Culture Clash

Late, I think on Wednesday nights, one can see rooster fighting on TV in much the Philippines.  That’s generally not the way it is referred to here but I’ll use the more polite name.

Only in the Philippines might apply in this situation.  I’m amazed when they show rooster fighting on TV.  Wow, would the people in the USA go crazy over such a thing even happening, much less, showing it on TV.  In those fights, one chicken almost always dies.  They are not dead at the end of the match but Jessie tells me they always die afterward and many times both do.

This is life in the Philippines.  It would be totally unacceptable in the USA and many other, non-Asian countries. Perhaps in some Asian countries.  I don’t know about Japan or China or several others for that matter.  I know it is totally acceptable, even admired in the Philippines, India and Thailand.  In the USA, it would mean jail time for those at participate in such things.  It goes on, but it is very hidden, very taboo and seen as cruel.

In the Philippines, its a way of life.  Mostly for men.  Filipino love to place wagers on these fights.  It is obviously a major social event.  You see the men not paying a lot of attention to the actual fights.  Instead, its more laughter and drinking of beer.  It looks like they are having a grand time.

I think it is wrong to judge one group of people based on the culture of another people.  I would go to a rooster fighting event but to watch the people, not the fighting.  The fighting is pretty boring and pretty savage too.  There is often blood on both roosters and at the end, one rooster and sometimes both can no longer stand.

Sweet Juliet

Sweet Juliet

Well, not a lot sweet about Juliet.  She’s a very naughty girl too.  She’s very jealous, can’t stand it when my girlfriend touches me.  Juliet, well she acts a lot like a monkey.   No, I mean really, like a Filipino monkey cause that’s what she is.

Those that have followed my articles will probably already know that I’m the proud papa of a 12 pound monkey.  I’m just guessing about the weight.  When I first got her she was just a little under 10 pounds but she was skin and bones.  Very thin and probably close to death.  She couldn’t maintain her body temperature.   She was having chills on a regular basis.

She’s doing so much better now.  She’s not skinny at all.  She has a large cage which she has to stay in more than I or she likes.  But, since she’s a  little monkey, its hard for me to take her out when I go walking.  Plus, I’ve been too lazy to walk.

Its taken a while, but she seems to trust me now.  When I give her food she doesn’t jump to the other side of her cage when I hand it to her.  She has made friends with some of the neighbors but its a guarded friendship.  She may turn on them at any moment with teeth blazing.  Some of the neighbors she doesn’t like at all.

She hates the male cats but there are a couple of kittens that she doesn’t bother.  They can get under her cage and she only looks on.  Even their mother, which she use to love to scare, she no longer harasses her.  Let the male cat come any where near her and she has herself a fit, throwing whatever she can to let that cat knows who is the boss.  The tom cat, he’s too cool to act scared.  Well, he tries to act cool but often she takes the cool right out of him as he scampers away with this tail tucked between his legs.  He will then turn around, look at her and walk away with his cool stray cat strut.

People often come by to share their snack with her, which she will take and eat.  Then lunge at them to watch them scream and scatter.  Every so often she gets a hold of someone by pushing her arms through the cage.  This thrills her.  She’s much worse if I am out there.  When I’m not there, I hear she makes a lot of friends.

Shower time is always interesting.  Since she has been outside, she doesn’t smell as much as she did.  She usually only gets a shower about once a month or less.  The only way to do it is take one with her while she holds on for dear life.  Her fur feels so much better after a shower, well to me, but I don’t know if she agrees with it.  I doubt it.  I haven’t given her a shower since we got our water heater.  Maybe she wont hate it so much now that it is not a cold shower.  She probably will though.

She never threatens me.  I have no fear of her any more.  She’s a bit afraid of me but likes to be with me.  Usually just outside of my reach.  If Jessie touches me though, she leaps onto my shoulder while glaring at Jessie and her hair standing up.

She wants to be part of what the family is doing.  Today, our little human reached his third birthday.  There were balloons and cake with ice cream.  Jessie gave her some ice cream while I gave her some cake.  She had seen us in the dinning room and was hanging around at the corner of her cage closest to us.  She liked the icing of the cake before eating the cake.  She held the ice cream by the cone and licked the cream of it before making the cone disappear as well.

Juliet loves to play catch!  It doesn’t matter what.  A ball or a can.  We put milk in her can, once the milk is gone she throws the can, usually at Jessie.  She never throws it my way.  After Jessie caught it a few times, Juliet started catching it too then throws it back.  She likes to play ball with Jessie too.  She tries to get under it though.  She will get on top of the ball and try to balance herself then fall off.  While laying on her back she will try to get under it.  Once I put a ball in her cage.  That lasted for about three days.  She managed to deflate it.  I came out one morning and it would no longer bounce, hitting the ground with a thud.  Not sure how she managed that one but there was a nasty gash in the ball. Would hate to see what she could do to skin if she really decided to bite.

She did bite Jessie hard once.  She got Jessie’s bucket of knitting supplies and I took it away from her and give it back to Jessie.  Next thing we knew, Juliet was clamped onto her leg and had sunk her canines into Jessie leg.  It left a scar.

One night, Juliet had been on my shoulder.  When she jumped to the ground, I noticed her chain was off.  I tried to grab her but poof she was gone.  As she ran toward the neighbors I shouted at warnings to no avail.  They couldn’t understand me.  The people scared her as they were sitting out side their house.   So what does Juliet do?  She goes inside their house!  For many Filipino that is bad juju.  For me?  I could see massive detestation in my near future.  She went in their house, not once but twice.  Then I got her in between Jessie and myself.  She leaped onto Jessie’s arm and started to bite.  I got her off before she did too much damage but it upset Jessie.  Juliet left her calling card in the form of teeth marks but they were not deep.  It upset Jessie but didn’t leave any scars this time.  She wasn’t trying to hurt Jessie that time, she was one scared little monkey.

I gave Juliet a last name.  That last name being Kong.  You see, this pint sized little monkey has a gallon of attitude.  As far as she’s concerned she’s Kong.  She might even put Kong in his place as she’s the biggest and baddest around.  She seems her position in the troop as second only to me.

A few months ago, Bob came to see us in Bogo.  We had a nice afternoon with Bob.  Bob is an awesome friend.  We went for a walk and Juliet came with us.  She made friends with Bob even if it made him and me a little nervous.  It went well though, she jumped on his shoulder and climbed on his head.  She was thinking about biting his ears though.  She loves to give love bites to the face.  Problem is, she isn’t all that loving.  She bites as if we have monkey skin and we don’t!  She doesn’t realize that though.

Juliet can become completely wild at the drop of a hat though.  We learned that as Joe, from the States came buy to meet her.  He tried to play catch with her.  Instead she took that as an attack and wow!  I saw a side of Juliet I had never seen.  She was on her chain but had Joe pinned to the burglar bars on our windows, just out of his reach with her teeth in full display and new monkey sounds I haven’t heard before.  That’s why I don’t take her away from the house.  Once she tried to jump on a passing woman’s head.  I’d probably still be paying for that.

She’s sweet to me though.  She will jump into my arms as if she feels safe there.  I consider it quite an honor.  It took a lot of patience to get her to this point.  I hope my slightly over weight monkey will be with us for a long time as she adds much joy and a bit too much excitement to life.  It helps me to fell a little bit Filipino.

If you’ve had experience with an exotic pet, either yours or someone else, I’d love to hear about it.  Also, tell us what makes you feel a little more Filipino.

Some Filipino

Some Filipino just don’t get it.   Well, honestly some humans just don’t get it and sometimes all of us don’t get it.

Recently, a family that lives near me had their lights turned off because their bill was past due. A few couple of days later, their lights were back on.   Then the owner came by and told them to get out within two days.  Seems the tenant had not paid his bill in eight months!

Wow, how did the family get away with that!  I’m wondering if the tenant may have paid by depositing money directly into the land owners bank account.  Sometimes transactions are completed that way in the Philippines.  Though, I think it is uncommon with rental situations.  I don’t really know but can only speculate. Perhaps the owner was just going easy on them.

I’m also speculating, but my guess is the power company notified the owner that the power had been cut off and that was her final straw.  Its possible the owner paid the bill and realized that he was now paying the renter to live there and that did it.

The owner told the guy to get out in two days or he would make him pay all the back rent.  Surprisingly, the family did not move out by the deadline.  The owner then brought the authorities with him to the home.

A couple of hours later, all their belongings were out under the carport and the family was taking their things away, one tricycle ride at a time!

Strange situation all the way around.  It is unlikely that I’ll ever know if the owner will take the renter to court.  Seems a bit pointless, I doubt the renter will have the money to pay him any time soon.

The monthly rental was only P1500 a month  but that can be a lot of money for a Filipino family trying to make ends meet.  Its only about $31 at the time of this story.  The husband of the family owns his own business and the wife works at a local super market.  Perhaps the  business is loosing money and depleting their cash.

I felt sorry for them.  There was nothing I could do to help them.  I don’t have my own transportation but they needed a truck.  I was surprised, none of his neighbors came to their aid with a small truck.  I hope the family is able to recover.  Filipino tend to be rather resilient though and I suspect they will.  They have two lovely children.

The Ber Months

I’ve seen articles around the net about what is uniquely pinoy.   Today, I read an article in the Sun Star about another uniquely pinoy phenomenon.  Its called the Ber months.  There are four of them and they start in SeptemBER.

What is special about the ber months?  Its Christmas in the Philippines!  Yes, I know, I hear the groans from the expats.  The Filipino however, always looking for an excuse to be joyful and happy, they just stretch it a little further.

Today I had the pleasure of spending an excessive amount of time at the Bee, Jollibee’s that is.  Thanks to the lack of sufficient electrical power in Northern Cebu Province, once again we awoke to the sound of the aircon and fans going off.   We checked the time and its 8:02.  On a Sunday morning, that means the lights will be off most of the day, probably until 5pm!  This usually happens once per month.  And foolishly, we stayed up to 5am playing silly computer games.

So, I got to spend the day in Jollibee’s with the temperature  hovering around 32C outside and “White Christmas” and “Here Comes Santa Clause” blasting through the sound system.  This time of the year, we still get a few pop hits but as many times as I’ve heard “Low” or perhaps “Lo” in recent months, the Christmas tunes are a welcome break!  HaHa

While the Pinoy is beginning to surround themselves in the joy of the  season in this mostly Catholic country, the rest of the world is ignorant of the bliss the happy Filipino has found.

Truth is though, the Filipino are a happy bunch.  It doesn’t take a lot to make an “average” Filipino happy.  A friend and a beer and the rare Marlboro is all that’s needed.  Sitting outside their home in a circle of friends with a Grande (like a quart of beer) with a single glass passed between those lucky enough to be included in the friendship.  Many times, as I pass by, I am offered a drink as well.   Sometimes I partake of this offer of friendship and feel honored.  That’s a huge part of being Filipino, that is friendship.

So one-third of the year is Christmas in the Philippines!  Avoid the commercial hype and when in the Philippines, try out your Christmas spirit  and you too can grab a little bit of what it is like to be Pinoy.

Sounds of The Philippines

This morning, I was awoken to a sound one doesn’t often hear in the USA nor  probably any other developed nation.  Its not a very pleasant sound.  A piglet that is screaming for its life, but to no avail as it has already been selected to serve as someone’s lechon.  It doesn’t take long, maybe five minutes at most.  The farmer will cut the jugular and the pig soon bleeds to death.  It sounds more scared than in pain.  Its sad to hear the life drain out of them, but once they get weak they go fast.   Its not a drawn out thing.

Pigs

Now not everyone in the Philippines is lucky enough to live next to a piggery like me, so don’t’ worry, you’ll probably not have to endure this.

I know its kind of a sad, ghoulish topic but people, most of us, are meat eaters and sometimes I think we don’t really face that.  That’s the Ted Nugent in me coming out though.   If you ever saw that madman’s reality show, you’ll understand that comment.

Roosters

I once read a blog about a travelers first night here.  The first sentence  on their first blog entry about there trip was “There sure are a lot of roosters in the Philippines.”  I don’t know why but that struck me as very funny.

Yeah, there are a lot of roosters in the Philippines, like sand on the beach and stars in the sky but noisy.   When one crows for attention in the middle of the  night, every rooster in town gets going.  Since I live in a rural town, every other house has a rooster or three.  They do crow back and forth to each other.   As it is quite, one lets loose, then another and you can hear them getting further in the distance.   It is a chain reaction of rooster ego for all the world to hear!

A couple of times, I went down stairs late at night.  It always feels creepy there, like your not alone.  Don’t ask me why, I don’t now why, I just know what it feels like.  One time I heard this strange sound, as my heart started to beat up and the adrenaline began to rush, I realized it was a freaking rooster flapping its wings!  Big tough guy I am, yeah right.

Ice Cream Vendors

Awww, the bubbly sound of the ice cream vendor.  I wish there was a good way to describe this sound.  Its extremely pleasant  (if your the type of person that likes to drive spikes through your eyes) when several of them congregate together.  They like to do this late in the day in Bogo City.  One can often find them down on the wharf.  Either there’s a lot of people on the wharf that want to buy ice cream, or they are just trying to kill off the last  hour of their shift.

In the Philippines, at least in the areas that I’ve been too, the ice cream man comes on a bike, not a truck.  Gotta be a hot hard job.  Most Filipino are extremely hard workers though, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.   Oh they party hard too, the rest better than any group of people I know, but they do work very hard.  Of course, there are exceptions.  I have seen very few over weight male Filipino.

Depending on the source, the Filipino often call this dirty ice cream.  Its not really dirty but they call it that, I think, because they don’t know who made it.  Its a family operation rather than coming from a chain.  My girlfriend tells me she has a cousin that prefers it.  He always  wants dirty ice cream and not that which comes from a well  known vendor.

Bread Vendor

There are fewer bread vendors, but they make an even lovelier music.  They have a different sound.

Oddly the bread vendors have the same “song” here as they did  100Km away, down in Talisay.  The bread vendors, also have the same “music” that I heard in Cebu City and Talisay.

There is a bakery with awesome smelling bread on every street, or so it seems.  I don’t know why they have to peddle it to  our homes too.

Both the ice cream and bread vendors create their music as they peddle their bikes.  It provides the energy source for their not so beautiful music.  It sounds a lot like a bad midi that one use to encounter on so many websites during the early years of the world wide web.

Church Bells

I once heard a sermon where the pastor included the questions “Why did we take the bells out of the steeple.”  I don’t remember if he had an answer or not but we certainly have bells in the steeples here.   There was a catholic church near my home in Memphis that played music from theirs before they had mass or other events.

In the Philippines, at least where I’m at, the churches have real bells.  They just love to ring them.   They love to ring them around 4am here.   In Bogo, they must have mass of the rooster every day, not just during the Christmas Season.  They are not unpleasant at all, I enjoy them.

One can also hear mass that is pipe through the PA system.   Some times there are cantors too.  Perhaps not quite in the style one might find in a Jewish synagogue.  Not that different though.  A bit more of a spoken word, rather than pure song.

Balot Vendor

There are various vendors through out  a city.  One can hear them  calling  out.  Reminds me of the area my grand parents lived in in Jackson, Ms. during the late 1960’s.  I would often see a guy pulling his cart, sometimes with his children helping him.

Here, they usually carry a basket with their wares, sometimes balancing their fruits, vegetables or balot on their head.   Balot too is usually delivered via a bicycle though, rather than walking.  There is  usually a basket  on the bike that helps keep the balot warm.  Often wrapped in towels to provide insulation and a cushion.  I usually cannot understand what they are calling out.  Sounds mumbled to me but they stretch it out.  Baaalllloooootttt in a low pitch, almost like they are in pain.  I think it ads to the charming atmosphere of the Philippines.

Barrio Festival

Thump, thump, thump is the sound of the bass from a distant speaker some where in the city pounding out the music for all those in the barrio or neighborhood.   Sometimes though, its not so far away and you get the full effect of the music as if it where blasting from your teenagers room!

Karaoke

In the Philippines, everybody is a singer and they blast it out over their home karaoke.  It doesn’t bother me when I’m out about town.  It usually drives Jessie crazy.  They may think they are singers but they are not good singers.  Every now and then you’ll run across someone that can sing well.  Most Filipino don’t seem to care.   I admire their confidence in singing regardless of the way it sounds.  not only sing but amplify it.

I don’t usually notice it until Jessie points it out, unless I’m at home and a nearby neighbor starts up and doesn’t stop until 4am, kind of hard not to notice that.

Horn Blowing

Driving here brings its own “music.”  If you blew your horn like this in Memphis, someone would get shot.  Here though, people blow their horns to be helpful.  They may give a couple of beeps as they approach an intersection or when overtaking to let the other driver know they are there.  It ends up in a lot more horn blowing.  Of course there is the occassional long, how dare you blowing of the horn, but that’s kind of communication is much more likely in the USA.  I have yet to see the middle finger come up any where in the Philippines.  Can’t talk about sounds of the Philippines and totally leave out the horn blowing.  Try not to live on a busy street.

Its always important to remember when speaking of the Philippines, it is easy to make the mistake of applying local experiences to the entire Philippines.  Doing so will often lead to incorrect conclusions.   It wouldn’t surprise me, if Davao and Makati are quite different.  Makati is a more upscale area near Manila while Davao has laws that most other cities don’t have.  I don’ t know if they have various noise laws.  Perhaps someone can tell us.

Did I forget anything?  Let me hear from you!

Curious Combination

I thought I’d try to write an article that would help the westerner prepare himself for the likely shock of what you will encounter once you’re here. I’m not sure I can fully prepare the first timer and I really  don’t think I want too.  Part of the fun was being ill prepared for what I discovered in the Philippines. Now if you’re a veteran traveler and have visited other developing nations, you’ll likely be ahead of the first timer.

My First Moments In The Philippines

I was a first timer and the only word I could use was shocked.  Now this shock was not totally in a negative way.  For there was a lot of beauty and interest in what I saw.  Other than Canada, I had never been out of the country.  I was pretty much clueless when I thought of what the Philippines would be like.  Now I should say, I have not spent any significant time in Manila.  There are parts of Manila that appear to be as modern as anything in the US.  So far, I’ve been limited to Cebu and Leyte Province.  I look forward to exploring larger areas of this wonderful land.  Areas of Cebu are also as modern as the US.

If you’re like most of us, you’re a guy, probably middle aged or older.  Many expats have a pension but some come with very little more than the clothes on their back.  It is likely you’ve ignored the people you know here, and flew 12,000 miles to meet a girl.  I hope you have a backup plan as that usually does not go well.  If you have that special person that you’ll be with as much as you would be with a wife, she can help your transition a lot.

Read more

Freaking Brown Outs!

A while back I remember Bob wrote a story about how Manila pretty much thinks of anything outside of Manila as the province.  In Cebu City, its different.  For those living in Cebu, they don’t think of themselves as living in the province.  They live in the city but everyone outside of Metro Cebu is  lives in the province.

Living in the Province

I live in Bogo, the supreme court removed its City status sometime back but its still the province.  I think even those of us that live here think of it as living in the province.  I know I do.

There are some down sides to that.  If  Metro Cebu City needs more power, they cut the power to the province!  For me, that just stinks to high heaven!

There was an article in one of the papers back a few months ago that promised no more brownouts in Northern Cebu.  Some manufacturer had worked out an agreement with the power providers.   The manufacturer would generate its own power at times to avoid the brownouts.   The electric company would reimburse the manufacturer for the additional cost they incurred for producing their own energy.

Since that agreement, we’ve seen fewer brownouts but we saw one today.  I was hacked off when I found out my power was being cut so some plant could keep operating.  I was glad it wouldn’t happen any more.  I think that was about four months ago.  Well, all of Northern Cebu had its power cut twice since then.

When the lights go off early in the morning, usually about 8am on a Sunday, we know that means a very hot day with no Internet, TV or even a fan.  I can take the heat if I have a fan, I can’t handle it without a fan.

I woke up for good about 10am with my head soaking wet.   I thought I’d try to tough it out and just stay home but I soon tossed that and said lets go to Jollibee’s.

Making The Most of  it.

In a rare moment of Jessie feeling like exploring, she suggested we go check out a beach resort near Bogo.  I’ve wanted go to out there but I was waiting until I had the money to spare to join the club.  When we got there, we found it was closed to the public.  A group of Korean’s had rented the entire place out.

There was a new resort just up the road so we checked it out.  Its not fully operational yet but the grounds and the view was more impressive than I expected.

So what’s my point in all this?  I think to be a successful expat, that is one that is happy living in the Philippines, you need to be able to go with the flow.  Parking that control freak side of you at the exit port from your home country can go a long way to being happy here or for that matter, happy where ever you are.

I’m convinced that being happy here is 90% your attitude.  I know a guy that just loves it here.  He’s so poor that he’s had to sleep on a boat and at times had no place at all.  He still loves it here and he’s slowly getting himself established here.  He’s working here now.  Not making a lot of money but enough.  I doubt I could have been as open minded as he did.  He’s kind of a free spirit, too much attitude, got kicked out of the marines because of that attitude kind of guy.

If you want to live here, you can.  If you can’t let go of the way of your home, I don’t think its going to go well.  If you can look around and say all these other people are able to live like this and decide you can too, you’re gonna love the Philippines.  You’ll also likely get a lesson about what is important in life.

You might find it a bit easier to live in the larger cities than the province though.  You know yourself better than I do.  There’s far less crime and pollution in the province.  There are a few less conveniences too.  The story of the City basically shutting of the power to the province so it has all the power it needs, might give you a bit of an idea on that. 

The Philippines is a place where the electricity might not be as stable.  When the line man shows up to work on the lines, he may have his ladder on the back of his motorcycle.  It is a place where water heaters hang on the wall, if you have one at all.  Its also the place of some of the best people you’ll ever meet and the most loving women probably in the world.

Beautiful but Painful

I went to Bantayan Island with “Honky Joe” an expat currently visiting the Philippines.  I shouldn’t have spent the dollars but that temptation thing got me again.  Like I said in a previous post, the Philippines are the land of temptation.

Joe came through Bogo City and mentioned he was going to Bantayan Island and I just couldn’t resist.  It also gave me a chance to use my underwater camera.

As we were returning to shore, Jessie spotted this creature waiting to give one of us a bad day.  It was the first time I have spotted one of these but we went out a good deal further as the tide had gone out before we got our lazy butts out of bed.

Actually, I got a great nights rest for the first time in a while.  I keep waking up to early but going back to sleep.  I woke up at 5:20 that morning and started to get up to go take some sunrise pictures, but I decided the sun will rise another day.  LOL

I spent probably three hours in the Visayan sea over two days and got a sunburn on top of my head.  Talk about adding insult to injury!  I guess one knows he’s loosing his hair the first time he gets sun burned on his scalp!  And the insult is obvious, accepting my hair is almost a memory.

We stayed at Tristan’s Resort which is right on the Bay of  Santa Fe.  Its the off season and our room was only P800.  They have these buttery breaded pork chops that have to be experienced.   I’ll be writing a full review on Bantayan Island Tours but I have not started the article yet so I don’t know when it will be published.

As always, you can also follow my adventures in the Philippines at HeyJoe.Ph.  If you have had the opportunity to visit Bantayan Island, please tell us where you stayed and how things went for you.

If you have not been to Bantayan Island, get yourself over there before the rest of the world finds it.  Right now, its likely you’ll have the beach and the water to your self.  That can’t last forever.

Minors Cannot Be Locked Up!

Am I kidding? No!  I’m not kidding at all.  Now, my read of the law doesn’t say that but I’ve read over and over news paper articles related to crimes in Cebu Province that is how the law is being applied.  If the child is under 15 it is absolutely true.  If the child is between the ages of 18 and 15 then it appears they can be prosecuted but other provisions of the law seem to make it impossible.  Keep reading, you’ll learn of a 17 year old rapist and murder set free!

Get Out of Jail Free In The Philippines

Not long after moving to the Philippines, I read in the paper that minors cannot be locked up.  Most people I asked about this didn’t know anything about this law.  I have strong opinions on this law but I will respect the Filipino and keep that to myself.  I do not wish to test the constitutionality of the immigration law that prevents foreigners from speaking out against the government.  You can do that, if you feel brave.

Some mayors in the Philippines have been rumored to have vigilante death squads operating in their cities.  They use them to fight crime and especially crime by minors.  I don’t’ know if they are true or not.  I’ve seen some mayors be vague about their involvement.  That doesn’t mean they are involved but having the criminal elements think they are involved might be a deterrent in itself.

The law that controls this is RA 9344.  Here are some key provision of the law:

(h) “Deprivation of Liberty” refers to any form of detention or imprisonment, or to the placement of a child in conflict with the law in a public or private custodial setting, from which the child in conflict with the law is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial or administrative authority.

Some of the protections granted under this law are:

(k) the right to have restrictions on his/her personal liberty limited to the minimum, and where discretion is given by law to the judge to determine whether to impose fine or imprisonment, the imposition of fine being preferred as the more appropriate penalty;

(I) in general, the right to automatic suspension of sentence;

(m) the right to probation as an alternative to imprisonment, if qualified under the Probation Law;

(n) the right to be free from liability for perjury, concealment or misrepresentation; and

and

SEC. 6. Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility. – A child fifteen (15) years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt from criminal liability. However, the child shall be subjected to an intervention program pursuant to Section 20 of this Act.

A child above fifteen (15) years but below eighteen (18) years of age shall likewise be exempt from criminal liability and be subjected to an intervention program, unless he/she has acted with discernment, in which case, such child shall be subjected to the appropriate proceedings in accordance with this Act

And the all guiding clause of this law states that:

SEC. 3. Liberal Construction of this Act. – In case of doubt, the interpretation of any of the provisions of this Act, including its implementing rules and regulations (IRRs), shall be construed liberally in favor of the child in conflict with the law.

I think it is section three of the law that makes it virtually impossible to prosecute them.  Especially when you consider the definition of the best interest of the child per section four of this law:

(b) “Best Interest of the Child” refers to the totality of the circumstances and conditions which are most congenial to the survival, protection and feelings of security of the child and most encouraging to the child’s physical, psychological and emotional development. It also means the least detrimental available alternative for safeguarding the growth and development of the child.

When one takes all the above into account, I can understand why the news paper articles have stated over and over again that minors cannot be prosecuted.

This week in Cebu, a horrible crime took place.  A 13 year old girl that like to  hang out with a group that are rugby addicts was gang raped and then murdered.  No, not the game.  That is what solvent is called in the Philippines.  These kids are often called street kids but many do have homes.   They can be seen on the streets huffing anything that will get them high.  They will often have their drugs stuffed under their shirts and protuding in a way that’s hard to miss.

In Cebu City, I know they round them up from time ot time but I’m not sure what they can do with them, perhaps turn them over to Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The Sun Star, a national paper of the Philippines wrote in an article about this story that:

The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 prohibits the detention of minors, so they needed to be turned over the DSWD.

Read Article

One of the “children” involved is 17 years old.  I invite you to read the article and see for yourself.  The police official stated he could not detain the five minors, including the 17 year old.  Perhaps there have been court rulings that added to the interpretation of the law for those 15 through 17.  It is clear though that this is the way the law is being applied.  I don’t think that was the intent but that matters little when nothing can be done.  It was the intent for those under 15.

Now I’m going to be surprised if I don’t hear from some that say this is crazy.  This law can’t possibly be used to exclude all minors from punishment.  But that is exactly what is happening.  When a 17 year old confesses to killing someone and the police can’t hold him, that’s disturbing.  Intent doesn’t mean a lot when the law is being applied the way it has been here in Cebu.  I am unsure of how it is being applied through the rest of the Philippines.

I would like to hear from anyone that knows this law is being applied to in your region of the Philippines.  Opinions are welcome too but if you live here, be careful of what you say.  I also know of one actor that was barred from entering the Philippines because of what he said while still in the USA.

The full text of RA 9344.

Land of Temptation

The Philippines is a wonderful place to live in you can make it work for you.  Sometimes its a bit too wonderful.  The country is filled full of temptations.  The food is just flat out to get me.    The only thing more tempting than the food is the Filipina!

Let’s talk about the bread.  The bread often tastes sweet.  Sometimes buttery.  Don’t buy it from the super markets, go the local bake shops to get it.   If you can find one that is local to your city that does a good job that’s even better.  Then again, perhaps you should just stay away from it.  SM Mall in Cebu City has a new bread shop and I’ve stayed out of it.  My doctor told me it was very good!  I told him it was evil!  Sorry I don’t remember the name of it but it is on the lower level in the new North Wing.  The last thing I need is even better bread.

There is a pudding that Jessie buys from the bread store.  It isn’t pudding like that in the USA, it’s more like bread but something in between bread and cake.  The most evil food on the planet must be what I call chocolate bread.

Look at that bread!  Its even better than it looks but its just evil.

Living in the Philippines, is difficult for the diabetic, or more difficult than the USA.  Its harder to find sugar free candy and drinks.  I  use to ship it from Amazon.com but I found something I like in Duty Free in Cebu.  Yeah, I know all about Sugar Free Haven in Cebu City.  It was disappointing for me.

The Filipina provide lots of temptation.  They are likely to flirt with you, its not just about money, they like white skin in many cases. They’ll give you long looks mostly even when your wife or girlfriend is present.  If she’s not with you, they might speak but usually they’ll wait for you to talk first.  Many times they turn very shy if you actually speak to them.

The picture on the left shows a couple of beauties at a bikini contest.  The girl with her head turned won the contest but I doubt there will be any more of these in the near future.  The governor of Cebu has pretty much made them illegal.  She was just about pushed into that when some resort owners on Bantayan Island pushed the issue with such contest on Black Saturday which is a very revered day in the Philippines.

But that doesn’t make the Filipina any less tempting and they are that.  Seems whenever an expat gets himself in trouble here there is usually a girl involved in it some how.  Though alcohol is usually involved as well.

Bars are probably more dangerous to the kano than the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front)!  LOL  Only thing is we usually create that trouble ourselves.  Its a good reason not to frequent them.  On the other hand, they are just loaded with the most beautiful girls in the world.

I really enjoy looking out over a dance floor with a sea of Filipina bouncing to the tunes.  You see them in the darker areas of the bar and the dim lights just add to the mystery of their beauty.  I don’t frequent the bars often but when I do go, I enjoy it.  Only problem is in Bogo the one disco doesn’t have aircon.  They have fans, lots of them but I still need twice as many. 

Try to keep your head about you but get out there and enjoy some of the temptations of the Philippines.  There are many more that I have not discussed here.  The warm waters off the Islands are a wonderful temptation and not too many ways of getting in trouble.  Have a San Miguel but not too many and watch out for the sea urchins.  Get out there and have some fun.