First Passport Chops

So here are scans from my first passport with immigration stamps from the Philippines. I used my first passport for travel only to the Philippines and Mexico. I went to the Philippines twice in 1992 and to Mexico numerous times, but they do not apply immigration chops at land borders, much to my dismay.


A strange thing I noticed about my chops is that the first one from 17 Feb 92 is a normal immigration stamp in the sense that I was admitted as an American citizen. The second, round stamp on the second scan indicates that I was admitted on Balikbayan status.

Republic Act 6768, or the Balkbayan Program, was instituted in 1989 to encourage former Filipino citizens and Filipinos working overseas to return to the Philippines. Under the act, the balikbayan is defined as:

1. a Filipino citizen who has been continuously out of the Philippines for a period of at least one (1) year, a Filipino overseas worker, or a former Filipino citizen and his family, as this term is defined hereunder, who had been naturalized in a foreign country and comes or returns to the Philippines; and
2. The term "family" shall mean the spouse and the children of the balikbayan who are not balikbayan in their own right traveling with the latter to the Philippines.

The privileges of a balikbayan include:

1. Tax-free maximum purchase in the amount of One thousand United States dollars (US$1,000.00) or its equivalent in other acceptable foreign currencies at Philippine duty-free shops subject to the limitations contained in Section 4 hereof;
2. The national flag air carrier shall establish a special promotional/incentive program for the balikbayan;
3. For foreign passport holders with the exception of restricted nationals, visa-free entry to the Philippines for a period of one (1) year
   
4. Travel tax exemption as provided under Presidential Decree No. 1183, Executive Order No. 283, and other allied laws; and
5. Especially designated reception areas at the authorized ports of entry for the expeditious processing of documents.
   

What is strange is that on both occasions, I entered the Philippines with my mother, who at the time had a Filipino passport but lived permanently in the USA, which should have meant that I should have been admitted with Balikbayan status both times. Curious

In the end, it didn't really matter since I wasn't staying in the Philippines for more than two weeks so the 21 days afforded me the first time around was enough for my short sojourn.

Also notice how the dates were entered in hand, which is not very good since it left space for human error and, in fact, in a later post, I'll show an instance when the immigration officer indeed made a mistake in filling in the date.