'Monkey business' at Customs not singling out Koreans - ex-tour guide

CEBU, Philippines - The alleged unscrupulous activity at the Bureau of Customs at the Mactan Cebu International Airport does not only target Koreans, but other nationalities as well.

This was the revelation of Tessie Naidu, a former tour guide and current manager of Cebu-based Pinoycare Travel World.

Naidu said that last year, a Japanese friend could not locate a box containing personal items while at the Customs area and was told that someone had just kept it. They reportedly made follow-up inquiries, but eventually gave up when they were being referred to one person after another numerous times. 

Naidu said she was reminded of the incident when Governor Gwendolyn Garcia asked the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the case of a Korean who lost his passport at the Customs area.

The Customs duty examiner reportedly told the Korean and his companion to proceed to the Customs cashier to pay their taxable duties. It was there that the Korean noticed that his passport had disappeared. The day after, someone called the Korean and informed him that his passport had been found. The trouble was, the one who deemed to have found it reportedly asked for something in return, locally referred to as a “pahalipay.”

Naidu said this unscrupulous activity does not paint a good picture of Cebu to foreigners especially that the airport is the gateway to and from the island.

Naidu said she is optimistic that with the governor’s intervention, the Customs will be cleaned of shenanigans and those carrying out the deed would be punished.

Garcia herself said there seems to be a modus operandi at the Customs area of the airport, targeting Koreans who arrive late in the evening or early morning bringing Duty Free bags.

Garcia said the incident is getting bad publicity, which is now circulating in travel agencies in South Korea.

Korea and Japan are the leading markets for Cebu with a share of 30 percent and 21 percent respectively. This is based on the total number of foreign tourists staying in accommodation facilities in the province.

Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed that as of last year, tourist arrivals in Cebu went up to 4.43 percent, putting Cebu as one of the most preferred travel destinations in the country for both local and foreign tourists, second to Manila.

Cebu recorded a total of 734,531 visitors in the first five months of 2010, providing impetus for greater public and private sector investments in infrastructure and tourism related facilities, said then tourism secretary Joseph Ace Durano.

However, while Cebu has only emerged as the number two preferred tourists’ destination in the country in the last five months, the province’s tourism sector has the largest number of tourism related employment generation in the country.   (FREEMAN NEWS)