Traveling Worry Free to Other Countries

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Here's a tip - when visiting a new place, avoid the heavily beaten track, i.e. tourist spots.

I am a proud Pinoy and have traveled all over the Philippines, plus 46 other countries in Europe, North America, Asia, including Australia - many of them I have visited more than once. I have chatted with a local in Zaragoza (north of Spain) in Spanish about the history of his town. I have marveled at the raw majestic grandeur of Iceland's landscape and witnessed the magic of the Northern Lights. I stood where once was the Berlin wall and welled up at the vast difference between 'east' and 'west' Germany and how families have been torn apart. And on visiting Budapest, I was caught unawares when I was suddenly overcome with emotion while standing in awe at the Fisherman's Wharf's beauty. Art can truly move people.

So I would like to encourage you to use a different track every time time you travel - be it to Europe, North America or North Korea. Even just a few hours in Athens cannot fail to inspire anyone who comes for a visit, not even you.

Though I have a disappointment with regards to traveling. The freedom to travel is something that is severely restricted by our government, and by many others. Offloading on the suspicion that the person is out to find jobs is really unconstitutional.

With this story about no visas, the next thing you have to consider is the humiliation at the immigration counter when they start interrogating you looking for visas while all the people behind you waiting for their turn wondering what is wrong with your documents. Well, you can still succeed in leaving probably after so much negotiation how much you need to throw away to be able to leave. I will not fall for this news not because they are not true but because of some dishonest ill-mannered people at the immigration counters.

While I definitely agree that there are some infringement on our universal right to travel, we have to remember that the immigration official has always the right to question us. This is SOP in ALL countries. Maski mga diplomats alam yan. They can always refuse entry or departure.


Go to Latin America where some countries are visa-free to Filipinos! Visit Costa Rica; Colombia; hike the Andes, visit Machu Picchu, swim at Lake Titicaca in Peru; dance the samba during Rio's Carnaval, climb the Tocantin Highlands, explore the vast Amazon river and rainforest, see the Iguazu Falls in Brazil!

But a transit visa is required to go to South America, there are no direct flights to these countries.This countries don't need visa since they know to get to them you need to pass thru US embassy for a transit visa. same with other countries where there is a layover in a European country. if you want to visit Europe,  Schengen visa is easier to get as long as complete ang itinerary for the entire trip duration, hotel reservations and a return plane ticket.

The best thing to do before you buy any ticket anywhere in the world you go to the country's embassy site and check the visa requirement. Doing so will save traveler from booking a hotel and airfare.

Article 3 Section 6 - Bill of Rights

The liberty of abode and of changing the same within the limits prescribed by law shall not be impaired except upon lawful order of the court. Neither shall the right to travel be impaired except in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law.

Hindi dapat bawalan ang kalayaan sa paninirahan at ang pagbabago ng tirahan sa saklaw ng mga katakdaang itinatadhana ng batas maliban sa legal na utos ng hukuman. Ni hindi dapat bawalan ang karapatan sa paglalakbay maliban kun gpara sa kapakanan ng kapanatagan ng bansa, kaligtasang pambayan, o kalusugang pambayan ayon sa maaaring itadhana ng batas.

I think the Philippine Constitution only protects your rights within Philippine jurisdiction, it does not enable you to freely travel to other countries in complete ignorance of, and totally unconcerned with, their laws and entry requirements. To travel to another country you MUST comply with that country's legal requirements for admittance prior to departure from the Philippines, otherwise you will not be allowed to board any plane or ship to that country. If you do not understand that, it doesn't matter: you will not be allowed to depart unless you meet all entry requirements of the country you'll be visiting.

Airlines having been allowed to have terminals within that country are required by the laws of that country to insure that they NOT allow any passengers who do not possess the PRIVILEGE (it is NOT a right to enter another country) to enter that country, and are legally permitted to do so by meeting all entry requirements in advance. The Philippines imposes the same kind of demands and restrictions on foreigners who come to the Philippines.

Always check the customs rules of your transit/destination country/-ies beforehand. Ignorance is NEVER an excuse. If you are caught in that situation then you have no choice but to follow the rules. Simply put, wag magpalusot.

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