Monday 5 November 2007

bribery and corruption

This morning I had to go to the Bureau of Immigration to get my visa extended for another 2 months. I walked into the reception area and mentioned the magic words... visa extension please... I was immediately asked to stand at the side... a red flag straight away as everyone else is passing through. As I'm standing there waiting I see another guy ( wearing the same uniform) coming towards the desk, I can see eyes and fingers pointing him in my direction... hello sir he says then goes on to explain that the cost of the visa is 3500 pesos but I will have to wait all day for it and I may even have to return tomorrow....... so whats the alternative I ask, knowing exactly what is coming next.............. well sir for an extra 1200 pesos you can get your passport validated in under an hour... .....oh I am surprised.......not. I say that's too expensive so he offers me a discount of 200p. My thoughts at this time are that I don't really want to be involved in bribery but at the same time I don't want to spend my whole day sitting in this office. So anyway I agree to 4500 pesos, after 20 mins he returns... there is an extra charge of 300 pesos (which in fact was true) so it ended up costing me 4800pesos ( about £50). I paid him the genuine fee of 3800p in cash right there in front of everyone, no-one blinked an eye. When he returned with my passport he handed it over in the toilets where I gave him his bribe of 1000p(£11), my new date is now Jan 8th and because of this he wished me a happy new year.. yea right.. so the 1000 will be shared with any other bribes amongst him and his colleagues.

To add insult to injury, included in the genuine 3800 fee was a 500 pesos charge for.....wait for it..... an express fee !!!
To even further add to injury I left my expensive sunglasses in the cab on the way home.... you gotta laugh or I would cry !!!! :-)

Amazingly after playing badminton tonight a friend gave me a lift home... actually just an hour ago at 11pm, the police stopped us apparently for turning right on a red light, he had 3 other cars stopped for the same charge... it was just a shakedown ( thats my gangster talk !) anyway my friend offers him the normal bribe, but alas as it is in Makati the fine is not the usual 500p but is 1000p so the police office said that he wanted 500p to not issue the ticket which my friend didn't have. Although I saw the money changing hands and the officer returning it I didn't understand what they were saying as they were talking in Tagalog. If I did I would have paid him the 500 as now my friend has a ticket which he will have to pay later of 1000p, this is half his weekly salary !!
This is all because police officers can make a good living just stopping drivers and taking money, if you don't give them what they want then you simply end up paying more in the long run.

Corruption breeds corruption.. it simply becomes acceptable in society and then good people start to do it as well.


Hope your day isn't filled with the uglier side of life.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Gerard, what a rough day for you, all that corruption stuff, the law is a farce over there, it should'nt be allowed but what can you do.. I hope you dont have to pay again in January.. you will be halfway through your trip by then. Our clocks have gone back and it gets dark so early, I dont like the dark nights, I just want to follow the sun, what time does it get dark in your part of the world. Enjoy the hot weather, wish it was me. take care Gerard and stay safe... Mary.