My personal view is that however feeble and dated, that not all of the Philippine are crooks. Indeed is just matter of percentages. Example is the best teacher of all. You set a bad example, you’ll have a contagion. You set a good example, you’ll have an explosion—of good deeds. You cheat in elections, you’ll have would-be nurses cheating in exams. You return money someone left in your cab, you’ll have other drivers returning money passengers left in their cab. If I recall right, that was what happened many years ago in Singapore. A local cab driver returned a hundred thousand or so bucks that he found in his taxi, and his example sparked an epidemic of drivers returning things they found in their cabs, and buses, In Philippine my recent article also feature 2 airport police return half a million peso to the Russian Tourist. Any honesty act done by individual or company do drop me an email at class95cafe@live.com.sg I would like to posted it to my blog.
Posted by http://www.centralluzoncorruption.com
Taxis
As an Australian we are not used to negotiating fares, so it can be very frustrating. Also the fact that the Taxi drivers will not take you to some locations, because it is too far or there is too much traffic is also infuriating. The fact that this practice is against the law and they still do it is outrageous.
Admittedly in recent times it has improved, however, I still had an incident on the 23 of December 2008 where 2 cabs refused to take us to Landmark from Valero Street because of traffic. We finished up walking. The sites, text numbers where you are supposed to report these incidents don't work.
Red Tape
Doing anything in Philippine Islands (P.I.) seems to have many processes, requirements as they are locally known. The red tape is just frustrating, it also spawns corruption. We set up a corporation and experienced many complications and a lot of processes. We started the incorporation in March 2007 and it was official in July 2007. To date there are still problems with the share holdings. In Australia this process takes one week maximum.
Makati Fire Brigade
We have office space in Makati that houses a team of software developers. The office space consists of a big open plan middle section, kitchen to the left and 2 offices to the right 125m2 in all. An officer from the Makati Fire Brigade visited our office and insisted we needed fire extinguishers, 4 in all. I thought this was a bit excessive as we have an office in Brisbane of 180m2 which only requires 1 extinguisher. We agreed and bought the 4 extinguishers.
We partitioned the middle section with chest high partitions, creating cubicles. A few months after the first visit the officer from the Makati Fire Brigade was back, on seeing the partitions he insisted we needed another 4 extinguishers, we politely kicked him out. More recently a company claiming to represent the Makati Fire Brigade came to the office and took the fire extinguishers from the office, they bought them back some time later saying they had to be refilled. They issued us with an invoice for PHP 6000, we refused to pay arguing that it is company policy not to accept invoices without an official purchase order. They haven't been back. These are known money making schemes of the Fire Brigade, the worst is the stories of owners having to pay the Fire Brigade officers before they render assistance.
Attorney: Bribe Department of Immigration for Visa
When I first moved to the P.I. in March 2007, we engaged an attorney recommended by one of the senior developers. The attorney was requested to perform various tasks including acquiring a Visa for my stay in P.I., upon this requested the attorney listed the costs of filing the application including PHP 50k to bribe the clerk to fast track the application. I made it clear that we do not do business that way and I would not support this practice. The attorney was disappointed because no doubt part of the 50k was for him.
Condo purchase
I contacted a real estate broker about finding a condo. I figured it was better to own one than pay 60k per month rent. When I finally found one I liked in Makati, I asked the attorney to come to a meeting with the broker and the owner.
We met at the Spaghetti House, Valero Street, Makati. The meeting was clear enough, contract was agreed, price was settled, etc..., I find out that afternoon from my Philipino partner that the attorney asked for a commission from the real estate broker, this seemed unethical to me. Subsequently, the attorneys wife contacted my Philipino partner to encourage her to get a commission from me, on the basis she helped in the search for a condo, this commission was then to be split with her, this was starting to concern me greatly. Then finally 2 days before the settlement, the Chinese owner of the condo changed the terms. At this point I pulled out of the deal, the broker really tried to push for the deal to go through, but I refused, there were just too many anomalies, I felt I was at risk of losing my money. I heard of another Australian who had a similar experience in the same building, he also pulled out. I am glad I pulled out of that deal; I subsequently found another condo which was sold to me for PHP 3 million under market value, nice pick up.
Attorney: Bad advice
When setting up the corporation we were advised it must be 60% Philipino owned. However, this turned out to be bad advice, fact is if 60% or more of the income is derived from offshore business then the corporation can be 100% foreign owned. We escaped this trap as we fired the attorney for his anomalous behavior and advice. We subsequently engaged a law firm that represents foreign clients, one of their clients is Leighton.
I have since learnt this bad advice is given deliberately so that unscrupulous Philipinos can subsequently take over the corporation, this happens a lot in P.I. I was made aware that the Australian owner of Interacxion Inc along with his wife, were deported by the collusion of their corporate partners, company attorney, PNP and Department of immigration. This incident was shared with me by one of our employees that worked for Interacxion. Fortunately, without the Australians continued support the company failed. The lesson here is to advise Australian business people looking to come to the P.I. to use only larger firms that have experience with foreign clients.
Dentist experience
Knowing how the P.I. works (foreigners are targets), I asked my Philipino partner to call a local dentist to get a quote for cleaning my teeth. The quote was PHP 600 for mild, PHP 800 for moderate and PHP 1000 for severe, I thought at the time $25.00 was good value. I went to the dentist and had my teeth cleaned.
At the end we discussed one of my 6 year molars needing a deep clean (under the gums) which we booked for the following week. I got off the chair and settled the bill, which was now PHP 2000, however, at the time I was not in the mood to argue.
I went back the following week, jumped in the chair ready for my torture, up front I asked her how much, she said PHP 3000, I said that was a bit steep (it really isn't, it was just the principle of the thing), I reminded her that she quoted PHP 1000 for a clean but charged me PHP 2000. At this point she picked up her demo set of teeth and explained that there was a separate charge for the cleaning of the inside and the outside of the teeth, I said, you have got to be joking, this a lame excuse you are giving me, she insisted this was the case, knowing how ridiculous this was I walked out. I still get a laugh from this incident.
PNP Extortion – Traffic Accident
In November 2007, my Philipino partner and I took a weekend trip to Baguio. We rented a car (Toyota Innova) and drove up on the Friday and returned on the Sunday morning. On the way back down the hill from Baguio we got a flat tire, I stopped at the side of road and changed it.
Further down the road near Rosario, LA Union there is an intersection, a Y intersection where the road from Baguio meets the road from Rosario. Intersections are a strange phenomenon in P.I.. There was a car (Isuzu Crosswind) that stopped quickly in front of us and I hit the brakes, the brakes were sluggish and did not stop the vehicle in time, we basically glided into the rear of the Crosswind.
There was a police check point on the corner where the incident occurred, so there was immediate assistance. The front fender wash pushed in on the Innova, which one the locals actually just pulled straight and closed the hood. The crosswinds spare tire was pushed in and the rear door slightly dented, both vehicles were fully functional and no one was injured. At this point we were asked by the police to drive to the station to file the incident.
When we got to the station, about 11.00am we were informed we had to settle the matter with the occupants of the Crosswind. There was no English spoken, so this was all relayed to me by Philipino partner. I questioned, settle what? The car is fully insured and their damage was fully covered. This did not seem to interest them and they told us we would have to pay PHP 30k to the occupants of the Crosswind to settle the matter. I refused. My Philipino partner also refused.
They started to threaten us, lock us in jail, impound the car. We still refused. We contacted the rental car company and told them what had happened, they advised just get the police report and the issue would be solved by the insurance company. One of the policemen that followed us from the Check point kept on insisting that we settle the matter, we kept refusing. They forced us into an interview room to negotiate, at which point I repeated what I had said earlier, the car is insured and the insurance would pay for the damages, why would we pay twice, I cannot get my money back if I pay them direct. All the while I knew the fix was in, so we just had to frustrate them sufficiently to give up.
The rental car company operations manager knew a high ranking police officer in Manila, this high ranking officer rang the Rosario office, within minutes the officers from the check point disappeared and another officer appeared. The new officer introduced himself as the duty officer, he further insisted we should speak to no one else but him as only the duty officer has authority, I thought fair enough.
Off we went again, he also wanted us to negotiate a settlement, we stuck to our guns. We asked him to provide us with an accident report, he refused, stating it was Sunday no reports are done on weekends, we would have to wait until Monday. We again contacted the operations manager at the rental car company and he advised us to slip PHP 500 to the duty officer to get the report done. We passed on the PHP 500 to the duty officer and he then typed out the report.
At the insistence of the Crosswind occupants the duty officer kept my license, this was to be returned to me once the Crosswind was repaired. After we received the police report we headed back to Manila, the time was already 4pm.
A couple of interesting points were uncovered during the long negotiation. Firstly, the occupants of the Crosswind got really angry with my partner, stating that she was Philipino and she should be helping them, I felt this is a terrible attitude to have and is a shout out to others who may get caught in incidents like this, my partner simply replied, "Why? do I know you?", I was proud, my partner also said to me she would have been angry with me if I had paid, a true Gem.
Secondly, my partner got involved in a discussion with a Female officer at the station, (we had plenty of time to kill, we were there for 5 hours, mostly just waiting) the officer revealed the strategy to her, as it turns out, at the scene of the accident the occupants of the Crosswind colluded with the PNP officers to extort PHP 30k and which they would then split, the female officer revealed she did not agree with their actions stating they were corrupt policemen and she was disgusted by their behavior, she unfortunately is in the minority. The cheeky duty officer texted my partner about two weeks later to meet with her in Manila to hand over my license, we knew what was going on, we made alternative arrangements to pick up the license.
PNP Extortion – Traffic violation
I often go to the restaurants at the Mall of Asia, great selection and the sunset on Manila bay is great. When you leave the mall the cues for Taxis is often quite long, additionally a lot of the taxis belong on the scrap heap, so I opt for the rent a car option. It costs PHP 300 and it is always in a new model van or car, worth it.
Coming back one evening along Passay road we were stopped at a traffic light, then I noticed police pulling over vehicles on the left of us under a LRT station. The police signaled to the driver of our vehicle to pull over, which he did. I was wondering what was going on, it soon became clear it was because I was not wearing a seat belt, I was sitting in the passenger seat. Previously I had queried several Philipinos about the laws on seat belts and they all told me there are none, however, I now know there are. My partner quickly released what was going on, the police were extorting money from drivers, we were just another victim.
My partner asked how much, the police started the bidding at PHP 500 then it was PHP 300. The policeman came over to my side of the vehicle and explained to me that the driver was poor and has little income and I should help him out. He was trying to intimidate me. I insisted that he issue the driver with a traffic violation and that I was not prepared to give the officers any money. This officer then moved to another target and was replaced with a bigger meaner officer, who was also trying to intimidate me. I kept insisting that they issue the driver a traffic violation. The driver finally got cold feet and gave them PHP 200, the driver actually had it in a special compartment in his wallet, he is obviously used to these extortions. I paid the driver an extra PHP 200 when he dropped us off. The officers had there ID's covered so they could not be reported.
Building Administrator: Easy Money try
The Philipinos refer to extortion as easy money, if anyone tries to extort you or earn commission on your purchases it is referred to as easy money. I live in a condo building on the ....th floor. When I bought the condo it had wallpaper which was very dated and dreary. I engaged a contractor to take off the wallpaper and paint the entire condo in off white.
On the day the contractor was to start the job the building administrator stopped them from coming up to the condo, stating that firstly, they needed a release and secondly, they needed to pay a 25k deposit. The release was fair enough (security is important), however, the deposit I could not understand. I asked the building administrator that I would like to discuss the matter with him. We met in my condo where he produced the building regulations. In the building regulations it does stipulate that prior to any "construction work" the condo owner will need to pay a 25k bond in the event of damage caused to other condos.
I told the building administrator that I recognized what he was trying to do, I stated that 1) painting cannot be considered as construction, and 2) the deposit or bond is posted by the owner of the condo, so why was he trying to get the money from the contractor. He wasn't happy, had to leave empty handed. Normally the admin office organizes the tradesmen on behalf of the tenants, this causes the charge to be inflated to support several tiers of commissions, I experienced that earlier in the year when we had our air condition serviced, I organized a contractor directly at half the price.
Attorney: Fees collected under false pretences
A Philipino friend has been married before. As is the case in P.I, divorces are not allowed and annulments are difficult and expensive. She told me about a farm that she has in the province that her mother uses as her sole source of income. This farm is still in the name of her husband. I told her that this could cause problems if her husband made a claim against the farm.
She talked to her godfather in the province about this, who said he knew an attorney and he would discuss the matter with him. The attorney came back with a recommendation about filing a case for "Presumption of Death", the fee would be 20k and take about 3 months to finalize, this was in August 2007. He received the 20k, however, that was the end of it. My partner continued to follow up and received reassuring feedback about the matter. About mid 2008 I started saying that I thought that the attorney actually just took the money and did very little else. I started to research the law, and it turns out the case he was filing had no legal merit. My partner started to pursue the attorney to get her money back, she was able to successfully meet with him at another attorneys office in Manila. The attorney agreed to give the 20k back on Monday 15th December 2008, even signed an agreement to that affect. Subsequently, the attorney paid 10k on Thursday 18th December 2008, with assurance the other 10k would be paid by 10th January 2009. The attorney has made several promises since the 10th of January; however, we are yet to see the balance. I know attorneys are not highly regarded anywhere in the world, here in P.I. they have sunken to new depths.
Villarosa Hospital: Illegal detention and more
My Philipino friend reported this incident to Department of Health (DOH), this concerns an incident involving her sister, Alma. Her sister was 7 months pregnant and went into premature labour. She hoped reporting this event would safeguard future victims.
_________
My sister was admitted to Villarosa Hospital, Quezon City on Tuesday, September 16, 2008. She was pregnant and going into premature labor. She had no money and had already been rejected by 5 other hospitals but Villarosa Hospital admitted her. She had her baby prematurely on Wednesday morning, it was a little boy weighing only 1.1kg. Sadly the little boy died later that night. The birth was natural and she was ready to leave the hospital on Thursday. This was an overwhelming emotional experience for her, I am sure she will suffer from it for the rest of her life.
Even in the face of this traumatic experience the hospital made the matter even more distressing. Knowing very well in advance that she had no money, the Hospital issued her with a bill for around 31k, the hospital knew she cannot pay on the spot. Even though the 31k seemed excessive, she offered a promissory note, the hospital refused to accept it. Then she wanted to apply for assistance from the DSWD and PCSO, the hospital refused to accept that. What was she supposed to do? The hospital detained her, she was advised that she would be detained until the bill was paid. Furthermore, she was advised for every day that she was detained the bill would increase.
I know there was a law passed that makes detention of patients for non payment of hospital bills illegal (R.A. 9439), however, the Villarosa Hospital would not let her leave. I am told this is the called the "Anti Hospital detention law" and applies to all public and private hospitals and medical centers.
In my view the power to detain a person is only granted to the enforcers of the law, like the PNP. Therefore, the detention of a person (except by a law enforcer) is criminal, likened to kidnapping. I also feel that this is a violation of human rights. Problem is that it is hard to find any institution that cares about this.
This is truly a sad affair and the lack of compassion shown by the members of the Villarosa Hospital is very disturbing.
Regards
____________
My partner and I went to the Hospital early Wednesday morning to check out how her sister was. Upon arriving I found that mother was still incoherent and the infant was in a humidity crib. There was no one attending the infant, who looked frail and weak. When I asked Dr. Villarosa what they were doing to assist the infant, he stated the mother had no money so they were unable to offer assistance, he also added they were not sufficiently equipped to handle the situation.
Then I asked what could be done he suggested the infant be transferred to another Hospital that was better equipped, he suggested St. Lukes in Quezon City. I enquired into what was involved and how much it would cost. One of the Villarosa Hospital staff handed me the phone, supposedly a representative of St. Lukes hospital was on the phone. The female voice indicated to me the service for the infant would cost PHP 80k – 100k per day and would take about 3 months. I was devastated, again with the "easy money" and the "foreigners are targets" issue, this would have cost between AUD $230,000 to $300,000, which was just unreal. I left the hospital in disgust. It seemed to me, that there was absolutely no one that cared about the welfare of the infant, which subsequently died.
I asked our HR manager to attend the Hospital on the Friday to try and assist in the release of her sister, my involvement as a foreigner just complicated the issue. She was able to negotiate a PHP 16k fee, which we paid.
DOH did respond to the email, but claimed they could not do anything. The incident has been forwarded to the DOJ. I am not holding my breath.
We forwarded this incident to CHR, however, no response.
Conclusion
I have had more negative experiences with staff theft and dishonesty, but hey that seems common place here. These are my experiences in less than two years, some people do not have this much torment in a lifetime.
Taxis
As an Australian we are not used to negotiating fares, so it can be very frustrating. Also the fact that the Taxi drivers will not take you to some locations, because it is too far or there is too much traffic is also infuriating. The fact that this practice is against the law and they still do it is outrageous.
Admittedly in recent times it has improved, however, I still had an incident on the 23 of December 2008 where 2 cabs refused to take us to Landmark from Valero Street because of traffic. We finished up walking. The sites, text numbers where you are supposed to report these incidents don't work.
Red Tape
Doing anything in Philippine Islands (P.I.) seems to have many processes, requirements as they are locally known. The red tape is just frustrating, it also spawns corruption. We set up a corporation and experienced many complications and a lot of processes. We started the incorporation in March 2007 and it was official in July 2007. To date there are still problems with the share holdings. In Australia this process takes one week maximum.
Makati Fire Brigade
We have office space in Makati that houses a team of software developers. The office space consists of a big open plan middle section, kitchen to the left and 2 offices to the right 125m2 in all. An officer from the Makati Fire Brigade visited our office and insisted we needed fire extinguishers, 4 in all. I thought this was a bit excessive as we have an office in Brisbane of 180m2 which only requires 1 extinguisher. We agreed and bought the 4 extinguishers.
We partitioned the middle section with chest high partitions, creating cubicles. A few months after the first visit the officer from the Makati Fire Brigade was back, on seeing the partitions he insisted we needed another 4 extinguishers, we politely kicked him out. More recently a company claiming to represent the Makati Fire Brigade came to the office and took the fire extinguishers from the office, they bought them back some time later saying they had to be refilled. They issued us with an invoice for PHP 6000, we refused to pay arguing that it is company policy not to accept invoices without an official purchase order. They haven't been back. These are known money making schemes of the Fire Brigade, the worst is the stories of owners having to pay the Fire Brigade officers before they render assistance.
Attorney: Bribe Department of Immigration for Visa
When I first moved to the P.I. in March 2007, we engaged an attorney recommended by one of the senior developers. The attorney was requested to perform various tasks including acquiring a Visa for my stay in P.I., upon this requested the attorney listed the costs of filing the application including PHP 50k to bribe the clerk to fast track the application. I made it clear that we do not do business that way and I would not support this practice. The attorney was disappointed because no doubt part of the 50k was for him.
Condo purchase
I contacted a real estate broker about finding a condo. I figured it was better to own one than pay 60k per month rent. When I finally found one I liked in Makati, I asked the attorney to come to a meeting with the broker and the owner.
We met at the Spaghetti House, Valero Street, Makati. The meeting was clear enough, contract was agreed, price was settled, etc..., I find out that afternoon from my Philipino partner that the attorney asked for a commission from the real estate broker, this seemed unethical to me. Subsequently, the attorneys wife contacted my Philipino partner to encourage her to get a commission from me, on the basis she helped in the search for a condo, this commission was then to be split with her, this was starting to concern me greatly. Then finally 2 days before the settlement, the Chinese owner of the condo changed the terms. At this point I pulled out of the deal, the broker really tried to push for the deal to go through, but I refused, there were just too many anomalies, I felt I was at risk of losing my money. I heard of another Australian who had a similar experience in the same building, he also pulled out. I am glad I pulled out of that deal; I subsequently found another condo which was sold to me for PHP 3 million under market value, nice pick up.
Attorney: Bad advice
When setting up the corporation we were advised it must be 60% Philipino owned. However, this turned out to be bad advice, fact is if 60% or more of the income is derived from offshore business then the corporation can be 100% foreign owned. We escaped this trap as we fired the attorney for his anomalous behavior and advice. We subsequently engaged a law firm that represents foreign clients, one of their clients is Leighton.
I have since learnt this bad advice is given deliberately so that unscrupulous Philipinos can subsequently take over the corporation, this happens a lot in P.I. I was made aware that the Australian owner of Interacxion Inc along with his wife, were deported by the collusion of their corporate partners, company attorney, PNP and Department of immigration. This incident was shared with me by one of our employees that worked for Interacxion. Fortunately, without the Australians continued support the company failed. The lesson here is to advise Australian business people looking to come to the P.I. to use only larger firms that have experience with foreign clients.
Dentist experience
Knowing how the P.I. works (foreigners are targets), I asked my Philipino partner to call a local dentist to get a quote for cleaning my teeth. The quote was PHP 600 for mild, PHP 800 for moderate and PHP 1000 for severe, I thought at the time $25.00 was good value. I went to the dentist and had my teeth cleaned.
At the end we discussed one of my 6 year molars needing a deep clean (under the gums) which we booked for the following week. I got off the chair and settled the bill, which was now PHP 2000, however, at the time I was not in the mood to argue.
I went back the following week, jumped in the chair ready for my torture, up front I asked her how much, she said PHP 3000, I said that was a bit steep (it really isn't, it was just the principle of the thing), I reminded her that she quoted PHP 1000 for a clean but charged me PHP 2000. At this point she picked up her demo set of teeth and explained that there was a separate charge for the cleaning of the inside and the outside of the teeth, I said, you have got to be joking, this a lame excuse you are giving me, she insisted this was the case, knowing how ridiculous this was I walked out. I still get a laugh from this incident.
PNP Extortion – Traffic Accident
In November 2007, my Philipino partner and I took a weekend trip to Baguio. We rented a car (Toyota Innova) and drove up on the Friday and returned on the Sunday morning. On the way back down the hill from Baguio we got a flat tire, I stopped at the side of road and changed it.
Further down the road near Rosario, LA Union there is an intersection, a Y intersection where the road from Baguio meets the road from Rosario. Intersections are a strange phenomenon in P.I.. There was a car (Isuzu Crosswind) that stopped quickly in front of us and I hit the brakes, the brakes were sluggish and did not stop the vehicle in time, we basically glided into the rear of the Crosswind.
There was a police check point on the corner where the incident occurred, so there was immediate assistance. The front fender wash pushed in on the Innova, which one the locals actually just pulled straight and closed the hood. The crosswinds spare tire was pushed in and the rear door slightly dented, both vehicles were fully functional and no one was injured. At this point we were asked by the police to drive to the station to file the incident.
When we got to the station, about 11.00am we were informed we had to settle the matter with the occupants of the Crosswind. There was no English spoken, so this was all relayed to me by Philipino partner. I questioned, settle what? The car is fully insured and their damage was fully covered. This did not seem to interest them and they told us we would have to pay PHP 30k to the occupants of the Crosswind to settle the matter. I refused. My Philipino partner also refused.
They started to threaten us, lock us in jail, impound the car. We still refused. We contacted the rental car company and told them what had happened, they advised just get the police report and the issue would be solved by the insurance company. One of the policemen that followed us from the Check point kept on insisting that we settle the matter, we kept refusing. They forced us into an interview room to negotiate, at which point I repeated what I had said earlier, the car is insured and the insurance would pay for the damages, why would we pay twice, I cannot get my money back if I pay them direct. All the while I knew the fix was in, so we just had to frustrate them sufficiently to give up.
The rental car company operations manager knew a high ranking police officer in Manila, this high ranking officer rang the Rosario office, within minutes the officers from the check point disappeared and another officer appeared. The new officer introduced himself as the duty officer, he further insisted we should speak to no one else but him as only the duty officer has authority, I thought fair enough.
Off we went again, he also wanted us to negotiate a settlement, we stuck to our guns. We asked him to provide us with an accident report, he refused, stating it was Sunday no reports are done on weekends, we would have to wait until Monday. We again contacted the operations manager at the rental car company and he advised us to slip PHP 500 to the duty officer to get the report done. We passed on the PHP 500 to the duty officer and he then typed out the report.
At the insistence of the Crosswind occupants the duty officer kept my license, this was to be returned to me once the Crosswind was repaired. After we received the police report we headed back to Manila, the time was already 4pm.
A couple of interesting points were uncovered during the long negotiation. Firstly, the occupants of the Crosswind got really angry with my partner, stating that she was Philipino and she should be helping them, I felt this is a terrible attitude to have and is a shout out to others who may get caught in incidents like this, my partner simply replied, "Why? do I know you?", I was proud, my partner also said to me she would have been angry with me if I had paid, a true Gem.
Secondly, my partner got involved in a discussion with a Female officer at the station, (we had plenty of time to kill, we were there for 5 hours, mostly just waiting) the officer revealed the strategy to her, as it turns out, at the scene of the accident the occupants of the Crosswind colluded with the PNP officers to extort PHP 30k and which they would then split, the female officer revealed she did not agree with their actions stating they were corrupt policemen and she was disgusted by their behavior, she unfortunately is in the minority. The cheeky duty officer texted my partner about two weeks later to meet with her in Manila to hand over my license, we knew what was going on, we made alternative arrangements to pick up the license.
PNP Extortion – Traffic violation
I often go to the restaurants at the Mall of Asia, great selection and the sunset on Manila bay is great. When you leave the mall the cues for Taxis is often quite long, additionally a lot of the taxis belong on the scrap heap, so I opt for the rent a car option. It costs PHP 300 and it is always in a new model van or car, worth it.
Coming back one evening along Passay road we were stopped at a traffic light, then I noticed police pulling over vehicles on the left of us under a LRT station. The police signaled to the driver of our vehicle to pull over, which he did. I was wondering what was going on, it soon became clear it was because I was not wearing a seat belt, I was sitting in the passenger seat. Previously I had queried several Philipinos about the laws on seat belts and they all told me there are none, however, I now know there are. My partner quickly released what was going on, the police were extorting money from drivers, we were just another victim.
My partner asked how much, the police started the bidding at PHP 500 then it was PHP 300. The policeman came over to my side of the vehicle and explained to me that the driver was poor and has little income and I should help him out. He was trying to intimidate me. I insisted that he issue the driver with a traffic violation and that I was not prepared to give the officers any money. This officer then moved to another target and was replaced with a bigger meaner officer, who was also trying to intimidate me. I kept insisting that they issue the driver a traffic violation. The driver finally got cold feet and gave them PHP 200, the driver actually had it in a special compartment in his wallet, he is obviously used to these extortions. I paid the driver an extra PHP 200 when he dropped us off. The officers had there ID's covered so they could not be reported.
Building Administrator: Easy Money try
The Philipinos refer to extortion as easy money, if anyone tries to extort you or earn commission on your purchases it is referred to as easy money. I live in a condo building on the ....th floor. When I bought the condo it had wallpaper which was very dated and dreary. I engaged a contractor to take off the wallpaper and paint the entire condo in off white.
On the day the contractor was to start the job the building administrator stopped them from coming up to the condo, stating that firstly, they needed a release and secondly, they needed to pay a 25k deposit. The release was fair enough (security is important), however, the deposit I could not understand. I asked the building administrator that I would like to discuss the matter with him. We met in my condo where he produced the building regulations. In the building regulations it does stipulate that prior to any "construction work" the condo owner will need to pay a 25k bond in the event of damage caused to other condos.
I told the building administrator that I recognized what he was trying to do, I stated that 1) painting cannot be considered as construction, and 2) the deposit or bond is posted by the owner of the condo, so why was he trying to get the money from the contractor. He wasn't happy, had to leave empty handed. Normally the admin office organizes the tradesmen on behalf of the tenants, this causes the charge to be inflated to support several tiers of commissions, I experienced that earlier in the year when we had our air condition serviced, I organized a contractor directly at half the price.
Attorney: Fees collected under false pretences
A Philipino friend has been married before. As is the case in P.I, divorces are not allowed and annulments are difficult and expensive. She told me about a farm that she has in the province that her mother uses as her sole source of income. This farm is still in the name of her husband. I told her that this could cause problems if her husband made a claim against the farm.
She talked to her godfather in the province about this, who said he knew an attorney and he would discuss the matter with him. The attorney came back with a recommendation about filing a case for "Presumption of Death", the fee would be 20k and take about 3 months to finalize, this was in August 2007. He received the 20k, however, that was the end of it. My partner continued to follow up and received reassuring feedback about the matter. About mid 2008 I started saying that I thought that the attorney actually just took the money and did very little else. I started to research the law, and it turns out the case he was filing had no legal merit. My partner started to pursue the attorney to get her money back, she was able to successfully meet with him at another attorneys office in Manila. The attorney agreed to give the 20k back on Monday 15th December 2008, even signed an agreement to that affect. Subsequently, the attorney paid 10k on Thursday 18th December 2008, with assurance the other 10k would be paid by 10th January 2009. The attorney has made several promises since the 10th of January; however, we are yet to see the balance. I know attorneys are not highly regarded anywhere in the world, here in P.I. they have sunken to new depths.
Villarosa Hospital: Illegal detention and more
My Philipino friend reported this incident to Department of Health (DOH), this concerns an incident involving her sister, Alma. Her sister was 7 months pregnant and went into premature labour. She hoped reporting this event would safeguard future victims.
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My sister was admitted to Villarosa Hospital, Quezon City on Tuesday, September 16, 2008. She was pregnant and going into premature labor. She had no money and had already been rejected by 5 other hospitals but Villarosa Hospital admitted her. She had her baby prematurely on Wednesday morning, it was a little boy weighing only 1.1kg. Sadly the little boy died later that night. The birth was natural and she was ready to leave the hospital on Thursday. This was an overwhelming emotional experience for her, I am sure she will suffer from it for the rest of her life.
Even in the face of this traumatic experience the hospital made the matter even more distressing. Knowing very well in advance that she had no money, the Hospital issued her with a bill for around 31k, the hospital knew she cannot pay on the spot. Even though the 31k seemed excessive, she offered a promissory note, the hospital refused to accept it. Then she wanted to apply for assistance from the DSWD and PCSO, the hospital refused to accept that. What was she supposed to do? The hospital detained her, she was advised that she would be detained until the bill was paid. Furthermore, she was advised for every day that she was detained the bill would increase.
I know there was a law passed that makes detention of patients for non payment of hospital bills illegal (R.A. 9439), however, the Villarosa Hospital would not let her leave. I am told this is the called the "Anti Hospital detention law" and applies to all public and private hospitals and medical centers.
In my view the power to detain a person is only granted to the enforcers of the law, like the PNP. Therefore, the detention of a person (except by a law enforcer) is criminal, likened to kidnapping. I also feel that this is a violation of human rights. Problem is that it is hard to find any institution that cares about this.
This is truly a sad affair and the lack of compassion shown by the members of the Villarosa Hospital is very disturbing.
Regards
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My partner and I went to the Hospital early Wednesday morning to check out how her sister was. Upon arriving I found that mother was still incoherent and the infant was in a humidity crib. There was no one attending the infant, who looked frail and weak. When I asked Dr. Villarosa what they were doing to assist the infant, he stated the mother had no money so they were unable to offer assistance, he also added they were not sufficiently equipped to handle the situation.
Then I asked what could be done he suggested the infant be transferred to another Hospital that was better equipped, he suggested St. Lukes in Quezon City. I enquired into what was involved and how much it would cost. One of the Villarosa Hospital staff handed me the phone, supposedly a representative of St. Lukes hospital was on the phone. The female voice indicated to me the service for the infant would cost PHP 80k – 100k per day and would take about 3 months. I was devastated, again with the "easy money" and the "foreigners are targets" issue, this would have cost between AUD $230,000 to $300,000, which was just unreal. I left the hospital in disgust. It seemed to me, that there was absolutely no one that cared about the welfare of the infant, which subsequently died.
I asked our HR manager to attend the Hospital on the Friday to try and assist in the release of her sister, my involvement as a foreigner just complicated the issue. She was able to negotiate a PHP 16k fee, which we paid.
DOH did respond to the email, but claimed they could not do anything. The incident has been forwarded to the DOJ. I am not holding my breath.
We forwarded this incident to CHR, however, no response.
Conclusion
I have had more negative experiences with staff theft and dishonesty, but hey that seems common place here. These are my experiences in less than two years, some people do not have this much torment in a lifetime.
