Do be careful out there

[Sagot 1,548]

Southern Philippines is still listed in all travel warnings by DOS

 

http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/german-hostage-beheaded-philippine-islamists-govt

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

9 hours ago, Sagot said:

Southern Philippines is still listed in all travel warnings by DOS

 

http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/german-hostage-beheaded-philippine-islamists-govt

But I love staying in Davao.

[jstryker 41]

4 hours ago, cyberfx1024 said:

But I love staying in Davao.

I would love to go to Davao - but not at the cost of losing my head.   

[minions2 24]

i hope president duterte would also do something about the rebels in the southern part of the PH. this is very tragic and saddening 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

19 hours ago, jstryker said:

I would love to go to Davao - but not at the cost of losing my head.   

I wish, my asawa's whole family live on Mindanao so kinda got to go down there. 

Edited March 1, 2017 by cyberfx1024

[Sagot 1,548]

[aratamorne 164]

The southern Philippines has been under a travel warning for several years at least, but Davao City is fine to visit.  I spend two weeks there with my asawa in 2014.  Great place to visit, friendly folks just like every where else I have been.  We traveled around, went to Samal Island, the Crocodile Park, and the SM Sterling Mall.  I never felt unsafe.  As long as you are smart about it, there is no greater risk than anywhere else when traveling. If you read the warning, it gets a bit more specific on which areas to stay away from.  Since I am a government contractor, I had to declare my travel before I left and aside from the usual instructions on practicing safe travel habits, there were no additional restrictions placed on me.

 

Good luck and safe travels to anyone who goes.

[MsCompE 50]

On 3/4/2017 at 11:59 AM, aratamorne said:

The southern Philippines has been under a travel warning for several years at least, but Davao City is fine to visit.  I spend two weeks there with my asawa in 2014.  Great place to visit, friendly folks just like every where else I have been.  We traveled around, went to Samal Island, the Crocodile Park, and the SM Sterling Mall.  I never felt unsafe.  As long as you are smart about it, there is no greater risk than anywhere else when traveling. If you read the warning, it gets a bit more specific on which areas to stay away from.  Since I am a government contractor, I had to declare my travel before I left and aside from the usual instructions on practicing safe travel habits, there were no additional restrictions placed on me.

 

Good luck and safe travels to anyone who goes.

Yeah, Davao is safe. It just got bombed recently 

[aratamorne 164]

1 hour ago, MsCompE said:

Yeah, Davao is safe. It just got bombed recently 

Yeah, so is the US..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_New_York_and_New_Jersey_bombings .  And lets not start on the random shootings everywhere.  

[jstryker 41]

3 hours ago, MsCompE said:

Yeah, Davao is safe. It just got bombed recently 

Lol.  So did Manila back in September.  Same usual suspects and M.O. worldwide.  What are you going to do?  Just be careful.

[MsCompE 50]

25 minutes ago, jstryker said:

Lol.  So did Manila back in September.  Same usual suspects and M.O. worldwide.  What are you going to do?  Just be careful.

Agree. Crimes happen everywhere. All countries have tourist spots and the more crowdy the place is the more likely it can be a target for terrorist. France for instance. It's just more of and less of in a particular area.

The travel advisory for Southern Philippines is placed for a reason. More abduction is happening in Southern Philippines and more bombings. Southern Philippines is at war. There are places you can't go without military escort. 

(Additionally, there are places in which when you have observed that there are no Muslims in a bus, step out of there. There is something)

 

I am from Philippines and it's a local's perspective. I dont have any reason to say bad against my own country. 

[MsCompE 50]

The point about Mindanao is:

It is different from the rest of the country. It's under strong political power and rebel groups that even until now the government of the Philippines cannot resolve. A Filipino soldier dies everyday in Southern Philippines.

Read about Maguindanao Massacre even journalists are killed just because they happened to be there. 58 people were killed and buried secretly. 44 SAF (Special Action Force) were massacred in Mamasapano, Mindanao too. 

Foreigners are frequently kidnapped too.  Read about Dos Palmas Kidnappings that happened in Palawan. 

 

So, step there at your own risk. Make sure you did sufficient research about the place you are going and make sure it isn't a gray area and out of the grid.  

Edited March 6, 2017 by MsCompE

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

17 minutes ago, MsCompE said:

The point about Mindanao is:

It is different from the rest of the country. It's under strong political power and rebel groups that even until now the government of the Philippines cannot resolve. A Filipino soldier dies everyday in Southern Philippines.

Read about Maguindanao Massacre even journalists are killed just because they happened to be there. 58 people were killed and buried secretly. 44 SAF (Special Action Force) were massacred in Mamasapano, Mindanao too. 

Foreigners are frequently kidnapped too.  Read about Dos Palmas Kidnappings that happened in Palawan. 

 

So, step there at your own risk. Make sure you did sufficient research about the place you are going and make sure it isn't a gray area and out of the grid.  

I know you are a Filipina but are you from Mindanao? 

 

Whenever I go to the Philippines I go to Mindanao and I love it there

 Yes, it does have had spots but overall it's great, and I have been all over Northern, Eastern, and SE Mindanao. You just have to recognize that there are places where you have to listen to the locals and don't go. Sadly a large part of Western Mindanao is ruled by MILF and the Eastern part by the NPA. The only good thing going for me is that my wife's nephew is left leaning journalist and knows the NPA. He has straight out told me that I am protected from the NPA anywhere on Mindanao.

 

Overall Mindanao is a great place to go to and have a good time just be careful.

Edited March 6, 2017 by cyberfx1024

[MsCompE 50]

4 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

I know you are a Filipina but are you from Mindanao? 

 

Whenever I go to the Philippines I go to Mindanao and I love it there

 Yes, it does have had spots but overall it's great, and I have been all over Northern, Eastern, and SE Mindanao. You just have to recognize that there are places where you have to listen to the locals and don't go. Sadly a large part of Western Mindanao is ruled by MILF and the Eastern part by the NPA. The only good thing going for me is that my wife's nephew is left leaning journalist and knows the NPA. He has straight out told me that I am protected from the NPA anywhere on Mindanao.

 

Overall Mindanao is a great place to go to and have a good time just be careful.

You are totally right about MILF and NPA. There are places that you can go but a bigger portion are the off limits part. That's why I mentioned about researching it first. It's similar here in USA. There are bad neighborhoods that you wont want to find yourself in there. 

 

yes i am from Mindanao.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

1 minute ago, MsCompE said:

You are totally right about MILF and NPA. There are places that you can go but a bigger portion are the off limits part. That's why I mentioned about researching it first. It's similar here in USA. There are bad neighborhoods that you wont want to find yourself in there. 

 

yes i am from Mindanao.

Ahhh ok. Then good you know about Mindanao then. I say that because a number of pinoys I met while working in the ME, as soon as said my fiance now asawa. They asked where she was from and I respond by Davao, and I swear they would turn their nose up and say Abu Abu. They thought I was buang for going there and spending time with her. 

 

Where in Mindanao are you from? My asawa is from Compostela Valley Province.