Philippines Require Visa for Americans
It was just a few weeks ago, that any American citizen could fly to the Philippines and enter without a visa and stay for up to 30 days. That was before the recent tit for tat Filipino reprisals to the US immigration authorities denial of a few Filipino officials landing in the USA.
The US banned the officials because of Human Rights violations that the Duterte government made in the illegal detention of one of its own senators, De Lima, an alleged corrupt court official and related drug rings in that country. Two American senators, Leahy and Durbin, stated it was a Human Rights violation according to recent US laws passed.
Many people in the Philippines have sided with De Lima, stating the Duterte government and the president had it in for her after she blew the whistle on the corruption inside the Duterte officials. Others, claim the opposite and that she was involved in receiving payments related to drug deals.
All that aside, it is obvious that President Duterte continues to prefer China over the USA and some of it stems from personal feelings and experiences. Duterte was a 20-something years ago when he sought to get a visa to visit a friend and was denied. He never got over it and remains tainted on the US. President Trump has invited him three times to visit the White House, and Duterte snubs the invite for no reason.
It is possible that these two bullies just might try to bully the other, for sure, but it also has to do with national pride and that the Philippines is standing up to the USA while relying on China for much of their trade.
Depending on how Trump reacts, Americans may have to get a visa first before flying there and for the one million of them that visit the country, that means delays and headaches. Nothing is fast in the Philippines.
