Crime In The Philippines

[robert k]

I recall reading here about the Japanese man who was robbed of his camera and quite a bit of cash not too long ago. You might also have read the thread "If your name is Singh, get out of town". It was a human interest piece from my point of view and sparked a lively discussion of money lending as a business in the Philippines. There have been threads about non-westerners but you can't expect a great deal of threads about them until we get more non-westerners on the forum to bring the issues up. Even the threads about non-westerners migrate from their original topic to anything that may be related to the members of the forum because most people will not sit around and post in the abstract. If you don't believe me, how would you like to have a discussion of Five Space N-Dimentional Non-Euclidiean Geometry? Would such a discussion be worthy of your time, or of no real interest to you?

 

We are also so far off topic right now that I need an aircon bus ticket to get back. :)

[Americano]

I base my opinion on three things. (1) I haven't seen many Asian tourists in the news as crime victims but I have read about a few Westerners each year. (2) Being Asians they blend in and don't stand our like Westerns do. (3) And, most Filipinos believe all Westerns are rich so that makes them a target of assault, robbery and murder.

 

Based on these 3 observations I believe a Japanese woman studying English in Cebu City would be relatively safe.

[Gerald Glatt]

​Americano, I seem to remember a bus load of chinese that were crime victims a while ago.  :unsure: 

[the_whipster]

​Americano, I seem to remember a bus load of chinese that were crime victims a while ago.  :unsure: 

that was a big international news story. The biggest international news story, to come out of the Philippines since the fall of Marcos and the EDSA 'revolution', that flattered to deceive and was not a revolution at all. A period, of a quarter of a century.

 

but the Manila bus hijack did not make the top of the news despite that. Because it exactly co-incided with an even bigger foreign news story, the discovery of the Chilean miners underground, which beat it to the lead. Had it not been for the Chilean miners, the Manila bus hijack would have been front page lead. As it was, it got relegated to the inside pages.

[Americano]

​Americano, I seem to remember a bus load of chinese that were crime victims a while ago.  :unsure: 

 

That's true but it was a once in a life time event. A Philippines National Police decided to hijack a bus load of Chinese because he knew that none of them would be armed. An event like that probably will not happen again in your life time so it is of little relevance to the crime rate towards Asia foreigners.

[the_whipster]

there are miles more Asian than westerner foreigners, in the Philippines, at any one time. Miles more. I would suggest half as much many again. Like a 2 to 1 majority. Which is an absolute, total thumping majority.

 

just why, are Asians likely to be less likely to be victims of crime, if that is what you are making out, than westerners are, when there are so many more of them?

[Jake]

OK guys, I can see this turning out to be a shooting match between Americano and Whippy.  So far, it's good healthy debate,

keeping it down below shouting level.  My understanding is there are more Asian expats or tourists than say caucasian type

tourists?  And the other point being discussed is, which group are more exposed to criminal activities?  

 

If we base our arguments on local national statistics, media headlines or google a graph that shows numbers and figures,

should we all believe everything we read or see on TV?  Again, I can see both sides of the argument here.  It really depends

on the perception of the member's writing his views on this forum.  Both could be right and both could be wrong.  Police reports

can be revised and glorified at the same time.

 

Now, here's my view why I think the other Asian visitors or expats are less prone to get in trouble here.  Perhaps they knew

how to better prepare themselves.  After all, the Philippines is within their neighborhood and after multiple visits of family

members and friends over the years, the word gets around quickly on what the latest taxi scam might be.  Another point

I would like to make, is the typical Asian family already has a well established network of friends and family living in Manila

or any other city.  Upon arrival, they are provided protection, transportation, shelter and food.  Many caucasian visitors

arrive here without that network of friends and family.  Are they more prone to be victimized?  I don't know really......

 

Keep this thread going but keep it below 40 decibels, OK?  

Edited May 19, 2014 by Jake
splil chek

[robert k]

I think that like anywhere else in the world, the poor prey on the other poor, most often. It could be dangerous to prey on the rich with their dogs and guards and guns. Tourists are fair game in any country. I can't help gawking so I will be a tourist forever when I see a pretty girl or an electric transformer that looks 300 years old or 18 people on a motorcycle. In my defense I keep everything strapped down and if someone pays attention to me, I make sure they know that they caught my attention too, anonymity is highly prized in any illegal activity.

[Thomas]

Some months ago I saw statistics concerning killed by crime, sorted into nationalities, but I have forgot where I saw it. In this forum?

there are miles more Asian than westerner foreigners, in the Philippines, at any one time. Miles more. I would suggest half as much many again. Like a 2 to 1 majority. Which is an absolute, total thumping majority.

 

just why, are Asians likely to be less likely to be victims of crime, if that is what you are making out, than westerners are, when there are so many more of them?

To make a fair comparing it's needed to count PER PERSON, so if Asian foreigners are double as many as westerners, they need to be victims double as many crimes to be EQUAL.

 

Some Japanese tourists can be spoted miles away    :)     while it can be harder to see difference between some other Asian tourists/expats and Filipins. We westerners are much easier to spot by colors and LENGTH.

 

With that in mind, I guess it's significant biger risk for a westerner.

I'm talking about when both Asians and Westerners stay out of being criminals themselves.

[the_whipster]

OK guys, I can see this turning out to be a shooting match between Americano and Whippy. 

 

 

it is a battle of ideas, not between individual people. Some people think the sun shines out of the white man's ass, just because they are in the Philippines. Other people, don't.