General Info

[DzikaBomba]

The Philippines has just announced that it will begin to allow fully vaccinated foreigners back into the country beginning on February 18. Heres the link: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1165425?fbclid=IwAR1JoJczKiKIM3hgpU0_XQDw0Yy8KCZv1Rr55oLb3xXxwQpkAH5Cs-gILoo.

There are still no Tourists allowed!

And this link is also not saying that. There is not an single word about Tourists, because Tourists are still not allowed to enter the Country. Read it again. There is no word about Tourists.

The link is only about foreign nationals entering the PH. That means Visa Holders, Family, Business visas and so on.

Still no Tourists! When you have an source with the Information that PH will open to Tourists (and not foreign travelleres, which does not mean tourists) please post it here and not these fake news.

[Mdemde]

The Philippines has just announced that it will begin to allow fully vaccinated foreigners back into the country beginning on February 18. Heres the link: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1165425?fbclid=IwAR1JoJczKiKIM3hgpU0_XQDw0Yy8KCZv1Rr55oLb3xXxwQpkAH5Cs-gILoo

GE.

Meanwhile, here in Cebu City, the Authorities have just tightened down on the hours for the overnight curfew. Curfew hours were 12 midnight to 3 am, now it's from 11 pm to 4 am, meaning all restaurants and pubs have to close before 11 pm.

And 3 days ago Cebu City went to Alert Level 3, so visitors are no longer allowed into my condo building. As far as I am aware, the s / t hotels are still allowed to open. I went to one in Consolacion yesterday with a couple of my regulars and it was open.

After the storm of December 16, many s/t hotels had to close because they lost their electricity and water supply during the storm. A few of them managed to get hold of generators so were able to open.

[GoodEnough]

The Philippines has just announced that it will begin to allow fully vaccinated foreigners back into the country beginning on February 18. Here’s the link: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1165425?fbclid=IwAR1JoJczKiKIM3hgpU0_XQDw0Yy8KCZv1Rr55oLb3xXxwQpkAH5Cs-gILoo

GE.

[Albert9989]

Unimaginable hard times now and to come for months if not years. If you can do something to help do it.

I am doing, small help, but needs are huge.

[Dg8787]

Seems that things are not improving a lot.

Some chat from inabanga Bohol.

Unimaginable hard times now and to come for months if not years. If you can do something to help do it.

[MamaGuevos]

I read the article....For example this excerpt:

[I]"///o put it simply, Gayle Smith is one of the top spooks in the United States///[/B]..

That is hilarious. If it is true, it would explain the lack of intelligence coming from the CIA. For the record, my daughter works for USAID in Asia. She would be an even less believable intelligence officer than Gayle Smith. USAID is not an arm of the CIA. That is completely absurd paranoid nonsense.

[Albert9989]

Seems that things are not improving a lot.

Some chat from inabanga Bohol.

[WestCoast1]

Here is a link on USAID, the CIA's bandaid on their crimes. There are thousands more https://www.telesurenglish.net/opini...0919-0013.html.

I looked up your source. TeleSUR is an "alternative" "news" outlet hosted by the Venezuelan government and initially created by Hugo Chavez in 2007. I think it's helpful to consider the possible bias--or legitimacy--of online sources before advancing them as factual.

I read the article. Its very short, only about 3 paragraphs. Its filled with innuendo, offers no sources, and offers proof of nothing. For example this excerpt:

"Today, the USAID is headed by Gayle Smith, formerly the Special Advisor to President Barack Obama and Senior Director of the National Security Council. To put it simply, Gayle Smith is one of the top spooks in the United States, someone who told the CIA what to do.

Today, this former spook is running a multi-billion dollar aid agency with thousands of employees or contractors operating world wide. Who knows who is an agent and who is a real aid worker when it comes to USAID."

That is my boldface. Its possible that Gayle Smith is a top "spook" in the US. But the author provides no background or proof of such. Is the reader expected to do the author's work and start googling every point in the article? Not exactly hard-hitting journalism, and it would be hard to believe anything from Telesource after reading that. And for those interested in PM's post, I would suggest reading the entire short article and judge for yourself.

Here are a few more doozies that I just made up:

"Who knows who is an agent and who is a real parishioner at my church".

"Who knows who is an agent and who is a real student in my son's third grade class".

You get the idea. Its more an opinion piece than journalism.

[Soapy Smith]

USAID is generally regarded as a CIA front. No doubt you were well paid. How about one single field report? Just link to one actual report you gave. All I know is when I reported from Angeles, you objected to my English that I called putas skanks. Here is a link on USAID, the CIA's bandaid on their crimes. There are thousands more https://www.telesurenglish.net/opini...0919-0013.html.

I looked up your source. TeleSUR is an "alternative" "news" outlet hosted by the Venezuelan government and initially created by Hugo Chavez in 2007. I think it's helpful to consider the possible bias--or legitimacy--of online sources before advancing them as factual.

[Engine Driver]

Considering the accomplishments of her parents, I suspect Vice President Harris is not retarded. And I suspect she knows the differences in meaning between "plane" and "plain." And there are, of course, alternatives to sending financial aid into the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador). For example, we could pay local armed militias to hang out at the wall and pick off individuals as they try to cross the Rio Grande.

Historically, there has often been corruption in the ways that some countries used foreign assistance, but bi-lateral aid countries have also learned from earlier mistakes. You might want to reread GE's characterization of the ways that most of the projects he has worked with are held accountable. You might also want to check out the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It's an organization of 38 countries who provide most of the world's bi-lateral foreign aid. Within OECD the member countries exchange notes from previous experiences with recipient countries and use this information to coordinate their ongoing aid packages. This makes it increasingly difficult for individual developing countries to pull the wool over the eyes of later donor countries. This doesn't mean donor countries don't make mistakes, but they spend time comparing notes with other OECD members and with folks at the World Bank, IMF, and various regional development banks to get a handle on potential corruption.

This thread is turning into a socialist propaganda page, led by a bunch of retired NGO do gooders.

A bit hypocritical don't you think? Fucking the very girls in shithole countries your generous donors sent you to save?

There are far better sites to discuss the achievements of your favorite Democrat politicians. Your fawning praise of a couple of incompetent twits is becoming tiresome. In fact, there is a thread called American Politics, right here on ISG. How convenient! Your political views would be better appreciated there.

Perhaps there you could discuss, amongst other things, the remarkable success FJB had in the pull out of Afghanistan, or how Giggles is winning the battle against illegal immigrants down on the border. You can also discuss how FJB's corrupt mates at the Federal Reserve are totally in control of inflation, even thought it's running at 7%. That's at a 39 year high. They would also appreciate a parallel discussion on gas prices ATM. Oh that's right. All Democrats drive Teslas, even though their electricity comes from coal, so they are immune from gas price rises. Other topics you could discuss are the 400,000 deaths due to Covid in the USA since January 2021. That's more than the deaths under DJT. But who's counting? And how's the vaccine rollout going? Last.

I heard, highly trained military personnel were being sacked after refusing the jab.

"The first thing Joe Biden and I will do in the White House is get this virus under control," Harris said in November 2020.

"We're eight months into this pandemic and Donald Trump still doesn't have a plan to get this virus under control. I do," Biden said late in 2020 on the campaign trail, blaming the former president for Covid deaths.

Since this is a prostitution discussion site, how about we all just focus on mongering? Keep those field reports coming.

[Soapy Smith]

Corruption. Plane and simple. This is a common theme in 3rd world countries. Our retarded Vice President went to Guatemala awhile back and said more money would be poured into Central America to help those people so they won't immigrate to the US. She is either very stupid or very naive, that money, most of it will never reach the people. Never has, never will.

Considering the accomplishments of her parents, I suspect Vice President Harris is not retarded. And I suspect she knows the differences in meaning between "plane" and "plain." And there are, of course, alternatives to sending financial aid into the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador). For example, we could pay local armed militias to hang out at the wall and pick off individuals as they try to cross the Rio Grande.

Historically, there has often been corruption in the ways that some countries used foreign assistance, but bi-lateral aid countries have also learned from earlier mistakes. You might want to reread GE's characterization of the ways that most of the projects he has worked with are held accountable. You might also want to check out the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It's an organization of 38 countries who provide most of the world's bi-lateral foreign aid. Within OECD the member countries exchange notes from previous experiences with recipient countries and use this information to coordinate their ongoing aid packages. This makes it increasingly difficult for individual developing countries to pull the wool over the eyes of later donor countries. This doesn't mean donor countries don't make mistakes, but they spend time comparing notes with other OECD members and with folks at the World Bank, IMF, and various regional development banks to get a handle on potential corruption.

[PedroMorales]

USAID is generally regarded as a CIA front. No doubt you were well paid. How about one single field report? Just link to one actual report you gave. All I know is when I reported from Angeles, you objected to my English that I called putas skanks. Here is a link on USAID, the CIA's bandaid on their crimes. There are thousands more https://www.telesurenglish.net/opini...0919-0013.html.

Again, if you want to help, give to those networked Pinoy expats with direct contacts on the ground, not to those who have grown fat from such miseries. But this is only a drive by. You post about how you earned your mega salary and let the other guy post his dick pics. I read your first few lines, then cut and pasted. More than you are worth but ymmv.

I have worked with and for USAID in more than 30 countries, over approximately 4 decades, and never did I witness any behavior analogous to that of a "a criminal mafia," which is a tautological term. I usually skip posts written by this guy since they are typically little more than unsubstantiated, vitriolic rants based on little more, evidently, than odium for the country. In this case however, I couldn't ignore it, given that virtually.

[Locamotive]

Lots of reasons to criticize USAID. Like large international NGOs they are very Western in their thinking, and those models often do not match realities on the ground in developing countries. But evidence for the mafia comparison might be hard to find.

Chinese should use their own logistics, troops and carriers? That's what they typically do in development projects. They don't hire locals, they provide their own people and equipment, which gives them control and provides little if any injection of money into the local economies of developing countries. In some of their projects in Africa they used Chinese prisoners as laborers and then refused to repatriate them back to China.

The recommendation about parish priests in the Philippines may be a good idea, but I don't think most of us know how to contact them.

Humanitarian relief can become very political. Bong Marcos and other presidential candidates also promised to provide relief, so, despite the puny packages, Leni at least followed through. Following the 2013 earthquake in Bohol, then VP Binay arranged for international aid food to be repackaged into plastic bags emblazoned with words that suggested the contents were provided by Jejomar Binay, who had declared his intent to run for President in 2016..

Corruption. Plane and simple. This is a common theme in 3rd world countries. Our retarded Vice President went to Guatemala awhile back and said more money would be poured into Central America to help those people so they won't immigrate to the US. She is either very stupid or very naive, that money, most of it will never reach the people. Never has, never will.

[GoodEnough]

2,767 very exact numbers from those serial parasites. USAID are no more than a criminal mafia. The Chinese are better and should use their own logistics, land troops, carriers etc.

I have worked with and for USAID in more than 30 countries, over approximately 4 decades, and never did I witness any behavior analogous to that of a "a criminal mafia," which is a tautological term. I usually skip posts written by this guy since they are typically little more than unsubstantiated, vitriolic rants based on little more, evidently, than odium for the country. In this case however, I couldn't ignore it, given that virtually all of the USAID folks with whom I've worked—most of whom are locally-hired staff—have been capable, intelligent, hardworking and have exhibited nothing but integrity. Yes, the programs funded by the agency often reflect little knowledge of the cultures and countries in which they are implemented, and yes, some are more effective than others, but in this respect USAID-funded programs differ little from those implemented by virtually all bilateral donor organizations. That said, I've also worked for and with Australian and Japanese development agencies and, as with USAID have never seen one iota of corrupt behavior, though I have witnessed a lack of cultural understanding.

At my age, I suppose I should no longer be astounded at the profound ignorance of some of those who post sweeping generalizations with no basis in cited facts. Here in the Philippines, the overwhelming majority of USAID's program staff is comprised of Filipino (a) s, managed by a small core of Americans. The major issue underlying the lack of efficacy of several programs, and again this isn't endemic solely to USAID, is that development priorities are typically defined by politicians and bureaucrats in the home countries of the aid organizations, and who are thus far removed from local recipients and who exhibit no intimate understanding of cultural mores. However, within those constraints, it's been my experience that local aid staff, and the contractors whom they select, do the best they can within the constraints imposed. It's also true that, despite constraints and sometimes badly flawed program designs, some of the aid programs—and I could cite several—have been extremely successful and have had extraordinarily positive impacts on those whom they were designed to serve. Having designed and implemented a range of studies designed to measure such impacts, I know this to be true.

Aside from some small barangay (and in rare cases) province-wide projects, USAID is largely out of the infrastructure business, and has been totally removed from large-scale infrastructure projects for years here in the Philippines. The Japanese, Koreans and Chinese, who do continue to fund these projects do hire myriads of local staff—through local contractors—to perform much of the work, though the engineering designs and project oversight roles are retained by the funding agencies. So to argue that there's little economic impact on the local populations is categorically false. Such claims also seek to obviate the fact that the projects, once completed, not only help to create local employment, but often have huge economic impacts on the local economy. This is particularly true in the case of transportation projects, including roads and bridges, which are sorely needed here.

It's fruitless to hope that the OP will eventually learn to espouse and sustain any logical, fact-based arguments, but as someone who has spent his entire professional life in international development, I did want to do what I could to respond to the skewed ramblings of someone who has no grasp whatsoever of the subject (s) about which he speaks.

GE.

[Soapy Smith]

2,767 very exact numbers from those serial parasites. USAID are no more than a criminal mafia. The Chinese are better and should use their own logistics, land troops, carriers etc.

Anyone wishing to donate should contact expat Visayan priests as they would have the local on the ground networks. That is what I have done in the past.

Lots of reasons to criticize USAID. Like large international NGOs they are very Western in their thinking, and those models often do not match realities on the ground in developing countries. But evidence for the mafia comparison might be hard to find.

Chinese should use their own logistics, troops and carriers? That's what they typically do in development projects. They don't hire locals, they provide their own people and equipment, which gives them control and provides little if any injection of money into the local economies of developing countries. In some of their projects in Africa they used Chinese prisoners as laborers and then refused to repatriate them back to China.

The recommendation about parish priests in the Philippines may be a good idea, but I don't think most of us know how to contact them.

My friends in Bohol got 2 kilos of rice and 2 cans of sardines from Presedential candidate VP Leni and that was it.

I sent my bohol friends money to buy a couple 50 kg sacks of rice and 100 cans of sardines. Hoping this would last the 3 families for a while. They divvy up the rice and sardines into 50 relief bags of 2 kg rice and 2 sardines and handed it out to their neighbors.

They told me they couldn't let the neighbors starve! Filipino thinking is different than ours. Thank God.

Humanitarian relief can become very political. Bong Marcos and other presidential candidates also promised to provide relief, so, despite the puny packages, Leni at least followed through. Following the 2013 earthquake in Bohol, then VP Binay arranged for international aid food to be repackaged into plastic bags emblazoned with words that suggested the contents were provided by Jejomar Binay, who had declared his intent to run for President in 2016.

A group of teenagers associated with my town's local Fil-Am association decided to organize a balikbayan box relief effort (clothes, tools, dry food) for Tacloban in the days following Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). I suggested to the association's president that money is usually a better solution, because it gets to where it's needed more quickly, injects money into the local economy, and avoids the tedious work of unpacking, storing, repacking and trying to match the contents of balikbayan boxes to needs on the ground. They followed through anyway, packing and shipping 14 boxes, apparently addressed to families they knew in Tacloban.

I went to Tacloban the following summer, but before going I met with a Fil-Am mother who helped the kids organize the effort. I asked whether she had gotten advice to send money instead. She said she had, but her parents, who live in Tacloban, told her there were problems in aid distribution. The Red Cross had lots of rice to distribute but didn't have enough feet on the ground to do distribution in Samar and Leyte. So, they turned it over to local barangay officials. Those officials then turned it into a political reward system. Some citizens got five kilos, close patrons of the officials got 7. 5 kilos, and her parents, who weren't close to the barangay officials, got 2. 5 kilos. When I was in Manila in summer 2014 I met a guy who had spent a lot of time in Tacloban during the recovery period. I told him my friend's story, and he confirmed that he'd seen it happening a lot.

Dg's friends' sharing their rice and sardines is consistent with Philippine cultural practices that reflect their commitment to their communities and families. Check out the photo below. Imagine something like this in the countries where most of us live? It's also why p4ps in Cebu, Manila, and AC send home money to their families under the lifelong obligations of utang na loob. Americans especially, but most Anglo cultures as well, think in more individualistic and self-interested ways and can't relate to the girls' feelings of obligation to their families. I agree with Dg: thank God, even though I'm an agnostic.