How Safe is Philippines?

[Dave Hounddriver]

How Safe is Philippines?  It is a subjective topic.  I bring it up because of the shooting this morning in a small town near Dumaguete.

It didn't involve foreigners.  A newly elected barangay chairman and one other were shot and killed in the wee hours of the morning.  What makes this one different is that the suspects were:

"More or less 100 unidentified armed group with high cal Firearms"

That report is from Headzup, a local Facebook newsgroup with direct connections to the police reports.  The news media is saying "about 70" http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/regions/656600/negros-oriental-barangay-chairman-critically-injured-neighbor-dead-in-possible-npa-attack/story/

Anyway, 70 or 100 sounds like an army to me.  So forget about Mindanao being unsafe.  The only reason Negros is not yet in the same category as Mindanao is that no foreigners have been caught in the crossfire . . . .   yet.

 (I put the full text of the news article in a spoiler as it is a long story.)

Spoiler

Negros Oriental barangay chairman critically injured, neighbor dead in possible NPA attack
Published June 12, 2018 3:48pm 
By RAFFY CABRISTANTE
DUMAGUETE CITY — An incoming barangay chairman is in critical condition and his neighbor dead after his house was strafed by around 70 armed men believed to be New People’s Army (NPA) rebels Tuesday dawn in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, a town more than three hours away from this city.

Acting Guihulngan police chief Superintendent Mario Baquiran Jr. told GMA News Online that newly elected Barangay Humay-Humay chairman Mike Jakosalem was shot in the head and was rushed to a hospital in nearby San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.

As of press time, he is undergoing treatment at the Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod City.

His neighbor, 24-year-old Lenmar Cabasag, was rushed to the Guihulngan District Hospital but did not survive several gunshot wounds to different parts of his body.

According to initial investigation by the Guihulngan Police, about 70 armed men stormed Jakosalem and Cabasag's homes at around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday in Sitio Tagbacon in Humay-Humay, a mountain barangay located around 20 kilometers away from the city’s proper.

Cabasag’s brother Ladino told police that he first heard men shouting outside their home. When he opened the door, he saw several unidentified armed men wielding high-powered guns, who ordered him to go back inside his house.

The armed men then sprayed their house with gunfire; Ladino and his wife emerged unhurt after the incident. His brother Lenmar, however, was shot several times upon opening his door.

Ladino then heard additional gunshots being fired at a neighboring house, which turned out to be Jakosalem’s residence.

The Guihulngan police and personnel from the PNP’s Special Action Force (SAF) are now conducting a manhunt to track down the suspects, who immediately fled to a hilly portion of Barangay Humay-Humay.

Baquiran told GMA News Online in a phone interview that they are looking at politics as an angle for the possible motive of the shooting, as Jakosalem was reportedly a vocal supporter of the government.

“Posibleng hindi siya nagustuhan ng [NPA] dahil pro-government siya,” the police chief said, adding that Jakosalem has already received warnings of possible attacks by the NPA since he was elected chairman of Barangay Humay-Humay during the May 14 polls.

Humay-Humay is known as an NPA bailiwick, Baquiran noted.

This is the second shooting incident this month in Guihulngan City, and the sixth shooting there since incumbent councilor Paulo Edison Dela Rita Jr. was shot dead last April 2.

Because of these incidents, police will be conducting more checkpoints in Guihulngan to curb criminal elements, Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NORPPO) director Senior Superintendent Raul Tacaca told GMA News Online.

Tacaca said the police will also be coordinating with the local government in Guihulngan to review the implementation of the helmet law there, as most of the shooting incidents in the city involved motorcycle “riding-in-tandem” suspects. — BM, GMA News

 

Edited June 12, 2018 by Dave Hounddriver

[Happyhorn52]

Dumaguete, officially the City of Dumaguete, (Cebuano: Dakbayan sa Dumaguete; Filipino: Lungsod ng Dumaguete), or simply as Dumaguete City, is a 3rd class city in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 131,377 people.^[3]

It is the capital and most populous city of the province of Negros Oriental. The city is nicknamed The City of Gentle People.^[4]

[Dave Hounddriver]

40 minutes ago, Happyhorn52 said:

The city is nicknamed The City of Gentle People

It was.  Now it is #DumaGetMe

[OnMyWay]

I'm guessing the he was not the NPA choice in the election.

Those NPA gangs wouldn't last a weekend in Chicago.

https://heyjackass.com/

[Tukaram (Tim)]

We had a raid in Leon, Iloilo last year.  Some terrorists mountain bandits robbed a police station. They took guns and a patrol car. We had a mass shooting last year in Dallas, Texas, at a peaceful protest. It can happen anywhere...

Someone on YouTube asked me the other day how I can go out of the city without being killed. I asked him if I came across as a butthole ha ha.  He basically said he heard that all provinces were dangerous - the cities are the only safe places. I don't know where some of these stories come from. It ain't all bad.    

[bastonjock]

I read on the news that there's been another 4 kids murdered in Florida , the shooter turned the gun on himself and shot a cop before that .

There are parts of every country that are gang ridden , there are places that you just don't go , I grew up in Glasgow ,the stabbing capital of the UK , whilst getting shot was rare ,the chances of getting carved up were pretty good in the city on a Friday and Saturday night , when I visited my grandmother , I had to have my cousin clear me with the local gang as a non combatant ,same deal if I went to my aunt's 

Whilst you can't neutralise all of the threats you can take steps to reduce them 

It could be worse ,you could be living in Mexico ,30,000 murders last year

[WHIPPING BOY]

That really is troubling Dave Hounddriver.

I agree 70 or 100 is an army, very scary.

A quick look at Google homicides shows;

Philippines at ..11,02/100 000   as at 2016

USA  ............... 5,35                                2009

Mexico  ..........19,26                               2016

China  ............ 0,62                                 2016

South Africa .. 33,97                              2016  [most often said to be much worse]

Still, reckon I will risk it for the ladies

[Old55]

I think it’s time we talked honestly about the shocking true risk the Philippines 🇵🇭 poses. The instant one enters the country you will be targeted with very few exceptions. It’s constant insidious and unrelating. Most single foreigners don’t stand a chance. 💘 

[Mike J]

2 hours ago, Old55 said:

The instant one enters the country you will be targeted with very few exceptions. It’s constant insidious and unrelating.

I am reminded of my recent stop to buy fried chicken.  I asked for two breasts from the attendant at the counter.  Behind her, a very attractive and curvaceous young lady, said "Ahh, two breasts",  and proceeded to do an "uplifting" gesture using both hands that certainly enhanced those curves.   I am now afraid to order thighs. 

[Rooster]

PNP Crime Prevention Tips

http://ncrpo.pnp.gov.ph/index.php/crime-prevention-tips/20-crime-prevention-tips