Letter to the Editor - What is the truth on balikbayan law?

As a foreigner I would like to find out the truth concerning the balikbayan law if a foreigner is legally married to a Filipino and is putting foreign money into the Filipino economy.

When a foreigner marries a Filipino, at that time he is entitled to one year balikbayan whenever he enters the Philippines even if his is entering the Philippines without his Filipino wife travelling with him.

If the foreigner should enter the Philippines with his Filipino wife and is given one year balikbayan but then has to leave the Philippines before he used up his one year balikbayan then why should he not be allowed back in the Philippines to use up the remaining time on his one year balikbayan that he was given when he entered with his wife? If they should not honor that balikbayan for the one year then the government would be Indian-givers to take back something that they have already given. That doesn't seem to honest to me.

When a balikbayan is given to a foreigner when his wife enters the country with him who is really getting a balikbayan, the wife or the foreigner? If it is the foreigner then how can the government give something to the foreigner and then later, because he has to leave the country, take it away before the year is up?

I know when a Filipino woman is married to an American and living in America she can go back to the Philippines on vacation and return back into the US without having time limit set on her and how long she can stay. So why should the law not be equal for both countries, to treat the husband of the Filipino the same as she is treated in America?

If you stop and think about (it) most of the new homes that are built in the Philippines are money supplied by the husbands from the foreign country for their Filipino wives. Also the foreigners provide money for many businesses to be started by their Filipino wives or her families in the Philippines so there are probably hundreds of million of dollars spent by foreigners in the Philippines for their Filipino wives.

So, it should not matter if the foreign husband who is legally married to a Filipino has been granted one year balikbayan, he should be allowed to go in and out of the Philippines even if his wife is not traveling with him. He should be allowed to use of the whole one year of the balikbayan.

After the one year is up then I can understand that the foreigner should have his Filipino wife re-enter the Philippines with him to start another one year balikbayan but only after the foreigner was allowed to use up the whole year prior to get a new balikbayan.

It almost seems like the Philippine government doesn't care about being fair in giving a good justice in return to the foreigners but are only out to get as much money as they can from the foreigners.

I think it's time that the laws concerning marriages between Filipinos and foreigners should be the same in the Philippines for the foreigner as they are for the Filipino wife in the country.

John Wallace
Sanciangko St.
Cebu City