Is the Philippines dangerous to travel in?

PI is no more dangerous than the states in my opinion. i feel most paranoid at home. PI was a blast, manila is seedy as hell at night but what city isnt? everywhere else we went was awesome.

nina9702
Armchair Traveller
Posted 14 June 2006 04:36
Yay! Another Pinay on board


crazyal: Welcome back to the Philippines! How long will you be staying here?

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Nina,

Sorry, Just noticed this question today. I was only in the P.I. for around 10 days this time. I took a break for a week in Thailand and then back to Manila.

Back in the U.S. now. My first intro to the Philippines was when I was in the Navy a long time ago when I was only a kid. Have friends living in Angeles.

Will be back again sometime after September. Glad to see so many GOOD improvements in Manila.

AL

It would be best, klinck, if you had a host in Manila to look after you. It doesn't matter if it's a friend of a friend of a friend - Filipinos will go out of their way to be hospitable - just as long as there's some sort of "link."

I'm a Filipina who lived all my life in Manila but just very recently moved to one of the Northern provinces (Ilocos).

The tourist towns outside of Manila are much safer, and there's plenty to see in the country. Don't hesitate to ask me about the roads less traveled. I've been to 29 provinces (out of 70+) and counting

Hi Klink!

I'm glad you decided to visit the PI. I live here and have lived here most of my life (except for 2 yrs in London), and have to say I feel safer walking the streets of Manila than I ever did walking the streets of London at night.

A lot of what you hear is usually exaggerated, and most of it really pertains to the southernmost provinces (Basilan etc) where there is still unrest.

I hope you find the Philippines to your liking, enjoy!

PhilBill's tips are spot on. If you follow that advice you will most likely have no problems here. Treat people with respect and keep your eyes open for scam artists. They are able to spot a newcomer with uncanny precision. Avoid eye contact with vendors and salespeople and remember if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Apart from the odd petty theft, in the 8 years I have lived here I have not been the victim of any serious crimes. Head out from the city and you'll see a vast difference in the way people treat you. Tourist destinations like Boracay are great for single travellers and are very 'foreigner friendly' - there's way less crime than in the city.

Well hello there sirenna! Welcome welcome!

Glad to see you here, I just couldn't take it anymore on that *cough* other board.

Your Boracay insights will be really handy here, I think. I will (later) start a post asking for advice on a Philippines itinerary, but not for another month or so, until I get some things more nailed down. Cheers.

Hmmm, but this might be a question for now, relating to safety in the PH.

So my understanding, after sorting through loads of rumor-mongering from various sources, is to "ditto" the previous posters: in essence, the PH is pretty safe except for the SW corner of Mindanao, and watch your back in Manila.

But I have a specific travel/safety question re. Mindanao:

Last week a couple bombs went off in Makilala (in South central Mindanao) during a town celebration. Is that still part of the "unsafe" region of Mindanao, or is this new?

Next March I really want to go to the Kaamulan Tribal Festival in Malaybalay City (north-central Mindanao) (check it here) . It's a yearly gathering of the 7 Moro (Muslim) tribes of the regions to celebrate their culture, goes on for a week. Sooooo, anyone have any thoughts? Is it "safe" to go to central Mindanao? Should the bombings in Makilala give me pause? I know that all of Mindanao tends to get unfairly tagged as unsafe because of the one SW region & don't want to do that, but I'm wondering about the current situation, whether it's changed much.

http://www.malaybalaycity.com/WWIImap.jpg

I plan to go to Davao also, which has seen bombings before in years past, but somehow it doesn't bother me, if they haven't been recent. I'm also wondering if I particularly need to watch my back taking buses through Mindanao, or if it's just as safe as anywhere else might be.

Hi Christina
Thanks for the tip. The negativity on the other board is getting a bit out of hand for my taste!
There's also a friendly Philippines forum at www.thephils.com if you are interested.
Cheers,
Sirenna

Christina, another island for you to consider: Bohol.

I was just there last week and already planning on coming back. It has the same powdery white sand as Boracay, minus the crowds and parties. It's starting to gain popularity now, and locals are flocking in droves. But there are still more European guests than Filipinos. I hear it's because the diving's good and cheap there.

christina, two of my friends are working in Malaybalay right now, and I will be joining them in a couple of weeks.

Our jobsite (a fruit packing house) was hit by rocket propelled grenades earlier this year, and automatic rifle fire a few weeks ago. Luckily these attacks happened after working hours so no one was hurt. Last week 3 Filipino contractors were kidnapped as they walked home after work. Two were released but the third is still missing.

We have several heavily armed guards with us at all times when out of our hotel. I probably would not go there unless paid well and with the guards.

Davao City is no problem at all. I love it there.

quote:

Originally posted by braslvr:
christina, two of my friends are working in Malaybalay right now, and I will be joining them in a couple of weeks.

Our jobsite (a fruit packing house) was hit by rocket propelled grenades earlier this year, and automatic rifle fire a few weeks ago. Luckily these attacks happened after working hours so no one was hurt. Last week 3 Filipino contractors were kidnapped as they walked home after work. Two were released but the third is still missing.

We have several heavily armed guards with us at all times when out of our hotel. I probably would not go there unless paid well and with the guards.

Davao City is no problem at all. I love it there.

Whoooaaaa. Hey thanks for the "on the ground" feedback Braslvr, I really appreciate it. Like I said I don't want to skip over the safe parts of Mindanao just because there's unrest in other parts of Mindanao, but it's important to know which is which.

Do you know anything about taking buses through Mindanao, to get to Davao? I will be going to Camiguin for sure, should I hop a short flight from the north part of the island to Davao?

My cousins have said nice things about Davao too. About that same time in early March is a 2 week festival in Davao, and I know of a Muslim women's dance troupe that's located there I'd like to try to see a performance of if I can.

quote:

Originally posted by nina9702:
Christina, another island for you to consider: Bohol.

I was just there last week and already planning on coming back. It has the same powdery white sand as Boracay, minus the crowds and parties. It's starting to gain popularity now, and locals are flocking in droves. But there are still more European guests than Filipinos. I hear it's because the diving's good and cheap there.

Hiya Nina, thanks for the tip! I had heard good things about the vibe at Alona Beach, right near Bohol, so your thumbs up adds to my reasons to go there. Which beaches would you recommend on Bohol? Did you see the Chocolate Hills?

I have never dived in my life, but I think I will look into getting certified in the PH and take advantage of all the diving opportunities. In my mind I'm still a little kid in Manila re. the open water (the jellyfish! the sharks!). The pictures I've seen from other people's dives around the PH are so cool, it's apparently extremely rich in marine diversity around the PH, very good coral. If I'm brave I might dive to the underwater cemetary off of Camiguin..... creepy.....

quote:

Do you know anything about taking buses through Mindanao, to get to Davao? I will be going to Camiguin for sure, should I hop a short flight from the north part of the island to Davao?

I/we have no personal experience with busses on Mindinao. I know they run regularly from Davao to Cayagan de Oro, and stop all along the way. I have talked to many locals who believe they are safe since they stay on the main highway. I have talked to one American ex-pat in Davao who does the bus trip at least weekly, and he only says it's miserable, not unsafe. I have not heard of any incidents since I started going there in 1998.

quote:

Originally posted by christina-in-brooklyn:
Hiya Nina, thanks for the tip! I had heard good things about the vibe at Alona Beach, right near Bohol, so your thumbs up adds to my reasons to go there. Which beaches would you recommend on Bohol? Did you see the Chocolate Hills?

Most of the beaches are in Panglao island, which is connected to the main island of Bohol by a small bridge. The most popular one is Alona beach, where most of the resorts are. There's also Dumaluan beach, which I hear is more beautiful (primarily because the small boats don't dock there, unlike in Alona). We stayed at Alona beach, and I think I'd still stay in Alona beach for succeeding visits. It's already too quiet in Alona (with its handful of restaurants and bars), and I can just imagine how quiet it'd be in Dumaluan.

The Chocolate Hills and the other tourist spots of Bohol are in the main island. You can take public transport, but it's easier to just rent a car + driver/guide for the day, particularly since it's hard to hail any form of public tranport in Panglao island. You can arrange for this prior to your arrival by contacting the guide directly or going through your resort (more expensive). I can get you the contact numbers of reputable guides (we, unfortunately, made the mistake of going through the resort). Standard attractions would be: The Chocolate Hills, Man made forest, Tarsiers (either in Loboc, where you can touch them, or in Corella where they're behind a glass. The one in Corella is the "approved" one), Loboc river cruise (with option to cruise then have lunch at the river side restaurant or have lunch during the cruise), hanging bridge (that's just it: a hanging bridge), the python sanctuary something, the Baclayon church, and blood compact site.

We paid our driver Php2000 for 8 hours, excluding the admission fees and lunch.

ThE REAL danger in traveling to the Philippines is you may feel SO AT HOME you may NEVER feel like leaving and decide to escape "life" as you understood it while growing up in hectic, "workaholic" / "keep up with the Jones" societies.

Tha Malay culture throughout the Philippines and Indonesia seems to be infectious often causing foreigners to be attracted enough to adopt their simple way of life in the islands.

This safety question about traveling in the Philippines is already VERY BORING to me; since I was a teenager I have questioned the safety of living in a country with; one, the highest percentage of citizens imprisioned in the world, two, the largest defense budget which supports and finances the largest number of weapons of mass destruction and three, notably the "richest" country in the world being unwilling to prvide medical care for its poorest and most elderly ctizens. After living in the States off and on during our daughter's educational years we are SO HAPPY to be back in the Philippines where the livin is EASY and the sunsets beautiful.