Birthdays in june

[bastonjock]

Well i arrived back in davao ,a few days ago , it would appear that june is birthday month ,gf ,her grandmother, her mother and bothh her sisters have their birthdays this month .

Thursday it was mamma ,i bought a cake for the lunch time session at brokenshire colledge , for the evening session ,her BIL paid for dinner for about 12 people , no donation from the kanu was requested

We travelled to the southern part of mindanao ,on friday , way past gen san for grandmothers birthday  ,we went 50/50 on the gas and everything else over the two days , i did think i was going to get hit for dinner for 14 tonight but ,gf and bil paid .

Whilst it apears that i have to put in my share , im not getting hit for everything,  only one jollibee meal for the kids ,everything else has been a shared cost 

[OnMyWay]

57 minutes ago, bastonjock said:

way past gen san

I don't think I would go down there.

[bastonjock]

7 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I don't think I would go down there.

the extended family went out their way to ensure me that i would be safe , i dont think it would be safe on your own , i talked to the bishop who originates from digos ,he told me that there are some areas in the mountains and on the east side that would be dangerous for me , but down here i woukd be identified as one of their clan .

gf gets intelligence as part of her job , ( safety officer for DW ) , she will not ler me go to unsafe areas

[GeoffH]

11 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I don't think I would go down there.

I think those of us with family in Mindanao sometimes have to make (carefully considered) travel choices that expats in most other parts of the Philippines don't have to worry about, at least to the same degree.

I've been faced with similar choices when it comes to visiting family who live to the west and south of Ozamiz (we're in Cagayan De Oro which is in the Orange area) and well inside the areas shaded 'red - do not travel' on western travel advisories.  

Local knowledge is very important in making these choices and Bastonjack sounds like he is staying informed and acting carefully.

 

Edited June 9, 2019 by GeoffH

[Gary D]

I think a big problem is that a local will think it safe because they do not see any danger to themselves  and don't appreciate that a danger to a foreigner is totally different.

[Kuya John]

Wife's family are from Iligan City, the family take good care of me while visiting.

One place they took me was over looking the "Longest Pier" which shortly after our visit was off limit's.

They tend to know what's going on or should I say going down.

I certainly wouldn't travel further south while in Mindanao, and as said before travel Ins becomes invalid if you cross the lines.

 

[GeoffH]

6 hours ago, Kuya John said:

I certainly wouldn't travel further south while in Mindanao, and as said before travel Ins becomes invalid if you cross the lines.

I travel through Illigan city en route from CDO to Ozamiz and stop there for lunch sometimes.  Illigan has seldom seemed more unsafe than CDO but they have to draw the dividing line somewhere.  There were more displaced persons (refugees) there after the battle of Marawi concluded.

We try and avoid heading south also which is why we use the ferry rather than driving south and around Panguil bay when possible.

 

Edited June 9, 2019 by GeoffH

[bastonjock]

There are risks every where , not just in mindanao. The list of countries where terrorisim is active , goes well beyond the iskand of mindanao. 

I asked about the two canadian guys who were kidnapped and later beheaded in samal , i was told that they were asking for it , we dont like mining engineers coming here to steal our resources was the answer .

Gf goes to cotabato for her allumini ,she has many Muslim friends there but says it would not be safe for me 

@GeoffH is quite correct in his statement that those of us living here in mindanao have to make assessments when travelling ,the small town i visited was called maasim ,sarangai province , theres a very new coal fired power station there , clear indication of duerties improvement of infrastructure. 

You can never completely remove danger in your life , terrorism happens in England,  it happens almost everywhere,  there are areas in the uk and almost every other country that are dangerous to the traveller 

[Kuya John]

bastonjock

I hear what you say......but I would rather take my chances in UK than the likes of Malawi or Zamboanga!

One of our Filipino friends when visiting his family in Zamboanga a couple of years back cut short his stay,

he felt unsafe!

 

Edited June 9, 2019 by Kuya John

[bastonjock]

26 minutes ago, Kuya John said:

bastonjock

I hear what you say......but I would rather take my chances in UK than the likes of Malawi or Zamboanga!

One of our Filipino friends when visiting his family in Zamboanga a couple of years back cut short his stay,

he felt unsafe!

 

Lol , i have no plans of visiting zamboanga or malawi , there are some places that are just to high risk ,even areas of mount apo