Comments on new guidelines released by Philippine authorities by Alfred deAureaus

I have just read the new guidelines [on outbound travel] released by airport and seaport authorities in the Philippines. It is composed of 7 pages and too lengthy to be published in this paper. Having perused it, I have the following observations:

1. It does not contain a straight-forward instruction;
2. It is open for interpretation depending on who is
reading it;
3. The guideline is open-ended and will only lead to
confusion and delay for legitimate travellers;
4. There is no consideration taken by the authorities for
the airline-fee paying passenger;
5. The government did not exhibit its intention to
facilitate the processing of outbound passengers in a
smooth and orderly manner;
6. These guidelines can be taken as another business
opportunity for “fixers” and an invitation to produce
corrupt employees and officials;
7. Various documents and forms were required by the
authority without the benefit of establishing the
source of the documents and providing an official
template as sample and guide;
8. No detailed contact information of the government
branch was provided should there be questions and
clarifications;
9. A one-stop-shop or an online customer service
advisor was not provided; and
10. The absence of a step-by-step procedure is not in
the guidelines;
11. The electronic copy of the guideline is such in poor
state that I can relate it to the documents made in
the 60’s and early 70’s. Can they not issue a decent
copy in Adobe format?

Overall, the guideline is another backward step for our officials who are supposedly experts, trained and/or educated internationally at taxpayers’ expense. They are mandated to create and fashion a user-friendly structure and methodology to facilitate operations and processes. We cannot deny that there are those who exploit the system, but it should not be at the expense of legitimate outbound travellers who are effectively delayed, if not hindered, in their travel. These workers are considered bread and butter of the Philippine economy. We owe a lot to them and they deserve proper recognition and respect. In this age of robotic technology, we deliberately remain pre-historic in our people management.

Such is life in the Philippines!