger. Then later on he kept insisting the items were meant to be sold here, now there is a 15% tax on the items bought plus 12% tax?? wtf?? this guy is crazy!

Para matapos na pinag usapan nalang! Nagrequest pa ng 2k para hati hati daw sila. KAPAL!!!!!
Anu ba yang customs dito sa Philippines!!!!!!! Halatang gusto niyo ng lagay kasi hindi lahat ng bags chineck niyo! Mag sisinungaling na nga kayo paiba iba pa ang sinasabi niyo! Mahiya naman kayo! Lalo ka ng nasa picture ka!!!!

Just so we could go home and end this crap, we tried to come to an agreement with the officials. But they still had the gall to ask for  2K php so they can split it among themselves. SHAMELESS!!!!


What the fuck is wrong with the customs officals here in the Philippines??!!! It is so obvious they want us to grease their palms because these guys didnt even check all of our bags. 

You lie and make up different "policies" so you can rip off  your fellow countrymen. Shame on you! Especially you in that photo!

Guy's name is Roy Tabangan or Tabangay.

(note:Blue Text lifted verbatim from facebook account of the person who experienced this firsthand. Red Text my own personal translation. I tried hard not to inject profanity and personal opinion while translating since this post is supposed to be objective..but Damn I was so annoyed too!)