Best Posts in Thread: Just another story

Its not just immigration though or LTO but virtually every government connected office has fixers be it getting a business license, getting a firearms license (didn't you hear after all a foreigner with firearms license already is 100% safe! hahaha), getting an annulment, or anything else. It doesn't protect you should they ever look over the stuff and see its not legit or had been fixed. Saying you didn't know is NOT an excuse to them or that the person seemed legit. Its not even an excuse if the fixer actually even worked for the office in question and was a genuine employee.

Simple rule of thumb, if anyone says they can take care of it real quick even if they say or don't say about its likely an illegal fixer. The Philippine government no matter what office is extremely slow, extremely annoying, and makes no sense. If what your doing seems fast, not so annoying, and makes sense.... it is NOT legit.

I've even been told by a government worker (forget what permit office though) and another foreigner that they knew the right people who could get me a firearm permit as a foreigner and both swore that if I had the permit granted it would fully protect me from the police or anyone questioning how me as a foreigner have it. I wasn't gullible though and laughed them off but to many suckers out there.

 

The woman on my right is known by Aurea Sisneros living in Manila.
I was referee to this lady prior to my arrival in the philoppines! I was informed by my good friend that she was immigration officer and she would sort out my permanent visa.
Well I contacted her front NZ months prior to my leaving for the Philippines.
On my arrival in Manila she visited me in my hotel restaurant, produced to me what certainly looked an official government I'd card.
So she promptly took on my application produced me with other official looking paperwork that we duly completed.
On our next meeting we actually met in the building of immigration where we duly did some more documentation.
She left me there went off and come back soon after.
Prior to our departure she told me that I need not come to immigration anymore as she has to pass my hotel everything can be done there as she is an official of the immigration.
Well we did that in the 7 weeks that I stayed in Makati.
After my leaving and believing all was in order and will be finalised in due course, I found a very lack of communication and not answering my calls. Got me a little anxious!
Well to cut a long story short it was all a scam! YES A SCAM.
sh*t I was taken in good style normally I am so cautious after spending 24 years in the forces.
I find out that she is what they call fixers over here. Totally illegal! !
Well I was caught don't let the next person be you or anyone you know. This cost me 100.000.00 + php never returned. Why because if I pursue this through whatever department they will do nothing to help because it is a illegal process.
Please feel free to post this wherever you wish, these sort of practises must stop.

 

I didn't have a state license as I haven't driven in the states for many years before I came here.

When I got my license and when my ex GF got hers we were told we had to go to the seminar at 9am and when I arrived they told me that as a foreigner as I wouldn't understand to just pay 500p. My ex GF did the seminar though and at the end they charged her 500p saying it was the fee for the written test which she never got and they just gave her a license.

This was probably about 6 years ago as well. My fiancee we just went through the fixer who really just speeds the process through getting your name to the top of the pile. Total cost 2k peso's but also our time is valuable to us and we'd rather not waste the entire day and we figured the seminar crap thing was still the norm.

 

If you had a valid stateside license then you were being trolled by a fixer for p500. With Valid U.S. State license you automatically qualify for a non-professional PI license just pay the approx p600 fee and take the stupid eye exam and it's done with no seminar needed ever! If not, like when I allowed my PI license to expire for 2+ years (forgot to renew it and my state side license had also expired by that time) I sat the test and passed it in Tagalog first time (I was hard headed and refused to pay the stupid fixer fee). Plus the test is really easy even if you don't understand the language. They're written for uneducated pinoys to pass! Lots of pictures and diagrams!