Filipina calls out customs officer for ‘harassing’ Filipino doctor over imported bag

A Filipina traveler has called out a customs officer at a Philippine airport for allegedly harassing a fellow doctor over a bag he bought abroad. In her viral Facebook post, Cebu-based physician Marivic Tan said she witnessed the young doctor being “harassed” by a customs officer upon returning to Mactan International Airport in Cebu for bringing a leather bag that the officer valued at over P10,000. The incident happened on July 11. “There are a lot more people who came back with more expensive shopping items, but they picked on an innocent returning resident who wasn’t actually violating any law,” Tan said, urging customs officers: “Don’t pick on small, innocent Filipinos”. Speaking to Expatmedia.net following the incident, Tan, a frequent traveler, said she felt compelled to speak up for the young doctor, whom she saw “being interrogated out in the open by a customs inspector” as she was exiting the customs declaration area. She knew the doctor as they both attended the same health conference. “I overheard the customs inspector say, ‘If you don’t have the receipt for this, we will compute it based on internet value’,” she said, adding that was when she stepped in to point out that the Customs Declaration Form given out to all travelers at the airport specifies that “all Filipino citizens” can bring in personal effects with a value of up to P150,000. She said that when she pointed this out, the customs officer allegedly dismissed the form and quoted a Philippine law setting a much lower value for tax-exempt items. However, he would not show them a copy of the law, she said. “He still insisted that we were wrong. I said, ‘This document (referring to the Customs Declaration Form) was given to us by Customs, we were made to sign it by Customs and submit it to Customs.. in other words, this is the official document released by Customs so if there is a mistake written here, you should be accountable for it,” Tan said. She said the customs officer’s supervisor was called in to clarify the matter, but the latter never came to Terminal 2. “They expected the returning Filipino resident to wait a long time for the supervisor, risking him to miss his connecting flight, which the Customs won’t pay for if he missed it!” Tan said. Meanwhile, the incident had “caused enough commotion that we caught the attention of a Customs police”. Tan said it was only when the Customs police officer arrived that the issue was resolved. “He listened to our plight and our reasoning. He read the statement on the information guide and pointed this out to the customs officer,” Tan said. “Customs police tried to appease us by making us go ahead to the exit, saying it was all a misunderstanding!” she said. Under Philippine law, returning residents and returning Overseas Filipino Workers are granted a “tax and duty exemption on importation of their personal and household effects in an amount of up to P350,000”. Meanwhile, Tan said she is executing an affidavit and sworn statement to have the incident recorded, adding that after her viral post, someone also came forward to share a similar experience with the same customs inspector. “My message to Filipinos: know your rights and find out first what your tax exemptions are. Last but not the least, there is no room for arrogance and hubris in public service or anywhere in the service industry for that matter. So government officials should treat Filipinos with more respect and dignity!” Tan told Expatmedia.net. There was yet no reply from Bureau of Customs at the time of publication. ICA/PIA/Expat Media
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