YOU can do an online search for this.

In what seems to be the latest in a pattern that goes all the way back to 2015, content creator Vanjo Merano, the persona behind the vlog "Panlasang Pinoy," aired his frustration after his belongings disappeared during his flight from the United States to the Philippines.

Merano released a vlog titled "Bad trip sa Pilipinas" last January 22 on his YouTube channel. The video is 43.14 minutes long, which is really long for a video, but it has gone viral, as it should. It has garnered 2.2 million views since it was posted nine days ago. Just imagine the flak that 2.2 million views would cause for the country's image and its aggressive campaign to lure tourists back to our fabled land of sun, sand and smiles.

And to think that just yesterday, the hardworking Tourism secretary, Christina Garcia Frasco, was enthusiastically talking about how our tourism efforts are aligned with the Philippine Development Plan.

Merano and his family flew from O'Hare Airport in Chicago to San Francisco, where they took a connecting flight to Manila, via Philippine Airlines. In a portent of bad things to come, when they were about to board the plane for their 15-hour flight to Manila, the ground crew told Merano several problems with their business class seat, including a broken television remote control, headphone jack and a tray table. It was an expensive business class seat, take note, with three items not working on a trans-Pacific flight.

While Merano said he understood why there were "inconveniences," he addressed the airline management and hoped that they would improve their services.

When they arrived in Manila, Merano said that he and his family waited in the baggage carousel for over an hour. If this were a movie, this would be Omen No. 2. Merano and his family just waited in excitement, for they were happy to reunite with their relatives in the Philippines.

But they were shocked when they checked their luggage when they arrived home and found that some of their belongings had been stolen. The items that were taken included branded bags, sunglasses, bottles of perfume and chocolates.


Merano said that they are not blaming anyone specific as they do not have any proof, and that they are just sharing their experience to serve as a lesson to his viewers — to his millions of viewers around the world.


"I don't know how to read this scenario, as well," he said. He added that the culprits knew what to steal, since they took all the high-end brands. The vlogger said it was difficult to accept that the items in the baggage were lost, "and I'm sure this didn't happen only to us."


I've lived in the United States for years and it is, indeed, a land of perfume, chocolates and branded sunglasses. Can you imagine an airport worker in Chicago or San Francisco swiftly unlocking a luggage, pilfering its contents, locking the luggage again, and then bringing it back to the storage area — when American international-flight stopovers usually don't last more than an hour or two? And take note that American airports have CCTV cameras in so many places, like panopticons recording your every move.

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