The Corruption in EMS Philippines

I lost my faith in the International Express Mail Service (EMS) in the Philippines. And lost a certain amount of faith in the country in the process.

I had two packages sent from abroad to the Philippines, worth $17 each. Both were sent on the same day. One was delivered right at my doorstep, and was paid P35.00.

The other package didn’t arrive. Instead, I received a parcel notice from EMS, informing me that I need to pick up the package at the EMS head office near the domestic airport in Pasay City.


It is the dreaded parcel notice — sent to unsuspecting recipients when your parcel has caught the eye of an EMS vulture. I mean, employee.

Sure enough, I was told that I needed to pay “taxes” worth P4,000 ($90). It didn’t matter to them that then pen was worth $17, and looked like it. It didn’t matter that it has been marked as a gift. I needed to pay the “customs tax” — which coincidentally will not reflect on the receipt. Only the P35 handling charge will be indicated.

Looking around, you could see an old man wearing tattered clothes, begging at the counter to “untax” a second hand PSP. Speaking in Filipino, he explained that his sister in the States sent the old PSP for his grandson. He couldn’t afford P6,000 worth of taxes. He barely has enough to go back home.

Disgusted, I left the package at the EMS, and decided to check the probability of packages being held up by EMS in the Philippines. I had 5 more similar packages sent in a span of 8 days — same weight, same mailing address, same value, and all marked as gifts.

The results: Packages 2 and 5 arrived “unharmed.” Packages 1, 3, and 4 did not. They were unlucky enough to be served with parcel notices.

I initially thought we are only victims of an antiquated tax system by Customs. Proof of this is the fact that Filipino tourists are only allowed a maximum of P10,000 worth of imported goods to bring home. Regardless if these are of personal use. Regardless if you had to purchase an entire set of clothing because the airline lost your luggage. (FYI, in the United States, residents are allowed to bring in up to $800 worth of goods, tax free.)

However, even worse than this illogical tax system are the existence of corrupt & evil personnel at the EMS.

We have always heard anecdotes about missing packages, opened parcels, and illegal taxing of items by the EMS. And we thought that in this day and age, it has disappeared entirely. After all, internet has penetrated the country, lessening the amount of mail being sent out. Surely the EMS would want to preserve their business by offering a highly improved service?

But decades & presidents have gone by, and this corruption still exist. And you wonder if there will ever be a solution. And you wonder if anyone would go out in the streets to correct this. It is so much easier to gather a crowd to oust a President than to fix these deeply embedded corruption in government agencies.

181 thoughts on “The Corruption in EMS Philippines”

  1. this same thing happened to me. i ordered some items from china, and my taxt was too way higher from the value of my items. this thing should stop from happening. i hate them. now, i have to go to customs to pick up another item and guess what’s gonna happen….

  2. upon reading all these……my heart started to faint and umaandar ung high blood ko sa napakaklaradong kabaluktutan ng sistema nila…I receive a notice for my package which is a gift from my student in Korea… Supposedly, di ba ideliver nila yun sa saktong address at tsaka binayaran un ng ngpadala para ideliver sa house ko…Ay naku, wag nila akong pabayarin ng gnun sa walang kwentang tax na sinasabi nila, ipakita nila ung computation at ilagay sa resibo…
    Pano ko pa maapreciate ung gift ng ngpadala kung babayad pako, eh di sana wag nlng ako pdalhan…at tsaka, dati rin dun sa probinsya, nkarecieve din nmn ako ah, at ung postal fee lng ung binayaran ko, mga 40 pesos ata…
    kelangan lng masubdue ang mga kurakot na nandyan..
    di ako papayag sa bayaran na minsan sobra pa sa price ng item..so grrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  3. nakakapag init ng ulo ang phil postal ems office!!kya nga tinawag na ems!!pra express…kaso dumating sa akin ang package 1 wik ago!!tang ina kyo!!ini stock lang ninyo ang package ko!!!!grrrrrrrrrr!!mahal pa ninyong maningil mga buwaya kyo!!karmahin sna kyo!!

  4. sinasadya nila lakihan ang ita-tax sa ‘yo, sa kanila kasi mapupunta. you can’t avoid this, just make sure na may official receipt kayo para ‘di nila mabulsa! OFFICIAL RECEIPT dapat, nakalagay dun ang total na bianayaran ‘nyo. ang ginagawa kasi nila may ibibigay na print-out aakalain mo resibo pero hindi naman. kaya ang laki nila mag-tax ibubulsa kasi nila.

  5. Had similar experience today 8th of July. I had a plastic watch sample sent from China. Since I was not in a hurry to receive the sample, I opted to use EMS instead of DHL or FEDEX. My messenger called me from the EMS office and said the examiner advised him to pay Php 1,200. I said “WTF!!” The sample watch cost only like less than Php 100. How in the world it reached to Php 1,200 ??? If I only knew they would charge like this, I might as well had it DHL or FEDEX.

    I am saddened for the OFW who would want to send a simple gift to their love ones.

  6. EMS is the worst service in the Philippines ever. DO NOT SEND YOUR PACKAGE VIA EMS. YOU WILL REGRET IT. People who work there are cowards. ayaw man lang makipag usap sa telepono. We sent our company messenger to pickup our over due, long awaited package. Ang tagal nang dumating, ang hirap pang kunin. Nakakahiya ang postal service natin dito! kailangan daw ng authorization letter…eh may nakalagay na nga sa likod ng pickup card nila to authorize your representative. para daw pag may mag habol, may mapapakita daw sila. duh, any one could make up an authorization letter. DUMB ASSES!!!! this country’s service sucks!!!! no wonder we never improve with this type of mentality. always afraid and not thinking of what they are asking people. NEVER SEND YOUR PACKAGE VIA EMS…GO AND USE DHL OR OTHER SERVICE. STRAIGHT TO YOUR DOORSTEP PA. SA EMS, MAKIKIPAG USAP KA PA SA MGA UTAK LANGGAM!@!!!!!!!

  7. LOST SHIPMENT

    I send a letter of invitation to a foreign chummy somewhere in china, the said letter doesn’t even weigh a quarter of a kilo but when I check the grams indicated at the receipt, OMG to the highest degree! How come a sheet of bond paper gonna weigh 209 grams?! Plus a week after, that said ems letter didn’t even arrive at its supposed destination…tracking number is incorrect and so, VOILA!

    LOST SHIPMENT!!

    DAMN YOU PHILPOST EMPLOYEES ESPECIALLY INTIMIDERANG RED LADY NG SOLANO, NUEVA VIZCAYA! OLDIE KASI!

  8. May tax po ang food, clothes, noodles. Ang alam ko po pag binayaran na home deliver dapat ideliver ung iba kasi pina pick sa EMS pasay tapos na niningil sila nang tax.. sila pa ang nag bubukas nang box. Gaanon na po b ka corrupt ang nag tatrabaho dito. Isang beses sa isang taon na lng kmi mapadalhan dalhin mahal ang mag papackaged tapos hold pa nila. Maiiyak ka na lng dahil ang tagal k pinag hihintay sa labas nang office. Sana naman na iisip nang mga ito hindi lahat nang pinadadalhan eh may pera. Kaya nga kmi pinadadalhan dahil ung lang ang inaasahan nmin. Sana naman ma ayos ang systema ninyo bago pa maubos ang tiwala nang tao at maubos din ang costumer ninyo.. konting konti na lng. Sa susunod kayo na ang pasisikatin nang social media fb or sa news mababasa sa balita at tv. Sa aming Pangulong Benigno Aquino sana magawan ninyo nang paraan ang tamang paniningil nang tax at sistema nang padala nang ofw. Kapag si Dueter ang naging Pangulo baka maputol na ang kamay nang nasa EMS Pasay.. good luck sa bansang pilipinas sana maging mabuti kayong mamamayan.

  9. Shit Idiot and Fucking service. EMS PASAY so disappointed. Pls help
    they dont issue the OR for tax. I PAY 3 THOUSAND pesos for tax. only printed paper for tax what the hell where did you bring the tax money. All of you are crocodiles. The people who work there will get karma as soon as Philippines government will investigate you guys are on trouble. Wait and See.

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