Wanted: Efficient immigration officers!

With pride, allow me to announce the arrival of baby Kirsten Erica "Keena" Avila Tequillo, 1st daughter of my son-in-law Atty. Jennoh Tequillo and my eldest daughter Fara Avila Tequillo and the sister of my grandson Miguel Enrico "Mikili" Tequillo. She's our 2nd grandchild and the 1st granddaughter. Their 6.9-lb baby girl arrived on schedule at 5:40AM Aug. 9th at the Cebu Doctors University Hospital. Yes, I took her first photos and praised God for the miracle of childbirth. Both mother and daughter are doing great!

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Yesterday morning, my brother-in-law, Mr. Yuki Kono and his mother Mrs. Sachiko Kono departed for Tokyo on board PAL's PR 434 Flt. for important family matters. Their departure would have been uneventful were it not for a bungling Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) official, who last July 3, 2005 when they arrived from an earlier trip from Japan, stamped on Sachiko Kono's passport, a 21 day visa to enter Cebu. This immigration official apparently didn't properly check out Sachiko's passport, which carried a special visa from the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA). But Sachiko didn't know about that bureaucratic mishap until yesterday morning when they were on their way to Japan.

Ms. Sachiko Kono has been living in Cebu with my sister in the past six years and she has never encountered any problems with the Immigration, thanks to the PRA program for foreign retirees. Under this program, retirees have to place a minimum of US$ 5 million deposit (which the Philippine government can freely use) to be withdrawn only if the retiree leaves for good.

When they got to the Immigration counter at the Mactan Airport, Immigration Officer Mr. Acari R. Datu Imam looked at her passport and fined her P2,500 for staying more than the 21 days given by the previous immigration officer. It was only then that Sachiko Kono thought that something was terribly wrong, that the BID no longer recognized her status as a holder of a PRA visa. My brother-in-law Yuki (who speaks very good English without the "R" accent) interceded, but he was rudely treated by the immigration officer and wasn't allowed to give any explanations at all!

Another immigration supervisor Atty. Abellon looked into their problem and courteously admitted that the previous immigration officer, whom he named as Immigration Officer Salangit, missed checking her passport when they entered Cebu last July 3rd. For the record, holders of PRA visas can freely come in and out of the country for as long as the PRA requirements are met. I called Yuki on his cell while he was already boarding and he told me about their ordeal. For sure, his mother was shaken by this incident.

I personally went to Mactan Airport yesterday morning to find out what happened and I talked with Immigration Supervisor Modesto Jamora who courteously entertained me and even went to the point of calling Regional Director Geronimo Rosas so I could talk with him directly. Unfortunately, the BID Regional Director took an early lunch. But they asked me to write a complaint against the immigration officer. Actually, the complainant is my brother-in-law, who is still in Japan right now.

But from the facts, I can already ascertain that some immigration officials are either so inefficient or they simply were not told about the PRA visas. What made matters worse was that the obvious mistake of Immigration Salangit was magnified by Immigration Officer Acari R. Datu Imam, who if he only allowed my brother-in-law to explain what happened to his mother's passport, this story would not appear in this corner. Instead, Mr. Datu Imam even raised his voice to my very timid brother-in-law. Now was it necessary for the Immigration Officer to raise his voice… for what?

That Datu Imam only showed his utter rudeness is something we should abhor with immigration officials who are the doormat of this country. Yes, immigration officers should show utmost courtesy to our foreign guests; after all, we are opening our doors to foreign tourists or foreign retirees. I gathered from other sources in the airport that this Datu Imam has a number of cases filed against him in the Office of the Ombudsman. Now this makes me quite curious as to why the BID continues to allow people of questionable character to go on manning the immigration counters.

Yuki told me that he pities those foreigners whose papers may truly be lacking in certain requirements… more so to those foreigners who cannot speak English. Imagine, Yuki was not even given a chance to explain his side, how much more for those who cannot articulate themselves? The BID has to clean up their act; otherwise, let's kiss our tourism industry goodbye!

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila's columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com