Best Posts in Thread: An "El Gecko Bar" in Dumaguete?

I would rather not see Dumaguete go down this road. This type of bar breeds misery and the type of misfortune that we recently bore witness to. As ex-pats we need to be mindful that this is a deeply conservative nation desperately struggling to modernise without the resources we would otherwise enjoy from our domiciles. Viz, a generally straight law enforcement structure, social welfare programmes, child protection and so forth. This type of bar thrives on the vulnerable and the desperate to make ends meet for extended family back in the provinces. Most filipinas working in this type of bar would not be able to return to their villages for shame if they were found out. They are at risk of disease, abuse, drugs et infintum.

I know that one can never ever properly eradicate the oldest profession in the world. Too many times I have ambled down the boulevard on my way to Cocos, Pasta King etc to be met with a "hello sir, how are you? Where are you going?" from someone barely out of high school -if they have been lucky enough to attend for a semester! The roots of this type of bar lie in ex pats'/tourists willingness to take advantage of. We know it ain't right, it demeans the life we came here for. I am not a killjoy, I like a beer just like the next man. But I do have my moral compass set firmly in my head and not in my pants - particularly here in a poverty stricken nation where it is a real grind to make ends meet for 99% of nationals.

Cuss me for sanctimony if you please. My job during the Iraq thing was advising Jordanian authorities on the borders with Iraq on a child protection/women's safety policy for refugees - poverty breeds this type of exploitation. Nope, I don't want to see this in Dumaguete.

Cheers all,

C

 

Bill did not purchase it from a guy in Dumaguete. It was sold many years before and had 3 previous owners before Bill came on the scene......