I’m still not Him (Continued from Last week)

Five years, copious amounts of money, many trip into Mega Manila, and I receive my big yellow ACR card with my picture on it back in 2001. I’m a self satisfied man, the stars are in the heavens were aligned and all in the world is well. Hell no, the next year they change to the “I” card and I start again!

All the paperworks are lost in Manila, so no card shows up in Olongapo. I go to Manila for two days and “I” found the paperwork’s they must by now think I work there and that they were never informed, or was I ever paid for that matter. Three months later my “I Card” falls from the Manila sky, and it’s good for only one year.

After paying my head tax at the Olongapo Office in 2007, they sit me in front of the computer fill out all the info and take my picture for a new “I Card”, and inform me for an extra 500.00 Pesos they will expedite my application, what the heck, I’ll go for that. After all this new “I Card” is now good for five years.

It’s been two years so far and I still don’t have the card. They think it was sent to another office somewhere here in the Philippines or other parts of Asia, or Europe for all I know.

I asked if I could get my 500.00 Pesos refunded, since if was not expedited very well? Well, that set them into a panic, in the history of this country, a refund has never been asked for before, or received, I calmed them down and asked what could be done, the answer made sense, just wait until the card, I don’t have, expires and apply for a new one! You can’t makeup stuff like this!

Ok, I’m not going anywhere but am I legal? Well it happens that my receipt is legal and binding; you just can’t show it at the airport. So I’ll “just wait” three years and start again, but next time, I won’t pay the 500.00 Pesos extra, that’ll show em’.

Chose to live here? Sounds like without the card I have lost that choice.

Addendum:

March 2009 again while paying my yearly head tax, the “I-card” had arrived in Olongapo City, oh happy days! It was in the office manager’s desk all the time, it was not lost.

I’m Still Not Him, circa 2001

This is to prove that even I had trouble getting my ACR card.

Last week I told you about how I had to prove I was me to the U.S. Government, the time before that in 2001, I had to prove to the Philippine Government that I’m not him. This time I go to Manila because I had to finish up the paperwork’s on my application, for a permanent ACR, this was a few years ago. I received my temporary ACR, which was good for one year, on probation. I assumed that since I received all these official papers from the Department of Immigration that I had jumped all over all the hurdles, slipped between all the cracks, and was on the road to easy times.

Wrong again! The next year I had to prove for the second time that I was not someone else. How would one do that? Can you prove a negative? Yes by using the “Affidavit of Not Same Name” unlike the “Affidavit of Loss” (To prove a lost car tag) which I submitted to the LTO that same month.

Mr. Computer man informed me that my name was on the bad list in their computer. (I was hoping it was listed in the big book, no such luck. There was a name somewhat (note “somewhat”) like mine, belonging to a man from Great Britain.

I smiled and explained that this came up last year and the year before and we’d solved the problem. How could I be standing here with a valid ACR if this had not been solved? I was informed that I had to speak with the “Director” of the records section to solve this dilemma. Now again, the quest begins anew! Down the yellow brick road to see the Wizard! The wizard informed me that I must return to Olongapo City and visit the local office of the NBI to clear my name or the name of the guy from Great Britain. Thinking fast and working to inflate the wizard’s ego I smiled and said that I fully understood his need to insure that the Republic of the Philippines be protected from these nefarious types of people, and I for one agreed, and would help to the limits of my abilities! (Hey! It sounded real good to me.) Then I showed him my new plus old passports, which I hoped, would prove that I was never been a citizen of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island. Then I showed my U.S. Merchant Seaman’s Card, my retired U.S. Military ID Card, and then told him I had visited Great Britain and that Pub Grub is good. I felt the food comment was the winner.

He waived the NBI stuff, and all I had to do was cross the street, see one of the shade tree Lawyers and type up my “Affidavit Not Same Name.” And of course pay 500 Pesos! Set to go? Oh ye of little faith! I now have a valid ACR good for one year, and then was then informed that we are now going to the “I-Card or E-Card” or whatever was in style that year. So let’s start again. I choose to live here, and it’s still good.

Continued next week, oh yes there is more.

Minors Cannot Be Locked Up!

Am I kidding? No!  I’m not kidding at all.  Now, my read of the law doesn’t say that but I’ve read over and over news paper articles related to crimes in Cebu Province that is how the law is being applied.  If the child is under 15 it is absolutely true.  If the child is between the ages of 18 and 15 then it appears they can be prosecuted but other provisions of the law seem to make it impossible.  Keep reading, you’ll learn of a 17 year old rapist and murder set free!

Get Out of Jail Free In The Philippines

Not long after moving to the Philippines, I read in the paper that minors cannot be locked up.  Most people I asked about this didn’t know anything about this law.  I have strong opinions on this law but I will respect the Filipino and keep that to myself.  I do not wish to test the constitutionality of the immigration law that prevents foreigners from speaking out against the government.  You can do that, if you feel brave.

Some mayors in the Philippines have been rumored to have vigilante death squads operating in their cities.  They use them to fight crime and especially crime by minors.  I don’t’ know if they are true or not.  I’ve seen some mayors be vague about their involvement.  That doesn’t mean they are involved but having the criminal elements think they are involved might be a deterrent in itself.

The law that controls this is RA 9344.  Here are some key provision of the law:

(h) “Deprivation of Liberty” refers to any form of detention or imprisonment, or to the placement of a child in conflict with the law in a public or private custodial setting, from which the child in conflict with the law is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial or administrative authority.

Some of the protections granted under this law are:

(k) the right to have restrictions on his/her personal liberty limited to the minimum, and where discretion is given by law to the judge to determine whether to impose fine or imprisonment, the imposition of fine being preferred as the more appropriate penalty;

(I) in general, the right to automatic suspension of sentence;

(m) the right to probation as an alternative to imprisonment, if qualified under the Probation Law;

(n) the right to be free from liability for perjury, concealment or misrepresentation; and

and

SEC. 6. Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility. – A child fifteen (15) years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt from criminal liability. However, the child shall be subjected to an intervention program pursuant to Section 20 of this Act.

A child above fifteen (15) years but below eighteen (18) years of age shall likewise be exempt from criminal liability and be subjected to an intervention program, unless he/she has acted with discernment, in which case, such child shall be subjected to the appropriate proceedings in accordance with this Act

And the all guiding clause of this law states that:

SEC. 3. Liberal Construction of this Act. – In case of doubt, the interpretation of any of the provisions of this Act, including its implementing rules and regulations (IRRs), shall be construed liberally in favor of the child in conflict with the law.

I think it is section three of the law that makes it virtually impossible to prosecute them.  Especially when you consider the definition of the best interest of the child per section four of this law:

(b) “Best Interest of the Child” refers to the totality of the circumstances and conditions which are most congenial to the survival, protection and feelings of security of the child and most encouraging to the child’s physical, psychological and emotional development. It also means the least detrimental available alternative for safeguarding the growth and development of the child.

When one takes all the above into account, I can understand why the news paper articles have stated over and over again that minors cannot be prosecuted.

This week in Cebu, a horrible crime took place.  A 13 year old girl that like to  hang out with a group that are rugby addicts was gang raped and then murdered.  No, not the game.  That is what solvent is called in the Philippines.  These kids are often called street kids but many do have homes.   They can be seen on the streets huffing anything that will get them high.  They will often have their drugs stuffed under their shirts and protuding in a way that’s hard to miss.

In Cebu City, I know they round them up from time ot time but I’m not sure what they can do with them, perhaps turn them over to Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The Sun Star, a national paper of the Philippines wrote in an article about this story that:

The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 prohibits the detention of minors, so they needed to be turned over the DSWD.

Read Article

One of the “children” involved is 17 years old.  I invite you to read the article and see for yourself.  The police official stated he could not detain the five minors, including the 17 year old.  Perhaps there have been court rulings that added to the interpretation of the law for those 15 through 17.  It is clear though that this is the way the law is being applied.  I don’t think that was the intent but that matters little when nothing can be done.  It was the intent for those under 15.

Now I’m going to be surprised if I don’t hear from some that say this is crazy.  This law can’t possibly be used to exclude all minors from punishment.  But that is exactly what is happening.  When a 17 year old confesses to killing someone and the police can’t hold him, that’s disturbing.  Intent doesn’t mean a lot when the law is being applied the way it has been here in Cebu.  I am unsure of how it is being applied through the rest of the Philippines.

I would like to hear from anyone that knows this law is being applied to in your region of the Philippines.  Opinions are welcome too but if you live here, be careful of what you say.  I also know of one actor that was barred from entering the Philippines because of what he said while still in the USA.

The full text of RA 9344.

Welcome home to the Philippines

I have just completed my visa run to Thailand with Migs and I thought it would be interesting to report back what surprised Migs about the differences of the Philippines and Thailand.

The first thing we noticed that when we arrived at the majestic new Bangkok airport it seemed more like a palace than an a airport. We managed to glide our way to the immigration services and out to collect our baggage all within a few minutes.

Now, sorry to say the same is not available at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.  Although clean and tidy  it looks so bare, it has no Internet spots or even Internet cafes. The immigration is much slower and the mood of my immigration officer was a little moody to say the least!

You may remember from my previous articles that after booking my flight on Cebu Pacific Airlines, I was contacted a week later to pay a “extra tax”, because I have been here more than one year. After many arguments I finally paid it for a peaceful life, however at the check in I was not asked to prove I paid it and when I mentioned it, it still was not questioned. Maybe I could have saved p1700 by not paying it.

I also in Davao paid for an exit clearances form which you need if you have been here more than six months, this was checked and thoroughly too.

Back in Bangkok the taxis all gleam and are in excellent condition as opposed to the Philippines taxis found in most cities. Of course we encountered several times the pushy taxi drivers who seemed not to understand what their meters are for, and those we got out of and found another.  Same as Philippines then.

The streets of Bangkok are so MUCH cleaner than Manila, they are more controll

ed in terms of traffic and it lacks the sound of shouting, horns going and the chaos of people crossing in front of the traffic. Migs was a little surprised by the “control” that the Bangkok roads have, and of course the drivers too.

The food as you would expect was fantastic from the mid-price range restaurants to the even more enjoyable street stalls selling noodles and meat that just make your lips curl in pain and pleasure. The food is much more spicy then that available in the Philippines and seems to me that the portions , even on the streets, are much bigger than the Philippines, and very reasonably priced too.

One thing I have noticed since my last visit here two years ago is that the prices are much higher especially for us Brits and I suffered from severe overspend. I even shake in fear as the ATM’s mostly charge you b150 for using it about £3.00 pounds. OUCH!!

We decided to stay

in Bangkok and compared to last time I was here the access to WiFi networks have dropped and we found that we had to pay huge premium price to use our laptops in WiFi areas.

We visited the Temples and the Royal Palace and walked around some parks, everything in pristine condition, all safe, all a delight to visit and all undamaged by dirt or pollution.  No writing on the walls in this place, no graffiti at all.

Migs now wants to come back and maybe live in Bangkok too as even the McDonald’s look like spaceships and maybe next year we come back to Thailand again, but I hope to take him to the north of Thailand too.

Smiling and happy and very broke we returned to Manila international airport in the early hours to try and locate a money changer in the airport, but we failed.

We tried to go through a door marked exit, but we failed, it would not open.

We went outside to get a Taxi, none there.

We walked across the car park to the exit to the road to pick up a street cab, it was blocked!! So we had a long walk around to get out of the Airport.

WELCOME HOME TO THE PHILIPPINES.

Good news for expats

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I wrote about a friend who was trying to open a bank account here in the Philippines?  My friend was having problems opening an account because he is living here on a Balikbayan Visa.  Although the law does not require it, many Philippine Banks require that a foreigner must present an ACR Card as a prerequisite to opening a bank account here.

Generally, people who live here on any kind of residence visa are the ones who have ACR cards, actually called “ACR I-cards.”  I have an ACR I-card as a 13(g) Permanent Resident Visa holder.  Holders of SRRV (Special Retirees Resident Visa) Visas also get ACR I-cards, as do holders of any type of visa that allows them to live long term in the Philippines.  Anybody with an ACR I-card can easily open an account at any bank in the Philippines, provided they can deposit the minimum amount required by the bank.

Now, though, if you do not have a permanent visa, you generally would not have an ACR I-card.  So, if you are living in the Philippines on a Tourist Visa or a Balikbayan Visa, you generally would not have an ACR I-card, and thus may encounter problems opening a bank account.

My friend, Dave Starr got a little curious after reading my article and decided to do a little research.  Dave passed along the results of his research to me and gave me permission to publish it here.  I told Dave it would be OK for him to publish it, but he said that since I had already started this topic, he would be happy to let me publish it.

Dave wrote an e-mail to the Bureau of Immigration Help Desk, and they replied to him promptly.  Dave inquired to the BoI if it would be possible for a Balikbayan Visa holder to obtain an ACR I-card.  The information that Dave got back was surprising to me.

The Bureau of Immigration replied to Dave with this information:

Dear Sir:

Thank you for the inquiry.

Only the following visa holders under Section 9(d) treaty traders visa, 9(f) student visa, 9(g) Commercial and Missionary visa, 13 Quota Immigrant visa, 13(a) to 13(g), 47(a)(2) special non-immigrant visa, and Temporary Resident Visa are required to apply an ACR I-card with the Alien Registration Division (ARD) of the Bureau of Immigration, Manila.

Also, any foreign national who intend to apply for a driver’s license or open a bank account can apply voluntarily for an ACR I-card at the said office.

We hope we have assisted you on the matter.

So, the matter is pretty clear.  If you have a residence visa, you are required to get an ACR I-card.  If you have any other type of visa, you can voluntarily get an ACR I-card, although it is not required.

With this information, it should now be easy for any foreigner who is staying in the Philippines to open a bank account in the Philippines.  For around $50 you can obtain your ACR I-card, and once you have that in hand, you are ready to go to your bank of choice and open an account.

Thank you very much to Dave for doing the legwork on this.  I know that this information is quite helpful to many people who read this site!  Thanks again, Dave!

I will Deport You

Expats living in the Philippines, as tourists must get their visa extended every 59 days.  I usually try to stay clear of Bureau (BI) just to make sure no one upsets me.  Today’s visit to BI was a perfect example.  Well, I would have never done what this expat did.  What he did was next to insanity.

A Visit to Immigration

On a side note, when I went to Bangkok a couple of weeks ago I walked up to  the immigration window on my way out of the country.  The woman was behind a glass that had only a small opening to slide your papers through.  I don’t remember even that but there must have been something or I couldn’t have given her my passport.  The area is huge, with high ceilings and noisy.  Lots of echoes.  She told me something but I couldn’t hear her.  When you can’t hear someone, most of us will raise our voice and after I walked away, I realized I had.  She kept talking and I couldn’t hear her and she made no effort to help me.  Very frustrating.  I guess she realized I couldn’t hear though or it could have gone badly for me.

Today, a guy in Mandaue City, part of Metro Cebu City was at BI trying to get his exit clearance which requires a 2*2 inch picture.  He had only a 1*1 and the BI officer told him she needed a 2*2.  He responded with “its all I have in a raised voice.”  The officer continue to tell him that she had to have a 2*2 and continued to insist he didn’t have it.  Soon the officer told him not to raise his voice to her and the expat asked why not.  She reminded him he was in immigration to which he said “so what?”  What a dufus!  Her reply was I will deport you if you continue.

Now he understood! He replied with asking where he could get the required picture.  She told him and he left.   He was on the verge of getting thrown in the Mandaue Immigration Jail!  The exit certification he was attempting to get is required after an extended stay.  I think you need it if you are here for more than six months.  I could be mistaken about the time table.  If anyone knows, please correct me.  The point being, if you have been here that long you should already know better.  Based on the way this guy was acting at BI, I’d guess his time here will be limited.

I’ve heard other stories about pushy Americans in BI, often over their dress code but this guy took stupidity to a new level!  Its a lesson in how to get thrown out of and blacklisted from returning to the Philippines.

Philippine Tourism Improvements on a Budget — Part 3

Let me start this installment with a couple updates.  I was in Manila for a few days on business and I noticed a program promoted by the DOT that runs two shuttle vans on hourly routes between major hotels and tourist attractions in Manila.  It’s run by a company called Busina and uses the somewhat catchy slogan, “Sakay na” (Ride now!). There’s a good write-up on it here.  This is an excellent step  in the right direction, and as I have been advocating, it’s a private enterprise venture that pays its own way.  Good work.

Another piece of current news is that Manila’s main airport, NAIA has finally gotten around to putting a free, regular shuttle service between the four widely scattered terminals in place … see the article here.  This of course is not a self-supporting venture, but considering the distance between terminals and the traffic congestion this will save alone, it should be well worth the cost.  Hats off.  Now, if someone could just answer the mail that would assure me that situations that happened to Bob’s mom back a year and a half ago have been corrected, I might not only take my hat off, but leave it on and salute.

I think the situation with late night passengers being left to fend for themselves is still occurring, but I can’t be sure … because just as Bob wrote back with this situation came to light, people at the DOT and elsewhere still don’t answer their email.

Mr. Secretary?  If you are still reading, here’s a suggestion for something that will improve your count of foreign visitors dramatically, if you chose to take advantage of  it.  It’s dirt cheap and it has proven effective all over the world of business … not just in tourism:

1. Insure that every person in your department whom you expect to answer public inquiries has an email address.
2. Have a staff person send each of those folks and email with a request to respond  by the next business day.
3. Fire all those who don’t reply to their own cabinet secretary.
4. If any of the non-responders can show the email didn’t work, fire the non-performers in your IT department.

Simple. cheap, and effective.  It’s all about accountability.   People who feed at the Public Trough owe a response to those who pay their salary.

Of course a bit tongue in cheek, because given the current state of email communication there won’t be enough employed individuals left to process the termination paperwork for the rest … but perhaps you can read past the implied humor and see the potential for your department.  If a person is considering travel to the Philippines and sends your department an email query … after all, your department is supposed to be an “authoritative source”, is it not? … don’t they deserve a timely answer?

While you are at it, you might consider putting an accountability monitor to work on all the many and varied businesses whom your department “accredits” and allow to display your DOT seal.  In the year of 2009, there is absolutely no excuse for any hotel or other tourist attraction/destination not to have an email address and not to respond to queries.  Email accounts are free, and checking email, even without a computer (using an Internet Cafe, for example) costs only a few pesos a week.  I think it’s very counter productive to your goals to “accredit” businesses who won’t even respond to customer queries.   Again, this requires essentially no monetary outlay, just the application of rules of common courtesy in support of the work that your employees are already being paid to perform.

When prospective tourist gets no answer, what do you think the odds are they will continue to pursue their travel to the Philippines?   I’ve personally had a role in a total of two independent tourists visiting the Philippines in the nearly three years I have lived here.  Not many.  There are many more friends and family I would love to encourage to visit, but quite frankly the way tourists are treated, especially in the first hours  of their arrival, keeps me apprehensive.  The only people I’d even consider inviting here are those I have a close enough relationship with that I would personally go to the airport to pick up myself, because there is no one on my list I dislike enough to subject to the NAIA “gulag” experience alone.

Let me detail for you just one current example.  Not long ago my son paid us a visit here in the Philippines.  I “pre-briefed” him on the flimsy, difficult to write on and overly complex arrival form he would have to fill up on the airplane.  When he got to the part about “Address in the Philippines”, he found he had forgotten my address and misplaced the piece of paper he had written it on.   When he got to the Immigration kiosk the BI officer told him, “No address, No entry” and sent him off to a windowless interrogation room, exactly as if he was suspected of a crime.  Another official, came in and told him he would be held until the next flight out to the US and denied entry since he had no pre-arranged place to stay.  Nice welcome on his first visit to your country, diba?  If there is a law that a visitor must have already arranged for a place to stay, I’m not aware of it … and if such a law exists, I would submit it, at the very least should be made known in advance.  I have personally entered more than 10 other countries in my years of travel and not one other one has required me to enter an address for my stay.  I have also perused all the data I can find on the Bureau of Immigration web site and any other official sources I know of, and I see no requirement to have a pre-arranged address listed as one of the criteria for entry of visitors to the Philippines.  Is this some secret law, classified for the protection of the security of the Republic?

My son was detained like a criminal for nearly an hour … while I paced the prison-like waiting area outside wondering what might be wrong .   For all I know he’d still be incarcerated for the “crime” of not memorizing his father’s street address … except that a helpful fellow from the airport janitorial staff … nor your staff nor anyone else from a government agency … came in to clean the room, asked my son what the problem was, and advised him, “Oh just write down ‘Manila Hotel’, that will work, they don’t really care, it’s just that the DOT requires something on the form”.

My son did so and immediately was released, with smiles all around, as if the BI officer knew the ‘address’ was a fabrication, but his mission was complete because there were words in the box on the form rather than a blank space.

Proper way to treat a visitor in your view, sir?.  Yes, I know, you don’t run the Bureau of Immigration.  But I ask you, as a cabinet level official, is this the way you want visitors to the Philippines treated?   Can’t you and your BI counterpart  sit down and make a gentleman’s agreement on modifying this  situation?  It wouldn’t cost a peso and it might just gain the Philippines many more pesos in tourist income.

Thanks for reading, sir, and good luck with your efforts in attracting tourists … convince me that the Philippines actually wants tourists and I might get busy and send a few your way.

Guess who I met in immigration?

It always surprises me who you will meet when you walk around my city of Davao. I have met so many people from many nationalities, who all share the common link of being adventurous and maybe a little more interesting then their own country stereotypes… I think I include myself in that category.

Whilst waiting patiently in the Immigration office at Davao, I got talking to an American gentleman who when talking to the officials had a very pleasing and respectful manner, that’s why he caught my attention.

When we started talking he told me what he has been doing for work and it blew my mind as this man was part of MY CHILDHOOD. Let me explain.

For the last thirty or so years he was an animator for many high profile cartoons that had engulfed me.

HE MAN, SCOOBY DOO, JOHNNY QUEST

He worked on many Hanna Barbera cartoons too, not sure if he did my favourite THE FLINTSTONES.

And get this , he even worked for the Disney studios as an animator doing Mickey Mouse, however not on screen but for merchandise.

I so wanted to talk to this man for longer, but he was on his way out of the office and then back to the US.

After he left I started to list in my mind the cartoons throughout the years that was part of the baby boom era.

Funny who you meet in the Philippines..who next?

Deported!

I think the fear of being deported comes into the mind of any expat that has done any reading of local papers or the Internet. One of my first introductions to this was a Korean getting deported and blacklisted for hitting an immigration officer.

Always Show Immigration Officer Respect

To touch an immigration officer in any thing but a friendly way is just stupid! Getting angry with an immigration office is also stupid. It is 100% foolish to be anything but polite, even if you must disagree with one.

Read more

Travel tax from Cebu Pacific

I just want to let you the readers know of a problem I am having with booking a flight, and at the time of this article I have still not sorted it out or got a full explanation.

I have a tourist visa and every two months I pay an immigration fee and have my passport duly stamped and last year the rules changed so that I could be here not twelve months but up to 16 months without causing any problems, and as far as my dealings with immigration here in Davao I have no problems at all.

So my 16 months is up in June so I have booked a flight to Bangkok for one week and paid Cebu Pacific and went home pleased with the booking I had made. However, two weeks later I receive frantic phone calls and texts telling me that I have to pay a further p1600 tax and I cannot fly until I pay that. I asked the lady why I have to pay another extra tax and she told me because I had been in the Philippines for over one year   I am subject to such a tax, and not only was it to be paid but the company had deducted it from her salary as she had not picked up the charge when I made the booking.

I went to the office after making many phone calls that told me nothing and I asked the staff and people on the phone at Cebu Pacific why the charge was being put against me, was it related to the old immigration rules that I can only be here one year, the first answer was yes that was the reason. I then explained twenty times or more that the law had changed , even quoting the Immigration press release stating that it was 16 months now. Thirty minutes into the conversation after checking what I had said they changed the story and told me it was NOT related to my immigration status , but merely a tax for me to pay because I have been here over one year!

I asked if they could send me a copy of the rules related to that tax,they told me they cannot. I asked if they had ever seen the rules, they said they had not. I asked could I speak to someone who may have more information on the subject, they said they have not!!! I asked if they could send me details, they said they could not!

Don’t get me wrong I am very happy to pay the tax if it is to be paid, however I am convinced that they are working the old system and it is related to the immigration rules from last year. It seems to be unfair to tax people on a time they are in a place when all the immigration rules are being observed, and after all they are an airline company, why would they collect the monies surely I pay that to immigration when I get my exit visa stamped?

Sorry to say I cannot get pass “robotic” answers, does anyone have any more details on this subject?

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