Travel Warning Southern Cebu

Don't know this guy but I agree with his view. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIfN9f379Rciew.

 

No-one in the entire four pages of comments, all of the rather large number within the last two days that i scanned, has suggested that (to this cynical 72 year old brain) the entire "alert" is part of a concerted effort to hurt the Philippine tourist economy of President Duterte by the US government. A couple sightings of abu-sayefs, but NO real unearthed plot, yet the US tries to scare the crap outta US citizens, who by the way are barely distinguishable from Aussies or Europeans unless they open their mouth. As a US citizen, i am appalled by the treatment of the Philippines over the last decade by the US and, indeed, the first decade of the 20th century, which i have read a lot more about recently than is in every US kid's history book. Almost like Kansas trying to edit out "evolution" from history books.. I so far have not changed my 5 month old habits, always been vigilant.. See the following:

Why the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte Hates America (from the Diplomat magazine)

Duterte’s shift in foreign policy has a history. (from the Phil Star's Carmen Pedrosa)

 

Here's a pretty vague update from the PNP today that "there was a police report about a plan to 'stage kidnappings' in southern Cebu but that the report was “in the process of being validated.” If someone actually gets kidnapped, they'll no doubt confirm the the report has been validated
Cebu ‘kidnapping threat’ being validated – Palace - The Manila Times Online

 

Apparently the Drug lords and the terrorist are joining forces to stay in business. Leaving the drug trades in favor of domestic kidnapping. Since Norway recently paid very large ransom fro one its citizens who was recently kidnapped. Duterte is making it clear he is not a fan of foreigners so the assumption is he will not put as much effort into fighting this type of crime.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/world/us-terr...with-australian-tourists-20161106-gsj0xo.html

See also.

 

What our local Press had to say;
DAILY STAR: Negros Oriental
BUT.................

 

Interesting reading. Thanks. I won't argue that the US is perfect, but I do think it has improved with time and certainly has a better track record than China or Russia. There is a bit of the grass is greener, but I'll bet he finds out that's not the case. China and Russia have little history with the Philippines, but they do have histories. Living in the past serves no useful purpose other than to leverage the hurts of the past to negatively influence the behaviors of the present. It's the crutch that allows someone to rationalize their current situation and blame it on someone else. Hear are some interesting outtakes.......

Could these invisible chains be of their own making.....is the drug dealer or the drug user responsible for the drug users behavior?

At the core of the message of the Duterte administration, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay wrote in a widely-read Facebook post dated October 4, is that the United States had failed the Philippines by holding on to “invisible chains” that reined Manila in “towards dependency and submission as little brown brothers not capable of true independence and freedom.”

Sounds a bit like a whining to me. Most expats have probably faced much more challenging situations in their visa situation. Should a countries policy be guided by the experience of one individual? It's significant enough event to him to bring it up over a decade later.

He has also alleged that he has been mistreated by immigration authorities. One of the incidents he mentioned during his Trade and Investment Forum speech in Beijing was when he was interrogated by an African-American immigration officer at Los Angeles International Airport while transiting on the way to Brazil due to a missing letter for travel authorization.

Duterte said he told the officer that if there was a plane available to go directly back to the Philippines, he would happily take it instead of being detained further.

This coming from a guy who just gave away what he wanted the US to defend. A partnership doesn't mean one side does all the heavy lifting.

In general, Duterte views the United States as an unreliable ally for the Philippines. In the Rappler interview in October 2015, he described America as a “wounded soul,” unwilling to go to war both because it sees itself as unable to take the high risks involved to tackle a wide range of problems abroad, and because of rising challenges at home, including confronting racial intolerance which he says “will come to a head.”

In support of this view, he cited the example of United States’ inability to stop China from building its artificial islands, that undermined the Philippines’ position in the South China Sea. In Duterte’s view, the incident laid bare Washington’s ineffectiveness.

As for the original thought that this is some kind of retaliation, I find that highly unlikely. US intelligence is not based solely on newspaper reports. If a US tourist were to get kidnapped and there was some intelligence that it might happen there would certainly be backlash. It's better to be safe than sorry when lives are in the balance, in my opinion. At least then, I can make an informed decision about wanting to travel there or not.

 

There seems to be some conflict in the newspaper article from my point of view. I am not at risk: “But the PNP in Central Visayas, the PRO-7 headed by its regional director, Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, immediately countered this by saying that “Central Visayas is safe and secured to live, work and do business (in).”

But just in case I am at risk: “Coast Guard Dumaguete commander, Lt. Junior Grade Donna Liza Duran Ramacho, said she has deployed three K-9 teams to the ports of Dumaguete, Sibulan and Amlan.

Two of these dogs are trained on bomb sniffing while another one is trained to sniff and track down narcotics substances, she said.

Mobile, foot and random maritime patrols have been increased by the local Coast Guard personnel, especially at tourist spots, specifically in Larena, Siquijor, which is part of their jurisdiction, and Apo Island, Ramacho added.

The Coast Guard also has a special operations unit manning their floating assets, which can be deployed any time when necessary.”

So what is the truth?

My interpretation is come and spend your money, do not be afraid because they is little risk, which is why we chose to employ trained bomb sniffing dogs at all the ports, and have patrols in boats and on foot at the resorts area. Why is all this new security necessary if we are safe from terrorists? Sorry but the track record of the Filipino security forces is not that great. The war against the NPA started in the 1970s and the NPA, and other groups are still causing chaos in many parts of the Philippines.

Sometimes you have to read between the lines.

 

What country in the world developed their education successfully using a colonist's language as a medium of instruction after immediately driving them away and what country in the world remained small and ignorant by doing so?
It makes me question the whining about this 'invisible chain'. It's funny I have to google for translations from English to my native tonque, Bisaya (only Cebuano appears on google translate). For example, the word thirty. What comes to mind right away is 'trenta' and 'tatlumpu' in the official Filipino but you don't hear the locals say, 'katloan'.
The OP is about the embassy doing their job.