Eric Posted July 28, 2018 Posted July 28, 2018 My Filipina wife, my 1 yr old son and myself are planning a trip to visit her family in the Liloy / Labason area of Mindanao. I’m concerned about our safety and I’m hoping for some advice on travelling safely in this area. Can anyone offer any advice or recommendations to help us make this a safe trip? Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffH Posted July 28, 2018 Posted July 28, 2018 That's pretty far west... I visit Ozamiz a lot and the family there won't let us go much further west from there because they say it might not be safe for a white man. My advice would be... fly in at the nearest airport and have someone already there and waiting at the airport with a car. I'd avoid taking public transport while you were there and keep as low a profile as you can. Expect to stand out a lot, you will be a novelty (which makes it hard to keep a low profile). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huggybearman Posted July 28, 2018 Posted July 28, 2018 As GeoffH says above. Keep a low profile and be aware of your surroundings. Although a muslim area there are still a lot of christians living there and we have not heard of there being any trouble in that particular part of Mindanao. If it was me I would keep my visit as brief as possible. The longer you are in the region the greater any potential risk might be. Just last week Duterte passed a new 'organic law for Bangsamoro' granting concessions to the the local indiginous muslim population which may well re-inforce the existing peace treaty there. That could lessen any risk but it pays to be be careful. Ken 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted July 28, 2018 Author Posted July 28, 2018 Thank you for your responses guys. I’m going to have to rethink our trip plans, as we planned on staying 8 days at Solaj beach resort near Liloy and renting a car to drive the 30 minutes to her parents home. Now I really don’t know what to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyWay Posted July 28, 2018 Posted July 28, 2018 28 minutes ago, Eric said: Thank you for your responses guys. I’m going to have to rethink our trip plans, as we planned on staying 8 days at Solaj beach resort near Liloy and renting a car to drive the 30 minutes to her parents home. Now I really don’t know what to do. Have you met the family before? How about book some rooms at a resort in Davao City and have some of the family come over there for a few days? Davao City is the only city I would visit down there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fillipino_wannabe Posted July 28, 2018 Posted July 28, 2018 Not a chance I'd go there. Probably be fine but not really worth the risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffH Posted July 28, 2018 Posted July 28, 2018 One thing to consider is that your destination is well inside the ‘red’ area for most western travel advisories, that means not only no travel insurance cover but also no consular support (for most countries). You’ll need to be carrying enough cash for an emergency hospital visit and evacuation if the worst happens, whereas CDO and Davao are in the ‘orange’ area (most of the rest of the Philippines is ‘yellow’) so some travel insurers will cover you (check first) and consular assistance may be available (depends upon the country). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted July 29, 2018 Author Posted July 29, 2018 Hi guys, thanks for the help. GeoffH, I hadn’t thought of the travel insurance. Good thoughts. OnMyWay, I have met her parents, 1 sister and 1 brother in Cebu where my wife was a domestic. Her parents are in their 70’s and it’s difficult for them to travel but I might be able to get them as far as Dumaguete. That’s what I’m trying to arrange now. Another issue is that her parents and her other siblings only speak their regional dialect, but my wife has cousins that speak English and Tagalog so I am wanting a place to keep everyone entertained. Does anyone know if Dumaguete would be a good option? Thanks Eric 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TequilaSunset Posted July 30, 2018 Posted July 30, 2018 9 hours ago, Eric said: Hi guys, thanks for the help. GeoffH, I hadn’t thought of the travel insurance. Good thoughts. OnMyWay, I have met her parents, 1 sister and 1 brother in Cebu where my wife was a domestic. Her parents are in their 70’s and it’s difficult for them to travel but I might be able to get them as far as Dumaguete. That’s what I’m trying to arrange now. Another issue is that her parents and her other siblings only speak their regional dialect, but my wife has cousins that speak English and Tagalog so I am wanting a place to keep everyone entertained. Does anyone know if Dumaguete would be a good option? Thanks Eric Not sure if you meant in regard to languages spoken there. For me it was a lot of Bisayan and English spoken there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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