General Info

[Mookman]

Alright, I think this is my last question about cell phones.

How much is charged for recieving calls, say from the US? And calling the USA from the cell phone is it at least the same rate as when you use the PLDT card which I think is around 22p a min?

Thanks

Mook

[GoodEnough]

Mookman:

No. Cell phone numbers all seem to begin with 0916 or 0917 regardless of location. There may be some differences among the various service providers, primarily Globe and Smart, but that's about all. Area codes only seem to apply to land lines.

[Mookman]

Do cell phones in the PI have different area codes for where you buy it or where you request it. Like I would like a Manila cell phone area code for my cell. Or is it like other countries where there are separate area codes for cell phones so it doesn't matter.

Thanks

Mook

[Teddy Bear 99]

The one thing I did learn in the PI is that you can haggle with the price on everything including the hotel rooms. I found the same phones can be had for cheaper outside Manila, I don't remember the model exactly, but got an Ericcson for about 3000 pesos cheaper in Naga City. Also you might find the "corner" stores maybe cheaper than the malls. (Overhead)

[Ilongo_boy]

Mookman,

I bought my Sony Ericsson from this store in Greenbelt 1 close the 'The Spa'. Sorry, I can't remember the name but good service and was able to haggle for some freebies and discount.

Avsurfer or Avid Video in Greenbelt 3 also sells lots of cell phones and they have plenty of locations and reputable.

Goodluck.
IB

[Mookman]

Hey Guys,
I need a recommendation for a cell phone shop. I know about the used cell phone shops already, checked out the upstairs of Harrison Plaza last time, the girls there are very low quality at the mall, don't waste your time. So, I decide this time to buy a cell phone. Anybody have experience buying from the cell phone store in Glorietta Mall in Makati, you know the one on the 2nd floor with the phones in the display. I'm not looking for dirt cheap prices but the prices they give are fair prices right.

If you have a recommendation for a good store with fair prices in a big mall, ie, Mega Mall, SM Makati, etc. Post it here so we know where to go.

Mook

[Firedick]

No harm no foul. :)

[Intransit]

FD,

I will accede to your outranking me as a Senior Member. I posted the entire article to save people the hassle of registering for the NY Times Web site.

[Firedick]

intransit,

a bit of a waste of space. posting the link would have been fine.


i have no sympathy for ****s, they should get what ever the local judicial system can dish out. but, the thought of a government prosecuting for crimes committed outside their own borders sets a pretty scary precedent.

[Intransit]

Indeed. But one must wonder, how much further is the long arm of US law going to go?

[Mookman]

i'd rat out a **** to the us authorities if i saw it in my travels to the pi. i hope they do a good job of prosecuting for it more often.

mook

[Flying Scotsman]

Intransit. And your point is?

[Intransit]

from the new york times:

june 8, 2004

u.s. is pursuing americans who commit sex crimes overseas
by eric lichtblau and james dao
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/08/national/08mole.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=

washington, june 7 — one suspect was a convicted **** from
baltimore accused of molesting boys in two asian countries.
another was a doctor from georgia who the russian police said
drugged his young victims in a st. petersburg hotel. a third was
a retired army sergeant from seattle who may have molested up to
50 children.

the three men would once have almost certainly fallen outside
the grasp of united states prosecutors. but with the long arm of
american law growing ever longer, all three could face
significant prison sentences in the united states because of a
measure passed by congress last year that gives federal
officials much more power to prosecute people suspected of
molesting children on foreign soil. officials have already used
their expanded authority to prosecute five american men, four of
whom are awaiting trial. dozens more investigations are under
way from sri lanka to costa rica.

american officials are hoping their investigations will help
break what they believe are shadowy internet networks used by
****s to share photographs of children and travel tips
about countries with thriving child sex industries.

but so far, prosecutions under the new law have focused on
people who traveled on their own.

the initiative dovetails with two priorities for the bush
administration: adopting a more aggressive agenda abroad to
protect american interests at home and attacking what president
bush has called the "special evil" of **** and
exploitation. in the process, federal officials have forged an
alliance with humanitarian groups in exposing havens for
so-called sex tourists.

"we're no longer having to fight alone on this," said joseph
mettimano, child protection policy adviser for a christian-based
group called world vision. "we have a very active and very
engaged government power working with us now."

but that new power is also prompting debate in federal courts
and in public policy circles over how far the united states can
and should go to combat child exploitation abroad.

some critics of the initiative, including defense lawyers and
law professors, question why, at a time of pressing
counterterrorism needs at home, investigators from the
department of homeland security are using scarce resources to go
after molesters abroad. others accuse the bush administration
and congress of overreaching by seeking to create what amounts
to a global police presence. "what we're seeing is the
ever-expanding authority of the federal government in the
criminal justice arena," said mike filipovic, a public defender
in seattle who represents michael l. clark, the former sergeant
picked up in cambodia.

"stopping child abuse is a laudable goal, but it's really
somewhat patronizing to these other countries to say that we
feel that the only way to solve this problem is for us to do it
for you," mr. filipovic said. "the issue here is should our
government be able to prosecute our citizens for acts committed
anywhere in the world?"

some child-advocacy groups estimate that as many as 25 percent
of all sex tourists abroad come from the united states. although
the data is inexact, americans who have sex with children abroad
are thought to number in the thousands, with hard-core
****s, casual tourists and business people taking advantage
of lax enforcement, child advocacy groups and american officials
say.

indeed, some countries in southeast asia and latin america are
now seen as havens for molesters, turning a blind eye or even
tacitly welcoming such tourists to promote their economies,
experts say. against that backdrop, agents for the bureau of
immigration and customs enforcement, within the department of
homeland security, have mounted an aggressive effort with their
new power. investigations number in the dozens, officials said,
with targets in cambodia, the philippines, thailand, sri lanka,
india, russia, mexico, costa rica and elsewhere.

american agents are careful to open investigations only with the
cooperation of host countries, said michael j. garcia, who
oversees immigration and customs enforcement. in cambodia, for
instance, the police have in several cases charged americans
under local ordinances, then held them for extradition in close
coordination with american officials.

and in the washington suburbs, several analysts at the
immigration agency's cybercrimes unit now peruse the internet
and follow tips about sex tourism networks abroad.

the government's expanded legal authority to pursue molesters
abroad comes as part of a 2003 federal law known as the protect
act, a package of child-protection measures best known for the
creation of the amber alert for missing children. a more obscure
provision eliminated an obstacle for prosecutors seeking charges
against americans accused of molesting children abroad.

previously, prosecutors had to prove that a suspect left the
united states "for the purpose" of molesting a child, a standard
that authorities said made it almost impossible to bring
charges. the protect act eliminated that and imposed a 30-year
sentence for a conviction.

"the big change here," said charles a. ray, the american
ambassador to cambodia, "is that we can actually take aggressive
action against these people and see results."

mr. clark, who lived in cambodia for about five years before his
arrest and had returned occasionally to seattle, is the first to
challenge the new law. according to the criminal complaint
against mr. clark, he told investigators that he had molested
"approximately 40 to 50 children, stating that some of them may
have been 18 years old." he was charged with molesting two boys
and pleaded guilty to the charges in march. but he also argued
that the legal expansion was unconstitutional and an abuse of
congress' authority to regulate commerce.

on april 26 a federal judge in seattle upheld the
constitutionality of the law, saying congress had acted within
its power. mr. clark is to be sentenced june 25 but may still
appeal the ruling.

american officials acknowledge that privately, some countries
remain wary of working so closely with united states agencies.
but so far, american officials say, foreign nations have been
largely receptive.

cambodia, in particular, is considered "a paradise" for foreign
****s, said aarti kapoor, a lawyer with a cambodia-based
group that assists prostitutes and abuse victims. many residents
are young and impoverished, the country's judicial system is
prone to bribery and corruption and neighboring thailand- also a
favorite destination for sex tourists - has cracked down on the
sex trade, ms. kapoor said. "u.s. law enforcement represents the
only hope of finding justice," she said.

federal officials point to richard arthur schmidt as just the
kind of person that the new law was intended to snare.

mr. schmidt, 61, is a former schoolteacher from the baltimore
area who was repeatedly arrested in the mid-1980's for abusing
boys.

in 1987, mr. schmidt was sentenced to an 18-year prison term
after being convicted of multiple counts of sexually abusing a
12-year-old boy in baltimore, court records show. he served 13
years, spending part of that time enrolled in a sex-offender
program, officials said.

in 2000, he was released early for good behavior and settled in
an upscale neighborhood in north baltimore. but in 2003, state
investigators said that he had tried to take pornographic
photographs of two boys in the baltimore area, state officials
said. a warrant for his arrest was issued, but he fled, first to
north carolina and then to the philippines.

last year, the philippine police arrested mr. schmidt and
charged him with having sex with **** boys. he fled again,
this time to cambodia. and within weeks, he was again spotted
having liaisons with young boys.

this time, workers with private child welfare organizations
spotted mr. schmidt taking a cambodian boy to his apartment in
phnom penh. according to court papers, the workers called the
cambodian police, who arrested mr. schmidt. cambodian officials
notified american investigators, who interviewed mr. schmidt him
and began building a case for his indictment in the united
states.

two cambodian brothers, ages 10 and 13, told investigators that
mr. schmidt had taken them to his apartment several times,
teaching them english and computer games, then photographing
them naked in the shower. a cambodian judge released mr. schmidt
last dec. 25, but confirep001ed his passport and placed him on
police watch.

two days later, a social worker with a french group, action for
the children, saw mr. schmidt check into a guesthouse with a
12-year-old boy, officials said. the social worker, who had been
tailing mr. schmidt, called the police, who arrested mr. schmidt
again. the boy later told investigators that mr. schmidt had
sodomized him.

mr. schmidt was returned to baltimore in february to face
charges under the protect act and is in jail awaiting trial. his
lawyer could not be reached for comment.

one group, the international justice mission, has investigators
who build cases against suspected offenders, then turn the
evidence over to law enforcement officials. the group has also
been training cambodian police in collecting evidence that can
be used in american courts.

another group, world vision, serves as a clearinghouse for tips
on foreign sexual predators and has mounted a $2-million
advertising campaign, financed in part by the state department,
to warn americans against committing sexual offenses abroad. the
group plans campaigns in thailand and costa rica, and with
billboards near the airport in phnom penh and elsewhere in
cambodia.

"abuse a child in this country," reads one poster, "go to jail
in yours."

[Firedick]

Solomon,

You could take a small car through customs at NAIA without anyone noticing.

FD

[Isagani]

They are available. Just asked. The only precaution is one will never know the integrity of the product you are buying. Just be extra cautious. My advise is get in from somebody who had access to a reputable doctor.