My trip to the Philippines was precipitated by my need to connect with my older surviving siblings. When I arrived in January 2020, I immediately sought my older brother who had a stroke a few years back and who recently lost his beloved wife. He was glad to see me, despite him being unable to talk and wheelchair-bound. My sister who lived thirty minutes away also was very glad to see me.

I asked her if she had heard from our older sister to which she answered in the negative. So, I sought out the downtown core of Manila where she lived during my last visit in 2014. And was saddened to learn that she had passed on. She and I shared a bank account and I proceeded to go to our bank to find out the status of said account. As expected, it became dormant.

As a former employee of one big bank here in Canada, I am fully aware of what happens when a signatory to the joint account dies. I then proceeded to close our joint account but was told to activate said account first. So I activated it. When I was closing it, I was asked for a copy of my sister’s death certificate.

So I headed to the government office handling death certificates. Simple, yes?  To my surprise, they didn’t have any record of her death, hinting at maybe they can make one if the appropriate money were given. I turned around and headed to the funeral parlour where her body was prepared for burial. I explained my predicament and they obliged me. I felt like going back to that government office and showing them the death certificate but I held back. After all, what would it accomplish?

When I presented this to the bank, I was told that I would need to obtain documents from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) with regard to the tax on our joint account. I then headed to the nearest BIR office, spoke with the branch manager who assured me that there will be no problems settling the assessment after accomplishing the required documents.

When I was paying the required tax, the BIR employee who guided me, showed me the office of the branch manager, suddenly changed tune, dropping statements like the process will take time, etc.  I realize and have long accepted that dealing with any government office in the Philippines is like pulling teeth but I was too tired and yes, shocked at the corruption which has become endemic in the Philippines.

While I was going through the process of withdrawing the money from the bank, someone advised me to get a “fixer” for these requirements.  I told that someone, no, I will do it because that’s what I want to do when I learned of my sister’s passing. We promised each other that the surviving signatory would get all the money and I’m living up to this promise.

In short, the tax was settled and I submitted to the bank what they required. Only half of the account can be withdrawn, the other half will be frozen for two years. In my absence of 4-1/2 decades, a lot has happened in the country but what saddens me is the rampant corruption in the Philippines. Imagine your own money, you can not get it just like that. When you deposit, you are treated as VIP, when you are withdrawing, you have to pass such difficulties. Let this be a lesson and a warning to others.