The Bureau of Customs (BOC) reminded travelers that failing to declare currency exceeding the limit or providing false information about the amount of Philippine peso or foreign currency they are carrying can result in the confiscation of the undeclared funds.
The BOC said in a statement any person who brings into or takes out of the Philippines foreign currency, in excess of $10,000 or its equivalent, is required to declare the whole amount brought into or taken out of the Philippines in the electronic currencies declaration form (e-CDF).
For Philippine currency, a person may bring into or take out of the Philippines an amount not exceeding P50,000.
The BOC said amounts more than the limit require prior written authorization from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and declaration of the whole amount brought into or taken out of the Philippines in the e-CDF.
The BSP, however, permits the cross-border transfer of local currency exceeding the limit only for specific purposes such as testing/calibration/configuration of money counting/sorting machines, numismatics (currency collection) and currency awareness.
The BOC said the BSP does not issue written authorization upon arrival or after confiscating excess peso.
“Violation of the rules on cross-border transfer of currencies or false deflation or non-deflation of Philippine or foreign currencies shall result to confiscation by customs authorities,” the BOC said.