Bela Padilla has called out the Bureau of Customs for the delay in the release of her overseas packages.
Padilla ranted her concern on Twitter, where she shared how a few months ago, a Spanish brand reached out to her if they could send her two pairs of shoes.
"I said yes and sent my details. They confirmed shipment in April. Last week, I informed them that I haven't received the shoes yet. Apparently, our customs was charging them an additional 10,500 pesos even if they paid for shipping," Padilla said.
Prior, the actress-writer also called the courier and was told that she needed to pay P9,000 and P10,500 to receive the shoes.
Bela was also asked to provide documents and proof of purchase even if she explained that she didn't buy them.
"Our Customs declared the shoes to be around 500 euros. (They aren't) I offered to provide screenshots of my conversations with the brand and the price of the shoes. But I was told that the shoes are now considered 'abandoned,'" she continued.
"So all the phone calls were useless, and the shoes are in some warehouse right now collecting dust."
Bela then asked the government agency where they got the rates, which she thinks were "pull out of thin air."
"This isn't the first time. Our Customs, always a rip off," she said.
Last year, Bela also experienced another scenario when she ordered Harry Styles merchandise - her "very shallow but guaranteed source of happiness."
"I got a notification in March that they returned my merch to the UK because they couldn't put a value (on 2 t-shirts) and therefore couldn't tax me excessively," she shared.
But she linked her new experience: "Imagine telling a brand (that isn't that big yet) that they need to pay 200 dollars to send somebody a gift because you say that you know the value of their shoes more than them? Hello, BOC, you guys ok? (face with tears of joy emoji)."
"Best part is, when I asked DHL for a number to call to resolve this issue and at least try to explain why 19,500 doesn't make sense, I wasn't given a number or a contact person, but instead, a 'don't worry, we'll call you' response. (face with tears of joy and clown face emojis)," Bela added.
The 30-year-old actress then tagged the Twitter account of Customs, informing the agency under the Department of Finance that they have been holding on to her things for nearly three months now with no answer or solution to her questions.
Customs, on their part, has apologized for the inconvenience.
Bela revealed that someone got in touch with her already.
"Oh no, don’t get confused. I’m not ranting, I posted on my Twitter account because no one was giving me answers over the phone. Also, thank you, but a lot of people from BOC reached out to me already. Also, I wasn’t going to pay you anything for information I already know," she replied to a "Licensed Customs Broker" netizen who offered to explained what happened.