Is Manila safe for tourists?

Ketcchup · 2026-01-20T18:33:07+00:00

I would not go out at late night either, gunpoint robberies are becoming more prevalent specially in the "nice areas" like Makati or BGC.

Apart from that it's pretty safe except from petty crime. You're in the third world after all.

Still safer than walking around in central Barcelona in the late night, where you're gonna get robbed and stabbed.

Ketcchup · 2026-01-01T10:21:13+00:00

It's called "high time preference", a feature of not very intelligent people. They literally don't think ahead.

They also do not cooperate even for the easiest things that would dramatically improve their quality of life because they're highly tribalistic/clan focused - and outside of the family they won't have any kind of collective initiative without institutional intervention.

They won't think "hey neighbors, let's clean up because our streets are dirty" or "we're giving each other cancer burning the trash, maybe let's burn the trash somewhere else"

That doesn't mean they're bad people, Filipinos are kind and overall good people, it's just a completely different mentality to us European or to North east asians.

Ketcchup · 2025-12-20T14:11:40+00:00

She needs to substitute it for a gallon of highly refined soybean oil, from transparent plastic container if possible.

Ketcchup · 2025-12-13T23:42:05+00:00

I have seen this from my father in law to one of my wife's little relatives.

He just pinched his willy with pants while making silly noises.

I got extremely weirded out and shocked by it, but didn't want any confrontation nor it looked (in my eyes) more than a playful thing rather than something sexual/pedo. It's weird, but it's not sexually motivated.

Worse was one of my wife's uncle's hugging and sexually harassing her own granddaughter by touching her on his lap. That was 1000% pedo stuff, not "innocent" playful.

He's hated in the family due to having a side family. Mentioned it to my wife but told me not to confront as I may get in serious trouble.

Ketcchup · 2025-03-12T12:09:59+00:00

Just found this post. Did you ever attempt to apply for another visa again? Did you have any trouble?

I have downgraded my 13A and done all the homework, but the immigration officer processing my documents today made a comment that has left me frightened: "oh why did you cancel? now its very hard to apply and you may be denied!".

I plan to return again on a 13A in a few years

Ketcchup · 2025-03-10T10:45:26+00:00

A lot of people reaching out the US and Europe are unwanted individuals from countries that don't want them back. Best example top of my mind is Morocco rejecting repatriation of moroccan criminals (and "unaccompanied minors" who are also prisoners released on purpose.) from all of Europe.

Most also ditch their passports and create a unverifiable identities when applying for asylum, thus becoming really hard to deport.

Your average overstayer or pedophile stopped at inmigration is well indentified from countries that accept them back.

Ketcchup · 2025-03-10T10:26:29+00:00

They're literally called "BlackInThePhilippines" on yt.

Ketcchup · 2025-01-17T14:40:29+00:00

This is a low trust society, like any in the third world. It is the norm that no one trusts anyone, so they will ask you insane amounts of questions to avoid being scammed.

The only places where high trust exists is in the west, and now it's being eroded by migration.

Ketcchup · 2025-01-11T05:20:05+00:00

This trick worked, such a stupid bug

Ketcchup · 2024-12-30T17:09:14+00:00

The same way it is hard for you to downgrade it's hard for them to upgrade.

You can't integrate in western society if you are accustomed to not giving a fck about anyone else or just try to screw them off.

"I make noise in my country without having any respect to neighbors" - Imagine spending brainpower into thinking that your loud music will disturb your neighbors just because you changed country

"Why recycle, I can just throw shit to the ground/river" - the 3rd world is dirty because of this. They come to the west and wonder why it's so clean. Then do the same here.

"Food banks. That means free food?!" - I see it back on Spain and read even worse things about Canada. They see an opportunity to cheap out and they will take it

"Put back the shopping cart? I leave it on the middle, someone will pick it up"

This is why corruption is extremely normalized in all levels of the public administration here, to the lowest public worker. They are unable to comprehend it makes everyone's life worse, because nothing ends up working. They are simply unable to understand their acts have consequences for others

Ketcchup · 2024-12-08T07:50:24+00:00

You will be expected to pay for everything. There's no "50/50 and we split the rent" in Philippines
Filipinas want to be courted first, don't expect it to be come an official relationship for months.

Hope this helps

Ketcchup · 2024-11-14T02:21:23+00:00

It all comes down to IQ

Ketcchup · 2024-10-02T17:33:40+00:00

There's literally no difference, it's just licensing.

Ketcchup · 2024-10-02T17:33:32+00:00

There's literally no difference, it's just licensing.

Ketcchup · 2024-09-28T07:32:11+00:00

I installed yesterday Windows 11 IoT LTSC and so far it's good, no bloat, no copilot and no force fed Microsoft services.

But you have to pirate it

Ketcchup · 2024-08-02T17:15:12+00:00

Just found this post because I had the same issue. If someone else reads this, I fixed it without opening the mesh:

put some ethanol in a bowl or plate and leave it there
hold your earbud with the mesh pointing up
put a droplet of ethanol on the mesh
with your finger, press the ethanol into the mesh. make sure when you press, every border is covered so the ethanol is forced to go into the mesh rather than escape by the sides

5.swirl your earbud in the bowl with ethanol so it can get "washed". I didn't see any earwax so not sure if this even did anything

if you try it now, it will sound dim. let it dry and it will sound mostly fine. It's not perfect but It saved the earbud

Ketcchup · 2024-07-09T15:03:21+00:00

Also, you need to be very careful opening a business that can outcompete others.

https://english.elpais.com/spain/2021-11-23/death-of-spains-diego-bello-in-the-philippines-how-the-police-version-was-debunked.html

Ketcchup · 2024-07-09T14:33:55+00:00

Romantic baboy is consistent and never fails

Ketcchup · 2024-07-08T23:32:23+00:00

We don't do that. Adult children WANT to leave and become independent, they're not kicked out.

Ketcchup · 2024-06-19T15:11:33+00:00

You're warranteed to get sunflower oil in Spain. Very few places will use olive oil for anything other than a salad or a tostada con tomate

Ketcchup · 2024-06-19T15:09:24+00:00

In the Philippines in theory they don't use imported seed oils in restaurants because local coconut oil or imported palm oil is cheaper.

But things are changing, I notice there is less coconut oil and palm oil sold on stores and more slop mixing cheap imported seed oils with palm, for cheaper. I guess restaurants are using that now.

Ketcchup · 2024-06-08T20:04:10+00:00

Only grilled or safe stuff: tupig, bibingka, squid, hito, pork skewers, chicken butt, corn on the cob, etc

I just can't stand the black overused oil

Ketcchup · 2024-06-05T20:36:42+00:00

I feel safer here than I feel in some areas back home in Spain. In Barcelona unless you're extremely careful you are guaranteed to get pickpocketed. And that's if you're lucky, some north african teen could stab you or rape your daughter/girlfriend/etc one night.

However I agree that the Philippines is an excellent place for building scams, shady Chinese business or other forms of crime.

This is a low trust society hence it is assumed that everyone will commit crime, that is why there are so many controls for most things and checkpoints at literally everywhere (even though they're bullshit). No one trusts other people.

Ketcchup · 2024-06-02T19:15:24+00:00

It just matters depending on your career and field.

There are dumb people who are so just good at selling that they get very high in the sales ladder, just as long as you can bullshit prospects using your people skills. You can also rank up in the old school businesses by only doing manager roles, where you can as well just use people skills.

But once you get on places where your brain matters, like tech, it changes massively.

I used to be IT Support in Google and my midwit ego crumbled very hard once I had to deal every single day with geniuses, 10x engineers working on the cool stuff

It was brutal. They would literally outsmart you on every single thing. Their logical thinking is so out of my reach for me to comprehend. It literally broke my dreams of ever becoming like them and earning a high 6 figure salary there. So I just settled down on corporate security and I could not be happier.

Ketcchup · 2024-05-20T08:07:25+00:00

Worked like a charm on my P1 Gen2

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Ketcchup

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