Pirate attack Phillipines ?

[Gone2long]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

No! We are guests living in a poor country and should not be testing the thickness of the President's skin.

Yeah, well ... My Philippine wife votes, my son has a top notch degree from the best University in the nation, we own property here, and 14 years in the country seems to qualify me as something other than just a "guest".

As you note, some risks may actually warrant being taken, and the Catholic Church seems to agree, as they did w. the last guy who declared an "emergency" and used that pretense for less than moral purposes.

Duterte is something of an enigma. He contradicts himself left and right, and someone in his government is always having to explain what he DIDN'T mean about kicking the US forces out of Mindanao, calling the Pope, The US Prez, and other folks "son of a whore", cancelling joint US sea patrols, talking about buying weapons from China and Russia, promising to kill 100,000 of his own countrymen, and promising to end the drug war in 6 mos. or resign, etc., etc.

On the other hand, I admire his cohones. He tells the truth about the US, and understands the rising power just across the China Sea. And, being half muslim, he may just be able to get the south that fair share of government funds, power, peace and dignity that they deserve.

What, me worry???

G2L

[HighTemp]

Originally Posted by Gone2long

Yeah, well ... My Philippine wife votes, my son has a top notch degree from the best University in the nation, we own property here, and 14 years in the country seems to qualify me as something other than just a "guest".

I too am married to a Filipina, who owns a very small amount of property and although I am not a resident, I have lived there on and off for many years. I agree with 90% of what you have said except,in my experience, unless you are a Filipino citizen, you will always a considered a "guest" in their country, residency permit or not.

As an example, a life long friend of mine, who was an established business owner, and official "resident" for more than 25 years, had to endure 4 years of custody hearings with regard to his own children after his wife passed away unexpectedly. Why? All because he was an American and not a Filipino. Just the fact that he had to go to court to be "awarded" custody of his own children indicates, to me at least, that without regard to legal status, or length of residency in the country, he was considered a guest because he was not Filipino.

[tdominic_97]

Am I the only one that thinks $600,000 in ransom money makes kidnapping seem profitable to bad people.

[HighTemp]

Originally Posted by tdominic_97

Am I the only one that thinks $600,000 in ransom money makes kidnapping seem profitable to bad people.

Based on today's exchange rate, that is just shy of $27M piso. Yeah....might be worth the risks associated with such activities.

[Pelagic]

Hi G2L, hope all is well

I don't question that you have earned the "right" to openly criticise the President while living amongst his followers...
...I just question the wisdom of it?

CF should not be used as a soapbox for local politics as its content could be used in dramatic ways to harm all cruisers in that area.

We will always be foreigners in the Philippines and at the moment the national sentiment is to tell all foreigners criticising the Philippines to **%k off.

That you should respect.

[Larry Florida]

Philippines - Great place to visit, would not want to like there.

[Gone2long]

Originally Posted by HighTemp

I too am married to a Filipina, who owns a very small amount of property and although I am not a resident, I have lived there on and off for many years. I agree with 90% of what you have said except,in my experience, unless you are a Filipino citizen, you will always a considered a "guest" in their country, residency permit or not.

As an example, a life long friend of mine, who was an established business owner, and official "resident" for more than 25 years, had to endure 4 years of custody hearings with regard to his own children after his wife passed away unexpectedly. Why? All because he was an American and not a Filipino. Just the fact that he had to go to court to be "awarded" custody of his own children indicates, to me at least, that without regard to legal status, or length of residency in the country, he was considered a guest because he was not Filipino.

Understood, and I am sure your are right on target. On the other hand, does that mean we should not call a spade a spade, or a neo fascist .... If not to criticize the regime, perhaps we should really be discussing our own continued "safety" in this rapidly evolving scenario.

Guess that such is my main concern.

Thanks for your response,

me again

[weavis]

Need to keep on track and leave the political viewpoints out of the thread.

[Gone2long]

I like your quote. I understand and respect the advice that you and Pelagic. have given.

My intent was to inform other cruisers who may not actually have the time or inclination to be able to follow these events.

I also felt that it was important to talk about the potential consequences for any of us who choose to live in or travel through the Philippines.

Granted, I may have chosen the wrong forum for which to do so. Sorry for the topic drift.

With all due respect,

G2L

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Gone2long

I like your quote. I understand and respect the advice that you and Pelagic. have given.

My intent was to inform other cruisers who may not actually have the time or inclination to be able to follow these events.

I also felt that it was important to talk about the potential consequences for any of us who choose to live in or travel through the Philippines.

Granted, I may have chosen the wrong forum for which to do so. Sorry for the topic drift.

With all due respect,

G2L

I have worked in the Philippines. Well aware of the issues and have sympathy for the situation. We just need to keep CF free of the political fights that ensue from a stated viewpoint.

Nothing personal.

[Zven]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Hi G2L, hope all is well

I don't question that you have earned the "right" to openly criticise the President while living amongst his followers...
...I just question the wisdom of it?

CF should not be used as a soapbox for local politics as its content could be used in dramatic ways to harm all cruisers in that area.

We will always be foreigners in the Philippines and at the moment the national sentiment is to tell all foreigners criticising the Philippines to **%k off.

That you should respect.

More seriously, it may be illegal for foreigners to take part in political debate. The Philippines has a law about it. I'm not sure how much one's visa /residence status matters in that respect.

Filipinos do not take kindly to criticism, in general.

[belle-isle]

Hi,

I do not know the Philippines and was just reading this thread by curiosity.

Would just like to react to statements that Filipinos do not appreciate criticism. If you look at the other side of the mirror, I know a lot of other nations (many of them Western) who also do not appreciate criticism. Just as examples, Americans get pretty irritated when Europeans suggest their gun laws are outdated. Similarly, Europeans balk when Americans tell them their political system needs to be reviewed or that they are racists because they don't feel like letting Turkey join into the EU or the such. Also how about Jewish people who call antisemitic anyone criticizing the policy of the state of Israel ?

My point is it is both very difficult for a foreigner to acceptably criticize somewhere he is a guest, even if he's been there for a long time, and for sure it would be better if people could hear out suggestions, but not only in the Philippines!


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Pelagic]

Very good point belle -isle

As The new President has served notice that he will NOT accept criticism from other governments as to how he cracks down on corruption and drugs,..., we visitors must tread lightly and keep our own opinions to ourselves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1mu...g#action=share

[weavis]

Whilst politics is an integral part of life, Might be a good idea to keep the conversation biased towards sailing and the impact thereof instead of fanning the flames of political differences in general. It causes dissent.

its a sailing forum.

[Pelagic]

One if the nicest things about sailing is that we can often transcend politics and cultural biases, simply by sharing.

When I first came to live in Puerto Galera , joined and got involved in PGYC, there was bad feelings and a civil case between the local council and PGYC over the income from our moorings ....had been going on for years!

Our solution was to start a Sailing Scholarship program for local kids, building both racing dinghies and a much more positive relationship with the town, so that eventually the court case simply disappeared!

Through sponsorship from members, our local island kids went on to great things in competitive sailing in world events and it was a joy to behold their confidence growing as their world horizon expanded.

This to me, is the best example for Expat sailors, who settle in a foreign community, to transcend politics by sharing their talents and contribute rather than criticise.

Much more positive link
https://issuu.com/asiapixstudios/doc..._news_issue_08