immigration 101
Written on 10:37 PM by wanderer
This time, I will tell you my bad experience when I passed the Immigration counter at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
I was on the 4th lane with skinned head- Hitler looking immigration officer wearing Vintage labeled eye glasses and not even looked at me when I was approaching the counter. I simply hand him my valid and legal passport with legibly Immigration filled card on it and yet am not getting any single comment from him. After a few seconds-almost a minute, he then asked me in a very low toned - wondering voice asking me my purpose of getting out of the country and I answered him back with proud chin yet with a very typical pinoy smile that I will be on vacation [to a multiple destinations in Asia]. After hearing such "rich and famous" like answer, he then looked at me with a not so sharp but sharp vision straight to my cornea down to my digitalis trying to dig out if i have some hidden agenda down under my nerves. he was like questioning my capacity to travel abroad maybe because of several factors: maybe because I was only on a pair slipper, ukay-ukay the USO checkered short pant and looked haggard from the heavy traffic and falling on a roller coaster line of passengers, or I don't know, it maybe because we Filipino has this CRAB MENTALITY that we all cannot deny to any human races. He also asked me if I can afford to travel, whats the nature of my job in the Philippines, why travelling alone? if i have credit cards or something the fact that I have showed him my ROUND TRIP TICKET and HOTEL CONFIRMED BOOKINGS. He even asked me a personal below the belt question that I was pretending not hearing anything at all and asked him to repeat the question before he gave up and allowed me to go to my gate. Such a crazy attitude.
On the other side, its all the other way around when I reached my first foreign destination. I stood up in front of the Immigration counter for like 15 seconds only without any questions asked plus an ear to ear wide like smile welcoming me to their land.
This is really a comparison for me to see something unlikable about Filipino.
I was on the 4th lane with skinned head- Hitler looking immigration officer wearing Vintage labeled eye glasses and not even looked at me when I was approaching the counter. I simply hand him my valid and legal passport with legibly Immigration filled card on it and yet am not getting any single comment from him. After a few seconds-almost a minute, he then asked me in a very low toned - wondering voice asking me my purpose of getting out of the country and I answered him back with proud chin yet with a very typical pinoy smile that I will be on vacation [to a multiple destinations in Asia]. After hearing such "rich and famous" like answer, he then looked at me with a not so sharp but sharp vision straight to my cornea down to my digitalis trying to dig out if i have some hidden agenda down under my nerves. he was like questioning my capacity to travel abroad maybe because of several factors: maybe because I was only on a pair slipper, ukay-ukay the USO checkered short pant and looked haggard from the heavy traffic and falling on a roller coaster line of passengers, or I don't know, it maybe because we Filipino has this CRAB MENTALITY that we all cannot deny to any human races. He also asked me if I can afford to travel, whats the nature of my job in the Philippines, why travelling alone? if i have credit cards or something the fact that I have showed him my ROUND TRIP TICKET and HOTEL CONFIRMED BOOKINGS. He even asked me a personal below the belt question that I was pretending not hearing anything at all and asked him to repeat the question before he gave up and allowed me to go to my gate. Such a crazy attitude.
On the other side, its all the other way around when I reached my first foreign destination. I stood up in front of the Immigration counter for like 15 seconds only without any questions asked plus an ear to ear wide like smile welcoming me to their land.
This is really a comparison for me to see something unlikable about Filipino.
