Is Philippines in Danger of Military Coup

AsiaBill said on Thursday October 1st, 2009 02:38:39 AM
http://www.townhousehotelmanila.com

This guy listed Philippines as high probability of a coup by Guerillas so he REALLY doesn't know what he's talking about. The NPA forces are a joke and have turned into old fashioned "banditos" with protection and loan shark rackets ( with lower interest rates than the rest so they consider themselves helping the poverty striken masses ). If a coup / Martial Law comes it would actually be GREAT for the country as GMA wuld remain in power so more infrastructure projects could be finished but I strongly doubt such a coup is in play as the Filipino people have PROVEN they will NOT allow such government leaders to do such power grabs for long. It was FANTASTIC to be here and be part of PEOPLE'S POWER, something I'd always dreamed about while a rebellious teenager in the States. The Filipino people as expressed in Cory Aquino's speech to the US Congress / Senate pulled off the cheapest revolution in recent history without it costing Americans multi-billions of tax payer money to create a democracy ( in fact Marcos' dictatorship was aided and supported by Reagan and many American generals and bankers ) So in summary NO WAY JOSE!

Vic said on Thursday October 1st, 2009 03:57:22 AM

Danger is how you live it...but don't believe the hype.

The Philippines is the most dangerous country in South East Asia for travellers, but the Northern part is often more dangerous than the South. Way more people get rolled and killed on Luzon and Cebu than down way down South. Yet, Filipinos and expats will claim it is far worse down there...despite never been south of Cebu.

Filipinos always say travel is dangerous in the Southern Philippines. Nonsense, I have spent months down there, solo, and never had a problem. However, it is not a good place to become too friendly, and let people know where you will be spending the night, because of kidnappings. This goes for almost all locations in the Philippines. And 75-90 of kidnapping were carried out by the (ex)police and military in the 90's. Besides Columbia, where I followed the same rules, the Philippines is probably the most likely country in Asia to be kidnapped.

East Timor is one of the safest places in Asia, despite the travel warnings and bad press.

Some of the best beaches are located in Sulu and Tawi2. Boracay is really over-rated in comparison. The diving down South is phenomenal too. USAID has been extending the runways in both island groups. The cynic in me says it is for the Philippine/US military to have better access down there, but if the muslims tribes would stop backbiting each other, and stop ransoming, and stop their insurgency, than perhaps they might be able to counter the bad press, and actually have a shot at tourism. The crabs-in-the-bucket mentality prevades throughout the "Bangsa Moro" lands, as it does with the rest of their Filipino countrymen, so tourism development is a long shot. Until such time, they will end up going overseas to be "enslaved" by Arabs in the gulf.

AsiaBill...Badjao are not/were not slavers but were the enslaved, you're thinking of the Tausog and Maranao who in fact had de facto slavery in the southern provinces until the early 1960's. I'd like to know the island you were referring to in your last comment? As with the other lowest ethnic group(s) the Aetas, they often end up on the streets begging. Please renovate the second floor rooms of THE Townhouse. The Orchid room was really a dive for 900+P in July--no hot water, clean sheets, and the aircon was broken.

Chuck WoW said on Friday October 2nd, 2009 12:05:39 PM

WoW a Coup in S.E. Asia ? Oh my. Maybe one in Central America too ? Oh ya that just happened (Honduras) Predicting a Coup in these areas is like predicting the sun will come up tomorrow. I wonder if it could ever happen in Thailand ? That is the question.

Andy HoboTraveler.com said on Friday October 2nd, 2009 01:22:19 PM

If you compare the Philippines to all the other countries, it has the same chance as Honduras,. Thailand, the same mentality exist and many specific behavirors are worst.