ten ₱esos

The State Department warns U.S. citizens of the risks of terrorist activity in the Philippines, particularly in the southern Philippine islands of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago.  Terrorist attacks could be indiscriminate and could occur not only in the southern islands but also in other areas, to include Manila.  Targeted sites may be public gathering places that are frequented by expatriates and foreign travelers, including American citizens.  Such sites could include, but are not limited to, airports, shopping malls, conference centers and other public venues.  This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning dated April 2, 2010, to reflect continuing threats due to terrorist and insurgent activities. »→

Benigno Aquino III has been sworn-in as the President of the Republic of the Philippines.

He is the son of two Philippine Presidents, Benigno Aquino, Jr. and Corazon Aquino. »→

Here is Uncle Sam’s latest take on the Philippines for Americans intending to visit it:

“November 6, 2009

COUNTRY DESCRIPTION:

The [Republic of the] Philippines is an emerging economy [it's an economy?] with a democratic system of government.  Located in Southeast Asia, the archipelago consists of more than 7,000 [7,107] islands, of which over 800 are inhabited.  The major island groupings are Luzon in the north, the Visayas in the center and Mindanao in the south.  Tourist facilities [What are they?] are available within population centers and the main tourist areas.  English is widely spoken [how does one speak widely?] in the Philippines, and most signs are in English.  »→

A 78-year-old Irish priest was abducted by gunmen from his home in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur Province in Mindanao, Philippines.

Police say that six armed men forcibly took Father Michael Sinnott, a priest of the Missionaries of Saint Columban then fled in a minivan and a boat. Police found the van abandoned and burned at the coast.

No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. The Philippine Army has been fighting the Abu Sayyaf Muslims in the region, and Police Chief Angelo Sunglao told reporters: “We can’t speculate yet on who is behind the kidnapping, but the Abu Sayyaf is known to be operating near the area.”

Parma, which was a Tropical Depression, then a Tropical Storm, later a Typhoon, then downgraded to a Tropical Storm, and is now a Tropical Depression, has passed over Luzon three times since it October 3! North and Central Luzon are very waterlogged. 17 Filipinos (or more) have died. I’m glad that I’m not in Baguio City!

The Philippines government reports that 240 persons are known to have died in severe flooding caused by Tropical Storm Ketsana.

The country has appealed for foreign aid to deal with the disaster which has displaced more than 450,000 persons, including 375,000 who are in makeshift shelters. »→

American Citizen Services section of U.S. Embassy in Manila:

phones (632) 301-2000, extensions 2246 & 2567

Mondays through Fridays
between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. »→

Jeepney’s seventh issue, Tired of War, is now available from all Jeepney vendors in Manila.

 Jeepney magazine vendors are in Park Square 1 for two weeks, on the first floor, near the Nokia shop from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Also look for vendors on Katipunan, Intramuras and UP.

If you’d like to check out Jeepney magazine and perhaps to subscribe, yet can’t get to a vendor in Manila, visit the website: www.thejeepney.com.  †

In the Philippines, I read, in the book Ghost Soldiers and elsewhere, that Manila is the “Pearl of the Orient.” In Malaysia I have read that this island, Pulau Penang is the Pearl of the Orient and references to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau city-states as “The Pearl of the Orient.” Will the real Pearl of the Orient please stand up?

 Filipino experts in poor customer service in 2008 and 2009:  

 .
 Ace Hardware in SM City mall in Baguio City  

 Air 21 in SM City mall in Baguio City  

 2Go in Patria de Baguio building in Baguio City  

 C. A. Optical beside Mabini Street in Baguio City  

 Columbia Digital Sales Corporation  

 Curamed pharmacy – west side of Session Road in Baguio City   »→

On Monday, March 2, at 7:40 a.m., Victory Liner bus 694 departed the Session Road bus terminal in Baguio City to travel south to Olongapo.

Dominic and I were aboard to ride as far as Dau so that we could get two jeepney rides to Clark airport then fly to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.  At 9:15 the bus stopped in the rest-and-refreshment plaza in Sison for fifteen minutes, so we ate a light breakfast there.  Though the Victory Liner conductor told me at 9:25 that we had only three more hours of traveling before we’d reach Dau.  However, we didn’t arrive there at 12:25 or 12:30.  We rode to the nice refreshment and refuelling depot in Tarlac, where the bus was refueled and I ate sushi.  Then we resumed rolling to Dau, where we arrived at 1:15.

At 1:15 we had plenty of time to reach Clark International Airport before a 6:00 flight!  We could have ridden an 8:45 bus – or a 9:45 bus.  While burdened with plenty of heavy luggage, we had to look for a van or jeepney to reach Angeles City, while dirty, barefoot, boys with broken teeth begged us for money and dozens of motorcycle riders harangued us to ride in their sidecars. »→

I’m back in Benguet Province, at 2:12 a.m, about to go to bed.  I’m dead-tired because I slept only four and a half hours before arising yesterday.  I took a five-and-a-half-hour bus trip from Baguio City to Cubao so that I could walk from the bus station to Columbia Cubao Camera store near Gateway and Araneta Coliseum to retrieve a camera and lens that I’d taken for repairs in January.

The store wouldn’t mail my gear to me.  Oh, no.  I had to spend twelve and a half hours on the road to retrieve a camera and lens.  How ridiculous.  Welcome to the Philippines, where inefficiency reigns.

A big Panagbenga parade is slated for 8 a.m. in Baguio City, but I’ll be asleep, so I won’t see it or photograph it (darn).

A recent World Health Organization study resulted in a report that 1.5 million Filipinos under age five suffer from diarrhea at any time due to lack of access to clean water, basic sanitation facilities and poor hygiene practices. »→

After traveling by planes, trains, buses and ferries, I returned from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Baguio City, Philippines.  I’m back in the land of beggars, thieves, liars, con-artists, dogs barking and chickens crowing.  In all my travels since February 6, the second bus ride today, from Dau, Pampanga (near Clark Field) to Baguio City was the worst.

Riding a bucking, shuddering, jerking, shaking, swaying, lurching Genesis bus for four hours made me think of Conestoga wagons and stage coaches crossing the Great Plains of North America.  I slept a whopping four hours this morning before waking at 4:00 to travel by taxi and bus to Kuala Lumpur’s airport, so now I feel lousy.  I feel groggy, with a sore back and g.i. tract upset by ethnic foods of K.L. and the rough ride uphill to Baguio.  I’ll sink into my bed here in Tuding as soon as the dogs cease barking.

Around 9:00 a security guard ambled to the glass sliding doors of Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.  All the Chinese and Filipino people who had arrived at the airport after Dominic and I did rushed to the doors!  I remained seated in the shade, writing in a notebook until everyone but us had entered and passed through the metal detector.  We walked across the driveway, showed passports and Air Asia reservation proof to the guard, laid backpacks on a conveyor belt then walked through the magnetometer.  Although I’d removed my sunglasses, wristwatch, belt buckle and such, the portal beeped when I went through because I have metal implanted in me.  So a guard gave me a cursory, 3-second pat-down about the waist as is done when one enters shopping malls in the Philippines. »→

In bed in Hotel Vistillana, traffic on MacArthur Highway woke me at 6:00.  So I had slept six hours in the ‘diamond’ neighborhood.  If traffic noise doesn’t bother you, and you want to sleep cheap, look for the tall Flamingo Drive-In apartment building on MacArthur Highway.  Vistillana Court is right of that, across a side street.  Other cheap choices: (click here)

I remained on the bed, unwilling to arise unnecessarily early.  But when I heard hammering on cement below my room’s window at 6:30.  I thought, “This is unbelievable,” pulled out my earplugs, and rolled off the bed to begin my day.  Jackhammer wake-up call at 6:30 … Welcome to Angeles City. »→

My friend Dominic and I had been told by an an American friend in Baguio City to ride a Victory Liner bus to Angeles City then exit the terminal and walk behind it to find low-cost, decent, relatively-quiet hotel rooms rather than walk out the front of the station and follow the herd on the obvious path toward hotels, restaurants, etcetera.  However, we didn’t arrive at a Victory Liner bus station in Angeles City.

Dominic and I had ridden a jeepney from Dau into a really seedy, smelly, dark area of Angeles City then disembarked to pick our way through the messes on a sidewalk and the roadbed, striving to reach McDonald’s or 7-Eleven or somewhere we could look at a map or ask for directions. »→