Another foreigner killed.

[rlogan 2,036]

Iligan is where I built my house, and apparently where this killing took place. There's too little information to go on from this story.

But there is a mixture of people there. Some feel very positively towards americans. Some hate them to the core. The ARMM (Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindinao) is nearby and there is a four-hundred year history of fighting against outside occupiers by the Moro people in particlular.

There was a war fought by the U.S. against the Philippinos who wanted independence after the Spanish-American war. It was called the Philippines-American war (appx 1899-1902). The USA thought it could just take the Philippines as a right of military victory over the Spanish. Up to a million Filipino casualties in that war - some say more. The Moro people of Mindinao fought to at least 1913, and after that more or less fought continuously against the Philippine government. So with the Philippine government and American government now allies, that makes both the enemy of the independence-minded Moro people of Mindinao.

At the same time other Filipinos faught alongside General Douglass MacArthur against the Japanese on Mindinao and remember the Americans for that. So in the Iligan area you have at the same time streets named after General Aguinaldo who fought against the Americans and for General MacArthur who fought with them against the Japanese.

The Iligan area also has some of the most extreme poverty in the Philippines. You have stupid thuggery and blind ignorant bigotry to deal with at the same time you have a city with more than five colleges and a major university. There is heavy indistry alongside grinding rural subsistence poverty. The largest steel plant in SE asia, cement plant, food processing, a port - and people living in huts working for two dollars a day.

You simply cannot make a sweeping statement about Filipinos being "friendly" or not, and most especially on Mindinao and specifically the Iligan area. The opinion of the Muslim Moro is opposite to the Catholic Nationalist Filipinos.

It is an absolute necessity to know a lot about the area and to be around people who are going to look out for you in such a place. From one street to the next things can turn from being Mr. Popularity to Mr. Dead.

Edited September 24, 2010 by rlogan

[jimmynug 13]

Iligan is where I built my house, and apparently where this killing took place. There's too little information to go on from this story.

But there is a mixture of people there. Some feel very positively towards americans. Some hate them to the core. The ARMM (Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindinao) is nearby and there is a four-hundred year history of fighting against outside occupiers by the Moro people in particlular.

There was a war fought by the U.S. against the Philippinos who wanted independence after the Spanish-American war. It was called the Philippines-American war (appx 1899-1902). The USA thought it could just take the Philippines as a right of military victory over the Spanish. Up to a million Filipino casualties in that war - some say more. The Moro people of Mindinao fought to at least 1913, and after that more or less fought continuously against the Philippine government. So with the Philippine government and American government now allies, that makes both the enemy of the independence-minded Moro people of Mindinao.

At the same time other Filipinos faught alongside General Douglass MacArthur against the Japanese on Mindinao and remember the Americans for that. So in the Iligan area you have at the same time streets named after General Aguinaldo who fought against the Americans and for General MacArthur who fought with them against the Japanese.

The Iligan area also has some of the most extreme poverty in the Philippines. You have stupid thuggery and blind ignorant bigotry to deal with at the same time you have a city with more than five colleges and a major university. There is heavy indistry alongside grinding rural subsistence poverty. The largest steel plant in SE asia, cement plant, food processing, a port - and people living in huts working for two dollars a day.

You simply cannot make a sweeping statement about Filipinos being "friendly" or not, and most especially on Mindinao and specifically the Iligan area. The opinion of the Muslim Moro is opposite to the Catholic Nationalist Filipinos.

It is an absolute necessity to know a lot about the area and to be around people who are going to look out for you in such a place. From one street to the next things can turn from being Mr. Popularity to Mr. Dead.

In this particular case, if I was a betting man, I would bet that he wanted to taste to much candy, and just happened to taste one that he should not have. But the killing of foreigners is increasing at an alarming rate. While I'm sure that some were in bad situations, I do know that some are totally innocent of anything that would be considered pay back.

And while the foreigners being killed and such is what gets the headlines, it is also starting to happen much more frequently to regular filipinos too. Part of it is muslim related, but I think a large part of it is also just the hopelessness of many people there just increasing more and more. And with law enforcement like it is, the chances of actually get caught are not very high.

It just seems so sad to me to see the writing on the wall for the future there.

[Atencio 43]

What you say is true rlogan and to expand on it,you can't say that all of Mindanao is bad and the rest of the Philippines is all ok which is what a lot of people do. I don't mean you yourself but people in general. Filipinos at my work had a fuzzy notion of Mindanao with them calling it either Davao or the place where Muslims live. I actually know more about Mindanao then they do now. I felt as safe in Butuan as I did anywhere in the Philippines. But I am leery of visiting any of the rural areas on any of the islands. I used to travel through Mexico a lot and had the same feelings there.

So what are your plans for the house in Iligan? Would this incident cause to consider possible options if it turns out to be a random attack on an American?

[rlogan 2,036]

First, to Jimmynug I must concede that as a possibility. Yes. There just wasn't enough information in the story to say that. Apparently he cared about the poverty there and wanted to help. But human nature being what it is, there is still the possibility that a local felt he "stole" their girlfriend or made some kind of social offense. All I did once was smile at a young girl in a bright new dress that had gotten on a jeepney. In the USA the custom would be to smile and say hello. But she was muslim and wearing a veil. I suddenly reaized her father was looking at me with extremely hostile intent. I immediately yelled "lugar lang" (stop here) and got off. I had dropped my guard and was not paying attention. I made a social offense by looking at the daughter.

What you say is true rlogan and to expand on it,you can't say that all of Mindanao is bad and the rest of the Philippines is all ok which is what a lot of people do. I don't mean you yourself but people in general. Filipinos at my work had a fuzzy notion of Mindanao with them calling it either Davao or the place where Muslims live. I actually know more about Mindanao then they do now. I felt as safe in Butuan as I did anywhere in the Philippines. But I am leery of visiting any of the rural areas on any of the islands. I used to travel through Mexico a lot and had the same feelings there.

So what are your plans for the house in Iligan? Would this incident cause to consider possible options if it turns out to be a random attack on an American?

Not so much this incident because in the time I have been married to my wife and built the house they have blown up the Maria Christina bridge, Jerry's Market, Unicity, and several times themselves by accident, all within a few kilometers of our house. The Maguindinao Massacre of 50 people was at the end of last year. Prior to that was the Superferry bombing killing 116 people.

It has been yet more recently that I have come to understand how it was the group Abu-Sayyef of Mindinao that was most responsible for planning both the first and second attacks on the World Trade Center. The first was by Ramsey Youseff, who drove the truck and detonated the bomb in 1990. The second was masterminded by his Uncle Mohammed. The only thing Bin Laden did was provide funding and men. The nephew was captured in the Philippines when their explosives caught fire and burned their apartment down. Uncle Shiehk Khalid Mohammed fled to Afghanistan and posed the unfinished plot to Bin Laden. At the time it was called the Bojinka Plot. The nephew and Uncle had successfully blown up an explosive on a Japan Airline flight and were preparing to hijack 12 planes, running some into buildings and blowing others up. Their first attempt at the WTC in 1990 had not brought the towers down so they committed themselves to finishing that but with more spectacular add-ons.

This is completely unknown to most Americans. But if you can point to a group that has been relentless about blowing up the WTC, it is Abu-Sayyef of Mindinao and not Bin Laden's Al Qaeda you should point to.

All of this convinced me to look elsewhere for the long term in the Philippines. We spent a month on Palawan this year looking. I've been to Leite, Cebu, Mindinao, Palawan, Samar and before that all over Luzon by motorcycle and auto. I cannot find so far the right combination of things. Even in places I was told there wasn't much to worry about there were still dangers that do not make national news like this. In the Mountain Province and Kalinga Province of Luzon for example you still have "NPA" (New People's Army) operating and the same is true of many other places in the Philippines - Abu Sayyef, MILF, MNLF, NPA, XYZ - they're all over the place.

Very true about the comparison to Mexico and many other third world countries.

Edited September 25, 2010 by rlogan

[Maxx121 14]

Man, and i thought my neighborhood was ruff.

kinda makes you think twice about visiting there dont it...

at the same time, crappy stuff happens to americans on american soil, go figure.

[Joan >3 Bob 20]

People need to do their home work before going to just anywhere they please in the Phils. It has been known for years the MILF are very active in Lano del norte and I personally would not go near there but I have been in other places in Mindanao wher the MILF are not active and have had noi problems and will go back again. Like just going to genberal santo City for the fun of it with out any reacsearch is commiting suicide!

[Markieboy 104]

Man, and i thought my neighborhood was ruff.

I'm with you on that one!

kinda makes you think twice about visiting there dont it...

Not really. There are so many beautiful places in the Philippines to visit. Just like everywhere else, there are good and bad elements.

Generally, though, if you mind your own business and keep low (avoid drawing attention), you'll be fine.

at the same time, crappy stuff happens to americans on american soil, go figure.

+1. Yep, I hear this on the news all the time. On the same token, I'm sure there's many Filipinos being killed in the Philippines just the same.

They may not make the news because they are an average Joe, and not a celebrity or a foreigner. Just my $0.02.

[calico1 1]

Many members here have been to the Phils numerous times and no matter how many times I have been told that most of mindanao is safe, I never felt that way. Luckily my wife was from CDO and there it was somewhat possible to blend in, as most filipinos there are pretty used to tourists from everywhere. It was my belief years ago, as well as now, that anywhere in western or southern mindanao with maybe the exception of Davao was a matter of sure luck to come and go without any threat of danger. I know many would argue that parts of metro manila and surrounding areas are no better, but because there is big city chaos as opposed to the rural jungle chaos it just felt a little easier and safer.

Understanding about 85% of phili is catholic and most of the 15% which isn't reside mostly in mindanao can be a good heads up. As sad as it always is to hear of any tourist being murdered in phili.. it still is an inherent risk when traveling in known muslim hotbeds. Tourism is a vital source of revenue for any country..and I am sure it helps the phils a lot too. I have pondered for a long time, like many of us, why the phili government doesn't go after the extreme muslim radicals, as well as other factions that make tourists visit other counties and take their monies there.. but I am sure politics and corruption hinder any real change.

We sure must love our significant others, spouses and extended families one hell of a lot to risk our lives for them. Contrastingly, I lived in LA in the late 80's for a couple years..and if you drove into the wrong neighborhood in east LA you stood a chance of being shot...maybe living in guam makes more sense..at least there they are known for robbery and burglary more than murder. Condolences and prayers for those who have been tragically hurt or killed by terrorists, God Bless.

[rlogan 2,036]

There is also something going on with U.S. forces in the heart of the Autonomous Resgion of Muslim Mindanao that U.S. citizens traveling there should be aware of.

After 9/11 the U.S. military returned to the Philippines after being successfully ousted by the citizens of the Philippines in the early 90's.

One of the things we have done is establish both overt and covert operations in the heart of the capital city of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. This has naturally angered the muslim population.

Back in 2008 the city council of the capital - Marawi - and its mayor issued a unanimous protest against U.S. military operations there:

Marawi Protest

But the operations have continued and there are some dark things going on. For example, a Philippine National named Gregan Cardeno had been hired to work for U.S. troops ostensibly as a translator in Cotabato in early 2010. But he was taken instead to Marawi City where he immediately made distress calls and texts to his family. He expressed both fear for his life and dismay over what he was clandestinely hired to do. But within two days of being hired – he was dead.

His family is charging the U.S. military with a heinous murder while the U.S. is claiming suicide, and refusing to cooperate with the investigation. In July of this year the Philippine Court of Appeals ordered four U.S. troops and others in the Joint Special Operations Command to answer a “Writ of Amparo”, while the Supreme Court issued a Habeas Data Petition the month before:

Court Orders Cooperation

Some of the things we have become accustomed to with U.S. operations is that the family's inquiries found the official story failed to address “Gregan’s enlarged #######, the enlarged opening of his #######, and injuries on his head.” :

Murder or Suicide?

There were other injuries too. I don't know where this has gone since then but the upshot is this:

U.S. military forces are engaged in both covert and overt operations on Mindanao that have and will continue to have the logical result of inciting reprisals by the most violent elements of seperatist factions there. We are probably assassinating people like we are everywhere else, doing "enhanced interrogation" etc.

The larger picture on Mindanao is three-fold, really, and they are all inter-related. First is the ground troop presence and covert operations.

Second, the largest fruit and vegetable company in the world owns vast acreage there operated by Dole Philippines, a subsidiary of the Murdock conglomorate, a U.S. California company. Some of the unrest in Cotobato region and elsewhere has to do with resentment against these enormous landholdings and worker's rights claims. Murdock of course likes both the U.S. and Philippines military to enforce his property holdings and since he never goes there himself there isn't much risk he faces from it.

The third issue has to do with the U.S. Naval presence and the desire to re-establish a navy base to confront China over the Spratley Islands in the South China Sea. The U.S. navy has been giving money to the Philippines government for naval construction on Mindanao and landing ships there, doing exercises etc. Some of it is in that bay west of Davao. Some of it is over in Zamboanga.

All of this has been protested by various groups and not just the rebels and seperatists. Women's groups, student groups and others. They aren't going to kill you for it, but the MILF, Abu Sayyaf, and others will.

You can't be an ignorant fool when traveling on Mindanao. You need to understand the nature of anti-american sentiment and what regions in particular to avoid. We have added Iligan to our list of non-travel for now despite having a home there.

[Atencio 43]

The Gregan Cardeño case is interesting. The one thing I can't understand is why would US troops torture and kill a man who was working for them? I don't see the guy committing suicide either. There is a big piece missing here.