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I don't care for it but, in my opinion, the wearing of masks is a no brainer. The way a mask would protect the user and others in close vicinity from aerosol dispersion of the virus seems obvious. The problem with the advice from science is that the virus is something we are learning about and as we do so, our understanding of the virus, how it's spread, and who contagious and when is constantly evolving. Additionally, the wearing of masks has been politicized by the American right which adds a layer of controversy to the issue. Whether you are within a meter of others for any part of a day is a distinction I think too much to ask of anyone, including authorities here in the Philippines. I think it reasonable and responsible as a member of the local society to do your part and wear a mask. This is not a high bar to set, even though I don't like wearing a mask, I do so in public.

 

This is a personal view (of course) and you may dislike it or not, at your whim: In a country which has respect for its elected leader, I do not feel it is the right of foreigners to show such disrespect. Let the people decide on policy, as far as is possible, at the ballot box.

Also, negative, rude and disrespectful comments about any senior politician (and leaders of other organisations) may serve only to make life more difficult for your fellow expats - and every expat here should be on the lookout for the welfare of every one of us.

 

When was the last time you had to renew your vehicle registration, I got a ticket 3 weeks before my registration was due to expire and on the advice of my friends was told to ignore paying the fine, well guess what when I went to renew my registration on June 19 got the sorry sir you have to go to city hall to pay your ticket which was now double because I did not pay it within the 1 week time frame.'' READ AND HEED''

 

A few more pics on how things are starting to come together. Fairly pleased, bit of a challenge to get the guys up on how to do the reinforcing for the stairs but they came out pretty good.

Ended up extending my time off until the 11th so hopefully I'll be able to handle a few more things while here.

Shawn

 

Sir,
I strongly recommend returning to your home country, if you can.
The medical facilities here and training are beyond repair, It's just another , Chinese backed, money machine with no interest in human interest. The Hippocratic oath is a joke... ( First do no harm). The medical care here is not as good as the states, the UK or any other industrial country. Likely never be.
Whoever these characters are who are telling you different , well it's likely they had a tooth extraction or similar. They Know nothing !!
Sadly, very sadly my 7 year old son was taken into Silliman hospital last August. He was diagnosed with a chest infection. Their diagnosis was so wrong it is criminal . They, as usual, put him on antibiotics.
Complete idiots, charlatans and fraudsters everyone of them.
I was driving to the airport on my way to Manila, my wife called me and said he'd been RUSHED into ICU..
I went straight to the so called hospital and within an hour watched my beloved son die an awful death.
He had Type One diabetes , no insulin at hand but worst of all and every hospital on the planet does it, No blood/sugar test.
Yes, we are suing. We have a lawyer in Manila because the lawyers in Dumaguete either haven't got the balls or the will be prone to bribery, etc.
We caught the senior paediatric doctor sneaking through the back door, "Oh, what do you two want" ? Her damned arrogance was tangible, I soon knocked that out of her ( not physically). I told her that we are suing every person on duty , including her because she couldn't be found, probably moonlighting.

They disgust me....

Oh yeah, after killing my son I was charged 60,000 pesos. Small potatoes if he'd survived.
I can't wait to get them in court

 

I was knocked off my bike by a drunk local(on a moped, with a gallon of tuba in one hand), just over three years ago, between Bayawan and Santa Catalina on a Sunday afternoon. Having seen him wobbling around, I gave a warning beep on the horn then passed him on the opposite side of the road, as the way was clear. I was second in a group of four riders, with 2 guys behind me who witnessed the entire accident. As I passed him he veered sharply left, perhaps to turn up a track or maybe it was deliberate, the 2 behind me thought so. He hit my swing arm almost half way as his tyre mark was still on the my swing arm when the bike was returned to me, a month later.
I remember thinking as everything slowed down as it usually does during an accident, why the bike suddenly swung left on the rear wheel. That was the last thing I remembered till I woke up on the road side. Having tried to correct swing, I high-sided was spat off, one of the guys behind me said I I spun 180 degrees, landed on my head and left wrist(shattering quite a few of the 26 bones in it), luckily, my Caberg modular helmet which slightly cracked on the very top with the initial impact. I then 360-ed and finally landed on my face, again the helmet took the secondary impact barely cracking on the jaw part of the helmet.
I was wearing full mesh, upper body armour, armoured gloves, which successfully saved me from serious, upper torso, unfortunately, I had worn jeans, instead of armoured trousers, which I had omitted due to it being a very hot day. Naturally, in the course of 'my travels', I found the only large rock around and made contact with it, with my right upper leg.
Both the guys behind me, once they managed to stop and dismount, didn't want to come over to me, as they thought I was dead, after my 'aerobatics and final stop', which I don't blame them for in any way. The first rider came back, luckily, he is experienced as a first responder at the scene of an accident type and did what he could including proper, safe removal of my helmet, once I was conscious.
I am unaware how long the Sta Catalina ambulance took to come, it was a Sunday afternoon after all, but the trolley bed was too short, there were no straps to stop me rolling around the back.
To cut a long story short, the guy who hit me was skunk drunk, no insurance, no license, not even his bike. I ended up with P180k bill at Silliman Medical and P180k for the bike to be repaired. I had a steel plate and 4 screws in my left wrist a dislocated shoulder and ended up having 1.2 liters of blood removed from my right thigh, my bike boots saved my lower legs and feet without a shadow of a doubt as they had to be immediately retired.
I cannot stress the importance of trying to protect yourself as best you can while riding. I bought new body armour, as the old suit had to be cut off me in the emergency room. New gloves with carbon fibre protection for fingers and wrists, new heavy duty, riding boots, etc etc.
The Caberg helmet cost me around two hundred US dollars when new, I went out and bought a replacement Shoei for four hundred dollars, I am always reminded of the old Bell helmet advert, if you have a 10 dollar head, wear a 10 dollar helmet.
There are a couple of points to this story, firstly, I'm alive, my gear did it's job, in the UK they call it A.T.G.A.T.T.(all the gear all the time, something I try adhere to, whenever practical). Secondly, expect the unexpected and be prepared for 'stupidity' whilst driving, not just on bikes but all types of vehicles, drive as defensively as you can. Please remember that the vast majority of locals just pay for their licenses, there is no test of any practical form for any type of driving license here, if one pays the LTO off, which most do. I am reminded also of the old saying, most accidents occur within 5 kms of home, worth thinking about if you're scooting around town.
I have had a few accidents in my time, in all sorts of vehicles, some my fault, some other people's fault, it doesn't really matter. I'm still here and I try to remember what to do better the next time.