Maybe I was very very lucky, but when Elsa and I arrived at her parents house in Palo (Tacloban, not Cebu) last year, within 4 hours, Elsa's bag containing passport, money, jewellerly, birth certificate, etc was stolen, but by some miracle, they missed my wallet containing credit cards and money, they also missed my Olympus camera, my portable cd/radio, passport, driving licence, etc.
I still think to this day that it was an inside job - ie one of family (why would they target Elsas stuff but leave mine alone even though its worth a lot more?).
My time in Palo and Tacloban was fine, I never felt threatned at all, but I did get very fed up with street kids - "peso mister, peso mister", and "Hey Joe" - the fact that you are white means by default you are American. Having said that, I do prefer the pace of life in the provinces, Manila can be so annoying !!
