In her message thanking “supportive” officials of the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), tourist Woo Seunyung reported that her six-month pregnant sister-inlaw Stefanie Kim, a Filipino married to Korean Jaekwang Kim who were at the airport to fetch them, suffered miscarriage after the couple tried but failed to shoulder the cost of taxes worth $137 that BoC had demanded upon their arrival here past midnight last Feb. 13.
Mrs. Kim acted as translator during the incident but she and her husband were not allowed into the airport terminal where the Woos were held amid the tax controversy.
The Woo couple, who did not speak English, were allegedly held by the BoC at the airport for initially refusing to pay the tax imposed on duty-free items they had bought from a duty-free shop in Incheon, Korean on their way to Clark to visit the Kim couple.
The BoC said the items, consisting of make-up and a signature handbag, cost $677 and was taxable since the law imposes taxes on items costing over P10,000.
The items were impounded by the BoC. In her letter yesterday, Mrs. Woo thanked CIAC acting president Alexander Cauguiran and other officials of CIAC who initiated a probe on her case.
She expressed “hope that truth shall prevail regarding the current issue about the Bureau of Custom’s bad attitude towards us.”
“My sister in law suffered from stress while in Clark Airport because of the Customs attitude, she lost her 6 months old baby (sic). It’s very hard for us to move on because of what happened. If only they let my family in the Philippines pay the tax on the first day, not delaying the payment and making us coming back and forth for three consecutive days, this will not come up to this point,” Woo said.
Woo thanked the CIAC officials for their recent visit to the Kim couple to look after their welfare in Subic, saying “thank you for bringing back our trust and confidence.”
“A lot of Filipinos are kind hearted and hospitable like my family in the Philippines and the Clark Airport officers but because of people like the Customs officers, other people or foreigner think different way,” the letter also said.
In a press conference initiated by the CIAC after the incident, BoC personnel Paul Dungca admitted refusing the tax payment being offered by the Kim couple when the Woos arrived, pointing out that such tax should come directly from the person involved.
He did not explain, however, why the Woos were ignored during their supposed meetings the next days until half an hour before their departure at the airport past midnight of Feb. 15.
The Woos said they opted not to negotiate anymore for their confiscated duty-free items as their plane was already about to leave.
They also said they lost an e-cigarette when this and a watch were put on a tray that passed through the x-ray machine at the departure section.
The watch was found allegedly on the floor near the machine and was returned to the Woos.
