Pete's Letter from Philippines

[ginapeterb]

Pete's Letter from the Philippines

No Matter how many times I come to the Philippines, and by the way, the novelty of coming here has all but dissapeared ! It makes me seem to appreciate so much my own country of birth and where I have made my life, complaining continuously about our own country and by the way, its not perfect, has made me see how lucky we really are in the West, no one ever said it was perfect, we could always do better, but living in the Philippines teaches, you that people here are resigned to a life of resignation and accceptance, resignation because for most Filipino's who live in the barrios, the Politics of Manila seem so far away, almost in another country, do you really think that anyone in Barangay no 41 cares about scandals and Jueteng payoffs that rock Makati City almost daily, no..my freinds, they are more concerned about how they are going to get enough money today to buy food from the local sari sari store for tomorrows meals, a kilo of rice costs just P25.00 a little soy sauce, some ice, juice drink, and some banggus, a little Bagoong, maybe enough to make some adobo, thats a treat, but its amazing what you can do with P40.00 (UK 40p), a far cry of the stories that abound at the moment, where Representative Juan Miguel (Mikey) Arroyo is currently in the news for allegedly accepting payoffs of up to P500,000 per month. ( UK 5,000).

The gap between the majority of Filipino's and the Political elite that rule this collection of Islands is ever widening, you could dress a monkey up here and put it in for senator or congressman, and if it promised to deliver enough rice every day, it would probably win high office, such is the attention that local people who live in the barrios would give.

As I awake in the morning to take delivery of my P227.00 breakfast in bed, of Poached eggs, Omelette, American Sausage, Toast, Jam, Fresh Fruit either Mango or Papaya, Orange Juice and Coffee I switch on Channel 15, News Patrol, almost guaranteed most days to give me a few laughs while I eat my breakfast, such is the daily diet of scandal in the Philippines, what do I see today.

" Yes its official President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been bugged by persons unknown speaking to the COMLEC, that is the Commission on Elections, she has been heard, trying to influence the outcome of the previous election in 2004, although no one in the media has actaully heard the tape, or tapes, Who has the technology to wiretap the Presidents personal telephone, various suggestions are being banded around, is it Uncle Sam ? perhaps a Filipino company who is not impressed with the Arroyo administration, not enough political patronage perhaps, is it the BRITISH ?? That has been suggested, maybe the CIA did they do it ? well, only yesterday, Mr Samuel Ong the former director of NBI has come forward and said, that Agents of the Intelligence Service of the AFP have come forward and asked him to keep the original tape for safe keeping, at a press conference yesterday in the Metro Club in Makati City, he was in fear of his life, shouting that it is time fo the President to stand down for the sake of the Filipino people, she should go now, the President of course currently has much on her plate, for example the allegations thrown at her Brother In Law, Mr Ignacio (Iggy) Arroyo, who is accused of receiving P400,000 a month in pay offs, from the Illegal Gambling Jueteng payola, also, her son Reprsentative Mikey Arroyo has also been implicated in receiving P500,000 a month in a brown envelope.

The Syndicates Bag woman, Miss Sandra Cam has recently testified at a Senate haearing, that she personally was asked to hand P500,00 to Mikey Arroyo, for his cooperation in the illegal Gambling syndicate that his Mother is trying hard to bring to justice, it makes you wonder what is really going on.

Of course they will get away with it, as the Political elite in the Philippines always do, but what of your average Filipino, hmm he still has to make a few hundred pesos today, to buy rice and soy sauce for tomorrow, it wont change his life one bit, does he really care what goes on in Makati city, with illegal payoffs, and shady business dealings, brown envelopes under the table, not one bit of difference to his miserable existence.

As a foreigner looking in what do i personally see ?

In the famous words of Mr Bennett my namesake, the Father of many daughters in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice where he said

"What are they for, but to provide sport for us all, and give us time to laugh at them in our turn" yes, Filipino life, provides a daily diet of soap opera style politics, giving rise to immense laughter, whilst having my breakfast, I think my day was made when I heard former diposed President Joseph Estrada who was questioned about his involvement in the bugging of the Presidents telephone

"What has it got to do with me...I am just here tending my Ducks !!"

Quack Quack Quack..



I rest my case...the Philippines is and always will be...one gigantic Zoo


"Down on the Farm I Dont need no alarm, just tune in to Channel 15.....la di dah di dah.


Thanks for listening

[ginapeterb]

Pete's Letter from the Philippines


British Guy and Filipina wife taken to court for not standing when Lupang Hinirang played


At the time I was reading this story in last Sunday's copy of the Phil Star I was sitting in my nice little 3 seat section of Philippine Airlines Airbus A320 PR133 Bound for Manila Centennial 2 terminal from Bacolod City, the provincial capital of Negros Occidental.

I noticed a very interesting article which I thought was worth writing about, Philstar is one of my favourite Filipino journals, as for one thing you get Philstar opinions, from various journalists, this paticular article was written by a male journalist, and for the purposes of this letter to you all, the name does escape me, however the story did not.

A British man and his Filipina wife were having a meal at a local country club in Laguna, at the time the Philippine National Anthem "Lupang Hinirang" was being played at some local social function attended by one of the many millions of Filipino organizations that dot the Philippines.

The Offending Foreigner and his Filipina wife, did not take much notice of this, as they carried on eating there respective meals, however it was noted by several officials at the club that they refused to stand and pay homage to the Philippine National anthem.

This infuriated the officials who promptly during the course of the following week filed charges against the couple, who were in fact members of the club, although the British man later apologized for his behaviour, this simply was not good enough for the officials, he has had his membership terminated, and charges of disgracing the Philippine national anthem are being pedaled in court, although I doubt they will get much mileage out of this one, they seem nevertheless hell bent on extracting their pound of flesh.

One Filipino Official was heard to say:
This may not be the Queen of England, but the Philippines is till to be respected and the Briitish man should not think of all the corruption in the Philippines, the diry roads, the garbage, lack of facilities, dirty transport, poor toilets etc, but he must remember that Filipinos througout the ages have had to give blood and sweat to build this republic, he should have stood up

Petes Commentary


For one thing, I can understand the Filipino Officials at the Country Club being upset at the apparent lack of respect for Lupang Hinirang, and I can understand them wanting to press charges, but you simply cannot force people to stand and show respect for symbols of national unity in a society which has a parliamentary democracy, or a republic which has a President and a Senate and respresentatives of the people who are duly elected to serve, the only systems of Government where these laws can be enforced are dictatorships, such as the majority of the Middle East, I doubt there posturing will get them anywhere, and in any event who is to say that the British man knew the Filipino National anthem.

Even in the United Kingdom, it is not against the law for a person to show no acknowledgement for the Union Jack, nor is it a requirement for a person to stand show respect for the Queen, after all, there are some of us who are staunch republicans, where would they fit in to all this ?

Turning to the Philippines, the journalist was quite strong in his condemnation of our fellow Brit, but in his defense i would say this, his wife a filipina could have prompted him to show the required respect, at the time she was reported to be tucking into her Adobo, and she was pregnant which may suggest she was oblivious, and on a more moralistic point, perhaps the journalist from Phil Star may wish to note that the Brit guy may have had his own reasons for not standing and showing respect, I can think of many reasons why he may have chosen not to do so, it could be that the way that foreigners are lablelled as such in the Philippines is a huge turn off for us Westerners.

The constant referral to Western Visitors as "Foreigners" and the constant denial of basic services, such as Bank Accounts, Telephones in houses, and to top it all, to be asked to be registered as an "Alien".

The last time I looked at myself, and dont laugh you buggers from Sheffield, I came from Planet Earth, I only have to show my Alien Certificate of Registration when I pop up to Mars and Venus, the Martians are ok, as I have a mutiple entry visa for Mars, I eat cadburys smash, and they can smell that, so that entitles you to get on Mars ok, when Im on Venus, I silip them a packet of fags, and tthat goes down well, but to think when in the Philippines I have to have my Alien Certificate of Registration with me, I can only say to them as I do often in the Philippines when presented with an official, usually a young Filipina fresh faced out of college, it goes something like this

"We all breathe the same air, we all inhabit this small planet of ours, we all cherish our childrens future, we are in fact a global village, let us there fore all treat each other witth the respect of being fellow humans"

But sadly, a Foreigner in the Philippines is made to feel exactly that, a Foreigner, its not that your immedeate Filipino freinds and relatives really call you that for any reason at all, its just their way, they think of all Auslanders as Foreigners, in the UK we tend to use that phrase less and less, that is because we are a Global Country, of Mass immigration and we expect people of other nations to come and settle here, but the Philippines by its very nature is a protectionist country, its Government has protectionist policies, does not open up its markets to Foreign Investors, unless a Filipino is the Director of the company, will not allow Foreign Spouses of Filipinos to own property, will not allow them to have a telephone account with PLDT, does not allow them to open a bank account without a Alien Certificate of Registration.

Sadly, the Filipinos although they dont really mean it, live in a sub culture of internism, anything outside of the Philippines has to be foreign by nature, they of course simply forget that they originate from a steadily drifting Malay populous, mixed with the Portuguese and Spanish Conquistodoras, and the ever increasing flow of Chinese migrant workers to the Philippines over the last 300 years.

You cant blame them in many ways for thinking this way, after all, the Philippines is their little thiefdom, that is if anyone is going to bleed the country dry of its natual resources which is precious little, they the intelligentsia and the Political elite of Makati are going to do it first, they dont want foreigners coming in and doing it for them, if anyone is going to rip of the Filipino people, isnt it better that Filipinos themselves do it, foreigners should be controlled and kept at bay, and treated as such.

Back to our freind the British guy who failed to show respect for the Filipino national anthem, there are many ways of looking at this.

1. Perhaps maybe if he was made to feel a part of Filipino society, he migh just have thought the need to stand and show respect, and to be honest his future child is going to be a British-filipino child, so what does he teach his child, to respect both cultures ? a dilemma di ba ?

2. Alienating Foreign visitors, seeks to marginalize them from all aspects of society, when you marginalize people, they show nothing but disdane and contempt for what you hold to be dear, when you integrate foreign spouses into your culture, you produce a much more rich and vibrant society, bringing many cultural customs into your own country, after all, little do the Filipinos ever fail to mention that it was in Fact the British who brought english to the Islands in 1726, when the Royal Navy sailed into Manila Bay, and defeated the Spanish Governor, and his small force of Spanish troops, it was in fact the British who brought the first dancing music to the Philippines that year, when British Troops taught local women to dance, and many local women were given in marriage to British Troops during that Hundred years war with the Spanish and French.

In fact I have had reason to look back into Filipino History, and what I found is quite revealing about just how much We British have had a hand in shaping the Philippines, so come on Mr Journalist, my words of advice to you are this

If you want us to acknowledge your national symbols, make us a part of it and make us feel welcome, after all, how do you know where you came from ? you might even be related to a British man somewhere in the last 300 years, and as for your "Alien Certificate of Registration" the last country that introduced that scheme caused the Holocaust, I dont wish to apply for your "Alien Certificate of Registration" I find it offensive, and racist, yes racist, and thats a hard charge to throw at the Philippine Authorities, I make a stand here and simply say this:

Take your Alien Certificate of Registration and stick it up where the sun dont shine Pal !!!!!


If anyone has any replies please feel free to make a objective reply, please guys no jokes or p...taking, this is serious subject.

[peterdavid]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Jun 17 2005, 06:01 PM
Pete's Letter from the Philippines
British Guy and Filipina wife taken to court for not standing when Lupang Hinirang played
At the time I was reading this story in last Sunday's copy of the Phil Star I was sitting in my nice little 3 seat ........

Take your Alien Certificate of Registration and stick it up where the sun dont shine Pal !!!!!
If anyone has any replies please feel free to make a objective reply, please guys no jokes or p...taking, this is serious subject.

Quoted post



Serious reply? Ok.

The Philippines is a country which has, mostly through its own ineptitude, incompetence, lack of education and rampant, unchecked corruption, managed to secure all of the disadvantages of democracy with absolutely NONE of the advantages.

For democracy to work, you need an educated, enfranchised and mature electorate who are advanced enough to absorb information and analyse it themselves, rather than relying on the local tribal warlord (for that is all a barangay captain is) to tell them how to think because they don't have the brains or capacity to think for themselves.

You need an electorate which is intelligent enough to realise that every individual act of corruption is actively working to bring the country down further, from the multi-million peso thefts of senators, down to the local provincial policeman who forces the illegal street vendor to give him 20 pesos a day or face being arrested.

In short, you need a population which is genuinely prepared to work hard to better themselves, rather than an electorate which seizes any opportunity to outdo their neighbour and inch up a rotting ladder which itself is falling downwards faster than anyone can climb up.

A huge generalisation I know - I'm referring not to individual filipinos, many of whom do not fit the above description but find themselves trapped and helpless within a system that embodies the above and therefore unable to break out.

In order to secure their stranglehold on power, the tiny, tiny elite of rich (and mostly corrupt) filipinos have stolen from their country, kept the electorate uneducated and then fed them pipe dreams and simplistic notions of the road to success to keep them in line, the way a farmer rounds up his cattle. For example, Gloria's urging the nation that "we all need to sacrifice" and within a few months (MONTHS???) everything will all be better and we'll be on a par with the US. Fernando Poe's cynical election campaign, where he had no policies, refused to take part in policitical discussions, but simply said he will "help the masses" was enough for him to get HALF the electorate voting for him!!! OVER 200 PEOPLE were killed during the election, and yet Gloria hailed it as a success!!

And when the masses do start getting a little restless, as cattle sometimes do, the elite whips them back into line with an unhealthy dose of nationalistic fervour. They conjour up an imaginary alien threat and tell the populace, who believe whatever they're told, that they all have to unite to fight this impending menace waiting to destroy them, and they have to therefore be "proud to be a filipino" and put the filipino above every one else. A filipina wife is expected to betray her foreign husband in favour of her filipino brethren, whether they are immediate family or not. It is a classic Orwellian technique for keeping the proles in line - telling the people they are fighting an imaginary war and they all need to unite or face destruction, thereby diverting attention away from the horrors the filipino elite is inflicting upon the 'cattle'.

And so, the national anthem, a turgid, depressingly dull pile of musical cow-..... with words telling the filipinos that they have freedom and have vanquished their enemies, is played out and filipinos will tell you they respect their anthem, but they won't tell you the reason why, and that is because they are MANDATED to respect it. Fear of arrest is not respect. And because the anthem tells them they have freedom, they believe it. They believe most of what the elite tells them, even though the exact opposite is staring them directly in the face. Estrada could stand there waist deep in dollars outside of a jeutung hideout with 5 signs pointing to his head labelled "Head of Jeutung" and a big van labelled "Joseph Estrada's Jeutung Money" and tell his supporters that he only wants to help the masses, and they will believe him!!!!! And still vote for him.

So what better way to distract the masses from the horror of their own poverty stricken situation...? Why, round all the cattle up to form a witch hunt and burn the evil foreigner at the stake who refused to be compelled to stand up for the national anthem of a country which has no doubt, from the minute he came off the plane, sought to rob him of his money whilst continually reminding him he is a foreigner and therefore inferior.

Respect is a two way street. My wife told me a few years back (after I refused to stand for the anthem in a cinema, of all places) that if you hear the anthem and don't stand, then you will be arrested. I told her that was rubbish, it's unenforceable, and then proceeded to whistle the national anthem in front of other filipinos and say "look, he's not standing, and he can hear the anthem, arrest him". But that was in my early days over there, before I had fully come to appreciate the machinations of the Philippine Thought Police (betray your neighbour in the hope of seeking some small favour from an official). A country which allows its taxi drivers and everyone else to steal from foreigners and is complicit in every form in all the schemes designed to part foreigners from their cash, a country which denies its own citizens the very freedoms democracy is supposed to protect, including the freedom of whether or not to stand for the national anthem, a country which systematically is destroying its own people simply to keep the elite in power, a country which willingly and knowingly sends its young girls off to Japan to be abused as sex slaves just so that it can live off the dollar remittances, and then OPPOSES measures by Japan to stop this dreadful practice for fear of losing those dollar remittances, a country which puts money above the lives of its own citizens, a country where parents will knowingly and willing send their children off to be prostitutes because they would rather see their children be abused instead of getting off their own lazy backsides and working to earn money themselves, a country where the bigotry and hatred of religion is allowed to dictate national policy, in complete defiance to the Constitution's requirement for the separation of church and state, and a country where the leaders use religion for their own cycnical purposes to keep the masses in line (how many times does Gloria tell the people 'we must all pray for our nation - she's supposed to be the leader of a 21st century republic, not some 2nd century backwards cult), a country which does all this to its people is not a country which I respect. In turn, I don't respect it's national anthem, whose very words guaranteeing freedom and independence are wholly anachronistic to the utter non-freedom and servitude, even slavery most filipinos find themselves in.

Which isn't to say I don't respect the filipino as an individual. I do. They continue to overcome the most dire, appalling and horrific living conditions and they still don't lose their will to live. They are denied basic freedoms, but still they hope for the future. A good many have, sadly, allowed their oppresive country to strip them of their own morals, to the point where they, too, think it is acceptable to expect, even demand handouts from foreigners, to rob them in taxis, to do everything they can to fool them into parting with their own hard earned money. But not all.

For a country so wrapped up in the Bible, they are probably the country most ignorant of its content. Pride is one of the seven deadly sins. National pride is still Pride. I have yet to decide whether it is a supreme irony or simply an accurate description that the head of the Catholic Church in the Philippines is called Cardinal Sin.

Sadly, the philippines is a country that is not learning from its own mistakes. From the near election of Poe, 3 years after Estrada got turfed out, to the continued alienation of foreigners and foreign investors, which in turn is sending the country down the sinkhole, the country doesn't look at what it is doing and say "my god, it's all going wrong, we need to think again", they simply blame the "foreign menace" for all their ills, carry on blindly as they already are, as if they are doing nothing wrong, and wait like sheep for the third coming of Jesus so that he can then save them all.

Sadly, in its current state, it's doomed. The odd hiccup like arresting a british guy for not standing to the national anthem is merely a sideshow to distract attention from the Titanic disaster getting ever closer.

[ginapeterb]

I thoroughly enjoyed that peice, well written Peter,and very thought provoking, it certainly leaves many questions in the mind, especially the ones That Filipinos wont ask, I often say to Gina "Why do you tolerate the political elite robbing your country blind, and then treating foreigners with contempt" she simply says, "Its the way it is, and the way it has always been, what can we do about it"

[peterdavid]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Jun 19 2005, 01:09 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed that peice, well written Peter,and very thought provoking, it certainly leaves many questions in the mind, especially the ones That Filipinos wont ask, I often say to Gina "Why do you tolerate the political elite robbing your country blind, and then treating foreigners with contempt" she simply says, "Its the way it is, and the way it has always been, what can we do about it"

Quoted post


She's right, the individual filipino can do nothing about it, other than a principled act of defiance. My wife openly defied corruption there, argued with corrupt policemen who tried to steal my driving licence to extract money from me, argued with taxi drivers who would try and rip us off. And more importantly, she would do it jointly with me, showing every filipino who tried to come between us that we were wholly united, that our marriage had a stronger bond than all this nonsense about filipinos having to look after their own against the foreign menace. A taxi driver would start the journey with the meter off. I would instruct him to turn it on or tell him I would only be paying a ludicrously low fare for the journey (normally half the meter fare). He would then speak in tagalog to my wife to tell her to tell me to accept his rip off fee. And she would reply, in english, and tell him no. Occasionally they would mutter about her being a bad filipina, forgetting her country, etc, and her reply was always why should she do them any favours, when all they're trying to do is steal from her husband. It rendered them speechless, and it vastly contributed to me not feeling so much like a 'foreigner' in the country. Same story with corrupt policemen, and everyone else.

She does not accept that it's the way it's always been, and therefore think it's just something to be tolerated. She knows it is wrong. She tells those who try it on it is wrong. She shames them, she causes them to lose their precious "face" (daft SE Asian notion responsible for a whole wealth of ills over there). And she does not allow a nazi-germany style national loyalty to blind her to the truth of the ills and shortcomings of the country. She's not in anyway ashamed to be a filipina, but she is adult and mature enough to know that the greatest service she can do to her country is not to blindly pretend it's not as bad as it is, it is to point out all its inadequacies and failures to try and shame them into improving themselves. It is to show them she is not another lame duck just waiting to be picked off time and again by corrupt filipinos.

Above all, she knows there is absolutely no reason whatsoever why the Philippines couldn't have been Singapore, other than the selfish, corrupt, grubby theft of other filipinos which turned the country into such a pile of rubbish. At the end of WW2, Philippines was second only to Japan, and the exchange rate was one US dollar to 2 pesos. 2 pesos!!! She is both angry and hugely disappointed at the complete failure and mismanagement of her country. She knows that every single grubby little phlegm-spitting taxi driver who tries to inflate his fare by 50 pesos is continuing the destruction of the country, and she knows that she owes them nothing except contempt.

[ginapeterb]

I think youre right with that, Gina and I do laugh at them sometimes, I try not to loose my temper in public, I dont mind giving 5 pesos to a street kid, who comes up to me, I dont mind doing that, or an extra P20 to a taxi driver who is nice to me in the taxi, and doesnt try and rip me off, I had the same experience in Bacolod, when I did my suprise trip on Gina, he left from the airport, without putting the meter on, when i said put the meter on please, he said "Oh its ok Sir, just pay me what you want when we arrive" I told him 4 times to put the meter on, he then pretended not to speak English.

In the end I got out at my destination and gave him what I estimated the fare to be, which was about P100.00 he looked at me, and got in the taxi and drove off, this experienece was the same as when Gina and I arrived in Makati, we took a taxi without getting the airport registered taxi's and he said he wanted an extra P100.00 for taking us to West Makati, then he was giving us his "Well your husband has to understand the Filipino way of life", so i told him to stop whining about the Filipino way of life, and dont preach to me, aas we exactly what the Filipino way of life is, one of contantly attempting to rip off Foreign tourists, who come to the Philippines to enjoy their hard earned money, so I told him to save his moaning, it was falling on deaf ears.

Sometimes when Gina and I go to resorts, like Mambukal, where we can swim and relax, I see lots of young Filipinos hanging around, doing certain jobs, like pool attendant, cafe work, etc, last week, Gina and I went for a coffee, and some snacks, Gina told me, they are talking about us, so I said to her, what are they saying, she said, i can just about make it out, that they are looking in your direction and saying "Look at her with her rich foreigner husband", this attitude seems typical, and does little to integrate us into Filipino culture.

Gina and I did actually work together at the CFO 2 weeks ago in Quezon city, for the first time I saw Gina loose her temper, which is unusual for her, she said to them "You cannot even guarantee me a place on the seminar, if we hang around until Thursday, so the young lady said, yes Maam I will put you in the seminar, but Gina said, we cannot wait around for 2 days, just on your say so, we came this morning and you did not put me on the seminar, then you told my husband that you dont allow foreign husbands in here...how can you speak to my husband like this and then you tell me somethingelse, you lied to him, then you pushed him out and then came back to me in Tagalog.

You see now, if someone talks to Gina in Tagalog, she will stop them, and say, My husband cannot follow in Tagalog, please speak english to us, because you are right Peter, they do that all the time, they will speak to your wife and start telling her what she must do, and things like "Be a good Filipina" this is of course total bullshit, and she will not listen to them.


I agree with your point about shaming them into doing something about the country, and the inadequacies, like I really do tell them about lack of toilet tissue in the malls, I call for the Manager, but Gina says, dont waste your beath, they will never put it in, they are too frightened of it being stolen.

Try as we may, we will never break their attitude towards us, we can keep trying and try to shame them, but in the end, their disdane for foreigners will not change, but its good to let them know that we dont like it.

[walesrob]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Jun 19 2005, 08:42 PM
I dont mind giving 5 pesos to a street kid, who comes up to me, I dont mind doing that, or an extra P20 to a taxi driver who is nice to me in the taxi,

Quoted post


The one thing I learned to do in Philippines, is NEVER give pesos to streetkids - why? Simple - it will encourage more and more to do the same. One time Elsa and I had just eaten at Shakeys in Manila and as we left the building, about 10 of them came from nowhere asking "peso mister" (in fact 2 of them started pushing and it got quite nasty at one point). Now if I gave one of them 5 peso, the rest want 5 peso too. Another time after eating breakfast at McDo, Elsa had a spare burger she took with her, and would you know, some kiddie says peso mister, but he wouldn't take the burger - he wanted the money :angry: I know its heartbreaking seeing these poor kids with no food or shoes on their feet, but IT AINT MY PROBLEM and giving them money only encourages the problem.
As for taxi drivers - I'm with you on that Pete, but the majority of taxi drivers in Manila are evil .......s who see all foreigners as potential rip-off targets. Elsa and I experienced this so many times, and I reckon the ratio of good taxi drivers to bad is 10/90

[ginapeterb]

The one thing I learned to do in Philippines, is NEVER give pesos to streetkids - why? Simple - it will encourage more and more to do the same.

Its a fair point Rob, I rarely do it, my point is simple, in that I dont mind personaly giving out the odd 5p peiece here and there, only if I feel like it, as you quite rightly say, you can be deluged by them.

Boy its so hot tonight over here in Essex, I actually sat outside the house on my garden bench, as its so hot, and let the cool breeze get to me, geeeeeze its like the barangays tonight.

[walesrob]

Originally posted by ginapeterb@Jun 19 2005, 11:00 PM
Its a fair point Rob, I rarely do it, my point is simple, in that I dont mind personaly giving out the odd 5p peiece here and there, only if I feel like it, as you quite rightly say, you can be deluged by them.

Boy its so hot tonight over here in Essex, I actually sat outside the house on my garden bench, as its so hot, and let the cool breeze get to me, geeeeeze its like the barangays tonight.

Quoted post


Also here in sheepland, but I'm suffering the hayfever so I gotta stay indoors and pray for the rain :lol:

[Admin]

When I was their, a kid at the airport went to pick up my bag to carry it to the taxi....I bent down, and told him slowly that if he touched it I would rip his *****ing head off.....strangely enough, him & his mates stayed aways from us :)

The direct approach always worked for me.

When we were in a department store and one of the male staff was following us around all the time I aksed him if we could go somewhere quiet and have sex!!!! :o Kept his distance after that :lol:

[misterfixit]

Hi,

Long time since I replied to anything, but being streetwise definately helps.

I helped My Ate buy a car while there at christmas and they tried all sorts, it helps if those you are with have some basic streetwise too.

A scary momnet when looking over a Nissan sentra, and explaining to ate the car was stolen as the vin was tampered with, then feeling my heart sink as she explains this to the guy who ran the shop, wondering if we'll get away in one piece.

Had some cool tiomes tho' In banawe haggling for stuff, and having the pinoys i was with amazed at what I got for the price!

Basically a few words of Tagalog well placed go along long way!! A choice "ee mahal!" and a tchh noise through the teeth that even catches out your fiancee has shopkeepers and other people thinking twice!

MY 2 pence worth

Richard

[peterdavid]

Originally posted by walesrob@Jun 19 2005, 09:58 PM
As for taxi drivers - I'm with you on that Pete, but the majority of taxi drivers in Manila are evil .......s who see all foreigners as potential rip-off targets. Elsa and I experienced this so many times, and I reckon the ratio of good taxi drivers to bad is 10/90

Quoted post


Our last visit there, we got in the taxi and the meter didn't go on. We stay in the Peninsula when we go back, and we were only going there from Greenbelt - a 60 peso journey tops. But I was in a bad mood, it was hot, and this little sh1t just annoyed me by not turning it on.

My wife told him to turn it on. He said no. She told him again. He said no and said the fare is P150. I said turn the meter on. He said no.

I raised my voice, and said "Turn the meter on now or I will report you". Simple as that. Didn't say who I would report him to, didn't say who I was, but he simply didn't want to take the chance, you could see the fear in his eyes as he tried to judge the situation in his rear view mirror, and decided it was better not to risk it, and so he turned it on.

He lost his tip too, but he didn't dare complain.

Put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. Sometimes its good to remind these ......s who's boss.

[cathyph]

[quote=peterdavid,Jun 19 2005, 11:29 AM]
Serious reply? Ok.

The Philippines is a country which has, mostly through its own ineptitude, incompetence, lack of education and rampant, unchecked corruption, managed to secure all of the disadvantages of democracy with absolutely NONE of the advantages.

For democracy to work, you need an educated, enfranchised and mature electorate who are advanced enough to absorb information and analyse it themselves, rather than relying on the local tribal warlord (for that is all a barangay captain is) to tell them how to think because they don't have the brains or capacity to think for themselves.

You need an electorate which is intelligent enough to realise that every individual act of corruption is actively working to bring the country down further, from the multi-million peso thefts of senators, down to the local provincial policeman who forces the illegal street vendor to give him 20 pesos a day or face being arrested.

In short, you need a population which is genuinely prepared to work hard to better themselves, rather than an electorate which seizes any opportunity to outdo their neighbour and inch up a rotting ladder which itself is falling downwards faster than anyone can climb up.

A huge generalisation I know - I'm referring not to individual filipinos, many of whom do not fit the above description but find themselves trapped and helpless within a system that embodies the above and therefore unable to break out.

In order to secure their stranglehold on power, the tiny, tiny elite of rich (and mostly corrupt) filipinos have stolen from their country, kept the electorate uneducated and then fed them pipe dreams and simplistic notions of the road to success to keep them in line, the way a farmer rounds up his cattle. For example, Gloria's urging the nation that "we all need to sacrifice" and within a few months (MONTHS???) everything will all be better and we'll be on a par with the US. Fernando Poe's cynical election campaign, where he had no policies, refused to take part in policitical discussions, but simply said he will "help the masses" was enough for him to get HALF the electorate voting for him!!! OVER 200 PEOPLE were killed during the election, and yet Gloria hailed it as a success!!

And when the masses do start getting a little restless, as cattle sometimes do, the elite whips them back into line with an unhealthy dose of nationalistic fervour. They conjour up an imaginary alien threat and tell the populace, who believe whatever they're told, that they all have to unite to fight this impending menace waiting to destroy them, and they have to therefore be "proud to be a filipino" and put the filipino above every one else. A filipina wife is expected to betray her foreign husband in favour of her filipino brethren, whether they are immediate family or not. It is a classic Orwellian technique for keeping the proles in line - telling the people they are fighting an imaginary war and they all need to unite or face destruction, thereby diverting attention away from the horrors the filipino elite is inflicting upon the 'cattle'.

And so, the national anthem, a turgid, depressingly dull pile of musical cow-..... with words telling the filipinos that they have freedom and have vanquished their enemies, is played out and filipinos will tell you they respect their anthem, but they won't tell you the reason why, and that is because they are MANDATED to respect it. Fear of arrest is not respect. And because the anthem tells them they have freedom, they believe it. They believe most of what the elite tells them, even though the exact opposite is staring them directly in the face. Estrada could stand there waist deep in dollars outside of a jeutung hideout with 5 signs pointing to his head labelled "Head of Jeutung" and a big van labelled "Joseph Estrada's Jeutung Money" and tell his supporters that he only wants to help the masses, and they will believe him!!!!! And still vote for him.

So what better way to distract the masses from the horror of their own poverty stricken situation...? Why, round all the cattle up to form a witch hunt and burn the evil foreigner at the stake who refused to be compelled to stand up for the national anthem of a country which has no doubt, from the minute he came off the plane, sought to rob him of his money whilst continually reminding him he is a foreigner and therefore inferior.

Respect is a two way street. My wife told me a few years back (after I refused to stand for the anthem in a cinema, of all places) that if you hear the anthem and don't stand, then you will be arrested. I told her that was rubbish, it's unenforceable, and then proceeded to whistle the national anthem in front of other filipinos and say "look, he's not standing, and he can hear the anthem, arrest him". But that was in my early days over there, before I had fully come to appreciate the machinations of the Philippine Thought Police (betray your neighbour in the hope of seeking some small favour from an official). A country which allows its taxi drivers a

[cathyph]

Originally posted by peterdavid@Jun 19 2005, 11:29 AM
Serious reply? Ok.


Quoted post

[Pauldo]

Serious reply? Ok.
What is your problem peter? I feel you hate philppines a lot .....

Without turning this into a Philippines bashing post, it is really easy to get absolutely sick of the continual near stupidity that surrounds nearly everything that happens over there. Filipinos find it all so very normal, but just about every foreigner you meet there has a whole repertoire of mind numbingly annoying sagas to tell of beaurocratic blunders and general 'odd' attitudes surround so many everyday things.

One of the very first things that repeatedly struck me (literally) when I started going there was the habit of people walking into me in the street. People would look at me, then step out of doorways or just step into my path like I was invisible. I weigh over 100kg, and Filipinos tend to bounce off me rather than the other way round. But they would look at me like I was in the wrong. It doesn't happen in the UK. People tend to look where they are going.

Much the same philosophy seems to go in the traffic system: people will walk straight out in front of cars, on a main road, and expect the car to stop. They'll make not the slightest effort to hurry across the road, but will dawdle as if they are on a suicide mission. I must admit, I did get used to the childish driving habits, but still never understood why Filipinos can't get their head round the expression "right of way".

One of my most infuriating hates from the Philippines was the "But I thought" reply that I heard so many times when I had asked a Filipino to make something for me, and he would do it how HE wanted to, not how I wanted it. :angry: :angry: :angry:

This happened numerous times, on everything from building work to furniture making, from tattoos to machine shops. They simply HAVE to change the plan slightly to what THEY think is best, despite being asked to follow the drawing or plan or instructions implicitly. This is one thing I REALLY hated about having anything done for me, probably my BIGGEST annoyance in the Philippines. In fact I built my own little workshop and tried to do nigh on as much stuff as I could for myself.

Going to the movies: The films start whenever they feel like it, there is no time table, they have no concept of a time table or schedule. People just wander in and out at anytime they feel like, watch for a couple of hours, talking all the way through, then get up and leave at some odd point of the movie. And usually not having understood a single thing about the movie, evidenced by the hysterical laughter everytime someone swore on screen, whatever the situation, and the total lack of laughter at real jokes.

And this could go on and on for hours, but I don't have the time to write it all down. In a nutshell, there is a right and wrong way to do EVERYTHING in this world, and the Filipino just seems to insist on doing so many things the wrong WAY.

And we won't even touch on the 'crab mentality' attitude!

[ginapeterb]

.50 centavo jeepney fare rollback – for 1 week

Jeepney groups in Metro Manila agreed to give commuters a week-long Valentine gift: a 50-centavo fare rollback from February 10 to 17.

Jeepney groups on Tuesday made the announcement during their meeting with Elena Bautista, chair of the Land Transportation Regulatory and Franchising Board at the Aberdeen Court in Quezon City, which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo briefly attended.

The fare rollback will cover all routes plied by members of the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Alliance of the Philippines; Makati Jeepney Operators and Drivers Alliance; Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers of the Philippines; and the Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines.

The President thanked the group and lauded them for giving relief to the public instead of seeking relief from rising oil prices.

“I am here to thank you because Jeepney Week is approaching. Instead of seeking benefits, you are the ones giving benefits to the people. Thank you very much,” she said. -GMANEWS.TV

[Gingwa]

Originally posted by walesrob@Jun 19 2005, 09:58 PM
The one thing I learned to do in Philippines, is NEVER give pesos to streetkids - why? Simple - it will encourage more and more to do the same. One time Elsa and I had just eaten at Shakeys in Manila and as we left the building, about 10 of them came from nowhere asking "peso mister" (in fact 2 of them started pushing and it got quite nasty at one point). Now if I gave one of them 5 peso, the rest want 5 peso too. Another time after eating breakfast at McDo, Elsa had a spare burger she took with her, and would you know, some kiddie says peso mister, but he wouldn't take the burger - he wanted the money :angry: I know its heartbreaking seeing these poor kids with no food or shoes on their feet, but IT AINT MY PROBLEM and giving them money only encourages the problem.
As for taxi drivers - I'm with you on that Pete, but the majority of taxi drivers in Manila are evil .......s who see all foreigners as potential rip-off targets. Elsa and I experienced this so many times, and I reckon the ratio of good taxi drivers to bad is 10/90

Quoted post


Totally agree, that is something I have learned too. Its just that they probably wont get the enjoyment of spending it themselves. Its usually given straight to some gang leader.

[fred]

A very good friend of mine that lived in manila for 18 years managed to become so sick , tired and bitter towards taxi drivers ripping him off,he would ask the driver to put on the meter and would slash the back of the drivers seats with a razor blade if he refused.
If living in the P.I ever made me that bitter and angry Id simply leave the country.

Personally,I just ask them to put the meter on and if they do not,I ask them to stop immedietly and then get out.. I do somtimes negotiate with the driver before the journey starts in a rush hour period when taxis are hard to find but never get stressed out arguing with them as I once did..Its just too damned hot to argue!!

In regards the anthem,I always stand up and sing along with them all just to keep the peace,and for a quiet life.
However,as I have never learned the words to it,I make up my own adding many 4 letter words in my native cockney slang.. Its quite amusing when I get approving nods from the odd Filipino impressed that at least I have tried my best to respect their nation.
Its a great way of letting off steam and I recommend you try it if ever you feel the need.


from first or second post
after all, the Philippines is their little thiefdom, that is if anyone is going to bleed the country dry of its natual resources which is precious little

This is soooo untrue. The Philippines have some world class gold,nickel and copper resourses.
Some of these are owned 100% by foriegn investors including Brit mining companies. It has been forecast that 8 billion $$ will be ploughed into the R.P economy in the next 5 years..