Philippine debt

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Estafa is a criminal offense characterized by the use of deceit to defraud someone, resulting in loss or damage to the victim.

I had to look that one up. Seems you better be wary of associating with some Filipino's estranged wife if you don't want to end up in prison.

...you can get in deep estafa trouble quite easily even if you never write a check. Last year I did some research on the case of a foreigner who came to the Philippines and took up residence with a Filipina girlfriend he’d met. They lived openly as husband and wife and even had a child together. One little detail they seemed to overlook was, she was already married. The woman’s husband was long ago separated from her and appeared to be out of the picture. But under Philippine law, even couples who are “legally separated” are still married. Period.

To me, and many others perhaps, they both committed moral crimes but my goodness, “living together” is so common these days, what could really be legally wrong? Well, the foreigner found out. The woman’s legal husband filed charges of estafa against the wife’s new lover boy.

His acts were deceitful (the first predicate of estafa) and his acts caused actual damage to the husband … embarrassment and a distinct loss of ‘hiya’ … face … at the very least, which is the second predicate of estafa.

The foreigner was arrested and last time I checked he was still in jail while one long drawn out legal proceeding followed another. If found guilty, which likely he will, at the least he’ll have already served whatever time he winds up serving in pretrial confinement and then be deported to his native country, with a ban on re-entry and probably a child support order as well.

Edited November 7, 2012 by The Patriot

[rlogan 2,036]

That story is from the "Live in the Philippines" blog. Whenever a source like that doesn't report the name of the person, the place, or case, while asserting to have both done research and follow-up... there's a reason.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

That story is from the "Live in the Philippines" blog. Whenever a source like that doesn't report the name of the person, the place, or case, while asserting to have both done research and follow-up... there's a reason.

Could be right. I do remember that case from Locked Up Abroad. That was not too far away from the details in this case.

http://documentarylovers.net/locked-up-abroad-philippines-prisoner-of-love/

An internet romance blossoms for British man David Scott and a Filipino woman when he flies to meet her and when she falls pregnant her jealous estranged husband has them thrown in prison for adultery.

This episode is also known as Forbidden Love.

In the Philippines, adultery (defined as consensual sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man who is not her husband) and a related act of concubinage (a man cohabiting with a woman who is not his wife), are considered crimes under the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines.

ETA: My wife agrees that is not estafa.

Edited November 8, 2012 by The Patriot

[020871 2]

Having a debt in the the Philippines no matter how big it is will not hinder your petition with your spouse, fiancee etc as long as:

1. You communicate with the loaner to pay your debt even though you will no longer live in PI

2. There should be no criminal case filed against the debtor. If there's any, check with RTC or MTC of your location. Get all the documents needed, and have arrangement with the loaner

3. There is no check involve, if there's any it should always be a good check and never overdraft or bounced (this is BP22, can be a criminal case)

Please take note that if there are case's filed against anyone, it will reflect on your NBI (which is a requirement for the petition)and will result to 221g( correct me if I am wrong) during visa interview.

I suggest, just ask him if there's a problem with his debt, does it settle, if there's issue and cases filed etc, if none there will be no problem. If he wants to pay for it, then before he leaves PI he should have a PN for his debtor so there will be no problem.

Hope it helps.

[brett and alma 12]

Phiippines has debtors jail so he must be careful. I am not sure as to the amount or whom he owes the money to. However in the RP one has to be very careful as the interest is high enough as is for a bank loan. I had an American friend that got behind on payments to a bank and they worked it out with him so he was fine. I know of local filipinos that were not worked with as easily on debt.

As for speaking with an Attorney.. They will charge him a nice fee just to tell him to pay his debts before leaving..

I dealt with many Attorneys during my business tenures in the RP and found them very unhelpful. I even golfed with two of them.. Laws are common sense is how I look at it. And in the RP they will use common sense and just tell you to pay the debts to clear his name before he tries to depart. He could be blacklisted from traveling if his debt is high enough or if his creditors gets wind he is leaving or marrying a foreigner. BTW, you as his fiancee and foreigner should never never EVER get involved in his debt. Reason is that the entire game changes when they know their fellow countrymen is involved with a foreigner... $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$... A lot of Dollars go up... Trust me I have seen myself different pricing being charged for leases and services just because they know the person is involved with foreigner.... Because afterall in their eyes we are all rich

Good luck

VERY TRUE.........

[rlogan 2,036]

Could be right. I do remember that case from Locked Up Abroad. That was not too far away from the details in this case.

ETA: My wife agrees that is not estafa.

That sounds a lot closer to the truth, even if it wasn't the same case. But the timing looks right too. So this blogger's "research" means reading an article and not remembering the name, country, or the charges:

naughty boy

Edited November 11, 2012 by rlogan