The Philippines - The Killing Fields

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Gaving lived in the Philippines and travelled there several times, both as a single guy, and in a relationship, I can say that the Philippines is a dangerous place for foreigners. The Philippines is a collectivist country like the rest of Asia, however its even more dangerous because of its Western influence. A great many Filipino men resent the Western influence, because it is historically linked with their psychological repression and economic marginalisation.

When you consider the location of assaults and murders, they tend to occur in the 'Western districts', or areas which attract a lot of money. This makes the following places particularly dangerous:
1. Metro Manila
2. Angeles City
3. Boracay Beach Resorts
4. Subic
5. Cebu
6. Puerto Galera
7. Batangas

Performing a search on Google of Australians killed in the Philippines alone reveals a long list. I'm sure there are many more Germans, Swiss, Dutch, Brits, etc. The nature of the killings tend to be for a variety of reasons:
1. Robbery and aggravated assault
2. Assassination - unprovoked gun shot
3. Hate crime or revenge, sometimes in response to business success
4. Drug related

It is common for Filipinos to conspire with others, whether friends or family to kill foreign partners. The issues are sometimes divorce, property settlement, revenge for adultery, or just resentment. The Philippines is a poor and desperate place, and because of the Catholicism, there is a high incidence of rationalisation and delusion. Don't expect reason to prevail. Passions and blood are thicker than water and logic. It is a very self-indulgent culture. The brutality and the spontaneity of the crime is remarkable. The envy of some Filipinos for Western cash is well understood. Filipinos are perhaps the most brand-conscious people on Earth, more so than the Japanese. It does not help matters that foreigners seem to prey on the uneducated class, looking for some trophy GF. This is a solid basis for a relationship of disrespect. If this is your choice, then you might want to rethink living in the Philippines. Of course that decision depends on your confidence and personal context. Support from the partner's family is critical.

It is very easy to annoy poor Filipinos, and earn their resentment, particularly if you are living in communities where you are mixing closely with them. Apartment complexes offer some element of anonymity, but all it takes is a sarcastic gesture to a taxi driver with gambling debts or drug/alcohol problem to find yourself in danger. Support from a Filipino family is key. If you need to throw money around to appease people, you are not being treated with respect, nor helping them. They will resent you for it.

Filipinos are superficially very easy-going people like Australians. But for some of them, the depth of their resentment and delusion is remarkable. There is often a large number of them who simply see foreigners as a source of money, and more concerning is that this attutude is not discouraged, in fact it's lauded as 'economic necessity'. I've had Filipino brothers introducing their sisters to me many times, in the hope of deriving some benefit from me. There would be more cases if they had more confidence in their English.

Having said that, you play a large role in bringing problems upon yourself. Staying in Manila on one occasion I was returning back to my hotel after a night at a club. I had not drunk a lot, but getting into a taxi I saw the taxi driver signal to another guy, whom I suspect was to follow. This suspicion was proven when I noticed that he was taken me the wrong way. I took over direction to avoid him going down a dark alley. This was at 2AM in the morning. I don't go clubbing anymore, but it does highlight the risk of getting into cabs late at night. I knew the streets in this area.

Just yesterday an Australian was killed in Aklan, which if I remember correctly is on Panay Island in the Visayan Island Group of the central Philippines. The Filipino simply got up and shot this Australian sitting at another table. It's fair to say that some foreigners behave terribly in their host country. I've seen an Australian bar owner in Subic encouraging his staff to take their shirts off to give his patrons some tittilating pleasure. They girls might joke about it, but clearly this guy has a conflict of interest because he doesn't pay them well to perform such actions, in an instance where there is considerable social pressure and the threat of job loss. This was a pub, not a girlie bar. The reality is that this guy was likely paying kickbacks to a local official.

Anyway, it's worth assessing the risks of living in the Philippines before living there, or buying property. If you are part of a supportive family with decent values makes all the difference. Since meeting my partner it's rare that I am alone, so there is far less risk. I feel like I have joined a new family. The extended family are less hospitable, seeing me as a cash cow, howover the immediate family is impressive. For cases of killings of foreigners, refer to the following websites:
1. Australian in custody dispute
2. Australian's home invaded
3. Australian in custody dispute
4. Australian car ambushed (this was an NPA communist guerilla attack)

On reflection however these people have probably been living in the Philippines for 10-12 years. Perhaps the greatest concern is threat of being targeted. Clearly having local support makes a difference. I tend to travel around the Philippines with a Filipino family, and the father is a policeman so I feel pretty safe. I'm more worried about his driving :)

In fairness to the Philippines, the prospects for living are far better if you stay in safer districts, associate with good people, avoid going out to bars late at night, avoid aggravating people. I might add that such incidents are common in other countries, e.g. My friend was assaulted getting out of a taxi in Vietnam, high crimes are common in Thailand. My only experience with crime was being king-hit by a Pacific Islander in Sydney, my home town, trying to defend a friend who said something (which I was not aware of). But otherwise I've not had a problem in Australia, though I lived in safe North Shore area.

Interestingly in Googling for this post I came across 2 Filipinos killed in Australian bushfires, so I would suggest perhaps the greater threat in Australia is natural disasters because a great many people die from them not knowing the risk, and the risk is likely greater for foreigners not aware of the dangers. The other natural danger is Australia beaches, where many Asians are not aware of the strong rips (under-currents) capable of pulling them out to sea. Oh, and then there is the box jellyfish and sea snakes. Not as poisonous, but far more common is the Brown Snake, and a range of other snakes. I'd stay in the Philippines. It's way safer there.

Need an online digital map of the Philippines

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Google, Yahoo et al struggle to to role out services globally. For this reason it sometimes comes down to people power to complete such tasks. There is a dedicated group of people and supporters in the Philippines doing just that at www.openstreetmap.org.ph. If you are interested in contributing I recommend buying a Garmin Etrex Cx global positioning device, and downloading the free map rendering software from EasyGPS. Even if you need a street map to find your friend's place, you can zoom to the right size, find the PrintScreen (PrtSc) button on your computer and past into MS PAINT software, so you can print off your own map after any editing you want to do. If you want to render your own trails/tracks and waypoints on your map, there are products like OZExplorer which allow you to do that. Just to start you off, here is a map of Manila.

Would I recommend living in the Philippines?

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There are a great many Westerners considering a relationship with a woman in the Philippines. There is a charming aspect to Filipinos I must concern. There are a great many who have a sense of entitlement, who are ambitiously intent on accessing you cash flow, but still others who are productive, hard working people of good intent. Whether you have an educated partner, or have met a factory-worker prepared to work 3 jobs, the challenge is finding a suitable and respecting partner in shark-infested waters.
The next challenge is deciding whether to live there. If you are intent on having a relationship with a Filipino, I firmly recommend living there for a period in order to grasp their context, to understand their culture, and if you have the time, to learn their language. Aside from understanding her culture, I find this a desirable opportunity to have a life experience abroad, as well as an opportunity to develop a business if opportunities are available to you.
The questions you should be asking are: Do you have the capital? Are you leaving a better life for a lesser one? Are you turning your back on more opportunities than you are creating? Are you more valuable after this experience or less? Do you have a contingency plan?
Most people that move to the Philippines seem intent on retirement. That strikes me as an empty existence, since I cannot imagine not working. The goal to me is to work with reasonable people under reasonable rules. The appeal of the Philippines is that unreasonable rules are more easily avoided, and there are fewer rules besides. That is both a risk and a benefit. You don’t get fines for speeding, but there is little protection if your neighbour sets up a piggery next door. There is a security risk in the sense that life means less in the Philippines, but there is a benefit in as much as you mean more to them alive rather than dead. But only to a point. Like in business you have to have a strategy to preserve your value. You weaken your prospects if you teach them what you know, unless you first teach them a new model for self-respect. They are a more collectivist country than yours, so you need to embrace a ‘growth’ strategy which allows them to respect you for the difference you have made to their life. At the same time you need to break down the myth of social cohesion in the Philippines.
Many Westerners like the idea of employing locals in some small business. There are several challenges that you need to consider. Educated Filipinos want Western opportunities, so they want to travel abroad, so by employing them you are likely to experience high staff turnover. Employing poor, unskilled Filipinos and you will need to engage in a higher level of education than you might have considered. You will first have to teach them food and personal hygiene, ethical conduct, long range, conceptual thinking so they don’t burn their bridges by cheating on you in the first instance. I don’t know many Westerners who are ready for that. Most Westerners are more intent on just preserving the password on their bank account. That works to some extent, and you can surely tolerate a little pilfering. The question is – Did you not want relationships based on respect? Were you not investing in progress and prosperity? At least this is my ‘growth’ strategy. Some of you might be satisfied to spend your life surrounded by pretty girls. I however could never close my mind to the lack of respect often lacking from such relationships. So on reflection managing Filipinos might be too hard. It need not be, but if you don’t have a capable, trusted Filipino partner, with a similarly supportive Filipino family, I think you are destined for failure.
You might also be interested in establishing a business such as internet cafes, resort, etc. A great many years ago many Westerners came to establish resorts, and few made money from them. The primary problem was the poor economy in a political unstable context. So where might you put your money? I would probably avoid the local stock market unless you approach it as a pure trader or refrain from investing in anything less than the top 20 stocks. The best opportunities for foreigners are of course providing services to foreigners abroad. You cannot compete with the locals in small businesses like food, internet services, unless you look at serving foreign markets. You will just not make enough money to match your higher expectancies. If you can manage Filipinos then you might excel by managing a range of businesses or franchises. You will however need to understand the local business culture. That takes years.
Some people might actually prefer to live in several countries as I tend to do. I spread my time between Japan, the Philippines, Australia and NZ. Your personal context will differ from mine. If you are French, then you might like Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines; if you have lived in Japan as I have, then Japan appeals a great deal, and being an Australian, NZ makes a lot of sense. Visa rules differ but for Westerners the Philippines is the best (18mths, with unlimited re-entry), followed by Japan, Australia and NZ (3mths).
I don’t think you have to rush to buy anywhere at the moment, though I think Australia and NZ present excellent opportunities to convert foreign currency, as these currencies are too cheap, particularly the AUD. Australian property is still too pricey, unless you are looking at rural areas. You can rent cheaply in the Philippines, usually on 12 month leases, but I would be inclined to use the market weakness as an excuse to negotiate a 6-month agreement, and I would be travelling around, trying to determine which area was the best location. Cebu, Manila, Vigan, Davao and Lipa City are probably good choices to at least sample.

Australian gunned down in Angeles City

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I see that an Australian has been gunned down in Angeles City in the Philippines. The story reported in the Sun Herald reports that the guy had a successful business there. At the end of the day doesn't it just become about money. Maybe he wasn't prepared to pay kickbacks to the local authorities. Anyway, it is far better for all concerned to avoid Angeles City, since its mostly prostitution and drugs. I don't think it need to reflect on the rest of the country.

The Philippines is under ‘undeclared martial law'

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According to Topix.net the Philippines is under an 'undeclared martial law'. How true is that? What we do know about Philippines politics is that there is a culture of power lusters and corruption, and collusion between the major parties. Consider for instance that President Arroyo pardoned deposed former president Joseph Estrada. Why would you do that unless you wanted the same treatment in opposition, that is to be unaccountable for your crimes. This is consistent with the perception that corruption has increased under Arroyo. I've only lived in the Philippines 2 years but I've seen a lot of corruption. The US government even expressed dismay at the high number of opposition leaders being murdered or disappearing, and the high level of political killings. A significant number of journalists have also been killed for expressing opinions against certain political interests.
Certainly there is no martial law in the Philippines, but the threat should be considered serious because Gloria Arroyo is currently prevented from running for a 2nd term. She is not without her options, and among them are:
1. Attempting to change the constitution. She has supported Federalism as a means of giving the Moros their lands in Muslim Mindanao. It would seem reasonable if the government had not spent the last 100 years trying to marginalise them through population resettlement and kill them. But fine, all is forgiven.
2. Declaring martial law. One of the problems with allowing a president to declare martial law is the chance of the law being misused. It would be easy enough for the president's supporters in the military to conspire to fabricate a 'civil emergency' that would justify martial law, whether its the killing of people, or more likely a series of bomb attacks around the Philippines.
3. Getting one of her children or supporters elected: If you can't get re-elected, why not get one of your supporters elected. Arroyo has family in politics. Maybe they will ascend as a proxy. No signs of that yet, but no election until 2010, so time to groom them for the presidency.

Reading the Topix story there seems to be confusion over terminology. Martial law is a period of enhanced presidental power. There is the concern that after 30 days, when martial law is due to expire (after the end of her term), that she could pay off a number of politicians to achieve an indefinite extension. More likely however would be a move to rewrite the Constitution. The Philippines has replaced its constitutions every 30 years on average. It needs to be conceded however that Arroyo has done a good job reforming the economy in many respects, so she is no slouch there. Of course they said the same about President Marcos, who failed to execute. Arroyo by contrast has just been slow. The trend however is positive. Could it be that she is just impatient with democracy. Aside from the political-related killings, it might be comparable with President Roosevelt's total disregard for the Constitution. eg. The IRS Code and abolition of the gold standard.

If one looks around the world it is a given that we are in a period of fascism, where corporate government alliance has far more power than that of the much maligned unions, consumer (given the weak regulation). Fascism today is far less confrontational than the pre-WWII days. It reads to be understood that there are blunter tools than guns to get what you want. Its easier to misappropriate funds and pay off your detractors. You will find some journalists are paid off to shut up, and they are the one's who don't respond to the threat of murdered journalists.

The Philippines language

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I was just having a conversation with my GF about the Tagalog (Philippine) language. She was explaining the reasons why she didn't like the language. I think its very easy for a person to discard their culture, language or values, as some collective trash, but really there is often some value in it. She was saying:
1. Tagalog was very repetitive: Upon discussion or critical appraisal of the language it was apparent that it was really quiet logical in its structure. She said it was an integration of Bahasa (Indonesian), Spanish and Chinese, and maybe local native dialects, but her example was not true.
2. Tagalog was emotive: I tend to agree with her point: I notice that she will talk in English with people, but when she wants to be emotional, she will switch to Tagalog. There is a pleading in the Philippine language. I don't however think this is a problem restricted to Tagalog. Having had Japanese and Korean girlfriends, and friends in Europe as well, I can say that a great many Asian and mainland European languages are pleading or tragic. People are like this way for a reason. They are seeking alms or concessions. Its a tool. Understandable that people use it to get what they want, but sadly the counterparty is unable or unwilling to counter it with reason. Herein lies a failure of Asian and mainland European thinking that manifests itself in language.
3. Tagalog is tiresome: Her argument was that it is much harder to explain things in Tagalog compared to English. This is not surprising, though clearly my GF could not appreciate the difference because she didn't appreciate the history of these cultures. English techical words like at the core of most languages because the Western world popularised their use though the Industrial revolution. Today English is the level of science and other technical subjects such as philosophy despite the illogical structure of English. The illogical structure of English however is incidental rather than core. Its incidental in the sense that the language borrowed from others. It borrowed frm others because science and commerce resulted in it engaging with the world, spreading its achievements, such that it morphed with other cultures, but its core remained strong because it learned from other cultures.

It did not self-righteously place up barriers like the Japanese, which were subsequently broken down by Admiral Perry, it was mostly open to other countries. I think that is the legacy of English. Its a stuffed language, declines in structure with every culture it influences, but its culture always retains the right attitude. Always? Well, no. I would suggest its concept of self interest (as defined by its bureaucrats) is too narrow and commercial in its political expression, but such is the influence of bad politics. If Asia wants to impress it really needs to adopt a better philosophical system. But personally I think you will read about such a system on these pages before you read about it from some Asian bureaucrat. Watch these pages...

My GF did appreciate that whilst she had these strong objections about the Philippines, she really needed to live overseas so that she could see their cultural failings. I would however caution against nit-picking over cultural differences and understanding why. Cultures are different for reasons. You can't expect a cutlture to be different from what it is because it did not depend on any one person, it is a summation of ideas. Neither should one define oneself as the product of a collectivist identity. We are all individuals, slaves to a government that purports to represent only enough of the swine that would have it elected, having colluded with the competition (other party) on the rules of engagement.
Anyway we as good swine do...go to Australia to teach my GF how bad the world is, to make so much money that we can escape its vile odour... the raucous smell of a government that cares not to identify its contradictions. Well I love the physiology of my country, never mind the boring decadence of it. But I also like to explore... to seek out new experiences.

Superstition in the Philippines

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Its interesting how seriously Filipinos treat spiritual matters. I guess I have surrounded myself with a lot of cultures over the years, but I suggest that Filipinos are the most superstitious. On the note I am comparing them with Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, with Eastern Europeans the runner-ups, followed by the Japanese. The examples that come to mind are the following:

1. Work colleagues who ask their boss for a day off because it has been foretold that there will be an earthquake in Manila and a lot of people are going to die. It made me laugh. I would hate to die because I took precautions. Offices are designed to withstand earthquakes - many Filipino house owners might remember that. :) The strength of houses depends on the design too of course.

2. Property buyers who dont want to buy a property because its 500m away from a graveyard. My personal opinion is that dead people make the best neighbours because they are very quiet. I dont know the statue of limitations on haughting. I dont know how far they can roam in a night. Maybe best to live next to a cell tower so you can call for help, and the electromagnetic radiation might repel them.

3. Not talking ill of other people because it just might happen. Being critical, I do this a lot, and I'm always impressed by my capacity to have people touching wood.

4. There is also a belief in gnomes, fairies and 'centals', though I care less what they are.

The Japanese are pretty uptight people too. Salt crystals near the window sill in the house to ward off evil spirits. This one makes me laugh because it caused the cement and paint to crumble after a few years. But its true - there was no evil spirits over that time.