Problems with blades from the Philippines.

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Benjamin Liu

Joined
Jan 26, 2000
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Have anyone had problems bringing blades back from the Philippines? My parents and sisters came back from the Philippines recently and they were not allowed to being the bolos they bought in their check-in luggage. The reason given was hijacking, as if a hijacker can get into the cargo hold. Then they tried to have them shipped back to the US but the company told them that US Customs doesn't allow blades to be imported. That doesn't make sense since many knives and most swords in the US come from foreign countries, including the Philippines.

I had no problem bringing back a barong, bolo, and several kris in 1999, but this is wierd.
 
Benjamin Liu said:
Have anyone had problems bringing blades back from the Philippines? My parents and sisters came back from the Philippines recently and they were not allowed to being the bolos they bought in their check-in luggage. The reason given was hijacking, as if a hijacker can get into the cargo hold. Then they tried to have them shipped back to the US but the company told them that US Customs doesn't allow blades to be imported. That doesn't make sense since many knives and most swords in the US come from foreign countries, including the Philippines.

I had no problem bringing back a barong, bolo, and several kris in 1999, but this is wierd.
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No problems here...I declared them as wall decoration's and souvenier's...put 7 of them in my stored luggage and that was it......NO PROBS.
 
guromkb said:
No problems here...I declared them as wall decoration's and souvenier's...put 7 of them in my stored luggage and that was it......NO PROBS.
Click to expand...

Was that recently? This is the first time I've heard of it happening. What really surprised me was the problem with shipping them. It could be that the company is just being weird.

The airport that would not allow the bolos was the Zamboanga airport and they said that if they allowed them on the plane they'd just be taken away by the Manila airport.
 
I came directly out of Manila...no problems at all....it was late last year...Maybe Zamboanga is a bit different seeing the local of that port.
 
I just checked the US customs site and could find nothing about knives being contraband. IMO it could be that the security guy made up the story and could have been hoping for a bribe, or he could have simply been an idiot. They unpacked my military first aid kit thinking it had weapons in it because it was OD green, as if someone smuggling a weapon would advertize. I still don't get the part about shipping though. I'll have to keep looking.
 
The limitations on shipping blades is only in the Southern Philippines (particularly Zamboanga), and is a local thing due to all the bombings and what not. It first came around a few months ago, to much protest. Though, I had thought the restriction had been lifted recently.
 
Thanks, that makes more sense. I've been searching for US laws (the shipping company in the Philippines said it was a US law.) and could find nothing. My parents came back in early November but the thing with the shipping was in late November. I'll tell them to try again.
 
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