| Manila Central Post Office window 124 scam syndicate / Philippine Bureau of Custom Manila Post offic |
| Warren V.Nantes custom fee duties and taxes scam |
| 27th of Sep, 2011 by ayawsakotong |
| I received the notification card from Philpost yesterday the package is in the Philpost office along the Domestic Road (Pasay, Philippines) and that i should pick it up there though I expected that they will deliver it to my house (The hotline that i called told me that they dont have enough logistic assets to do so). Rode a taxi on my way there and gave the Philpost grumpy grandmas my tracking number then told me to wait for the grumpy grandpas to call my name. It didnt take that long for my turn. They opened the package in front of me and there they are My precious Dranei Paladin and my Gnome Warrior collectibles. Included in the package was a photocopy of the Play-Asia invoice that the customs official inspected and almost automatically, i was told that i had to pay importation taxes for them. The amount that the customs officer calculated (out of her head) is PHP 1,406.00 tax which is around US $30-ish. And the Shipping fee that i already paid for with my transaction with Playasia is included in the computation slip (Not sure if its included in the computation itself, but with the bad penmanship,yes it was written on a scratch paper, its almost impossible to tell.). I only had 1,000 PHP with me so i asked them if i can pay via credit card (which was also a bad idea for me, but it was an act of desperation to get my precious-es) but i was told that they only accept cash. looks like i have to go half-day on office again tomorrow because they dont entertain shipment reception during weekends. I dunno if the computatuon importation fees for my order was legit or if there was some sort of corruption involved, but one lesson i learned from this : DONT order via EMS when you live in the Philippines, whos shipment gets dropped to Philpost, customs and eventually corruption. If you did, you are not alone just check ebay discussions, apparently this has been the case for Thousands who ordered stuff online. Most of them got spared, though. from the discussions, theres only 10% chance of getting snaked by customs. Depends if the customs office already met their quota.Btw. I am ordering a GTX280 this week and it would cost me approx USD $450.00, i hope the customs official wont go greedy-mode on me again. Spend for courier (UPS) rather than get robbed by customs Ask if they (stupid people at customs) have a breakdown of cost (equivalent to Taripa in Jeepneys) so you can validate their total claim and what exactly have you been taxed on. Im pretty sure 80% of what theyre asking you to pay is an Im-hungry-I-need-Mcdonalds-from-this-kid-with-collectibles tax |
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Philippine Post Office custom fee scam / Manila Central Post Office window 124 corrupt custom officer scam / Warren V. Nantes scam
According to a Filipino pastor, who has also taken up law, shared with me that anything over 35PHP, which this was during 2007, is corruption. The person who sent the package already paid for whatever needed to be paid for the package to be sent, so to charge the person who is picking it up, other than the 35php, would be nothing other than corruption.
When i received my first box, that my parent’s sent, i never got a notice sent to my house so i went to the post office to see if there was any box yet received for my location. When they said it was received, they said it was waiting for Customs to observe it. When i finally heard that customs observed it I was than asked if i knew what was in the box which I said yes and even the post office in my country, back at home, also knows what was placed inside it before it was sent. I was than told i was being taxed for having ear rings in my box. ha ha ha ha I responded and told them that I do not have ear rings in this box, which it was never even open yet but i would open it if asked, I shared that what was in the box was ear plugs to protect my ears from the loud noises during holidays such as when fireworks goes off. Also I shared that the box was sent by my mom who was helping to supply my needs for my stay while my wife finishes school and also I am a missionary. i also mentioned that i was told by a Filipino lawyer that anything above 35PHP would be corruption and the last time I had a box of books sent you charged me 200PHP but this time you want me to give you 1, 500PHP when my mom back at home paid all the required fees to send it to me and I have to pay you to pick it up. I out rightly refused, and need i share that the officer was ignoring me instead of showing respect to assist in my concern, but he than shared that I need to go to such and such a place to get it signed off.
I went to the place advised but when i got there i was instantly ignored. They began speaking their other languages which I asked for them to speak where i could understand. They wanted me to go back to my home and get my passport which i refused for the ID I had with me was legal, although it was expired but that ID showed the same address that from where the box was sent from encase it ever needed to be sent back to the sender which to me was more than enough proof…yes, i know we need to show an ID that is up to date but it was that same year the box was sent that the ID expired and when i already was told by a lawyer that what happen was illegal I wanted it signed off now. So after i shared that I knew my rights and so forth it was finally signed off. I went back to the post office and paid the 35PHP which i knew already was the required tax because it was confirmed to me by a Filipino lawyer.
Now, in the year 2011, I am having problems sending boxes outside the Philippines and when i ask for proof for the reason behind it they said it is written in their rule book which i asked if they would show me but they did not they only ignored me. i asked what papers do i need to bring to confirm what i am sending because what I am wanting to send is not illegal. I than shared a silly example that even too much water, if you drink too much it could hurt/kill you.
“…water intoxication is a very uncommon condition.” << but it is out there
"Hyponatremia, also called water intoxication, is generally the result of drinking excessive amounts of plain water which causes a low concentration of sodium in the blood."
The problem with some, to most, postal service providers, and even government workers, is that they think what they say is good enough and that they do not have to take their time to explain to you when the "CODE OF CONDUCT" says otherwise.
Section 4(d) Political neutrality. — Public officials and employees shall provide service to everyone without unfair discrimination and regardless of party affiliation or preference.
(e) Responsiveness to the public. — Public officials and employees shall extend prompt, courteous, and adequate service to the public. Unless otherwise provided by law or when required by the public interest, public officials and employees shall provide information of their policies and procedures in clear and understandable language, ensure openness of information, public consultations and hearings whenever appropriate, encourage suggestions, simplify and systematize policy, rules and procedures, avoid red tape and develop an understanding and appreciation of the socio-economic conditions prevailing in the country, especially in the depressed rural and urban areas.
I think these two quotes gives more than enough proof how lazy a government worker can become when these guidelines are not fallowed.
"…public officials and employees shall provide information of their policies and procedures in clear and understandable language, …" |
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