Do you want to have a great holiday? Learn about how to deal with police in the Philippines 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, you do now!
Police in the Philippines
It’s no secret and it’s no reason to cancel your trip because corruption works in your favor as a tourist.
Here are some Philippines Police Tips.
Despite the corruption in the Philippines, or maybe because of it, 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.
One of the things I’ve learned, and 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 immediately and Walk Away!
Example: Being Stopped While Driving
It can be as simple as something like this example about driving.
The license from your country is good to use for 45 days in the Philippines. Carry this in a separate plastic wallet with ₱500 pesos.
Suppose you’re driving your rental motorcycle through town and a policeman pulls you over. When you pull out your license, you hand it to the policeman with ₱500 and the policeman will hand it back without the pesos. This is standard behavior in the Philippines.
Pay the first person, even if you are not in the wrong.
Tourist Safety 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 and tourists they want a piece of the pie as well.
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 to pay. 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.
Real-Life Example: A Minor Traffic Accident
An example is what just happened to me. I was driving a pick up truck and turning off the road with my signal on. A motorcycle was passing me without looking and hits my left front tire as I am turning and he falls down. No damage to the driver or my truck but some broken plastic on the motorcycle.
So, this is really his fault but I know better then to wait around for the cops so I immediately paid him ₱5,000 and drove away.
This avoids the huge time consuming process the accident would involve and any problems that might evolve when they see a foreigner and the potential to extract some cash. I promise, the more people involved, the more expensive it gets.
Philippines Laws for Tourists
The nice thing about the Philippines is that all the laws are written in English so it makes it easier to navigate the legal system. However, you definitely do not want to take any 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!
You are thinking, Why?
A Scottish friend of mine slapped a girls butt at a New Years party in Manila. Well, she took offence and said she wanted ₱5,000 or she was calling the cops for assault.
He refused and the cops showed up. They said pay the girl and pay us or go to jail, this was about ₱10,000. He refused again and went to jail.
This is when he called me and insisted to inform his embassy. I did this, on their help line, in the middle of the night on new years eve.
The Embassy rep showed up in the morning and told him that all they would do is ensure he receive “due process”. This means that they will track the process and make sure you are being properly treated according to Philippines Laws.
They will not help you get out of jail !
Now you’re stuck in jail until the issue is resolved in court and that can take years.
The Cost of Taking the Legal Route
However it is still possible to buy your way out of this trouble but…it’ll be much more expensive since the Embassy will have its eye on you and there will be LOTS more people to pay to get the charges dropped and make this all go away.
Bottom line…When my friend sobered up and realized he had a plane to catch, it cost him USD$5,000. Yes 5 thousand dollars.
So…. Pay the first person!
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.
Staying Safe in the Philippines
The Philippines is really super safe. You can have the time of your life and there is not a lot of violent crime, but you have to remember that it is a very poor country. Everybody here is looking for an angle to get some cash. If you let yourself get involved in a legal situation then you’ll become a target and the Philippines police become part of the problem, not the solution.
Want to read more about the Philippines?
Check out the Activities in the Puerto Galera
Cheers,
Sean
