No, as far as I know it was always the case that ex citizens could ask for and get the balikbayan stamp, and I have been travelling there since `89`. It got a lot easier after my wife used her British passport as she didnt have to pay the income tax on leaving. Also the less dealings with the P.I. embassy here the better.
When we made our second visit all those years ago, and she was travelling on her filipino passport we applied for a tax exemption cert here in London as she wasnt working, cost a couple of quid plus a lot of hassle. When she tried to exit Manilla to return home they told her she should have had it countersigned at some office in Manilla, complete waste of time, so we payed up and said never again , or words of a similar nature.
