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I am wondering if anyone has been there recently and if so did you find it to feel unsafe? Thank you for your time! Have a great day!
Overall safety isn't a major issue. Manila requires normal urban caution, bet to pass through as quickly as possible. Avoid the red light districts anywhere; they are crime magnets. Most of the major beach or mountain tourist destinations are really pretty safe.
Risk of things like terrorist attacks exists but is very small, probably lower than risk of drowning while swimming or vehicular accident.
I agree with the earlier post - usual urban awareness applies - in Pasay, as well as most other parts of the city.
OP - don't let it affect your travel plans.
I now tend to have little faith in those government travel warnings. I have on occasions had to travel against the advice of them and never seen or heard of a problem, let alone encountered one. The real maddening thing though is that in the small print of uk insurance policies there is a clause warning against invalidation should you travel against advice. So it cannot just be ignored completely.
No.10 Unless of course you are already in the country prior to the advisory. However that would not help a traveller who already has a ticket to travel or someone that was there and heeded the advice and decided to leave early. What would be the insurance companies decision then, would they pay out for new tickets or cancelled tickets? I think I know the answer.
I remember reading reports about the red shirts protests in Bangkok and travellers not being able to claim on their insurance due to the advisories being in force at the time. So they had to pay for their own hotels, that's why so many people had to sleep in Bangkok airport.
If you come here do contact me. I am decent professional doing business here and working for a Youth Foundation, helping tourists especially Americans visiting the Philippines. It is safe here, do not worry. You will feel like you are just in California, only better... cheaper... nice weather... courteous and friendly people. :)
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Philippines safety
As I was about to purchase tickets to Philippines today I checked the embassy website to see if there were any current threats or warnings. This is what it said "The U.S. Embassy advises American citizens in the Philippines that a threat against American citizens in metropolitan Manila, specifically the Pasay City neighborhood, has been detected by reliable security forces. This threat remains in effect until October 10, 2012."I am wondering if anyone has been there recently and if so did you find it to feel unsafe? Thank you for your time! Have a great day!
1
The specific threat referred to in the warning never emerged. Pasay isn't a place where most tourists would spend much time anyway.Overall safety isn't a major issue. Manila requires normal urban caution, bet to pass through as quickly as possible. Avoid the red light districts anywhere; they are crime magnets. Most of the major beach or mountain tourist destinations are really pretty safe.
Risk of things like terrorist attacks exists but is very small, probably lower than risk of drowning while swimming or vehicular accident.
2
For Manila, I never even left the airport last month. However, for the Philippines in general, after 18 years of living in or visiting the Philippines, I never feel unsafe. Although, I have no plan to ever visit the far western end of Mindanao.3
The US State Department are not renowned for their 'appropriate response'... If you read some of their travel advisories over the years, you just wouldn't get off the plane. If there's a genuine risk to foreigners it's usually picked up by other Embassies who are usually very cautious anyway. I'm not sure how a potential, 'threat against American citizens', could differeniate between an American and any other 'paw-ree-ner'...I agree with the earlier post - usual urban awareness applies - in Pasay, as well as most other parts of the city.
OP - don't let it affect your travel plans.
4
Hi,I now tend to have little faith in those government travel warnings. I have on occasions had to travel against the advice of them and never seen or heard of a problem, let alone encountered one. The real maddening thing though is that in the small print of uk insurance policies there is a clause warning against invalidation should you travel against advice. So it cannot just be ignored completely.
5
Exactly right Brax... In Thailand a couple of years back during the Red Shirts thing, all the Embassies spat out these nonsense advisories to their citizens for no good reason. It affected the validity of travel insurance and the real risk to the average tourist, as a result of the 'troubles' , was approximatly zero.8
I think that advisory was made because of the impending signing of the Bangsamoro Peace process in Manila or were they just protecting Zac Efron who had a show in Mall of Asia? LOL Anyway, nothing new. The US advisory has always been there since time in memorial. Sometimes you wonder, do they really know what they are talking about?10
Hi,No.10 Unless of course you are already in the country prior to the advisory. However that would not help a traveller who already has a ticket to travel or someone that was there and heeded the advice and decided to leave early. What would be the insurance companies decision then, would they pay out for new tickets or cancelled tickets? I think I know the answer.
13
#12, as Brax says you would definitely have a fight on your hands. The policy would not pay out - my partner's brother is an insurance claims manager in the UK and he has confirmed this for us on previous occasions when we have considered going somewhere with an advisory in place.I remember reading reports about the red shirts protests in Bangkok and travellers not being able to claim on their insurance due to the advisories being in force at the time. So they had to pay for their own hotels, that's why so many people had to sleep in Bangkok airport.
14
I am from here and I live here... I wonder where did they get those threats? Ask fellow Americans who live in Manila, for decades, I have never heard that Americans have threats in the Philippines more so in Cosmopolitan Manila (Pasay area). If it's your first time to travel here... I will feel so sorry for you. But if you have been here, you will laugh that off. Walking in Manila, you see hundreds or literally thousands of Americans roaming around the street even wee hour of the morning. I can see more Americans in Pasay, especially Caucasians than in Sacramento! Ha ha ha ha Just kidding. because whenever I go spend Christmas with my family in California, I can feel that I am just in the Philippines with all the relatives and neighbors everywhere.If you come here do contact me. I am decent professional doing business here and working for a Youth Foundation, helping tourists especially Americans visiting the Philippines. It is safe here, do not worry. You will feel like you are just in California, only better... cheaper... nice weather... courteous and friendly people. :)
