Posted by AB on the main Philippines page and re-posted here:

Batangas should not be considered a Clearing-In Port for Sailing Vessels.

We sailed to Batangas in April 2023 and had a lot of trouble there. The Customs people were friendly. The problem was a demand from an agent for USD8,000 in cash in order to hire a Government barge to allow the Customs Officials to come out to the boat, anchored near the ferry jetty. Under the law no agent is needed and no USD fee beyond a USD2 admin fee in chargeable. The agent also insisted that the owner re-register the boat from a UK to a Philippine boat. We refused and sailed away, illegally, to Puerta Gallera. It took a lot of travel on land and ferry over the next ten days, complaints logged in Manila, and eventually a negotiated deal, with no special USD fee paid, a trip to the boat in a bunkka with a drunken fisherman, with the two Customs guys to solve it. They don’t have a dock for sail boats and don’t welcome them. Most people sail away and don’t pay the USD cash fee and search for another Port; the Customs guys told me that about one boat per year pays the USD big fee, so it is worth the agent’s while trying. In PG there were four other boats that had sailed away, one had been asked for USD18,000.

Batangas has long had a reputation amongst Philippine seafarers as a place of trouble, where the “authorities find lots of ways to drive you crazy”. According to one local seafarer regarding where to clear-in: “We tell our bosses, “Anywhere but Batangas please”.

Be sure to clear Customs before Trying to Immigration. If you persuade Immigration to stamp you in you create a new headache.

Clearing out at Batangas may be easier.

AB