What can you say about the Philippines?

I was wondering then if anyone of you here have already visited this country.

Please tell me something about this asian country... is this a safe place to visit? Any chaos, or something like that?

 

It's full of Philippinos'

 

I have been several times there long ago. But good memories.
My daughter is going for 5 month to Manilla University there after this summer. I supposed the uni where she is studying now wouldnt advise this if there is some kind of chaos.

Gerard

 

Sometimes there are some really bad traffic jams in Manila, other than that I can't complain.

 

If you're a guy no matter what you really look like. Especially if you're a US citizen. Most all the young single Phillappino women will find you extremely attractive. You'll feel like you're Brad Pitt. And ime those women have very bad tempers & I'm scared of them. Would be funny but it almost cost me my life. Your mileage may vary.

 

And America is full of Americanos? just kidding...

 

And Australia is full of Kiwi's

 

And Canada is full of Canuckleheads.



snowbound

 

OOH....I have a pretty bad temper too....Its gonna get ugly when I go to Philippines

 

http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/view.phtml/aid/38835/fid/218
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-4...s-i-sortorder-4;_ylt=A0Je59nIHt1DdFIB7hlHG2oL

IMHO................if you go be careful..

 

I have been to the Philippines a few times. A few times to Manila and once to Cebu. Manila is a big, polluted city, with lots of traffic and high crime......

If you are going to Manila or anywhere in the Philippines for that matter, it would be good if you actually had someone to guide you around until you get used to the place.

While terrorism and crime happen worldwide, the Philippines can be a quite dangerous place if you are not familiar with it. Manila is a quite large city and like all big cities have a lot of crime.

Terrorist incidents also happen quite frequently in the south. I found that when I was in the Philippines that a lot of bombings and killings sometimes go on but do not really get reported in the major news media.

Mindanoa is where Abu Sayaff was and still is.....sometimes things happen like a bombing here or there at a church in General Santos City or a killing of a nun here or there.....although Davoa in Mindanoa is relatively safe.

I would not travel by boat in the Philippines, their ferries often sink from not good safety and also overloading. I would not travel by bus too far in the Philppines either. The PI is still cowboy land in some areas....much like Columbia....sometimes people will hold up the bus going from city to city on a long trip....I would fly from place to place if the destination is over 100 miles.....which is why you really need a guide....to know what is safe and not safe to do there....

If you never been to the PI before my advice is to find a guide. I would not depend on finding a guide on the street.....that can be somewhat dangerous.

I do have someone I know that is a guide in the Philippines that is very reliable. He will keep you out of trouble even if you are falling down drunk. He is normally a taxi cab driver but has found he makes more money by being a guide and he gets most of his referalls from the friends that he has on the internet that promote him. I guess I could be considered his friend because I went to his wedding a few years ago.

You can also find Filipina guides all over the internet. Filipinas love the internet and there are quite a bit of internet sites where you can find Filipinas that love to be a guide among other things....lol..that is plain simple truth.

Manila and a few other cities like Cebu have a quite active night life. I consider the Philippines one of the number one places in the world for night life.

Philippines are also one of the top places in the world for beaches. Everyone has heard of Bali....people have already discovered Phuket in Thailand and other Thai beaches but I dont find many people talking about the beaches in the Philippines which are some of the worlds best (I heard Malaysia has very nice beaches too).

Forget about Bali.....those beaches are polluted....Indo government did not take care of Bali. I hated all the plastic wrappers going around me wading through the beaches in Kuta....it sucked.

I never hear people talk about Boracay, though.....go to that beach in the Philippines...you might like it. I also heard that there is some places in the Philippines where you can rent a whole island for a weekend or for a week....be cool to get married and have a whole island for yourself.

I love the Philippines and I like the Philippine people but if you go there you must practice some care.

If you looking for a safe place to go then go to Vietnam....They still are communist and are a police state which means virtually no crime; they are just about 100% Buddhist (Unlike Thailand which has a large and increasingly radical muslim population in the south); and the government of Vietnam is really opening up to get Western tourism in there. They take care of Westerners there better than their own people. I heard this firsthand from someone who lives there....Plus, Vietnam got lots of nice things to see and do......That is the spot to go.

Philippines are fun but just like Indonesia and Thailand you got to keep a good watch on your back......



Starrob

 

That's debateable.

Wrong. There's just as much crime there as any other SE asian country.

True, for a price.

Very true. It is a wonderful country which i have visited many times regardless of the communist government which is corrupt as hell. Money talks, BS walks as it does in many SE Asian countries and Vietnam can be as dangerous as any of the others. Openness doesn't necessarily mean safety.

I saw my brother in law who drives taxi in Saigon almost killed there one night(2 thugs tried to strangle him with a coat hanger) for the meager few bucks he makes each day and i saw more police shakedowns then i care to remember. Bribery is the name of the game there and it all starts at the airport where if u don't have 20 USD stuck in your passport get ready for a long wait and your luggage torn apart.

Other than all that, i would recommend it anytime.


snowbound

 

Philippines is just like any other country, there is good and bad, its as safe as NYC except with far warmer people,in fact that goes for any non western country, about pollution and cleanliness,I have seen equal filth in US during my 17 years stay there and my wife has been mugged quite a few times including daylight on the Staten Island ferry.

 

Pollution wise, Manila, Bangkok, and Jakarta, Shanghai and Hong Kong are among the worst in the world. The reason for this is that the pollution laws in the USA tend to be a bit stricter than those cities/countries and also most Asian countries tend to have lots of 2 stroke engine motorcycles.

I would agree if you said Singapore or Kuala Lumpur has less pollution than New York but not any of the cities that I have just named. I have found Bangkok to be the worst.....many people walk around the streets of Bangkok with those surgical masks on. I used to wonder why until I started walking around in that pollution and got physically ill. Manila is not far behind Bangkok pollution wise....

As for crime....I find Manila a little more dangerous than New York. Of course almost every major city has crime....Even Singapore has murders and muggings and places that are not as safe as others but overall, I find the New York of today a little bit safer than the Manila of today. New York in the 1980's at the beginning of the crack epidemic and into the mid -90's was fairly dangerous but it is much less so now.

I was in Manila about two years ago and they had a mini-coup....some soldiers took over some big hotel near the Glorietta mall in some mini-revolt against Gloria and I was inside the area where the Government troops had set-up roadblocks. All the stores were closed and I had to get my guide to come pick me up and take me past the barricades to go get food.

He was telling me how the last time soldiers started barricading the streets was when Marcos was overthrown and how the soldiers would shoot almost anyone they found on the street. This little mini-revolt was only a mini-blip in the world-wide news but it was not a blip when I was living through it.....at the time, when it first happened, it was thought it could be much larger......http://www.inq7.net/brk/2003/jul/27/brkpol_5-1.htm

I have also been in Jakarta before when they are demonstrating....luckily I never been around the violent demonstrations but my girlfriend lives in Indonesia and she has told me about what happens when things do get violent.....

The reason, I consider New York safer is because in recent memory the threat of rioting, coups, and other such violence that takes place in East Asian (with the exception of Singapore) countries are much less.

Things like what happened to the Chinese under Ex-Indonesian President Suharto have a little less chance of happening in the US....but that is just my opinion.

I have a lot of friends that live in the Philippines and I love the people but I am very careful when I go there and for people that have never been there before, they should get a guide......just as I reccomend to people that live in countries outside the US to find a guide if they go to a city like New York.....there is much less problems.



Starrob

 

With Vietnam....I only am going by what I was told by a girl I had talked to that lives in the Saigon area. With Vietnam, I have no firsthand experience.

I have only been to Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Hong Kong (In the 1980's when the Brits were still in charge).

Of all those places, Singapore is hands down the safest major city that I have been......maybe in the world. I walk anywhere, any time of day or night without fear there. Even the places that could be considered" bad" in Singapore.....really not much happens.

Malaysia in the area of Kuala Lumpur is fairly safe too but not nearly as safe as Singapore .

So, I don't know much about Vietnam, other than what I was told but I have heard that there is lots good and interesting things to see there. That is why i hope to go there one day

I have always wanted to go see Cambodia too....I think they have the oldest Buddhist temple in the world there. The only thing about Cambodia is I heard it is extremely dangerous there but that is also from word of mouth from other people.

I think the one thing that scared me about Cambodia was that I had a guy I met in Thailand tell me he had just come from there and that a policeman was murdered outside his hotel room door. Well, he told me that was not the worst part. He told me that the policeman laid dead in the hallway all night.....no one came to get him for like about 10 hours.....that is scary....but then again it is all word of mouth.

Maybe I'll explore Cambodia and see for myself one day.



Starrob

 

Hi, just to add a little about VietNam. [I know this thread is about the Phillipines!] However, it was mentioned about Saigon being quite dangerous, and indeed it can be. But go north to Hanoi, and it is much safer, but there is still a large amount of petty crime even here and a MAFIA sub culture exists throughout Viet Nam. Drug abuse and HIV is rising quickly, particularly in the south of the country.
I am married to a Vietnamese girl from Hanoi where I have been 10 times [we now live here in the UK], and never had any trouble at all, I have walked through the streets of Hanoi at 2am, alone, without any problem, and I have never had to pay bribes at any airport -Saigon included, plus my luggage was fine. In fact one time my luggage got lost somewhere in Hong kong en-route, but the Vnese at the airport efficiently got it to my hotel the day after, still intact. That wasnt so on the return leg through London Heathrow where my case was broken into and items stolen.
Regarding bribery on the whole in Viet Nam, yes its rife. Gary Glitter being a good example , by paying certain, shall we say, donations in various directions, he has got off the death penalty for his pervertions.

 

Bribery in all SE Asia is bad with the exception of Singapore which consistently gets rated the least corrupt place in the world.

Philippines, China, Indonesia, Thailand.....it don't really matter...the local police, customs. etc... is fairly corrupt.



Starrob

 

lol,
I hassled them everytime i went so the bribe was required just to get them to leave me alone.

I can't stand the arrogance of the people who work there and i usually let them know it. Most government workers i had to deal with were real SOB's.

Most i have known, had to pay or wait forever.... Which u do anyway in that pipsqueak of an airport in Saigon.

You're absolutely right about Hanoi, much safer. Haven't been able to get a visa to return to VN for about 2 yrs now. I wonder why.

My ex was born and raised in Saigon, Q-6 district.

If u ever get a chance, go visit Ca Mau city in the most southern part of VN. It's my favourite place there.


snowbound

 

I see lots of generalizations here about Asian countries which is truly unfortunate, as for NY being safer than Manilla, don't make me laugh,if I had to carry my camera, I would do so with my licensed and loaded Glock 10mm, I have seen shoot outs in daylight on the streets of NYC, Queens as well as Bronx, as a student, I rented an apartment in Fordham road, my first day, I was greeted with a dead body on the corner street with blood oozing out and sirens wailing.

As for the comment about Chinese being mal treated by Suharto in Indonesia is a rarity in Philippines as Filipinos are no way Xenophobic, but OTOH, most westerners in general are, after 9/11 it was hard for anyone from South Asia to walk the streets of NY, reason being their close proximity to the middle east features, woe begone if you happen to be at the wrong place at wrong time, it was common to be verbally or even physically abused, I wonder how middle eastern people who are US citizens were treated, probably way worse.
As per drug and HIV abuse, NY and most other US cities are in way worse shape, all races included.
As for police, majority of US police are into racial profiling so again for non westerners,its your peril, also highly corrupt, NY being the champion, most in nexus with the mafia, need I remind everyone of Serpico. Actually during Mayor Dinkins rule, police in NY went on a strike and rioted just like ordinary folks and left a trail of destruction.

So lets not act superior to others in any sense as history and experience tells otherwise, humans act like humans everywhere, no one is superior in any sense but Asia is far warmer and hospitable than the hostile and suspicious west, its part of upbringing there. Out in the west, every non westerner is looked at as if he or she is here to take a share out of their coveted pie, no one in Asia will ever tell you, assimilate our way or go home.

Just want to add, there is a major misconception that the Asian women are waiting for western men, no matter what their pulchritude level may be and make them feel like handsome actors, only wrong kind of women would do that, no self respecting Asian women from a good family would ever go out with a total stranger based on their ethnicity, Asia is in general far more conservative even today, I would like to add, this same kind of foolish perception exists in India as well, all Indian males make the same silly statement about women in west waiting for them at the airports to show them a jolly good time, either way, its another foolish and ill conceived misnomer which one must clear out of their minds.

 

ok, best we all get back on the original topic, myself included.


snowbound

 

As far as I am concerned all of you have some truth in what you said. Generally speaking I am referring to South East Asia only so I cannot say anything beyond that. I will rank the safest country in order of my personal experience: 1) Singapore - Very safe for everyone. 2) Malaysia - Most areas are safe especially in the city but try not venture too far out of city or travel to the North of Malaysia boadering Thailand. 3) Thailand - Safe but try not to venture South boadering Malaysia. Bangkok is safe unless you search for trouble. 4) Indonesia - Watch where you go. The terrorist cell is still very active. 4) Philippines - Watch where you go. The terrorist cell is also active. Once I was sent by my company to Philippines for business trip (dealing with multinational companies there) for 2 weeks and I never felt comfortable during my entire stay there. I need to constantly watched over my shoulders to ensure no one was following me as I was warned by my colleague before I went. He went there before ... I had a local taxi driver/guide that was introduced to me via a work mate who became my personal driver during my 2 weeks stay there. Many taxi drivers in Philippines were ex-army and have licence to carry guns. Mine was no different. He wanted to know my distination in advance so he could prepare. On the second day, he came to pick me up with a fully loaded 9mm semi-auto pistol as side arm (Made in Philippines - Brand name = BULL ... D'oh! I accidently deleted my thread here ... damn! long story so can't be asked to repeat ...

 

This post hit the nail on the head. This is a fairly accurate view of SE Asia in general.......

 

There have been quite a few allegations made in this thread about several asian countries with out substantiated facts, and as such I believe this thread has probably served it's purpose and will now be closed

bigc