The Department of Tourism (DOT) has expressed elation over the new surge of foreigners into the Philippines. Among them are the South Koreans, most of whom are regular students while the rest are entrepreneurs.
Try to visit some of the colleges and universities in Metro Manila and in other cities and you won’t miss seeing chinky-eyed nationals rushing up to attend their regular classes. According to education officials, most of these Koreans are flooding to the Philippines because they find the tuition fees affordable plus the good quality of education that they can acquire in the country.
Some Korean students said that they prefer to study English in Manila because it is very expensive to study the language in other countries, particularly in England and America. This is not to mention the extreme difficulties getting the required student visa needed for the trip to those countries.
While tourist arrivals have improved over the years, a large number of local entrepreneurs and businessmen have expressed dismay over the surge in the presence of Koreans in the country. Newspaper reports said that competition has started to become messy because some of the Koreans have set up businesses of their own, particularly restaurants, grocery stores and videoke bar joints.
Of course, they have the edge over some of the local entrepreneurs considering that they have the resources to operate their businesses in the long-term.
As a show of reciprocation, the Korean government has recognized the inflows of Filipino workers in South Korea. It even went beyond its normal procedures of granting legal status to at least 4,000 Filipino nationals who have been there for a long time now.
But the flooding of Koreans in the country came without pitfalls in the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID). Some Koreans have repeatedly complained about the harassment some of them are getting from immigration officials.
As everybody will know, this is no longer new in the BID premises at Port Area. Almost everyday, fixers have abound outside the entrance of the immigration office. Do you think these fixers will proliferate, despite issuance of order than bans them from coming too close to the BID premises, if they don’t have any connection inside? Of course, the botton line to all this is always the color of MONEY. What else do you think?
With the present set up initiated by the new immigration commissioner, everybody hopes to see a better immigration system that is free from the peering eyes of the public. Can you do it commissioner?