3 e-mails: What’s good, what’s wrong with us?

A letter from reader Carlos L. Pelayo Jr.:

“Deus vult (God wills it). This is a story of renewed faith in our Filipino countrymen.

“Returning from a conference in Bangkok, my wife arrived at the Philippine Airlines terminal at around 3:50 a.m. of Sunday, November 25, 2012. My daughter and I picked her up, loaded her luggage in the car, and drove for home. Many kilometers away we realized we had left two duty-free shopping bags (containing three name  brand  ladies’ handbags) hanging on the backside of the luggage trolley. My wife was so distraught for she hardly had time to shop and those were the only presents she had bought. We knew the chances of retrieving those bags were almost nil but, hoping against hope, we rushed back to the spot in the airport where we left the bags. It had been an hour since.

“As we got near Bay 14 where we earlier had picked up my wife, we saw that an area about five square meters had been cordoned off with yellow ribbon. A female security guard stood beside the cordon. At the center was the empty luggage trolley — with two transparent duty-free plastic bags hanging at the backside. The head guard was called. After checking my wife’s passport, plane ticket and her name on the credit card receipt for the items inside the plastic bags, he released the items to us. No one asked for anything or waited for any gratuity. We thanked them profusely and left.

“The name of the head guard at the PAL terminal is Jonathan Javier (IPT-T2). I state this narrative with the hope that it serves as inspiration to all our Filipino countrymen: there are people in our country who are honest and do their duty. If we pray hard and God wills it, our country can and will become progressive, prosperous. I attest to the truth of this narrative. May it find its way to the attention of PAL management, to give those guards the recognition and applause they so richly deserve.”

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E. Tolentino, Qatar:

“I’m sure my story is not new to you. It happened only recently at the national airport, the NAIA.

“My wife has this co-worker here in Qatar who moved heaven and earth to get her husband some employment so that they won’t have to be separated. They were able to secure all the necessary papers, for the husband to enter Qatar on a business visa.

“At the NAIA immigration counter, however, they stopped the poor guy, who only wanted to make some living while with his spouse in the Middle East. There is absolutely nothing wrong with joining the millions of other overseas Filipino workers, right? They didn’t let him off, and he missed his flight.

“Yesterday I happened to ask my wife whatever happened to the poor guy. She said everything turned out well in the end. He was able to leave for Qatar — after he paid the immigration men P20,000. Cash on delivery, but no receipt. Living hand to mouth, the poor guy had to borrow money just to feed the crocodiles at the airport.

“When will it ever end?”

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Michael Cesar de Guzman:

“The anomaly that you wrote about before at 168 and 999 shopping malls in Divisoria, Manila, goes on.

“The shops do not issue official receipts (ORs); therefore, are not reporting, remitting and paying the required value-added tax (VAT).

“BIR chief Kim Henares must show that she is able to enforce the basics and put a stop to this irregularity. Also Mayor Alfredo Lim, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, the Bureau of Immigration, and the Bureau of Customs.

“Many shoppers are aware that the head merchants are from Mainland China. They are engaging in retailing, which the law exclusively reserves for Filipinos.”

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