Do you want to avoid prison and have a great holiday? Learn about the Philippines police and find out how to stay out of trouble when you’re here.
Almost everyone knows that the Philippines is a corrupt country. If you didn’t, now you do!
It’s no secret and it’s no reason to cancel your trip. Despite the corruption in the Philippines, you’ll have the time of your life here (especially if you stay at BADLADZ!).
While corruption is rampant, don’t let it stop you from booking your holiday. What you need to know is how to deal with it.
It can be as simple as something like this:
Suppose your driving through town and a policeman pulls you over. When you pull out your driver’s license, you hand it to the policeman with 200 pesos and the policeman will hand it back without the 200 pesos. This is standard behavior in the Philippines.
You see, the Philippines is not a violent country. Incidences of violent crime are quite rare. When they do occur, the Philippines police are great at protecting you. However, this is a poor country, so when it comes to money, they want a piece of the pie as well.
One of the things I’ve learned (many of my friends too) is to always pay the first person.
It doesn’t matter what kind of trouble you’re in. It doesn’t matter if it was your fault or somebody else’s fault.
Always pay the first person.
Once an issue has begun with the Philippines police, do not expect it to improve. Assume that things are never going to improve. As the issue escalates, more people get involved. As this continues, it becomes increasingly expensive for you to buy your way out. If there’s more police, there are more people. If you go to the Philippines police station, there are more people again.
Regardless of what happens, it will always be cheaper at the start than wherever you end up.
You don’t want to take the issue to court either. In the Philippines, court cases can languish for years. And if you end up in jail, don’t tell your Embassy!
Why?
Your Embassy cannot save you. All it can do is ensure you receive “due process”. This means that you can no longer buy your way out since the Embassy will have its eye on you. If this happens, you’ll be stuck in jail until the issue is resolved and that can be years.
On the other hand, if you have money, you can set yourself up in style in jail. I know guys that set up their own cell with air-con, WiFi and color TV.
The Philippines is super safe. You’ll have the time of your life. There is not a lot of violent crime, but you have to remember that it is a very poor country. If you act like you’ve got money, you’ll become a target for the Philippines police.
Want to read more about the Philippines?
Check out the nightlife in Puerto Galera and the amazing activities in Puerto Galera.
Cheers,
Sean
