Stokkevn

My wife's cousin used to be a NPA leader, he gave it up to be Burangay Captain. They were not so good to the white men here and their intelligence system was far better than the government's. They always turned up on the evening after I had done a beer run to the local town and did their best to finish it.

LPR

It's worth a few beers to make friends with the right people.

LPR

The following is worth bearing in mind no matter where you live!

https://philippineslifestyle.com/blo...-with-council/

soulman1949

Well mikemike, as an "occasional visitor", I defer to a superior being such as yourself. You obviously know much more than me, come to that even more than your Filipina wife, so the only conclusion I can reach is that your opinion rules supreme and cannot be questioned.

As for the NPA, with respect to safety, I prefer to rely on my Filipina partner who has regularly cited local examples of kidnap/extortion of foreigners.

I never said safety wasn't an issue, only that the risks are overplayed by foreign embassies which treat all Mindanao as a homogenous unit. There are risks everywhere, as the residents of and visitors to Barcelona have recently discovered - that's the world in which we live. There are areas of Mindanao I would never visit, but GenSan isn't in that category, as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, I'm not going to indulge you any more in this p*ss*ng contest. As LPR's link suggests, it certainly doesn't pay to get on the wrong side of locals. I recall someone telling me a while back that if a Westerner was involved in a road accident with a local, the fault for the accident would always lie with the Westerner! That doesn't bother me unduly, you just don't put yourself into situations of potential conflict. Just "keep your nose clean"!

Live long and prosper.

Alan

Bealinehx

What a sanctimonious post.

uk_grenada

This thread puts any concerns people feel here about terrorism in context.

From a very quiet part of the globe, i wish you all peace and stability...

mikemike

Soulman, just proves how little you actually know, with every word.

You have no evidence of any foreigners being kidnapped by the NPA, just heresay
You are correct i do know more than my filipina wife re this subject. Why? because if you knew anything at all you would know that they are tribal up to and including the next street. My wife being tagalog does not go to Mindanao because if she sleeps with her hair wet she would wake up blind. In fact my wife is very nervous about going anywhere outside of Southern Tagalog
That you do not know how insular and tribal they are with regards to other parts of this country and the beliefs they have you do not even sound like an occasional visitor.


There was a time I ignored the embassy warnings as well. Except I took the warnings not to go to Zamboanga and the south west islands seriously and took the Marawi road. i have stayed in Gen san and it is a pretty Tuna port. I would not go there for now. That may change in the future, just not yet. You choose to make this a p** contest.

I would observe that anyone new to these islands would best serve their interests by ignoring anything you write. Unless you are prepared to underwrite and guarantee their safety.

This subject has arisen from the very direct threat of the operations of the maute group in and around a large area of the south and west of the main Island of Mindanao. This is not a more restricted version of the ASG. BIFF RSM or MILF, MNLF groups. I will not include the NPA as they have to date not turned their attention to terror acts against foreigners, yet inviting themselves in to finish the beer is a close run thing!!

My opinions are always open to question and do not receive immature emotional responses like yours. should you want to be taken seriously try growing up and acting half your age.

Siggepo

Well I just came back from Koronadal City in September after 3 months of visiting my Fiancee, and will be going back there at the end of November. Never had a problem if you keep yourself to yourself, and obviously avoid the areas in Mindanao that should be avoided. Keep a fake wallet and crappy phone and don't go out alone at night down the back streets. Same as everywhere else really

nonthaburi

I have no problem whatsoever with the MILF group.

I welcome all approaches, and am not averse to any kidnapping.

mikemike

You have not seen the state of some of the Milf groups here

Stokkevn

You are not wrong. A friend resigned from a project that I had sent him on in Trinidad. His excuse was that you could hear gunfire every night and the final straw was when his car got broken into. I told him his car could be broken into any night in Aberdeen High Street. His angry reply was "Not while you are in it!". Apparently he was waiting at a set of lights when his boot was jimmied and his over night bag and briefcase was stolen. Mind you I think he must have been a magnet for criminals, in Rio de Janeiro a Miss World look a like walked up to him, kneed him in the crotch and as he bent over clutching his nuts she relieved him of his wallet from his back pocket and disappeared into the crowd.