kidnapping risk in the Sulu Sea

[bvbellomo]

What annoys me the most is all the violence in Cleveland and Akron - far worse than the USA in general. My parents' probably have at least 1 shooting, 1 car jacking and 1 mugging per year within a mile of their house. My mom should be worried about me visiting her.

 

[Centrals]

Stay at home.

 

[San Diego Climber]

What annoys me the most is all the violence in Cleveland and Akron - far worse than the USA in general. My parents' probably have at least 1 shooting, 1 car jacking and 1 mugging per year within a mile of their house. My mom should be worried about me visiting her.

The State Dept warnings always seem very "throwing stones in a glass house". So quick to tell citizens the world is nothing but boogeymen out to get ya, I bet if they applied the same ranking logic to US states like they do abroad (e.g. Mexico is broken down state-by-state), there'd be a bunch of "don't go there!" warnings for states domestically. It's gross nationalism and I gave up consulting them before travel long ago; you'll probably get more accurate security assessments from Wikipedia pages about destinations.

Tell your mom you're going to Puerto Galera and then after you can say "oh actually I ended up going to this other place and it was very safe a beautiful" and she'll be none the wiser ;-)

 

[clownfishsydney]

No idea why something about kidnapping risk in the Sulu Sea would worry anyone except yachties passing through. It really is nowhere near the major dive locations in the Philippines.

Comparing the suicide rate v murder rate and making some sort of judgement from that is not logical. Try comparing murder rates of Philippines to the USA and you will change your mind. USA is 5.763 per 100,000 and Philippines is 4.316 (Wikipedia). Of note, Australia is 0.854, United Kingdom 1.148, Egypt 1.336 and even Lebanon is only 2.260.

I think US citizens should be far more worried about being killed in the US, even at a school!

 

[Johnboy70_99]

I have spent months at a time in many parts of the Philippines and the most dangerous thing that happened to me was I almost got conked off the head by a falling coconut. Seriously, don’t stand under those coconut trees.

My kids are far more in danger here in their schools in the USA.

Like any country there are dangerous areas, but you won’t be going to those.

Even most of Mindanao is safe but to be completely safe just avoid Mindanao altogether.

 

[bvbellomo]

The State Dept warnings always seem very "throwing stones in a glass house". So quick to tell citizens the world is nothing but boogeymen out to get ya, I bet if they applied the same ranking logic to US states like they do abroad (e.g. Mexico is broken down state-by-state), there'd be a bunch of "don't go there!" warnings for states domestically. It's gross nationalism and I gave up consulting them before travel long ago; you'll probably get more accurate security assessments from Wikipedia pages about destinations.

This is one of my gripes about those rankings. The lowest level is "Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions" is mostly safer than the USA, of course it would silly to tell people "Exercise Less Precaution". Most of the "Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution" are about the same as most of the USA. With the exceptions of some baffling choices like Tubbatatha, there are no "Level 4" areas anyone would considering traveling to without a good reason and lots of research. So the whole system can be simplified to just listing "Level 3" areas.

The Wikipedia page makes Puerto Galera sound like a sex tourism destination were a few people scuba dive.

 

[bvbellomo]

Comparing the suicide rate v murder rate and making some sort of judgement from that is not logical. Try comparing murder rates of Philippines to the USA and you will change your mind. USA is 5.763 per 100,000 and Philippines is 4.316 (Wikipedia). Of note, Australia is 0.854, United Kingdom 1.148, Egypt 1.336 and even Lebanon is only 2.260.

I think US citizens should be far more worried about being killed in the US, even at a school!

I edited my post to say this is not a fair comparison, but it is the only stat I can use to even get a rough idea. There is no good way to use these stats to estimate risk without knowing how many people visited and how long they stayed. If 1000 US citizens spent an average of a week here, 371 dead makes it very dangerous. If over a million visited for the same average of trip of a week, it is safer than the USA.

It does make you think, how many people have to visit for 61 suicides? I sometimes get depressed about going back home after a vacation, and delays and the way people are treated by airlines can be miserable, but I've never thought of just killing myself instead. Other than proposing to a girlfriend and being rejected, who kills themselves on vacation?

 

[Kupu]

It does make you think, how many people have to visit for 61 suicides? I sometimes get depressed about going back home after a vacation, and delays and the way people are treated by airlines can be miserable, but I've never thought of just killing myself instead. Other than proposing to a girlfriend and being rejected, who kills themselves on vacation?

I would imagine expats account for a sizable portion of that number.

 

[Centrals]

@bvbeliomo
How do you define American?
There are few millions of ethic Pinoys living in USA.

Filipino Americans - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

If you had been on a flight from N America to Manila then you must have notice that nearly all the Pinoys were holding Canada or US passport. Are they tourists or what? I am pretty sure none of them would regard themselves as tourist.

 

[bvbellomo]

@bvbeliomo
How do you define American?
There are few millions of ethic Pinoys living in USA.

Filipino Americans - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

If you had been on a flight from N America to Manila then you must have notice that nearly all the Pinoys were holding Canada or US passport. Are they tourists or what? I am pretty sure none of them would regard themselves as tourist.

If I wrote "Americans" it was a mistake. State Department stats are for US citizens, regardless of if they are Filipino or European or African or American. Ethnicity has nothing to do with it.