Netizens outraged by ‘power tripping’ immigration officer after Pinay misses her flight due to lengthy questioning
Netizens had choice words for the Bureau of Immigration (BI) after a Filipina missed her flight due to a lengthy questioning by an immigration officer (IO) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
In a video she shared on Tiktok, freelance writer, host and fashion stylist Cham Tanteras recounted her ordeal with a persistent IO at NAIA Terminal 1 as she was about to leave for a vacation to Israel back in December 2022.
Tanteras was due to fly to Israel and Palestine via Gulf Air but was held back by an immigration officer who appeared to be asking questions completely irrelevant to Tanteras’s trip.
After being initially asked about her travel history and reason for going to Israel, Tanteras was brought to the immigration officer for further questioning.
A frequent traveler both in and out of the country, Tanteras had brought all documents that she had deemed necessary to prove that she was a legitimate traveler. But the IO officer, whom Tanteras had named as a certain “Abdullah” did not even ask for any of them.
At the immigration office, the IO proceeded to ask Tanteras whether her parents were separated or not, and whether she graduated from college or not.
It all went farcical from there, with the IO asking Tanteras to produce a copy of her yearbook, as well as write an essay about “boodle” and “freelancing” when the officer learned she was a freelancer.
Tanteras was incredulous. “Who brings a yearbook going to Israel? Who brings a yearbook when you travel?” she said in frustration.
In lieu of the yearbook, the IO instead asked Tanteras if she had brought a graduation photo with her.
“I recall that I have a wacky photo of me in my toga. And then I showed it to him, and he said, ‘okay, that’s fine,” she said.
A Gulf Air ground staff kept checking in on Tanteras at the immigration office as the flight was announcing a final call for boarding.
The ground staff also inquired as to whether or not the immigration officer would offboard Tanteras so they won’t “need to keep coming back” to ask.
“And then the officer said, ‘I will not offload her. Just wait for me for more questions.’ In my mind, I was like, you don’t have plans of offloading me so why do you have to keep asking questions,” Tanteras said.
As soon as her passport was stamped and she was allowed to leave, Tanteras sprinted with the ground crew to her boarding gate but it was too late because it had closed.
The missed flight had cost her P19,000, and she had to purchase a new ticket priced at P27,000 for the following day so she wouldn’t miss her connecting flight. Tanteras was able to fly out on the new ticket from Terminal 3 without incident.
The BI was of no help with regard to her missed flight and the new flight which she had to book on her own dime.
Tanteras’s “immigration rant” video went immediately viral, with netizens sharing their own ordeals and frustrations with airport immigration officials who acted as if they were drunk on power. Some even suggested that perhaps the IO was waiting to be bribed before he could clear Tanteras for her flight. Many are calling for a complete overhaul of the “corrupt” airport immigration system as well as regulations that would make erring IOs accountable for the cost of missed flights.
In a statement that aired on GMA News, BI said it was conducting a probe on the matter and asked for “consideration and understanding” as the bureau does its part to combat human trafficking and illegal recruitment.
But Tanteras is not buying any of it. In a follow-up video, she admitted she was still “very pissed” at BI and thought their statement on the matter was “b-lls–t.” She reiterated the pointlessness of being asked for her yearbook. She also slammed the lack of accountability on the part of BI for her missed flight.
Tanteras said she understands that BI is only doing its mandate, but she’s heard from many other people who had been offloaded or were asked irrelevant questions at the airport.
She also said she does not mean to discourage other Filipinos from traveler and was glad from the messages of support from people who thanked her for being their voice and standing up for every Filipino’s right to travel.
She also said some commenters had surmised that the IO might be waiting for some “under the table” bribe before he could let her fly. Tanteras categorically said she would rather “book another flight than to participate in the corruption. You know, I will never feed their stomachs. I will never feed the system.”
“So, to the Bureau of Immigration, stop relating your incompetency to the current issues like human trafficking. You’re just being defensive.”
She ends with the mic drop statement: “You’re not solving the problem. You are the problem.”
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