Article

2005-10-06 Southeast Asia

Bali bombers did not train in guerrilla camps here: Philippines

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Posted by Fred 2005-10-06 00:00|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Hmmm. Linky seems to have changed on you, Fred. Or the "World" section is offline for some reason right now.

Re; the article title, the Flips are a real conundrum. When they get their hands on someone, such as Ramzy Yousef and his buds, they can extract anything you want to know... awesome interrogators and investigators when they sink their teeth into something... but at the same time they allow bad actors to live and multiply in safety. Sheesh. Wotta screwy place. The only time I've been in Manilla was in the days when every hotel had guys with machineguns at the doors and onboard the elevators - and you could hire a couple at the hotel front desk to escort you and your business associates to dinner - so you'd have a good chance of coming back alive. Never went back.

Posted by .com 2005-10-06 00:40|| 2005-10-06 00:40|| Front Page Top

#2 When was that, .com? A girlfriend of mine followed her husband over there in the early-mid 90's, and she didn't say anything about such security issues.

Posted by trailing wife 2005-10-06 06:32|| 2005-10-06 06:32|| Front Page Top

#3 G'morning... Late '99. There are two Manilas - Manila and Metro Manila. Manila is old, run-down and dangerous. Metro Manila is bright, shiny, and "new". I went to see about a software gig, to work from there on Saudi stuff partnering with a company there that needed both my Internet programming as well as my contacts in Saudi. Two other guys were interested in the gig, so they came along. I made the mistake of not investigating Manila closely for myself. I let the guy we were meeting make our arrangements. Uh, big mistake. His outfit was in old Manila and that's where he had us staying. I don't remember the hotel name, but there were at least 4 guards visible from any point in the lobby, one in the Starbucks next door, one in the McDonald's about 50 yds down the street, and a whole shitload of Flips who thought we looked like steak. Probably the second biggest mistake was in wearing suits, instead of down-scale casual stuff. We were marked men. We did get a quick tour of Metro Manila, Quezon City, Makati, and some other 'burbs I can't recall - and they were an island of international commerce, surrounded by poverty on the order of what I saw wandering around Bombay in '92. Of course this was at the time that Estrada was "running" things - and a more corrupt govt is pretty hard to imagine. But to be honest, it's still much the same, today. If you read the traveler forums, you see the same breakdown in go / no-go zones I mentioned. And yes, they still have armed guards at the Manila McDonald's. Now you may find it weird that I found Manila to be more "tense" than Saudi, but in '99 that was the case... in Saudi they just had these Barney Fife types guarding the banks, currency exchanges, and (for some unknown reason) the fire stations... plus it was the devil I knew vs the devil I didn't know problem. :)

Posted by .com 2005-10-06 08:40|| 2005-10-06 08:40|| Front Page Top

#4 Hmm.. interesting .com. I was there in about '01 and saw some of that. Purses and bags being inspected before entry to a mall or theatre (the ACLU would love it I'm sure) and a lot of armed guards.

But then I didn't stay in a hotel but with a family there in metro manila (Alabang area). I've heard (didn't witness) that some of the areas around the girlie bars and Rizal Park can be pretty dangerous. Places where you probably wouldn't want to wander into at night. I think every large metro city has them.

Posted by CrazyFool 2005-10-06 09:01|| 2005-10-06 09:01|| Front Page Top

#5 Baby, when you need a guard with a machinegun in the McDonald's, you're in deep shit. Weren't any frickin' girlie bars I could see round that (once) grand hotel.

Posted by .com 2005-10-06 09:11|| 2005-10-06 09:11|| Front Page Top

#6 Sorry - meant to add the smiley face - it looks waay too harsh without it, lol. :)

Posted by .com 2005-10-06 09:17|| 2005-10-06 09:17|| Front Page Top

#7 Thanks, guys. It sounds like Caracas and Mexico City, then -- in the '80s no problems really, then came the '90s, and the little people were trying to grab a piece for themselves. Mr. Wife wandered freely through Caracas in the latter '80s, but when he went back in '94(?), the hotel put them in a cab to go to the bar across the street, because it wasn't safe for them to walk. Likewise, when another girlfriend from my Germany circle -- born and bred in Mexico City -- went back to visit family, they wouldn't allow her to take her little blond daughter outside the house gates to buy a taco from the street vendor for fear of kidnapping. And of course, there are always no go areas in big cities, even here in the U.S. (at least for the likes of me ;-]).

Posted by trailing wife 2005-10-06 13:33|| 2005-10-06 13:33|| Front Page Top

#8 Yeah, you gorgeous ones have problems like that!

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-10-06 13:46|| 2005-10-06 13:46|| Front Page Top

#9 Darling, lovely Mrs. D. Would that were the reason, instead of me not noticing bad people around me, how jealous my girlfriends would be! ;-)

Posted by trailing wife 2005-10-06 16:50|| 2005-10-06 16:50|| Front Page Top

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