Just had a hit by Burglers - Security

[Steve.r]

I just took a call from my asawa, our house just had an attempted burglary.

About an hour ago, two men climbed into our lot over the high fence and were skulking around. The dogs started barking and Charie's mum woke up. She went to the door and saw the men, and asked who they were and what they wanted. They said they were looking for the girl who lived there as they wanted to borrow money. She quickly shut the door, locked it and called Charie's Uncle, he only lives a few minutes away so was there quickly but by the time he got there the were gone into the night. This is the second instance I have experienced, last time a guy broke into our other house and took Charie's jewelery
Luckily, everyone is ok. I am now scanning the net for security systems.

Bids the question..... for you guys living in Phils what measures have you gone to, to secure your home, or protect yourself and property.

Steve

[stevewool]

bloodly hell steve, thats twice mate , the best thing is you to be there full time other then that a big dog sorry to hear the news mate , just be thankfull they went with nothing

[raynaputi]

can you put spikes over the fences Steve? we have that in our house in Laguna and lots of dogs too..we also have chimes/some metals that would cause loud sounds whenever someone would try to open gates and doors..

[Englishman2010]

Sorry to read about this Steve, at least this time nothing was taken and no one was hurt.

Like Steve W says, maybe a man there full time, a few very big dogs and a very large gun might be a good deterent.

[alanmf1]

Sorry to hear this Steve, And glad Charie is okish....

[grahamw48]

Dogs that BITE as well as bark....running loose.

Nothing else required.

Nobody EVER set foot on our property uninvited in 3 years. Even the water and electric meter man were too scared and had to shout for someone to put the dogs away.

I made my own 'dummy' security cams too for a few pesos.

[Steve.r]

Thanks guys,

We have 5 dogs, well an old bitch and her young puppy's so they will grow into our guards. There are spikes on the fence all the way around the lot and glass set into the top of the walls. Trouble is, if they want ot get into the lot, they will. The dog barked so that was good. The main house is very secure, bars on the windows, locked roller shutters on the front windows. I will be there soon to make some more improvements, beef up the door locks, buy security lighting with PIRs, have an alarm fitted. To be honest, there is nothing worth nicking in the yard, but it is just an invasion I dont want to have to worry about, specially if I am not there to protect it.

[raynaputi]

yeah like graham said, put up a dummy security camera..people here now know that security cameras can catch them..if u can't put up a real one, i think dummy cams would be able to scare them already

[scott&ligaya]

First, get to know the chief of police or high ranking officer, invite him to lunch dinner, whatever,, makes sure his offifical car is parked in your yard, several times if possible. We are lucky that the Chief in Puerto is from my wifes town in Pangasinan and they went to same high school.. When we had tresspassers one night before the wall railing went up, our caretaker called us at a function we are attending. My wife called the KA AK local militia sort of volunteer police around the bartangay to go round and the Chief of PNP who was the event overheard and sent a jeep full of heavily armed PNP officers to go through our grounds. He then offered to provide shotgun to our caretaker whilst we got our liscence and offered me a spare colt 45 US army officer Automatic to tide us over until we completed our improvements works.

We now have PIR and two dummy cameras at the gates and PIR at other corners of the building plus r
the wall/railings and barred/or shuttered doors. I hate the bars though and want to get those electric roll down outer shutters one by one as we can afford to bring them in

Since that event back in 2006 we have not had any issues. We also having three barking dogs, but they annoy the hell out of me ... just doing their job barking at anyone who passes by LOL

I think having a good relationship with our local neighbours and the barangay captain always helps as well.

[nigel]

Get some decent locks! I've only done this recently to my properties... should have done it ages ago really...

[anna_010607]

My boyfriend bought me a house in a so called "gated" subdivision with 24 hours security and all... Because im away a lot (for being here in the UK and other travels) my house is always left empty. It's been empty for 5 months since i left in November. My family only goes there in the weekend to check the place and do some dusting. Let's just call it luck for not being broken into in spite it being empty because just a week ago, i had a chat with my neighbour and she said they have been broken into and the burglars took a lot of valuables. The scary thing was, they were in the house - soundly sleeping! how did that happen? who knows...

[grahamw48]

I would add, that my security measures mentioned above were just for the 'yard'.

The house itself was like a fortress, with steel-lined doors, top quality locks from the UK, etc.
I also made up some steel bars to drop across the inside of the back and front doors into fabricated brackets bolted right through the door frames, plus movement detectors.

The lives of my family were worth the effort and we could sleep soundly at night.
(I also had lots of aviaries full of valuable birds).

The worst that happened was when the head of the household occasionally came home drunk and without his door key and had to scale his own battlements.

[Steve.r]

Thanks for the tips guys, I have already been looking at dummy cameras Graham, I may take a couple over with me. Can they be bought locally in a mall?
The dogs will run loose, but the puppys are only still very small, but the bitch does bark at most people. Charie's uncle used to be brgy captain, he has guns, but the tip on inviting the local police chief over for dinner I think is worth it, keep him sweet .. a beer or two every now and again should certainly help.

I was thinking about making something to fire blank cartridges, to give the effect of firing a gun overhead.. any ideas?

[Steve.r]

You have some good ideas Graham, I think I will do similar. The house as such is quite secure. The windows on the sides are very small, and metal framed (small panes of glass) which I dont think anyone could squeeze through. The front of the house has roller shutters that are locked, the gate is locked with a padlock, but like you say, keep your loved ones safe inside, anything outside is replaceable (mostly)
Here are a few pics, you can see the roller shutters, small windows. The green colour was before I we painted it. lol

[scott&ligaya]

the idea of letting the locals know there is a gun on the property was advised to us by one of the police guys, he told our caretaker to make a show of "occasionally patrolling the grounds with his shotgun slung over his shoulder and just letting it off now and again just for effect.

being a good neigbour helps as you immediate neighbours may well recognise strangers in the vicinity

[anna_010607]

Nice place steve but i'm just wondering, did someone stole the grass on your front yard?? hehehe kidding ... just want to brighten things up, hope i succeeded, if not - sorry!

[Steve.r]

Nice place steve but i'm just wondering, did someone stole the grass on your front yard??!

Yes, each blade of grass stolen We have plans to turn the yard a bit greener soon, I want a pond too

[Steve.r]

the idea of letting the locals know there is a gun on the property was advised to us by one of the police guys, he told our caretaker to make a show of "occasionally patrolling the grounds with his shotgun slung over his shoulder and just letting it off now and again just for effect.

being a good neigbour helps as you immediate neighbours may well recognise strangers in the vicinity

[grahamw48]

The shutters are a good idea, but of course of no use when you're in the house...unless you want to suffocate.

I would recommend that you check how those 'traditional' grills on the windows are attached on the inside. On most I've seen you could knock them through with the heel of your boot.

A door or window/grill is only as strong as its attachment points. That's why I put bolts right through (coach heads on the outside) the frames, or wall if need be, plus hinge bolts. All are obtainable at good hardware stores in the Phils.

Don't forget the roof, as most people do.
Look for weak points there too....couple of tiles removed, or tin sheet lifted and they're in ?

These measures may sound extreme, but I'm a big believer in doing a job properly, and the cost is really quite low if you have a few simple tools, but hopefully you can then sleep peacefully and keep out all except those armed with grenades.

Ps. Personally I have little to do with local cops or officials, as you can finish up owing them 'favours'...and that can be worse than being burgled.

Don't ever have a firearm on your property either, unless it's owned by and licensed to your wife...if that's a good idea.

[Steve.r]

The shutters are a good idea, but of course of no use when you're in the house...unless you want to suffocate.

I would recommend that you check how those 'traditional' grills on the windows are attached on the inside. On most I've seen you could knock them through with the heel of your boot.

A door or window/grill is only as strong as its attachment points. That's why I put bolts right through (coach heads on the outside) the frames, or wall if need be, plus hinge bolts. All are obtainable at good hardware stores in the Phils.

Don't forget the roof, as most people do.
Look for weak points there too....couple of tiles removed, or tin sheet lifted and they're in ?

These measures may sound extreme, but I'm a big believer in doing a job properly, and the cost is really quite low if you have a few simple tools, but hopefully you can then sleep peacefully and keep out all except those armed with grenades.

Ps. Personally I have little to do with local cops or officials, as you can finish up owing them 'favours'...and that can be worse than being burgled.

Don't ever have a firearm on your property either, unless it's owned by and licensed to your wife...if that's a good idea.

My tools are all on their way over as we speak, I think I have some work cut out over my stay

[alanp]

steve go to your local gun shop or country supply store they should sell alarm mines they use a blank 12 bore cartridge, or get a electirc fence unit you can get a mains fed one or a 12 volt one with solar panet to keep it charged I have used them b4 you can hear the pikeys scream for miles around when they touch the wires haha.

[gWaPito]

the idea of letting the locals know there is a gun on the property was advised to us by one of the police guys, he told our caretaker to make a show of "occasionally patrolling the grounds with his shotgun slung over his shoulder and just letting it off now and again just for effect.

being a good neigbour helps as you immediate neighbours may well recognise strangers in the vicinity

I have to agree, its the same where Jane is from. Its a gun in every household if you value your world.

According to her, only houses without firearms get broken into.

If they know there's no man in the house there's an even greater chance of being turned over.

[Sim11UK]

How about some geese????? they can make good guards.

[grahamw48]

I know that happens with the locals, but we have to be careful because it is illegal for foreigners to possess firearms, and none of us want to be locked up in a Phils jail or even just give someone an excuse for extortion.

A lot of the guns the locals have are actually home made and are likely to blow up in their faces if used more than once.

A BB gun is ok though, and you can get some very realistic-looking pistol types, good enough to stick in yer holster.
Just hope your opponent doesn't have a .357 Magnum.

(One of which I DID used to own in THIS country when it was legal - for shooting club).

[malditako]

censore spotlight maybe of help around the house and a wire shock at the top of the fence

[keithAngel]

Steve the obvious weak spot on your pics is your aircon unit which I guess could be forced back into the house quite easily?

Rehabilitated native dogs are great home security as Filipinos have a morbid fear of rabies

[Steve.r]

I'll beef up the aircon

Maybe I can feed the dogs some alka seltzer

[Doc Alan]

Steve, this is not something where I can offer advice, but it doesn't stop me sympathising. You have touched on an important topic and already have received good advice
Whether in UK or Philippines we have all to be aware of security. How many times have I heard from friends in this country where they have had, or know of, a robbery, then tighten up security after the event

[Steve.r]

Yes, we always do things 'post' the event. Charie's house was burgled a while ago and her jewelery taken, but our house is 30 miles away. At least with the advice from everyone I have more ideas on how to avoid this happening again ... or at least to greatly reduce the risk, we can never say 100% as if someone 'wants' to get in, they will find a way.

Lets hope this thread helps others too

[stevie c]

steve sorry to hear about the attempted burglary there is nothing more i can add to what has already been suggested its good you will be out in the phils very soon so you can make improvements quickly