Stokkevn

Nice to know you include funerals in your list of festivities, the ones round here are normally accompanied by singing of hymns, chanting of prayers and the gathering of all the old ladies in the area. Back to that spaniel again - Shut up Stokkevn! I only go to the ones of people that I knew and liked and that they are not more than 10 minutes walk away from home or a friends house. That is my default position, I will stay here and look after the dogs or some other feeble excuse.

Millhouse

take a book

Stokkevn

A few weeks ago our local post office and health center moved into the new building that has just replaced the one destroyed by Yolanda. Which is bad news for me, my missus has only got to see a medical center and I am plonked in a chair, blood pressure taken and the rest of the day I am chewing on tree bits, drinking water with a noticeable absence of coffee, peanuts, cheese and beer. When the health center moved they asked me if I would bless them with a fan, so I bought them a fan and gave it to them, all were pleased and the nurse gave me a hug, so I whispered in her ear "So my blood pressure will be 120/80 from now on". Not thinking anything about it, went to pick up my post on Friday and the missus corralled me into the blood pressure chair. After the BP was taken the nurse said "120/80, very good", as I stood up she whispered in my ear "130/90 Sir"

Philosophical 11

Greetings!

Thanks for your replies.

Millhouse: *Take a book* Yes,,,,good idea. I can take a book to read at a watering hole!

Stokkevn: Very funny again. So far no mention has been made of this planned trip to hell....maybe she has kicked it into the long grass. But I suspect she will just announce that we will be leaving at silly o'clock next morning and then the sh*t will hit the fan. Cant remember the date so I cannot brace myself. But its any day now.

Now for something completely different.

I hate animal abuse and I am sure the Philippines is no different to any other developing country. We know how lechon is produced and I wont touch it. Slaughtering of animals should be done in a humane way. The maltreatment of dogs and cats sickens me sometimes. We have a dog catcher here in Sipalay and I wonder where the dogs are carted off to and what fate they meet. And how they are treated when they get there. On two occasions I have seen bags full of kittens just deposited by the side of the road to meet their fate.

But what really gets up my nose is how children treat creatures no matter how lowly they are. One thing that has not caught on here (or I have not seen) are kids with those big black flying beetles with a piece of cotton attached to their legs. In effect beetle kites. We have many frogs and froglets around my house and I welcome their presence. Some time I caught worm boy playing football with an adult frog. He was severely admonished and has never done it again. When we get visits from the kids they sometimes amuse themselves by catching what looks like dragon flies and sticking a small twig up their backside and waving them around with their wings flapping helplessly. I reluctantly turn a blind eye to that although they can see I disapprove. A few weeks ago we had heavy rain which brought out the very many froglets. I saw some of the kids "playing" with them. I investigated and saw they had somehow killed a couple. Think they drowned them in puddles. Another severe bollicking. Prior to that I saw one of the kids capture a froglet and caught him just in time before he inserted a twig up its back side so he could wave it about. After giving him a bollicking my lovely lady said I was too sensitive (or words to that effect) and the kids were "just playing". I suggested that I might just play with one of the kids by inserting a pole up his ars*e and waving him about with his arms and legs flapping about and see how he likes it. Message was taken.

What has brought this on? Went for a walk this morning with my lovely lady and in the distance I could hear the pitiful cries of an animal. When I got there, I found a very young puppy maybe a couple of days old who got his head trapped in some undergrowth. Probably abandoned. Another two were nearby. His head was covered in stinging red ants. I freed the poor animal and got rid of the ants and left him and the others to their fate. What annoys me is that path is well trodden and many people must have seen the hapless puppy and ignored it. Now, if I was on my own, I would probably have taken the puppies home and cared for them. But that's unrealistic. Otherwise my house would be full of cats I have seen abandoned as kittens and these three dogs.

Sorry my post is not full of mirth and merriment. Its not always "Much more fun in the Philippines"

Take care all

Raffin

A bit selective on their treatment of human life here, too....but let's not dwell on that!

It's not so surprising that they are quite harsh with animals due to the many years they were ruled over by Spain. Bullfighting, Bull running, throwing donkeys off a mountainside I recall too, although they may have stopped that now, I also remember seeing more than once news items on British Expats in Spain looking after the many abandoned dogs and cats there.

I was going to mention cock fighting, but looked it up on Wiki first. It seems it was going on here in a very organised way when Magellan came along, in Palawan at least. One cultural export the other way.

Stokkevn

I think it is a bit deeper than that, here the smack round the ear come all the way down hill ( Politician > government official > businessman >>>> Fish Seller > labourer ) and they are not treated much better overseas. So to show that they are not the bottom of the pile and make themselves feel better about their position in the animal world a dog gets a quick kick for just being there.

In the local wet market there are about 10 scruffy dogs that hover around the meat stalls waiting for scraps or dropped meat. But as soon as I turn up about 3 or 4 of them rush up and vi for attention from me, much to the amusement of the stall holders and the annoyance of the wife who is convinced I will catch some nasty lurgy from them. One day there was a customer there who I did not know and he just kicked a dog that was near him. You could hear the intake of breath from most of the stall holders that saw it as they knew what was coming next as I gave him a good flick round the ear. He asked why I did that I said that it was for the same reason he kicked the dog.

Millhouse

I like you. I like to pull queue jumpers out of queues here in dubai... one time I did it by the collar, I must admit that was probably taking it a bit too far.

Raffin

It is one of the adjustments to make here when continually confronted by maltreatment of animals. Probably worse for us Brits, coming from a country where it's common to hear of people making large bequests to cat and dog homes. It may not surprise you to learn that the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) was founded way back in 1954 by a British woman.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...20dogs&f=false

The above article was written thirty years later when an American member of the US House of Representatives visited Manila during Marcos's Presidency and was so appalled by the lack of animal welfare he saw there that on getting home he raised the subject in Congress - on the grounds that here was an American ally not following American standards. He didn't get anywhere, but what is interesting to read is that he was challenged by a reporter as to why he hadn't also raised Marcos's violations of human rights. His answer: "Well, I've heard about that....but"...nothing followed.

It is certainly not much different here in terms of treatment of animals to many other developing countries. Except perhaps those with a majority of adherents to Buddhism. In some countries certain animals are revered for religious reasons eg in India cows and monkeys. But, for the rest..... Even here there's the Carabao, but that seems mostly to do with its ability to work hard.

As for the children, some of the older ones may have worked out their lowly status in society already, but isn't it just mostly to do with a lack of toys to play with?

scrubbedexpat141

I, gently, hit a man on the head with my race programme at Meydan for skipping the queue for the urinals. He turned around very angrily until he realised eye level was my chest.

Anyway. Long time reader, first time poster.

- keep the stories coming. I love this thread and hearing about how relaxed and laid back you are. I'd be really tense about the money owed so kudos to you for letting things lie and enjoying life.

David Mashael

Interesting to note 3 of us from Dubai here on the forum, maybe more..........
The are many Philippine OFW's here in Dubai, maybe that has something to do with it?

scrubbedexpat141

I came across this thread last year when I was going to Cebu on holiday. Have followed the diary since then.

David Mashael

Indeed the diary has quite a following.

Stokkevn

I remember a sleepy little desert town called Dubai, but that was in 1979.

David Mashael

It has changed quite a bit since then.....

KevinTREvans

I also happened apon this thread before doing a scouting mission to the Philippines.

It's amazing how this thread has developed from how it began.

Keep it up.