Calling it a clear act of “economic sabotage,” Senator Pia S. Cayetano on Monday warned the public about a “fake” sponsored web site that has been victimizing tourists, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and other travelers to pay $70 for the online e-card registration upon arrival in the Philippines.
During Monday’s plenary session on November 21, 2022, she issued a stern warning and advised the public that the government is not collecting any fee for the e-card registration. She asked media’s help to actively expose the scam, while deploring government’s failure to take down the scammers’ account, billed as a “sponsored” content.
She was aghast that anyone who googles for information on registering one’s vaccine status prior to flying to Manila would be greeted first with the scammers’ account instead of the government’s official Vaxcert account.
Cayetano said: “For me that is economic sabotage, no tourists and OFWs will come here anymore because of that. It is our job to alert all government agencies to stop it.”
On the suggestion of Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, Cayetano vowed to deliver a privilege speech to expose the fake web site in detail so that the public, especially the media and the government, would be informed.
Meanwhile, other senators took the floor to expose other existing arrangements that serve to discourage travelers from going to the Philippines, and for Filipinos to travel.
Zubiri and Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa said the government forms on the limits for bringing cash—without need to report this to authorities—is still at “P10,000” instead of $10,000.
This loophole, they said, opens OFWs and other travelers to potential shakedowns if they happen to be carrying more than P10,000.
Minority Leader Koko Pimentel proposed, “While we’re at it, why don’t we finally scrap the travel tax,” calling it unconscionable as “we are the only country in the world that penalizes the constitutional right to travel.” -30-