Caution in Traveling
Not long ago, two Filipina fellow travel blogger friends went on a separate vacation trip outside of the Philippines. But the supposed leisure tour turned into a traumatic nightmare when they were held in the immigration offices of the respective Southeast Asian countries they went to under the insinuation that they were alleged drug traffickers.
Aside from the fact that I personally know that they are not in such trade, they were presumably held under such “random” investigation because of their Filipino passports.
Check out their personal accounts of their story here:
- My Traumatic Experience as an Alleged DRUG TRAFFICKER in Bali Indonesia
- Dear Singapore: You Disappointed Me But I Wont Boycott You
Last weekend, broadcast media was also able to pick up their story from an uproar in social media forums on the Internet. Here is the recording of the show:
As much as immigration offices might deny, such aggressive stance and racial profiling by neighboring countries might be a result of recent news developments where Filipinos were involved in drug trafficking cases. It is indeed sad news.
So what can we do?
For the common and innocent travelers like us, let us always remember to be calm during such instances, and demand that we call our local embassy to inform them that we are currently being investigated. I think that is one of the most important advise in the GMA show video above. Be safe in our travels as much as we want to enjoy it. 
Tags: travel bloggers, Travel Stories
June 28th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
thanks for sharing Jonel! Bleshue more! =)
June 28th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
We are the one to thank you Gael for sharing your travel story.
June 29th, 2011 at 12:29 am
yan din gagawin ko pag ginawa nila sakin-ttatawag kagad ako sa embassy. pero for the meantime its my decision to travel inside the country muna. better be safe than sorry.awts
June 29th, 2011 at 12:53 am
@pusangkalye - at bago ka mag “travel inside the country,” sagutin mo muna ang email ko sayo!
June 29th, 2011 at 8:16 am
Thanks for sharing this info. We are scheduled to travel to HK few weeks from now. Hopefully everything will be fine, but this is good reminder just in case.
June 29th, 2011 at 5:59 pm
Yea Yodz, I myself didn’t know before what to do in case the same thing happens to me.
June 29th, 2011 at 11:57 pm
..”Indonesian Ambassador Kristiarto Soeryo Legowo emphasized that the incident DOES NOT REFLECT THE POLICY OF INDONESIA, particularly “racial/ethnic profiling and stereotyping”. He requested that the Department convey to the 2 ladies the assurance that Indonesia is SERIOUSLY FOLLOWING UP THE MATTER with its concerned authorities…”
scanned letter: http://farm6.static.flickr.com.....d5e5_b.jpg
being a victim is a choice, and i chose not to be one..