Will you keep a gun when living the Philippines?

Thanks ChMacQueen for your insight. Ah, of course, that makes sense..... My western mind tends to forget that over here foreigners are often justifiably viewed as a source of cash to be scammed and taken for money by whatever means necessary. I love it here, but it helps to keep things in perspective -- you helped reset my perspective.

In Boracay it was painfully obvious -- when an unsuspecting foreigner showed up, whether it be a tourist or even someone interested in starting a business, the scammers came out of the woodwork like cockroaches.

To be clear, the vast majority of Filipinos are good, honest, hard working people -- and I've been blessed by knowing a great many of them.

But I also sense an undercurrent in this society that encourages, admires, and even praises, the ability to get money from foreigners -- whether it be by scamming or by force. Many Filipinos believe foreigners own trees that grow money who can easily afford to lose whatever they can scam or steal -- and they take offense when a foreigner responds with force to an attempt to transfer money from the foreigner to the Filipino. Weapons in the hands of foreigners tends to impact (from the undercurrent's perspective) the ability to forcibly transfer money from the foreigner to the Filipino -- thus the justification you noted for RA 10591. Thanks again.