Question Best Posts in Thread: Legal advice

First is that that the other guy is taller, younger and stronger than me. Im 40 years old already, i think he is around 25, not on my best shape, kind of fat, and never fought before, if we dont count those brother agaisnt brother chilhood sh*t at home...

Second is that im not alone on my complaints. There are 4 business owners with me complaining agaisnt the drivers and supporting me. One of them told me: "You did bad. You fought alone. You should wait for me to join you agaisnt him", so im not a crazy arrogant foreigner searching for problems. The police, the traffic officers, and the business owners support me, know all the story from the beggining and will talk on my favour in case of a court situation.

The Baragany Captain also agreed with me when she hear my side of this story so far. Of course she needs to hear the other side, but what im asking now, and what i was asking for 5 months...everybody could understand, and i had the law on my side. The arrogant, provoking and unrespectfull people are the drivers, and everybody there knows that. Tomorrow i will go to traffic office and ask for the reports on their visit there, maybe they can give me any official paper that give me more "base" to my side. If we go to court, i will easily find people supporting me.

You are right saying that is not a parking problem anymore. But you see, the mother f***** dont park there anymore.

I pay my taxes, i give work to Dumaguetenyo people, and i have a private parking area that should not be blocked. If i have to go to court and say loudy and clear that i will fight again if the police dont defend my rights, ill do. We are foreigners, but since we live here we have the same rights than any filipino citizen.[/QUOTE]
Imo you're absolutely right but also in the wrong. Many times I had to keep my fist deep in my pockets but a few times they flew out.
The people here always scream" I get you in court or I get you deported" Give it time to sink in and they realize that they have been wrong too and that it's not easy to go to court(I found out) and time consuming. All you say above is in your profit and I think that when you put some bluff in, this will blow over. Just mention during the barangay session that you have a grave doubt in the validity of his drivers license, road safety certificate, transport route license, insurance ect. ect. This will set him thinking. A few months ago in a police hearing brought forwards by a habal-habal driver against my wife I mentioned this. Resulted in him making his excuses and begging my wife for forgiveness. Case dismissed.

 

Yeap, to a significant extent it is serious. Maybe confrontation eye contact should have been the correct world. There are alternatives to chasing people around and causing fist fights.There are alternatives to becoming confrontational. Some foreigners run around acting arrogant with a sense of entitlement. Filipinos are know not to be confrontational to your face. They do not approach foreigners one on one. They come from behind in groups. Being arrogant and looking for trouble and confrontational is what motivates the Filipinos to gather in groups. Read the papers, and seem how many times someone is killed because of "a long standing grudge" in the Philippines. You can be active within the community, but you may want to consider how confrontational with in the community you really need to be. Treat the people friendly here and they will treat you friendly to you face also.

The alternative is not to segregate ourselves from the population behind walls and having your groceries delivered but to treat people with respect. Is that hard to do? Realize that we live in basically a lawless vigilante type legal system in the Philippines. The law of the jungle is still the predominant law system here. (how many people have been found dead since Duterte was elected?) Like the jungle, the law is most active in the darkenss of night. Of the 32 people killed in Dumaguete last year, how many murders got solved here? I think none. It is survival of the most ruthless here at times. Go to the grocery store but do not get into a physical fight when some Filipino disrespects you by trying cut in front of you in line at the check out stand. Remember what we were taught in kindergarten.... "use your words, Charly". Those words still apply today. We live in a culture of emotions but must control our own emotions when we do not want to do so. Enjoy Dumaguete but do not expect people to kiss you feet because you are a foreigner, because you may be surprised. We lost most of our entitlements when we entered the Philippines. Just try to explain to the BI when you are late on one of your visas, that because you are a foreigner, you are entitled not pay a penalty. Remember you entitlements and get forceful when the x-ray machine operator just found a bullet in your luggage at Manila airport and you plane leaves in 5 minutes. Throw an emotional fit, confront people and it will all be resolved in a few hours, when your plane is half way to your destination, while you sit in an airport office with a useless plane ticket in your hand. We have all faced these unfair situations, whether in the grocery store line, the BI offices or the airport, but few have won using intimidating or of physical force in the long run. Blend in, smile and treat people with respect. That is the best alternative here in my opinion. It is not always fun, you will probably still get screwed at times, but it is safe mode to operate, in a unsafe society.

An example of a fellow who decides he had a better approach was a Expat who was acting a little arrogant inside a local bar on Christmas Eve here last year. He slapped a few people around because he was big and had some US Military training. Generally he was not a bad guy, but that night he made some bad decisions. Something was bothering him, probably not even the guys he decided to slap, but we will probably never know the full story. Two or three people confronted him from his back side outside the bar with an empty bottle of Red Horse. The memorial services were held for him a week later. There were no Filipino witnesses but there was CCTV, and a visit to the local police by the FBI. There was international press coverage. Can you believe that no Filipinos came around to stand up for him as witness? One fellow is in jail, the another disappeared probably never to be found, remember there is no national ID system here yet. Yes my statement was serious. Cause trouble here with the locals and generally you will not be confronted face to face, but that does not mean their vengeance will not occur. There is a lot of Pinoy Pride here, and fighting fair is not part of the Pinoy Pride agenda. Just pull out your gun and protect yourself... oh sorry foreigners are not allowed to own guns. Few crimes against Expats are solved here... these things just fade away..... like the expat stabbed multiple times in Dauin a few weeks ago. We are not hearing much about that anymore..... while you enjoy the Philippines remember to blend in, smile and treat people with respect. (I actually think that works almost everywhere in the world). You do not have to be a wuss, but you do not have to be confrontational either. There is a middle ground which can provide an very enjoyable life.

 

If it was me, I would want to avoid future issues with the driver, the other drivers who also park near your place, his buddies, two bad guys on a bike, etc. and would ask the barangay captain to help settle a low cost exit. I have heard that if it goes to court the judge may ask you to try and settle out of court anyway.

 

Unfortunately I have had experience in these matters. Barangay Captains are good for neighborhood issue, (stolen chickens, loud music, Etc), but anything that even has the slightest smell of a court action should be handled asap by an attorney. Even the Barangay meeting should be attended by your council. Anything your say there/promise or indicate can slap you in the face when this is in front of a fiscal (prosecutor) one day. tread very gently here. PM me if you want to meet and talk more/...

 

Right, I'll borrow from the U.S. Miranda warnings a key item.

Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.

By having them talk to your lawyer, you aren't saying anything. If you aren't talking, you are giving yourself less chances to screw up. That's true in dealing with legal issues, dealing with your girlfriend and dealing with tricky street situations where people want to hurt you.

The Barangay Hall is a weird sort of pseudo court thing (but not really) where you might be lulled into talking by the more laid back environment without all the formal structure that a real court system has. But it doesn't matter where you are, flapping your jaws still gets you into trouble.