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WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES....(Excerpts from Lonely Planet blog/forum)

1.  In Manila, I was walking / staggering home alone and drunk at 3 am and felt fine ... in Mexico city we walked home 6 of us 4 guys at 11pm and I was really scared. I have travelled the Philippines 6 times and never had a problem, people in general are very nice and especially towards foreigners. I remember seeing a waterfall in Leyte and wandering through a very poor fishermens village and they invited me into a hut for some palm wine ... Latin America is notorious for crime, the house we had on a beach in Venezoela was in fact a prison, everything steel barred, host paranoid "be careful to walk at 8pm to a restaurant" - just we had the keys inside. In Asia, you stay in bamboo huts by the beach and wake up alive. Thats not to say that I'd be careful in Asia too, that its very unwise to get into trouble with drunken lads as they got guns too and that snatchers are there too, so watch out and dont appear a confused prize. But in Latin America even a gang of street kids are likely to pull their rusted razors when seeing a foreigner, in Asia they will rather wave "hello joe" ... 2.   a) never been to both cities. Rome is more dangerous than Manila! b) if you are paranoid, the paranoia stays the same anywhere you go Me too! My biggest concern is security when I was preparing to go to Spain last year. What with the Basque separatists and the commuter train bombing in Madrid in 2004! I'd say your chances of getting blown up in a terrorist attack would be less in Manila than in Madrid. ------------------------- (Blog entry/Lonely Planet Travel forum)

Random, violent crime against foreigners is still pretty rare in Manila and I hope it stays that way. I'm from Manila and have been to Sao Paulo and Bogota and must say, the "street feel," to me, admittedly subjective, was pretty similar. (Ironically, I felt very safe when I lived in Madrid but I got mugged there. In Manila I'm always on my guard and nothing's ever happened to me.) Outside of Manila, and outside of the danger zones in Western Mindanao, I wouldn't worry about it. lostinasia71 Posted: 19 Sep 2006 7:55am

i think philippines is safer than any other countries in asia.. slight exception is manila or downtown cebu or dangerous places in the south that no tourists go anyway. this is a site for travellers who are generally worldwise and should know how to avoid dangerous situations. PHILLIPINES IS NOT DANGEROUS. marco_polos_mistress Posted: 19 Sep 2006 10:36pm

Hi! never been in Manila but I was in the Visayan for 3 weeks last August (Cebu City, Boracay, Ilo Ilo, Dumaguete, Bohol, Malapascua) I NEVER, NEVER felt any danger! I consider the Visayan really really safe! and the people are extremely kind and honest! you can really trust them! have fun! nlaredo Posted: 24 Sep 2006 6:50am

Manila is much safer in terms of street crime than Sao Paulo, Rio, Caracas, Lima, Mexico City, etc. In terms of crime, I'd probably describe it as similar to Houston, Texas. Which is to say, there is violent crime "in the bad areas," but the areas that visitors actually visit are generally unaffected. Now, there is one important thing to remember - in Manila, as in Houston, many of the criminals are armed with pistols. This means that if you ARE accosted, it's best to comply. The same isn't true in western Europe. Someone tried to mug me in Barcelona, Spain once. But Spanish muggers are generally armed with nothing more than a knife. He wanted to take a bag containing some wine bottles I had recently purchased, so I just swing the bag at his head. We got into a scuffle which I won quite handily, and it nearly got me arrested. This might be okay in Barcelona, but I would NOT try it in Manila, in the off-chance that I was actually mugged.

it's safe on the street but beware if u know someone from the net and fall in love with her. they are definitely biggest cheat among south east asian women neighbours. enjoy philippines, but beware of the girls. if u r foreigner and in love with them, dont fly over the cloud nine, the truth is they just see you as a ticket out from poverty. maybe some will say "it's everywhere in the world" but believe me women in phils they are alot smarter and because they speak good english that's what make them so appealing to foreigners especially white man looking for love in ASEAN.  filipino hospitality is the best in the world leng77 Posted: 11 Sep 2006 4:40am