DOST SEI Scholar: Is it okay to travel abroad?

Back in the year 2006 when I was a sophomore in college, my folk dance troupe was invited to perform in Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan for 1 week. Three of us were DOST scholars then - 1 person already graduating and aware of her travel restrictions and  2 others (including me) who are oblivious to possible travel bans which could send all our dreams of going abroad to the drain.

Did we secure a  DOST SEI TRAVEL CLEARANCE?

OF COURSE NOT!!! We were CLUELESS ABOUT TRAVEL CLEARANCES!!! So we happily packed our bags, learned a few Japanese phrases, and fattened our wallets with yen.

And so what happened? Did we make it past the IMMIGRATION OFFICER without the DOST Travel Clearance? YES and NO. Well, two different things actually happened:

A. The graduating person was detected as a DOST scholar and she was called for questioning

B. The 2 of us sophomores were free and undetected.Buti na lang. So we kept quiet about our identities (jumping for joy inside because we were okay to travel)


Was she allowed to travel? 

Everybody was on PANIC MOde kasi within an hour, fly na kami sa Japan Airlines.
Everybody was worried, our choreographer was mad because if she does not make it, we would have to rechoreograph. Also, what if the 2 of us would get detected????

Luckily, we had a guardian (school principal) who took charge of the situation and negotioated with the immigration officer. Within those precious minutes she was able to furnish and submit requirements to DOST, instructing people only via her cellphone, and have DOST fax a copy of the travel clearance to the Immigration office.

Eventually, she was given a go signal at parang nabunutan ng tinik ang lahat. Pero paano kung hindi nahabol?

Lesson: Let us recall that as DOST Scholars we have to render service to the country equal to the number of years the scholarship was enjoyed and as such, we have certain travel restrictions. They said that names of DOST Scholars who have nearly completed their degrees (which explains why we were exempted) are forwarded to the Bureau of Immigration and issued a travel hold order.

But YES, we are still allowed to travel may it be for business or vacation.Some say they have been in and out of the country without the travel clearance, and remained undetected. I say these kind of things may really be uncontrollable, true for some but may not be the case for you. I suggest we go for the legal way. Let us secure our DOST travel clearance. I have done it 4 times already and it is not as difficult as some may think.