Annoying Local Behavior

[OnMyWay]

24 minutes ago, jimeve said:

Bacong, 5 miles south of dumaguete in the sticks. I didn't feel threatened at the time but you never know what they could do at night!

If they were neighbors / people you recognized, it would be one thing.  If total strangers, I would be disturbed.  Any NPA in those areas?

[Jack Peterson]

9 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

Any NPA in those areas?

 Unless they have severe problems with us  the NPA are not Anti Foreigners ( I am not sure where people get this Idea of badness in the NPA) against foreigners  Of course we in our Area have NPA  around us but it is not against Us ( the Foreigner) they cause problems

Edited May 9, 2023 by Jack Peterson
added a little

[Hestecrefter]

I must confess to not having read all 30 pages of this thread in its entirety, but I have read most of it.  Many of the annoyances others have mentioned, I too have encountered.  

For me, two of the more prominent are, firstly, the "skin tax", "kano tax" or "foreigner price" or whatever you care to call it.  Most of us find we are better off to let our wives/gfs shop alone at the palengke or elsewhere, lest our white faces be spotted and higher prices charged.  Not so bad when on very familiar turf, where you and your wife know the prices and won't accede to being overcharged.  Even more so for things such as land purchases.  The kano will pay more if he is revealed.  That kind of stuff simply does not go on where I have lived in Canada and in U.S.

Number two captured in these words of Tommy T, reproduced from p. 12 of this thread:

On 3/16/2023 at 5:17 PM, Tommy T. said:

Really a very bad idea. Remember that, regardless of your visa status, you are still a guest in this country. Their rules and customs are very different from those elsewhere. Always keep a low profile and wave and smile to even the most asinine you may encounter.

Of course, he is right and the "guest" admonition is heard all the time, although not so much out of the mouths of Filipinos themselves.  But I find it irksome that, come what may, regardless of years spent in the Phils (and countless dollars spent), and "regardless of visa status", we are never more than "guests", counselled to keep our heads down, not to speak, particularly not about government, religion or politics, and hope we don't end up on a "blacklist" somewhere.  I have never encountered a Filipino in Canada or in the U.S. who felt at all constrained to be so circumspect, so guarded in speaking one's mind.  In those countries, Filipinos and those from many other lands and soon regarded as one of us and accorded the same treatment.

As a concomitant, or perhaps a corollary of #2, is the prohibition on land ownership, assuring our second class status in perpetuity.

[Possum]

8 minutes ago, Hestecrefter said:

 But I find it irksome that, come what may, regardless of years spent in the Phils (and countless dollars spent), and "regardless of visa status", we are never more than "guests", counselled to keep our heads down, not to speak, particularly not about government, religion or politics, and hope we don't end up on a "blacklist" somewhere.

I also find this irksome but then I remember that Filipinos here are subject to "red tagging" or being killed, it is also a very dangerous place for journalists, one of the worst in the world for a so called democracy. Even down to the local level people know not to make too many waves. They may think the Philippines is an oligarchy run by kleptocrats but they certainly don't want to campaign on the issue or bring up too many local examples of corruption in public.  Hence they suggest we do as they do... maintain a low profile.

[BrettGC]

45 minutes ago, Hestecrefter said:

have never encountered a Filipino in Canada or in the U.S. who felt at all constrained to be so circumspect, so guarded in speaking one's mind.

Canada must be very different to Australia, the US and the UK, each countries I've lived in.  I for one have seen very heated arguments start when the "guest" or permanent resident or even naturalised citizen starts to complain about their country of residence.  I've even been on the wrong side of this in my home country of Australia (I was born there but hold dual citizenship with the Irish Republic) when criticising something an Aussie holds dear to their heart.  Granted, it's mainly from the more "redneck" nationalistic types and the consequences aren't generally as dire as they can be here, but it does happen in other countries.  I stick to the general conversational rule that my much loved Irish Nanna instilled in all 56 of her grandchildren:  Don't talk religion or politics in any situation unless you know the people very well no matter where you are. 

Do the self-imposed restrictions sometimes annoy me?  A little, but very rarely; I left my griping about governments days behind me in Australia.  

As to  land ownership, there's moves afoot.  I'm not sure it'll happen in the near future, but fingers crossed.  

[Tommy T.]

1 hour ago, Hestecrefter said:

But I find it irksome that, come what may, regardless of years spent in the Phils (and countless dollars spent), and "regardless of visa status", we are never more than "guests", counselled to keep our heads down, not to speak, particularly not about government, religion or politics, and hope we don't end up on a "blacklist" somewhere.  I have never encountered a Filipino in Canada or in the U.S. who felt at all constrained to be so circumspect, so guarded in speaking one's mind.  In those countries, Filipinos and those from many other lands and soon regarded as one of us and accorded the same treatment.

I see your point and agree with your feelings. However, we live here, not there, and really must follow their rules and customs. Life here is cheap and justice seems to be slow or non-functional. A drive-by on a motorcycle might cost, what, 5k pesos? Oh....plus the cost of the bullets....

I can live with this, even though I sometimes chafe a bit now and then... Good thing I have L to guide me and keep me in line!

Edited May 10, 2023 by Tommy T.

[Hestecrefter]

53 minutes ago, BrettGC said:

Canada must be very different to Australia, the US and the UK, each countries I've lived in.  I for one have seen very heated arguments start when the "guest" or permanent resident or even naturalised citizen starts to complain about their country of residence.  I've even been on the wrong side of this in my home country of Australia (I was born there but hold dual citizenship with the Irish Republic) when criticising something an Aussie holds dear to their heart.  Granted, it's mainly from the more "redneck" nationalistic types and the consequences aren't generally as dire as they can be here, but it does happen in other countries.  I stick to the general conversational rule that my much loved Irish Nanna instilled in all 56 of her grandchildren:  Don't talk religion or politics in any situation unless you know the people very well no matter where you are. 

Do the self-imposed restrictions sometimes annoy me?  A little, but very rarely; I left my griping about governments days behind me in Australia.  

As to  land ownership, there's moves afoot.  I'm not sure it'll happen in the near future, but fingers crossed.  

I cannot say that Canada and US are much different in this regard from what I encountered.  I'll grant, my US experience is not measured in decades and cannot be said to be a fair sampling of many states.  I had three years living in Los Angeles and maybe a total of 3 more spent in LA, since I continued to own a house there for 25 years until I sold last year.  Traveled around most of the rest of the US starting when I was a kid, but never more than a couple months at a time and seldom more than a month in any one place.  Had family there in a number of places and it was usually family visits that took me there.

[Hestecrefter]

36 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

I see your point and agree with your feelings. However, we live here, not there, and really must follow their rules and customs. Life here is cheap and justice seems to be slow or non-functional. A drive-by on a motorcycle might cost, what, 5k pesos? Oh....plus the cost of the bullets....

I can live with this, even though I sometimes chafe a bit now and then... Good thing I have L to guide me and keep me in line!

I am not suggesting any of this makes the RP insufferable, not at all.  Just a mild annoyance when these these come to mind.  I have probably spent a total of 6 years in the Phils, 3 full-time, and never noticed any of this on a day-to-day (or even a year-to-year) basis.  Just there in the background, so to speak.  I have not at all ruled out the idea of one day moving back and retiring there.  One can do much worse.  

I have been to many different parts of the Phils, in the cities and in the middle of nowhere and quite a few places in between.  The worst experience I have had in nigh on 30 years was in June 2002 in Tuguegarao.  Took the overnight bus from Manila into the city.  Got a tricycle ride from the bus station out to Craig Sur.  The Filipinos I met asked me how much I paid for the tricey ride.  I don't now recall the exact number, but it was something like P100.  I was told the going rate was about P50.  So, I overpaid by maybe P50.  So, given that as my "worst" experience, I have little negative to say about the place.  All the matters filling up the pages of this thread I have learned to ignore.  A KFC in Iloilo last month was out of chicken.  No big deal, we went to Jollibee. 

 

[Tommy T.]

15 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

he NPA are not Anti Foreigners ( I am not sure where people get this Idea of badness in the NPA) against foreigners

Perhaps I am mistaken (wouldn't be the first time nor the last, for sure!).... However was it not the NPA who kidnapped several people from the Samal Island marina back in about 2015? Then beheaded a few of them as they held the rest for ransom? Or was that a different group of miscreants?

[Hestecrefter]

8 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Perhaps I am mistaken (wouldn't be the first time nor the last, for sure!).... However was it not the NPA who kidnapped several people from the Samal Island marina back in about 2015? Then beheaded a few of them as they held the rest for ransom? Or was that a different group of miscreants?

Maybe you are thinking of this:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/hostage-philippines-ridsdel-militants-1.3551416