Chessbase has the juice on this apparent "scandal". They quote an open letter from GM Filippov.
We arrived at Kuala Lumpur on the 12th May, took a taxi and were at the Philippine embassy at 9:30 a.m. After submitting our documents, we heard back that we have to wait for five days. My claim that I had e-mailed documents and invitations a week ago was met with an open lie that they had received nothing, later replaced with "your documents were late anyway."
What can I say but welcome to Philippine bureaucracy! Read more here.
6 comments:
TCG,
you seems didn't read the article fully...
its 4 Uzbeks and 1 Kazakh...
Thanks. Now corrected.
- TCG
they should be barred...
too strong for the locals...
I thought the situation has already been resolved because Filippov is already playing.
"Take it from me, there's plenty of Pinoys who want to bolt out of their country. Not too many folks want to get in."
Please to try to refrain from making sweeping statements that quite honestly create the wrong impression. You talk as if the Philippines is like war-torn Iraq or Afghanistan.
Like you, I'm a Cebuano who's no longer based in Cebu (although still a Filipino citizen). And like you, I'm also not fond of the bureaucracy and all the ills of this country.
But last time I heard, the Philippines still has a growing tourist industry, which is why it's probably not proper to say that "not too many folks want to get in." In fact, Cebu (I'm quite sure I read one of your earlier posts describing Cebu as your beloved home province or something along that line) ranks highly as a popular international tourist destination and chances are you are well aware of that.
Reading from your blog, I believe you're an inherently creative and prolific writer. So there's really no need for exaggeration (particularly the kind that tends to damage the reputation of others) for you to create good prose.
In the end, to you and many of your non-Filipino readers, the point I raised may just be a trivial matter. But I'm just really frustrated to read such writings from someone who has been recognised for journalistic excellence (at least in the field of chess journalism) and hence wields quite an influence on a substantial audience, from someone who is supposed to be in the know about things in the Philippines and supposedly should be truthful and a little more circumspect when writing about the subject, and, lastly, from someone who shares my passion with my Cebuano roots.
Yes... they don't often answer emails too. NCFP Events Director is computer illiterate
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