PSHS-SMC Graduates: Travel Clearance Needed?!

For about 2-3 weeks now, our email group began being active again because of a recent incident affecting one of our batchmates... She was held up by the Bureau of Immigration right there and then in the airport!

Here is an exerpt of the email she sent the group right after the incident:


--o0o--

by the way... ikkwento ko lang ang aking horrendous experience.. . i was flying out to hk yesterday. balikan lang naman. observe lang namin yung cabin crew. pero no... NA-BLOCK AKO SA IMMIGRATION! May clearance letter daw ba ako from my high school? Apparently, naka-watch list ang lahat ng pisay graduates. Kelangan ng clearance from the school. So ayun, hindi ako natuloy. Medyo nakipag-away pa ko sa immigration and I said nakalabas na naman ako last year.. latest pa was december. Pero wala pa din lusot -- new memo sya dated Jan. 15, 2007.

Lesson learned: ipagkalat sa friends if you're going
out of the country kasi baka merong nakakaalam ng new rule (alam pala ni Kuya Mike Abundo). It would avoid embarrasment sa bossing and all the other people around. Buti na lang medyo sosyal yung reason -- hindi dahil criminal. etc...

I called the registrar sa school (Ma'am Lope who was very nice and remembered my nickname). She said ang kelangan lang is a letter from you addressed to Dr. Rosita Fundador stating your request for travel, and attaching documents as proof that you took a science and technology course.

This is a "public service announcement" so kindly also forward to the other pisay yahoogroups para wala nang ma-abala. All PSHS graduates need to have clearance from their school before you are allowed to go out of the country!!! Ito palang si Inkay alam din yung new policy, hindi naman nagkkwento.. .May clearance na daw sya sabi ni Ma'am Lope.

--o0o--


So there, this was what happened to her. And it was kindly traumatic if you ask me... (A copy of the memo being mentioned in her story can be downloaded here. And if there are problems about the download like if it says the page is expired or what, just email me and I'll help you get a copy.)

If you are also a graduate of PSHS-SMC, this is originally PSHS-MC (Davao City), then you might be interested in the signature campaign that the alumni people are doing for the letter they (or, we) are going to give to the Director of PSHS-SMC. Here is an online link to the Letter to PSHS-SMC Director and within the letter itself is a link where you can provide your details to serve as your signature.

Please help us gather enough signatures to stop the clearance thingy that our beloved Director has required us all. If you are a fruit of the PSHS system, then you must get involved. For you, your future, and everyone else's.

:)