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.
Tags: no idea
Go to your nearest post office I think that’s the right thing to do.
Or to other carrier like DHL, FED EX, LBC, ETC…
Even DHL and FEDEX make the receivers pay a HIGH amount of taxes.
If you have questions or queries regarding with your forwarders or carriers go to or visit their offices or branches.
I think their staffs or employees can explain it to you rather than just complaining in some sites.
Telling them your queries, expressing your opinions or suggestions and sharing your experiences with their services, whether it is good or not.
I think it will be highly appreciated.
So let them know…
Telling them your queries, giving them your opinions and suggestions and sharing your experiences with their services whether it is good or not would be a great help and I think it will be highly appreciated.
So let them know…
Telling them your queries, giving them your opinions and suggestions and sharing your experiences with their services whether it is good or not would be a great help and I think it will be highly appreciated.
So let them know…
Telling them your queries, giving them your opinions and suggestions and sharing your experiences with their services whether it is good or not would be a great help and I think it will be highly appreciated.
So let them know…
hallo was geht ab??
redet einer von euch deutsch??
salve! Ho già visto la tua foto. anche il vostro grasso.
Who can give the exact location of LBC? cUBAO BRANCH?
sana mauso ulit ang anthrax tapos sobrang potent para pag bubuksan ng mga magnanakaw sa post office patay sila agad. mas maganda yun para mabawasan ang magnanakaw.
Wonderful publish! I completely agree with you.
you must have been born yesterday… no offense but it has alway like this and will always be like this
We also had our horror experience at EMS. There is this particular official named Fema Rosares who made money out of us. There is no way on Earth I’ll do business with EMS ever again.
hello
meron ba sa inyo ang nakaka alam ng pangalang ng customs officer na in-charge sa EMS PO sa Pasay???
thanks!
Hello,
Its the our laws that made these companies compel us to pay the taxes, not only the personnel but also our law. sobrang sobra ang taxes. they should revise the schedule of taxes.
Just had a terrible experience using EMS. My mail was hijacked from the postman. I was really in shock because my mail contained money. I think this is an inside job. How can the postman be robbed in broad daylight unless he is being watched or monitored. Next time don’t put money or else, take the risk.
question meron ba my idea kung magakano ems per kilo philippines to canada?
I sent a parcel from Singapore to PH 30 July 2010 using EMS (guaranteed 2-4 working days delivery). I used the tracking system & found out that the parcel has been ‘Held by Destination Customs’ since 2 Aug 2010! Its supposed to be door to door! What r they planning to do with it? I’ve read so many horror stories regarding the postal/customs system & its freaking me out. The parcel contains birthday gifts! R they gonna tax on toys & games?! Someone pls reply!
ALso same case i have..my parcel from china was sent 28 July 30 and arrive at customs 05 August 2010.. Until now…still there HANDED OVER TO CUSTOMS…What am i going to do? Do you have telephone numbers to call?
Those working at EMS releasing section are all “VULTURES AND CROCODILES” they will eat you alive. I hope all their children will contract all the worse diseases in the world.
I was also ROBBED (or felt like it) by the EMS officers. They don’t have ANY system or classification on how to compute the actual value of your package, they just GUESS how much each item is worth!!!!!
HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!!
…pinakacorrupt na department ng gobyerno yang Bureau of Customs. Kahit janitor/ messenger lang nila, maganda kotse.