Big Trouble for Tourists?

Lately, I have been watching a TV show that I downloaded from the Internet.  The name of the show is “Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand,” and it is a show from the Sky Network in the UK.  The show is about British tourists visiting Thailand, and some of the troubles they run into.

“But Bob,” you might be saying, “this website is not about Thailand,” and you would certainly be correct.  However, some of what I’ve seen on the show certainly applies in the Philippines.  And, I have seen things on the show that would be good lessons for the Philippines to put into practice, I believe.

As I am sure all readers know, Thailand is a place well known for partying, sex tourism, and other “revelry” that is not necessarily so wholesome.  Because of this type of expectation, many of the tourists that end up on this show have gotten themselves into some real trouble by being a little bit too involved in this type of lifestyle.

The show is a documentary type show, 100% authentic, not fiction, acting and such.

Now, what exactly is the TV show about?  Well, it is about the Thailand Tourism Police.  Thailand Tourism Police?  What’s that? Well, in Thailand, at least in certain parts of Thailand that are frequented by foreign tourists, the Thai Government has “Tourist Police” which are actually foreigners!

Yes, you read that correctly.  They have foreigners who are police that deal specifically with foreign tourists.  Based on what I have seen on the TV show, it appears that most, possibly all of the Tourist Police are British, but I can’t say for sure.  Since the show is done by a British TV Network, they may just be featuring the British who are participating in the Police.  Based on what has been said on the show, it seems that these foreign policemen are not paid, but do this on a volunteer basis.  They are long term expats who live in Thailand, and they have volunteered to Police foreigners who have come on holiday, or vacation in Thailand.

Why do they need foreigners for this?  Well, the reason is because many of the foreign visitors do not understand how things work in Thailand.  You know, I have explained many times how many foreigners don’t understand cultural aspects of life in the Philippines?  Same for Thailand.  Things work differently in these foreign countries.  What is common “back home” may actually be a crime here, or may cause friction with the locals, and could actually get the tourist killed.  For example, here in Asia, causing somebody to “lose face” could lead to your death.  By having foreign expats policing the foreign tourists, they can help explain to the foreigners in a way they can understand, and smooth over trouble before it starts, or at least before it gets too far out of hand.

As I have watched this show, my first reaction was that it was kind of weird, and not needed.  As I watched several episodes, though, I have come to the conclusion that such a program could be quite beneficial for the Philippines too.  I believe that it can offer several potential benefits for the Philippines:

1. For the expat who lives here and gets involved in assisting with such policing activities, it would help make them a part of the community in which they live, make them part of society.
2. The expat policeman could help the tourist stay out of trouble, or at least minimize it.  Doing this would help the Philippines gain a higher regard in the tourism community.  Instead of having people who got into a bad situation going around badmouthing the Philippines, you could potentially have people encouraging others to travel here and telling them that the Philippines goes out of it’s way to assist tourists in having a good time while still staying out of potentially dangerous situations.
3. It could help cut back on corruption in the Police Force.  Right now, a lot of foreign tourists believe that every Philippine Policeman is out to scam them.  If there is a “tourist policeman” who is an expat from the West, it would make tourists more confident that they will be treated fairly.

While the Philippines is certainly under no obligation to do a program like this, I believe that it might have merit, and could make the Philippines a more attractive tourist destination too.  It shows that the country is going to extra effort to help make foreign tourists feel comfortable and safe while visiting the country.

What do you think?  Have you seen the show?  Do you think this has merit?

Mindanao Security

For so many years most of the foreign embassies have given out travel warnings about the Philippines, and in particular the Island of Mindanao where my home, Davao City, is situated.

Now I have been coming here for five years and traveled around Mindanao a lot, and I have never come across any problems that made me feel threatened, well except one when a drunken policeman and his Army friend tried to get money from me.

Most of the foreign embassies treat Mindanao as a war zone, and of course just like Thailand there are political and turf squabbles in certain parts that involve war like activities.

However, that is like saying that the USA is not safe to visit because 100 men fought in a remote area of Alaska, or that the UK is unsafe as one bomb went off in Belfast.

The most important thing about security is the security of your home and your family, and like anywhere else in the world you need to take precautions based on the local area and local concerns.

Most of us foreigners live in gated properties, but so do most Filipinos.

The truth is that there are bad people in any country ready to take advantage of your naivety or stupidity, and to steal or cheat from you.

Remember that the average working man’s wage here in Davao a day is around p200 or $4. I spent half of that on a haircut today and a the rest on a pint of milk. My point is that if you had to eat and feed your family and were so desperate for money, maybe you would take advantage of an expat who in the eyes of the poor Pinoy is a king in terms of money.

If you leave your phone, watch or anything out, or your home unguarded you will pay the price and like anything related to security the best thing is to ensure you give yourself and your property the common sense protection that you would probably do in your own home country.

Easy to forget when you are in Paradise, your own rules.

I am doing some work on security for some clients here in Davao and as part of that task I interviewed Paul Fuller from New Zealand who frankly talked to me about what happened to his family, and the consequences and the actions he has taken to solve it.

Paul was burgled probably by locals, who apart from the theft of computers and household items, stole important paperwork and personal belongings that cannot be replaced.

Insurance and Police involvement can be a luxury here, and remote areas are not even worth alarming to an alarm company, as the distance and communication problems can be too much of a problem.

I spoke to Paul a few weeks ago and this is a little of the chat I had with him.

And on a positive note to end on the British Embassy has now said that certain parts of Mindanao are safe, well done the Brits.

The gang who couldn't shoot straight

Back in the 70’s there was a movie called “The gang who couldn’t shoot straight” which starred Robert de Niro, among others.  Unfortunately, the Philippine National Police (PNP) may soon be called “The Police who couldn’t shoot straight.”

You see, recently, the 125,000 Philippine National Police officers were given a marksmanship test.  They were also tested on gun care, cleaning and handling.  Ninety percent of PNP Officers failed the test.  According to National Police Commissioner Luis Mario General, of the 10% who passed the test, most of them ranked as “novices” in weapon care and in marksmanship.

Furthermore, General revealed that nearly 50% of the PNP officers do not even have a service firearm.  In addition, General said that the high cost of training and of ammunition are to blame for the terrible results.

How can the PNP possibly be effective when only 10% of them can pass a marksmanship test, and most of those 10% can only barely pass?  Safety is one thing that I always hear from foreigners about.  Many people are hesitant to visit the Philippines because of safety concerns.  And, I would venture that the vast majority of those with such concerns don’t even know about these abysmal test results.

Personally, I do not feel that the Philippines is a dangerous place.  When compared with other countries around the world, I doubt that the Philippines ranks badly in terms of danger compared to others, and I personally have no fears about living here.  I feel as safe here as I have in any other place that I’ve ever lived.  However, even if the Philippines were the safest country in the world (which it is not, certainly), that would be no excuse for 90% of police officers being unable to accurately fire their weapon.  Nor would be an excuse for nearly 50% of police officers not even having a weapon at all.

Frankly, the excuse of ammunition being expense is a sham.  The Philippines should most certainly be able to afford ammunition for it’s Police force.  And, training too.  It makes me wonder, how about the Philippine Armed Forces?  Is their marksmanship training adequate?    I hope it is better than that of the police.

Justice

Remember, a while back I wrote an article here about the Subic Rape case, and the conviction of Daniel Smith in the case? It was one of the top commented articles in the history of this site. To refresh your memory, the “rape victim,” Suzette Nicolas recanted her story, and said that she wasn’t sure if she had been raped back in 2005, as she had earlier testified in court. Immediately after recanting her story, Nicolas left the Philippines and is not residing in the United States.

Well, news broke yesterday afternoon in this case again.  You see, Smith had an appeal on file with the Philippine Court of Appeals.  The ruling came down on Thursday afternoon, and Smith’s conviction has been overturned, thus meaning that Smith has been found not-guilty of any crime in this case.

Finally, justice for Lance Corporal Smith.  I find it funny, though, that when Smith was convicted (and even when he was only accused) this was a huge news story here in the Philippines.  There was a huge anti-American outcry among the public, or at least some of the public.  However, this reversal, while it made news, seems to be only a minor story in the media here.

There are stories in the media where Philippine activists are claiming that the Philippine President, and the USA itself intervened with the Court of Appeals, forcing the acquital.  If these statements are true, then in other words it must be said that Philippine Courts cannot be trusted.  Funny, though, that these people were firm in their opinions that because Smith had been convicted by a lower court, he was guilty of the crime.  So, a question for the activists… can the courts be trusted or not?  You can’t have it both ways.

As of now, the Court of Appeals has ordered Smith freed “unless there are other non-related charges against him.”  He is in the custody of the US Embassy in Manila, as he has been for years now.  I don’t expect that any “other charges” will be found against him, and that within the next 48 hours he will be rushed out of the country before anything else can be brought up against him.  I am sure that he will feel better about life as he looks down from the airplane and sees the Philippines fade into the horizon.

Is this justice?  Certainly a lot of people will argue that he is still guilty and was let off.  Personally, though, I believe that since the “victim” has now said that no rape ever occured, and because the Courts have found Smith to be not-guilty, this means that justice has finally been done.   Do people believe the “victim” or not?  Those who believed in her strongly in the past now bad mouth her and say she is a liar.  Those who called her a liar before now say she is telling the truth.  There are only two people who know for sure what happened that night, and they now agree that nothing illegal happened.  Under these circumstances, how could it be said that Smith should be held against his will?  Certainly not I.

So, unless there are any unforseen events, the Daniel Smith case will go down in history and fade from current events.  Perhaps by the time you read this article, Smith will already be gone from the Philippines.

Quagmire in Mindanao

The Government of the Philippines finds itself in a quagmire these days.  What is a quagmire?  Well, the definition of a quagmire is a difficult, precarious or entrapping situation.  Unfortunately, that is where the Government of  the Philippines sits at this time when it comes to the situation in Mindanao.  Of course, as I often say, the great majority of the Island of Mindanao is a safe place, but in selected areas, the island is very dangerous.  Right now, the dangers are amplified.

After years of relative quiet on the kidnapping front, Mindanao has once again become a hot spot for kidnapping.  It seems that people of all kinds are being kidnapped now too.  Foreigners, Filipinos, even people of relatively little means.

The culprits when it comes to the recent spate of kidnappings are once again the Abu Sayyaf Group.  You may remember some time back I wrote a series of articles about “The Dangers that Lurk” and said at that time that the Abu Sayyaf were the premier serious threat in the Philippines.  Unfortunately, my words are proving themselves to be true again.

The Abu Sayyaf is a group of terrorists who has been active for a little over 20 years now, but has become an extreme threat in the past decade or so.  The big-time threat from the Abu Sayyaf started back at the end of the 1990’s when they kidnappend a large group of people, mostly foreigners, who were staying at a diving resort in Sandakan, Malaysia, and then took the kidnappees to Mindanao and held them for months.  This was the first time that the Abu Sayyaf gained a huge payoff in exchange for hostages.  Since then, there have been a number of kidnappings engineered by the Abu Sayyaf Group against foreigners and Filipinos alike.  Many of these kidnappings have resulted in payments of millions of dollars to the terrorist group.

You know, when you give payments to terrorists in exchange for hostages, it only leads to additional hostage taking incidents whenever more money is needed by the terrorists.  And, of course, that is what has happened with the Abu Sayyaf.  In recent years, the Philippine Government, with assistance from the US Government had gotten to the point where the Abu Sayyaf had been nearly eliminated.  The group’s head had been killed several times over, only to be replaced continually be new leaders.  There was a point when the Philippine government had said that the Abu Sayyaf Group had been whittled down to less than 100 people, and that they would be eliminated within months.  The threat of kidnapping by the Abu Sayyaf had been virtually wiped out, with the group too busy running from troops to ensure it’s own survival, and without enough resources to mount a serious kidnapping effort.

However, in 2009, those days of having the Abu Sayyaf on the ropes and unable to take much action seem to be gone.  Instead, the Abu Sayyaf has carried out a number of kidnappings in Mindanao this year.  The most serious incident of kidnapping has been the case of three workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross who were ambushed and taken captive in Sulu in January.  The ICRC hostages include one Filipina and two European men.  The Abu Sayyaf group has now issued a deadline that one of the Red Cross hostages will be beheaded on either March 30 (today) or March 31 (the deadline date varies depending on the report) if the Philippine Government does not move troops away from the area where the Abu Sayyaf is holding it’s hostages.  In addition to the ICRC hostages, the Abu Sayyaf independently holds at least three other hostages in Basilan Province, three Filipino teachers who were kidnapped in Zamboanga City in February.  Over the past weekend, there were widespread reports that one of the kidnapped teachers had died in captivity, although the Abu Sayyaf denies this.

So, there is a quagmire.  What is the Philippine Government to do?  If they pull troops back, they are basically relinquishing to demands of the terrorists and giving them free reign of the area in Sulu where they are holding hostages.  If they don’t pull back, one of the ICRC hostages may be beheaded.  The threat of beheading should not be taken lightly, as the Abu Sayyaf has beheaded many captives in the past, and it seems to be their favorite way of showing they are serious.

Honestly, the Philippine Government has had plenty of opportunity to kill the beast called the Abu Sayyaf over the years.  Unfortunately, they always play the same game that they play in almost every problem – when they have the beast on the ropes, they let up on it and focus on other issues instead of finishing off the problem.

At this point, in my view, there is only one thing that the Philippine Government can do, and that is an all out war against the Abu Sayyaf.  If the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) cannot handle the problem, I am sure that the United States would be more than happy to assist in the elimination of the Abu Sayyaf. 

But, if the Government goes forward with an all out attack on the group, won’t it result in the death of the ICRC captives? It likely will, and I feel bad about that, but it’s time to show some backbone.  Get serious, once and for all.  The fact is that these ICRC workers were warned not to go to to Sulu without military protection, and they refused it.  So, they bear some of the fault for their situation.  If the hostages die in the attack, there is nobody to blame except the Abu Sayyaf who is lawless and frankly sickening.

It’s time now to get serious.  The government of the Philippines cannot back down and basically show terrorists that Mindanao is up for grabs by competing terrorist groups.  The time to end lawlessness is now.  Let’s get on with it.

Philippine injustice

Can a foreigner expect to get justice in the Philippines?  Just ask Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith.  Smith was convicted of rape in 2006.  The “crime” supposedly took place in November 2005, while Smith was in the Philippines to participate in joint military exercises between the US and Philippine militaries.  Smith and several other Marines were accused of rape by “Nicole” (a cover name given to the “victim”).  Nicole’s true identity has now been revealed, she is Suzette Nicolas of Zamboanga City.

Since 2006, Daniel Smith has been incarcerated for the rape, and has been awaiting appeal.  This week, Suzette Nicolas recanted her account of events, and has sworn a new statement indicating that she is not sure if she was raped or not.

Not sure? Back when Smith was convicted of the “rape” Suzette said that if she had her way, Smith should be killed for what he did to her.  Now she says that she thinks that she may have consented to any sex that may have occurred.  Actually, she is not even sure that there was any sex!

One of the things that really bothers me about this chain of events is that Justice Secretary of the Philippines, Raul Gonzales says that Suzette Nicolas, back before the trial, wanted to change her statement and withdraw much of what she said, but he would not allow her to do so.  So, based on this, it would seem that Philippine Officials knew in advance of the trial that the event may have never even occurred, yet they continued with the prosecution anyway!  Is that justice?

Another funny thing about this is that Suzette Nicolas, through her mother, is now saying that she is withdrawing the case because she is tired of it, and that “there is no justice in the Philippines.“  No justice?  She is right. It’s not justice when you falsely accuse somebody of rape and an innocent man is convicted of the crime.  That certainly is not justice.

One thing that I also find interesting about this case is that over the years, “Nicole,” has been held up in such high esteem by Filipinos.  It has been as if she was a Saint.  Now that she has recanted, a lot of people are saying that it is because she was paid off, or pressured by the US or Philippine Government to do so.  Before she was said to be so honest.  Now that she recanted, people say that it is not true that it didn’t happen.  So, she is telling a lie now?  If she is being dishonest now, how do we know that she wasn’t dishonest before?  Well, the fact is that she is saying now that she did lie before.

As of now, Smith still languishes in incarceration.  He is being held by the US Embassy in Manila, awaiting his final appeals.  Since Suzette Nicolas has now cleared Smith of wrongdoing, he will be released soon, though, right?  Not so quick. Philippine “Justice” officials say that Nicolas’ recantation has no affect on Smith’s status, though.  Even though his “victim” says that she lied to the court, they still want to keep him in jail!  Is that justice?

Personally, I have never had any problems with the Philippine Justice system, but seeing how this case has been handled, and how it continues to be handled certainly makes me think twice, though.

Oh, by the way… any guesses what happened to Suzette Nicolas?  As of last week, she is living in the USA with her American boyfriend!

This whole case only encourages people to repeat the act.  A woman can falsely accuse a foreigner of rape, get him convicted, then recant years later.  She’ll get money (Nicolas got P100,000 from Smith to cover damages against her) and possibly even a visa to go live in the States!  That’s a lot of incentive for a poor Filipina to make false accusations against any foreigner she can find.

Justice?  For me it is certainly absent here.  What do you think?

The Crocodile Chronicles

Do you remember the 1970’s?  It was in the mid-70’s when the movie “Jaws” came out.  For those who are too young, or who don’t remember the movie, it was about a shark attack that happened in the United States, a fictional place called Amity Island.  Basically, a viscious shark attacked on the beach of Amity Island, and continued to haunt the town.  Eventually, a group of local people, headed by the Sherrif hunted down the shark.

Something similar is happening in Mindanao at this time.  Only thing is, it’s not sharks that are being hunted, it is a Crocodile!  A huge croc too, many witnesses are saying this croc is 8 or 9 meters long, about 30 feet!

It all started on March 7, although it took a few days for word to get out.  Two young girls who live in the Agusan Marsh were on their way home from school on March 7.  The Agusan Marsh is, as the name implies, a marshy area in Agusan del Sur Province.  The people in the Agusan Marsh live on the water, in houses that are on stilts.  It’s a different breed of people.

So, these girls were taking a small boat home from school when this monster croc struck the boat.  Twelve year old student, Rowena Romano was killed by the crocodile.  She was decapitated, her head was bitten off.  Reports say that the crocodile devoured her head.  Reports go on to say that Rowena’s body was left in the marsh, and found two days later.

At this point, families in the area have been evacuated from the Marsh, in fears that this killer croc will strike again.  It’s Jaws all over again, some 3 decades later!

I find something wrong with this whole report, though.  Think about it.  How much meat is on a human head?  Not too much, it’s mostly bone, the skull.  Of course, the brain is insice the skull, but outside the skull there isn’t too much.  The body, though, it mostly meat.  would a crocodile take the head and devour it?  I doubt that a croc eats the bones, would it even open the skull?  I don’t know, but I don’t necessarily think it would.  What about the body?  Full of meat.  It is left intact in the water for 2 days?  If there is one crocodile there, I would certainly think that others are around too.  Even if the giant croc was full and couldn’t eat anymore (which I doubt), other crocs would have devoured the body, right?  I guess that in two days, nothing touched the body.

This just doesn’t make sense to me, and I doubt that events happened as they have been reported.  Certainly the girl lost her life, and I am sorry that something like that happened to a young girl.  But, it’s best to find out what really happened to her.  Maybe there was some kind of foul play involved and the croc story was just used to cover up something else?

Now, as I say, I am no crocodile expert.  I know little about them, but what I hear just doesn’t make sense to me.

Something, or someone killed Rowena.  I think it’s a good idea to find out what or who killed her.

Right now, the search is on for the killer croc.  Many officials say that they want the reptile taken alive, and then it will be put into some kind of crocodile sanctuary.  Are killer animals put into cages? Not usually, they are usually killed.  I hear often that once an animal tastes human blood, it will continue to desire more of it.  And, that is why such killer animals are usually killed themselves.  But, officials want this croc put into captivity.

Something smells fishy on this to me.

Not all invitations are good

Getting invited to an event is a honor, right?  I mean, the fact that the person throwing the even thought of you as a person to invite should be a pleasure, an honor and such, don’t you think?  Wait… don’t think too quickly like that.

Being “invited” in the Philippines does not always have a positive connotation.

You see, in a case where there has been a crime, or some kind of wrongdoing, the police “invite” you to come in to the station for questioning.  If there is some kind of scandal, the Senate will hold a hearing, and they “invite” the accused to come and tell them what happened.  For me, I think I would prefer not to be invited for these kind of things!

I am not even sure what happens if you don’t accept the invitation.  Let’s say that the police are investigating you for a crime and they say they want to invite you down to the station to answer some questions.  I mean, what happens if you say, “no, I’m busy, sorry I can’t accept your invitation.”  It is only my feeling, but I would bet that such an invitation cannot be refused!

Where I come from, in the United States, if the Senate wants to talk to you, they issue a subpoena that requires you to show up.  Here, it’s an invitation.  In the States, if the police want to question you about a crime, they put you in the back seat of the police car and take you to the station and interrogate you.  Here, they invite you to come in and talk.  Do they serve tea while you hare having your discussion?

Honestly, I kind of laugh every time I hear that “so and so has been invited” to the Police station, but it is on the news like that all the time.  Every time there is an accusation against somebody, they always get such an invitation.

Another funny thing is that sometimes, when the Senate invites people to testify in a scandal, the people don’t show up!  Or, they will call in advance and say they are sick that day.  Amazing how many people get sick whenever they get invited to the Senate!  Where I come from, I don’t ever remember a person not showing up when they have been subpoenaed to testify before the Senate.  Here, it is the most common way to handle such an invitation, just don’t show.

During my life in the Philippines, I have been invited to many events.  Weddings, birthday parties, baptisms, Anniversaries and such.  Thankfully, though, I have never been invited to the Police station.  Of course, I could always get sick if that happens!

Lost my wallet

I have been very lucky over the last few years in my traveling around Asia and I have never lost any ID or Credit Cards, although in Thailand I did have my cards cloned by a waiter who put a £6000 bet in a Casino in England as I slept in my Thailand hotel.

Last week a string of coincidences led me to having a financial and ongoing headache and its because I changed my well trusted procedures that have kept me safe.

As it was my birthday a few  weeks ago I had a present of a new pair of trousers which I decided to wear on  my trip to Manila, however the pockets were not deep so I decided to put all my cards in one wallet not my normal two as I always have done before.

After landing at Manila I got in a taxi with my friend for a Friday rush our trip with an annoying taxi driver who through the whole journey was indicating the journey need a “big” tip. After 50 minutes we arrived at the hotel and as I got out the traffic was heavy so I was half in the taxi and half in the street as the traffic passed. When I left I always check the seat to ensure I had not left anything like a phone or wallet and lucky for me it was clear so I left the taxi to go to collect my bags from the back.

The Taxi  driver was so pissed as my tip was not enough for him so he did not help pull my bag so as I got it out I felt my pocket was not as bulging as I thought it should be so I put the bag down and tapped my trousers and by mistake assumed my big MP4 player was my wallet and continued to carry the bag to the hotel lobby.

Ten seconds later I put the bag down and realized it was not my wallet in the bag and turned to the Taxi who drove off very quickly. I knew he had it and I had nothing, No money, No bank cards and  credit cards and NO ID!!! I felt sick, I had broken my own rules with ONE wallet, wrong trousers and now an unknown Taxi was off with my life.

As i booked in I asked the security guards to see if they could ID the taxi company, lucky for me, a few minutes later someone recognized the company as a NEW company but had no idea how to locate them.

Feeling sick and with NO MONEY my friend and I rushed back to the terminal 3 and I decided to get to an internet and stop the cards in case of fraud which because I did not have my IDs was difficult because most banks gave me a hard time because of my lack of security information.

My friend found the supervisor at airport who managed to identify the company who when contacted by phone had the taxi searched and of course NO WALLET. Lucky for me my friend insisted that the Taxi and the driver should come to him for him to check.reluctantly they agreed and the taxi was 20 minutes away and would come to terminal 3. Strange it took him TWO HOURS to get there.

In the meantime I managed to cancel all my cards and was desperate to find a way to get monies , however everything I thought off was blocked because of lack of ID.

Amazingly the taxi driver who showed up after two hours was swamped on by security and  the wallet was found under the front seat, “A miracle”, the Taxi driver said. The wallet had been opened and everything was back but in the wrong places, but a little late as by this time all my cards were canceled and could not be reinstated.

The security staff at the airport told my friend that they were sorry but they believe the driver was a thief and he would be dismissed but they could not do that until later by putting pressure on the taxi owners who were NEW to operating at the airport.

To add salt to the injury my friends Credit Cards and Debit cards also failed in Manila because of suspected fraud, so we ate RICE for two days and lucky for me I have some good friends who are helping me until my Cards get to me from the UK.

LESSON LEARNT. DON’T BREAK YOUR OWN RULES.

I'm a criminal!

A lot of people who read this site are foreigners who are married to Filipinas (or Filipinos).  Did you know that if you belong to that group, you might be a criminal?  That’s right, and it’s something I’ve known about for some time, but learned more about today.  You see, back in the early 1990’s President Corazon Aquino made a Presidential Proclaimation that “Mail Order” Bride services were illegal.  Furthermore, a law was enacted later in the 90’s, Republic Act 6955, the “Mail Order Bride Law”.  To strengthen the fight, a few years ago the Philippines enacted a new law, which is much stronger, Republic Act 9208, the “Human Trafficking Law”.  RA9208 has provisions dealing with “Mail Order” brides.

What is a “mail order” bride?  According to law, any service who introduces foreigners to Filipinas for marriage is enabling mail order brides.  Let’s face it, there is no such thing as a true “mail order” bride.  You can’t open a catalog, place an order and have the delivery made to you.  It simply is not so.

Today, I was watching a news program, “Mornings at ANC” and they had a guest, Attorney Carolina Ruiz-Austria from the UP College of Law.  She is an “expert” on the mail order bride issue.  In my opinion, most of what she had to say really had no basis in fact, and was frankly not very intelligently thought out.

One of the things that Attorney Austria said was that some time back, she knew a woman who came to know an Australian man over the Internet.  The couple got serious, and the man proposed marriage.  The woman was nervous whether the man was for real or not.  The attorney advised her to check the man through the Bureau of Immigration.  They found out that the man had visited the Philippines before, and he once sponsored a woman to come to Australia for marriage.  Because of that, Attorney Austria said that it proved that this man was up to no good, and should not be trusted!  I see nothing to not trust the man!  What if he had married the first woman and she already passed away?  Should that mean that he is not to be trusted?  I think not.

Frankly, when two people are introduced to each other, and they mutually decide to marry each other, I don’t see how that can be considered “human trafficking” in any way, and I see no reason why it should be illegal.  However, the way that the laws about this are written, it indeed is illegal!

Anyway, did you know that if you operate a website that introduces foreigners to Filipinas you are breaking the law?  It’s true.  That is one of the reasons that I don’t get into the whole issue here on LiP – it’s illegal!  If you operate such a website, or if you even make a personal introduction, you are liable for a penalty of up to P2 Million, and even up to life in prison, if you were to be convicted!  Is that crazy or what?  The good news is that Attorney Austria said that there has never been a case that was successfully prosecuted for violation of this law.

I confess.  I met Feyma almost 19 years ago through an introduction service.  We wrote to each other through the mail (there was no internet at that time for most people), talked on the phone, and ended up coming and marrying her.  Because of this, I am a criminal under Philippine law.

I hope that they don’t come and arrest me!

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