A few of my girl friends who are married to foreigners have told me, not once, but a number of times that they will adopt their husbands’ citizenship when the time comes, if only for the chance to change their passport.According to them, travelling between countries is a hassle when you’re holding the Philippine passport. Visa and immigration officers tend to give one a hard time, a sad fact of life that comes with being the citizen of the Third World whose enterprising countrymen can come up with anything – from fake LVs to fake documents. Yes, including what am talking about in this post. 
I don’t know yet how I’ll decide when the time comes.Apart from that unfortunate incident with the US Embassy a few months back, I haven’t really felt discriminated in a port of entry or given the run-around. Also, travelling to the US and Europe doesn’t hold luster for me anymore, as I’ve done it when I was younger and my fear of flying sucks. Right now, I am just enamored with travelling in and around Asia. It’s good thing that being a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Filipinos can roam around most parts without need for a visa.
Also , Doubting Thomases among immigration and embassy personnel should rest easy with the implementation of the new machine-readable passport since late 2007, and a biometric one coming up soon. Technology these days has made it virtually impossible for anyone to manufacture passports in their own backyard, which should be a good thing for legitimate travellers like you and me 
Luckily, I chanced upon the Henley Visa Restrictions Index which ranks countries according to the “travel freedom their citizens enjoy.” In the global ranking, Denmark topped the list, with 157 countries their residents can go to without need for a visa. The Philippines had a score of 50, ranking below Zimbabwe, and just the same as Ukraine. This means there are 50 countries we can go to without need for a visa. Partial list after the jump:
South America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
North America: Costa Rica, Dominica, Haiti, Turks & Caicos Islands
Europe; Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
Africa: Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
Non-ASEAN: Hong Kong, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka
Middle East: Iran, Israel
Note: I guess this is the disadvantage of having a PI passport. You’d want to travel unimpeded to Paris and Tuscany but your option is visa-free access to Azerbaijan instead. Ugh. UGH.
For health, passport, and visa requirements on your next trip, this KLM site is really helpful.
I’m a Filipino living in Russia and Azerbaijan is actually stunning
I recommend it to Pinoy travelers.
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BWAKANANG INANG MGA US, BRITISH, EU, AUSTRALIAN, CANADIAN, JAPANESE AT KUNG ANO ANO PA! PAG SILA ANG PUPUNTA SA ATING BANSA WALANG CHE-CHE BURETSE DIREDIRETSO SA IMMIGRASYON NATIN ANG MGA HINAYUPAK NA DAYUHAN, AT KUNG MGA MAKA- ASTA PA AY AKALA MO KUNG SINONG MGA PONSIO PILATO, SUBALIT TAYO NAMANG MGA PINOY AY BILIB NA BILID AT HANGNGANG-HANGA SA MGA HUNGHAS NA WALANG PAKUNDANGAN PAG HAMAK AT PAG ALIPUSTA NG MGA DAYUHAN SA SARILI NATIN BAYAN. SUBALIT BAKIT KAPAG TAYO ANG TUTUNGO SA KANILANG BANSA KUNG TRATUHUN TAYO NG MGA IMMIGRASYON OFFISYAL NILA AY TILA BAGA TAYO’Y MGA PUSAKAL NA KRIMENAL!!! SA AKING PANANAW AY NAPAHIRAP SIKMURAIN NG GANITONG SITWASYON, SUBALIT MARAMI SA ATIN AY NAG NANAIS NA ALIPUSTAHIN AT YURAKAN ANG SARILING PAGKATAO, IBENTA ANG SARILING PRINSIPYO PARA LAMANG MAGKAMIT NG KONTING KAGINHAWAHAN AT MAPAG MALAKIHAN ANG KAPWA PILIPINO NA NATILI AT NABAON SA HIRAP NG BUHAY,DAHIL SA MALING SYSTEMA , BALUKTOT NA PAG-IISIP AT GANID SA PERA AT KAPANYARIHAN NG MGA TINAGURIAN NATING MATATALINO AT MATAAS ANG PINAG ARALAN!!! ALAM KONG MARAMI PA DIN MGA PILIPINO NA ILALAAN ANG SARILING BUHAY PARA SA KANILANG SARILING PRINSIPYO! MABUHAY KA!!!
[Reply]
meron ba kayong problema sa passport?
birth certification ?
late or time registration?
visit my website
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[Reply]
pinoy man Reply:
May 6th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
@ BOMBO JOINT WALANG BASURA’T BALOT ,BULAD,BAGONG, SA IBANG BANSA KAYA AWAY KANILA PAPASUKIN BAKA MAG DALA KA NG BAGO ONG SA IBANG BANSA
[Reply]
problema sa passport?
problema sa birth certificate
consult me for free
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binondocenter@yahoo.com
birthcertificate@binondocenter.com
passport@binondocenter.com
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thanks!
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unfortunately your information regarding visa free access to Azerbaijan is no longer applicable
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ajay Reply:
July 15th, 2011 at 2:04 am
Sorry to hear this!!
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Iran is not a free Country to travel…
they need a visa….
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i’ve encountered 2 problems of having a PI passport.
1. its very hard to get a visa and i blame it to those effing tnts and being in a 3rd world country.
2. immigration staff in our airports. they are curropt and they think they can bully people around. an older immigration officer in Cebu whose last name starts with a C asked me why i have a valid student visa for eu when i was on my way to sg and asked me about the previous departure-arrival stamps in my passport. i told her my reasons and explained, she told me that i might not be able to go because of my visa so i asked her why. she didnt even bother looking at me and asked me how much money do i have with me. i told her just enough for the sg trip. that’s when she told me to go to the office and i almost missed my flight. these people are bashing fellow pinoys for god knows what.
i love the Philippines (except the government) but i’d like to get a passport from another country so that these immigration officers can kiss my a** and i dont have to go through the hassle of getting a visa.
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*corrupt
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Yes it is really difficult and i hate holding a philippine passport where i live right now (Gibraltar). Our government should make arrangements to other countries so that we can travel to them.
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[...] in 2009, I already listed in this blog post the (partial list) of countries Filipinos can go to without applying for a visa. For most of us [...]
I am from the Philippines. I have a US visa. Do I need visa to go to the Bahamas?
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