I am not sure how to classify this blog so I will just call it a vacation gone bad. And I guess I should tell you my trip is being hosted by the US Embassy in Manila and Bank Of America. But I guess this review is extended to the 100's of government officials (US and Philippines) who have refused to take a report on many FDIC crimes. Any way here it goes.
It is now January 2005 and I was busy with the last details of my wedding trip to Tabaco City, Philippines. And as anyone needs to do before taking such a trip, I called Bank of America to tell them of my upcoming plans. I also talked about my concerns about being able to access my Social Security Disability payments while being abroad. It was explained by a very kind customer service lady which atms I should use and she explained that using machines with certain symbols would avoid any excessive service fees. She then assured me I would have no problems and if I did, I could contact them via their 800 number.. At the end of our conversation I told her that I had no idea of how long I would be staying in the Philippines. But I assured her that I would contact the bank when I had an address to give them. So anyway I left the US in January 2005. I Arrived in Manila nervous as hell about a wide range of issues but at least I was secure in the knowledge that I had a guaranteed income. Here in the Philippines a small payment even like SSD makes you rich. Honestly I was kind of hoping that if it was cool here I would stay. At least until my wife's Visa was done. My wife Bless and I were married on February tenth 2005 and life was great. But like many new marriages some times there is trouble with in laws.
And I was learning my in laws had bad affiliations with many criminal elements such as the NPA.(New Peoples Army) One brother in law is being sought after by the military. A sister in law who still resides in Tabaco is involved in much of the local street crime, scamming Americans via the Internet and is well connected from a former job as a reporter. Another sister in law is wanted by the Philippine government for embezzlement and is currently living in Saudi Arabia on a fraudulent passport. And between the lot of them they claim to have connections with bank managers, mayors, and the former Governor of Albay, not to mention local judges and many police officials. And from what I have seen at least parts of their claims are true. I had one major argument with my mother in law when she said she would like to shake Osama's hand. But then saying it's her life's dream to go to America. This was the last time I would see her until, the birth of our child.
Anyway we rented a big house and started to plan our lives. And due to our family problems we planned on leaving Tabaco City as soon as possible. Little did we know, February would be the last time I would see a full SSD payment. From that point forward half or more of my payments went missing from my account for the next 15 months. Money was being stolen even from a negative balance month after month. In the US it was not possible to overdraft an account solely by ATM transactions. Come on bank how could you let that happen? Well anyway, back to my trip.
We then learned of the happy news that my wife was pregnant and I was taking very ill. This condition worsened during the months that followed. But even through such hardship we got by. You can only ask my wife how. But things like going to Manila and keeping my visa up to date were just not possible. And good luck trying to save money for a baby on the way. Yes we got by living in complete poverty. We even lived in a house that got condemned and trust me condemned is a much different standard in the Philippines than in the US.
Life went on like this until two days before my daughter was born. And thats when my sister in law showed up after many months, raising concerns about my wifes pregnancy. She then talked us into going to a hospital by the name of Jaime B. Berces Memorial Hospital because the administrator is a close friend of hers. If only we stuck with our OBs' instructions.
So we went with my sister in law to her friends hospital and several hours later my wife gave birth by emergency c-section. Do you know what its like to hold your child for the very first time? The pride, the joy, that pure sweet emotion that just can't be put into words. I don't care how long you went to school or how many words you know. You just can't. And for that short time all my problems were forgotten. Little did I know that 3 days later my baby girl would be taken as collateral on a the hospital bill. And the word collateral is being more than polite. .We were prisoners, armed guards and the works. I could fill a book of the events that took place but suffice it to say that four days later I would be on the floor in the fetal position crying like a newborn myself because I had no idea where my wife and kid were.
The main players at the hospital were the hospital administrator, my mother and sister in law's working for a darker end. My sister in law, Cresther, who is in Saudi can only tell you what that is. The hospital administrator and my in laws worked in tandem using threats and blackmail trying to get me to leave or pay extortion money in order to keep from being deported. But their deepest wish was to change my daughter's birth certificate so they can ship her to Saudi. Then Cresther can gain inheritance from her dying husband. Under Saudi law, I've been told, she cannot inherit any money when she has no children. Also my daughter is worth a lot of money in arranged marriages. For those of you who do not know human trafficking and kidnap for ransom, they are big business in the Philippines. And she needs money in a bad way. Once her husband dies she will have some serious immigration problems of her own.
The events around the hospital lasted about two weeks but in reality we were kind of prisoners for the next year. It's hard to escape when you do not know who the guards are. We could not even go to the store with out getting a text telling us they knew we went out and where. We even got a text demanding to know what the fed ex guy delivered when my daughters passport came. We were in shock most of the time and were lucky to just be able to raise a healthy baby. We were able to learn that my daughter was entitled to get benefits through SSA so we applied over the phone to SSA office in Manila. They sent an investigator to our home in February 2006. We told Alex Eusebio the whole story of my payments being stolen even to that day and what happened at the hospital. He acted like it was all nothing. He wrote down nothing in regards to what we were trying to report. He just did what he came to do and left. Not acknowledging any of the things we have said. We were shocked by that. Reinforcing what was planted in our minds that our situation was nothing.
I posted letters to my Washington senators on their web sites. All I can say on that, is I hope you did not vote for them this last time. Now the bill in question was less than 1000 US dollars. And to add insult to even further injury, our last 200 dollars went missing from my bank while my wife was giving birth .
Then in September Typhoon Milenyo came and destroyed the house we were living in. We took all the money we had and fled to the Embassy in Manila when the roads cleared, fearing that my in laws would make another attempt on our daughter. And the word on the streets were not good for us. So we spent a week getting passed from window to window. Homeland Security said my wife cannot get asylum because I am American. Hmm how about a little consideration then. They could give us special circumstances under our situation. But I guess one would be willing to take a report someplace. The Social Security Administration said they sent my full benefit amount and their responsibility ends there. But they track down lost checks whats the difference? And never mind the fact I reported the thefts many times and they did not even stop the deposits from going in to my hemorrhaeging account. Even though I had a safe account already set up. For some reason it took three months to update their records. And when I tried to complain they explained how that would be giving me special treatment and I would basically have to wait like every body else..
American Citizens Services told me I can take my daughter to America any time. I then asked him what about my wife. The guy looked me straight in the eye with a smile and said “what about her” He was the only American I got to see at the US embassy. And my wife was standing right there and then burst into tears. I was never ashamed of my country until that very moment. He then passed our case off to a lower worker. Who then gave us the Tabaco City police telephone number. Did I mention that Tabaco City was in a state of calamity because of the typhoon? Never mind the fact that my in laws have many contacts at that office. What do you think they could do about Bank of Amerikano? We also went to the Bank of Amerikano in Manila. All they would say is that they only handle corporate accounts and they will not discuss my account. And when I grew frustrated with them they threw us out. No one cares that a traveler can have his bank account fleeced every time he puts his Visa Check card in the machine then be held hostage and be trapped at his vacation destination for what looks like very possibly the rest of our lives. It seems like someone should care just a bit. I guess US government wants to track all the other people's money but are not concerned to whathappens to US treasury money. At least they could have picked up a pencil ...any of them. They sent us to the wolves, broke, homeless and tired.
While in Manila we also sent a battery of letters to the bank, both my Washington senators (again), Fox News, and Bill O'Reilly and the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Senate Committee on Banking and Finance and Vice President Cheney, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Mike Enriquez of GMA-7, Julius Babao of ABS-CBN and many more. Out of all the people I mentioned the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Senate Committee on Banking and Finance and Vice President Cheney were the only respondents. They requested our mailing address but unfortunately at that time we did not have any address to give. Our house was just destroyed by super Typhoon Milenyo and we had just fled to Manila for help. We responded to the vice presidents intern Rose Folsom once again stating we had no address and that we were in serious danger. I guess they did not feel a need to respond to our many pleas. Several letters later Rose Folsom did send an email requesting I take her off my contact list. I have the dated letters of most of the people we contacted and it is a very long list.
With no more options we took the bus for what was left of our home. In the month that followed, my baby girl got very sick and lost much weight due to us not being able to buy her milk. But the following payday with my payments safe in a bank other than Bank of Amerikano, life has potential once again. Then in November, Typhoon Reming came and hit us dead on. We were in the stone age for two months.
So I even contacted my mother Marjorie residing in Kailua Kona Hawaii. I have not had any contact with her since Clinton's famous first term. She seemed happy to hear she has a granddaughter but she was too busy on her two books, Donna Quixote cartoons and condo meetings to even call one person on our behalf. Guideposts must be happy to have such a good Christian as a writer.
My brother sends me angry letters because I was mad at my mother. He says that I am crazy and only seeking attention. And I have no right to play the victim. He then tries to convince my wife the whole thing never happened and I need to get some medication. He then tells me how he is bigger than me now and he wants to kick my ass. I guess he wants to go on Jerry Springer.Mom if you are reading, I hope you finally understand me. I tried to work all this out with you. And you even cut the line with your own very sweet grandchild. As long as we live our lives wrapped up in ourselves, closed off to all other points of view, how can anyone say they are fair? Now being betrayed by even my own family, our mess remains and my daughter is still not completely safe. If I do nothing, I may have a shot of living a long life here. But that seems foolish. People may still be after my daughter. I have made multiple contacts to Bank of Amerikano via email. They said sorry to hear of your problems. The security of my account is important to them and to please join their online banking. The problem with that is I already told them, that option for what ever reason has never worked. Page cannot be displayed.
And people don't fool yourselves by thinking that registering with the embassy will help you. Hell their web site does not even have a contact us. So if you have no family to contact you are truly screwed. Did you know they take Columbus Day off? That was another day in Manila completely in the crapper. But I have to hand it to them; they have the best flushing toilets in the country. And it's not just me folks. I have seen other Americans in various banks holding their Bank cards with the Visa Logo in hand trying to get their own answers as to where their money went.
Day before yesterday my wife met another American guy and the same thing happened to him but in his case for two years. Different results but you can overlay our embassy stories. He called them after Typhoon Reming to ask help for himself, his wife and three kids. Of course they did not even offer him a slice of bread. Come on embassy, how about a little help for a foreigner?
There was a time that Americans would rally to the cause of one of its infant children. But that has all changed now. Our own press only rallies to the aid of the rich. It is not good business to do a story that will hurt one of its sponsors. I think Bank of Amerikano and Visa has advertising and sponsorships in all of the main stream media. Its hard to watch a US sporting event without seeing their blue and red logo some place in the stadium. And its the same with web sites.
After so much time I have given up on the bank ever doing the right thing. I have managed to fix my visa problems but bringing my wife to the US is impossible as it stands now. Because of Bank Of Amerikano's neglect, I have lost all ties in the US. And with out an address the embassy requires 60, 000 dollars in my bank account or a co-signer in the US before they would even consider a visa for my wife. And for me to go back to US to get established and apply for my wife, would take at least 10 years before I could even apply for her visa. Lets get real I have been on disability a long time and I have no work history for the last four years. In todays economy I would be lucky not to wind up on the streets after getting off the plane.
So I guess we will make the best of life here. What other choice do I have? It is my hope that one day this blog will pass the eyes of someone who can help on any aspect of our problems. It seems finding people who, it is not in their best interest to do nothing is very hard. If you want to help and do not know what to do perhaps send an email to anyone who you think may be interested in our story. Hell it would make a good book. Or at the very least pass this page to a friend and tell them to do the same. This, after all, is a fairly simple matter with road blocks every place. Whatever happened to what was in the best interest of a child. I wonder when that measuring tool for moral decisions in a moral society changed?
http://www.tagged.com/vengeful_eagle01 my home page
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