Passenger from Dubai held at Clark airport for undeclared cellphones

A woman recently went viral after she went live on social media while being held by the Bureau of Customs at the Clark International Airport for bringing home undeclared cellphone units.

According to a 24 Oras report by Jun Veneracion on Friday, the viral video showed the woman confronting BOC personnel on a livestream.

She was reportedly held by BOC personnel for repackaged cellphone units that were found on her carry-on luggage.

“Yung phone kong ‘yun, ni-rebox lang po. Second hand tapos ni-reformat, tapos ni-rebox,” said complainant Majilyn Alina Valencia.

(That phone was just repackaged. It was secondhand and reformatted, then repackaged)

“P100,000 yan, ang sabi po niya. Ang limit daw po ay P10,000 lang. Sabi ko po, padala lang ito. Tapos ang sabi po niya bawal daw po ang magpadala kasi ako daw po ako ang nakapirma. Sabi ko po yung iPhone po na ito [ay] hindi po ito P100,000 [dahil] iPhone 12 lang po to, tapos ako po ang bumili nito online. Kasi ang nagpadala po kasi, pinautang ko gamit po ang credit card ko, bale ako po ang bumili,” she added.

(She said this was P100,000 and that the limit was just P10,000. I said that I was only asked to bring this, and she said that I was not allowed to because I was the signatory. I said that this iPhone was not P100,000 [because] it is just an iPhone 12, and I bought it online. The person who asked me to bring this asked me for a loan and I bought it with my credit card.)

After a short argument, she was eventually allowed to pass through with all of her luggage.

Meanwhile, an incident report from the Port of Clark stated that packages of sealed cellphones were found on her carry-on luggage upon the complainant’s arrival at the Clark International Airport on May 3 and required examination.

The passenger allegedly got angry at the customs personnel when she was asked for a re-examination of her luggage.

Her customs baggage declaration form also declared that she had no cellphone or similar gadgets aside from her personal items, which should have been declared.

The Bureau of Customs also stated on their official statement that she failed to declare said items, which was a violation of the law.

“The traveler failed to declare the items, which are considered dutiable goods in the declaration form. Such non-declaration is a violation of Section 1404 of the CMTA, leading to possible seizure, surcharges, and other penalties,” the statement read.

While she would have been allowed to bring tax-free items worth up to P150,000 back to the country if she declared she was an Overseas Filipino Worker, she only declared that she was a returning resident and was considered a tourist. —Jiselle C. Casucian/NB, GMA Integrated News