yes i'm afraid you are correct. i landed myself in hot water with filipinos before now, cos they they get offended too easily if you say something fairly harmless, just a culture thing i guess, or simple misunderstanding of why it was said in the first place.
i got into trouble asking in a post, if a particular part of the philippines was safe to ride my bike alone without being kidnapped stabbed or robbed.![]()
i thought it was being sensible to ask about NPA activity or chance of nastyness happening. i got all kinds of upset reactions of how dare i suggest bad things would happen to me in that situation, and why do foreigners have the silly notion it is not safe in the philippines.