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by Carmelita Cochingco Ballesteros.
January 31, 2011
What did I put in boxes as I prepared to go home for good after 10 years of overseas teaching as an overseas Filipino worker (OFW)? Old clothes, books, notes, pictures… memories…
Come to think of it, I could have hidden inside my old rain jacket some diamonds! I could have hidden inside my old pillows some contraband merchandise or prohibited items!
It’s a preposterous proposition if you knew who I am, but it’s a perfectly logical presumption if you had a criminal mind and if you were going home to the Philippines where the Bureau of Customs does not have a reputation for honesty and everything else children are taught in kindergarten.
My personal effects consisting mostly of old books and notes were packed in 21 boxes and were picked up by an international moving company based in Singapore on Friday, December 17, 2010.
It was one of my repatriation benefits and I was very happy about it. One box was sent by air while 20 boxes were sent by sea. It was a door-to-door contract of transporting personal effects from Singapore to the Philippines.
I left Singapore on December 19, 2010. Promptly on January 3, 2011, my air cargo (1box) was delivered to my home by a Philippine partner of the Singapore-based cargo mover.
However, the delivery of my sea cargo took some time. Most of all, it caused me some stress and dismay. The phone calls, SMS, and e-mail exchange began on January 7, 2011 among a Philippine-based moving company, the Singapore-based mover which shipped my personal effects, my employer, and myself.
Passport issue
The Philippine-based moving company wanted my original passport, supposedly for customs clearance and tax exemption purposes. I told the company representative that I will not surrender my passport to people I didn’t know. I am very possessive of my passport and I regard it as a symbol of my citizenship in a sovereign state.
During the 10 years that I worked overseas, I never allowed anyone to take hold of my passport, not even a travel agency because I took care of my travel arrangements. Every now and then, I’d present my passport to my employers and to immigration officers in airports, of course. An employer would make a photocopy of my passport while I waited and it would promptly return my passport to me.
Several persons in Singapore and in the Philippines tried to persuade me to give up my passport, but a check with a lawyer revealed that only a photocopy of a passport was required when applying for tax exemptions. I had already sent in a scanned copy to both the Singapore and Philippine moving companies.
My boxes were being held hostage, so to speak, so why should I allow my passport to be hostaged, too?
Opening of Boxes
by Customs Examiner
On January 8, 2011, a phone call from the Philippine-based moving company drove me fuming mad. I was told that my boxes would be opened by a customs examiner, BUT if I knew a customs examiner, then my boxes wouldn’t be opened any more.
This was the last straw for me. I thought it was a veiled intimidation and an insinuation that I could be smuggling in something.
Another check with a lawyer gave me the sinking feeling that it was going to be a very messy situation. What did I learn, anyway?
First, my personal effects were already out of Manila’s port of entry. They were being stored in a warehouse owned or rented by the Philippine counterpart of the Singapore-based mover.
Second, a shipment may not be opened unless the owner is present.
Third, customs examiners, who are not exactly diligent, have millions of shipments to take care of. So it must be the Philippine counterpart of the Singapore-based mover which was doing a ‘fishing exploration.’ My 20 boxes looked very tempting.
Fourth, OFWs are allowed only ten thousand pesos (PHP10,000.00) for tax exemption. Assuming that my total shipment were assessed at a value of one hundred thousand pesos, I would have to pay 50% tax on the remaining ninety thousand pesos. Was I willing to pay forty-five thousand pesos for my old pajamas and old notebooks?
Fifth, personal effects are tax-exempt. So the Philippine counterpart should deliver my shipment, pronto!
What did I do?
I told the Philippine counterpart and the Singapore-based mover that I would hold them criminally liable if my personal effects were damaged, stolen, and not delivered within a week. I asked my employer to hold the payment to the Singapore-based mover.
I prayed.
I felt really helpless and hopeless. I didn’t need my old pajamas, but I did wish to have my old books and notes because they represent my work as an academic. I felt totally disappointed by the ‘warm’ welcome I was getting from my government, the government which benefitted from 10 years of devoted remittances I made while working overseas.
I prayed and lifted my seemingly chaotic, muddled, and demoralizing problem to Mother Mary and asked for her intercession. I visualized my 20 boxes being delivered to my doorstep. I thanked God and put a smile on my face.
And yes, they were delivered to my doorstep yesterday, 21 January 2011!
Without submitting my original passport, without filing a case, without complaining to a government office or a media office, without paying anything.
Biggest Lesson Learned
The power of prayers is stronger than any human problem. What seems insurmountable for our puny minds is a piece of cake for our Father in Heaven.
We can always transform a negative situation into a winning occasion by soaking it with prayer which is available to anyone of us 24 hours a day, seven days a week!