General Info

[QUOTE=NewImage;1920929]It would appear things have settled down a lot. He hasn't had any contact since leaving a day ago. He is keeping low and hoping that nothing happens at immigration in a week and a half time.

Just a question. If you can obtain counterfeit ID cards in the Philippines or if sisters swap ID cards etc how can you be sure that this age thing doesn't happen again. If you use the adage "if she looks too young she probably is" then that will work but is there a way of telling genuine ID from fake?

Or is hotel security a good way of vetting deceivers??

What do you do? Appreciate your wisdom.[/QUOTE]I agree with you thanking the seniors as would done that any given days myself. I can ensure you though I have experience (sadly) from the matter discussed here so in this case don't just look at the numbers of post. It was nothing to do with drugs or minors but still a girl complained about something. If its quite and no more contact it doesn't mean shit. I didn't hear anything before police showed up at my hotel. IE I wasn't really aware of I was in deep shit so because of that I didn't flee and felt safe. [blue][Non-English text deleted by Admin][/blue] Know in my case it was just for the girl verifying to police I stayed at this certain hotel. Then police just go there, obtain his personal, most likely, passport info. Then they can easily put out a penal and a hold of departure warrant for him at immigration. Some seniors talk like it would matter what you will say to police (after immigration hands him to the NBI). You can deny whatever you like but the local word, especially from a girl pushed forward by the help of IJM / NGO good doers, counts four five times more than ours. And before anyone gives a shit listening to his side of the story it can be weeks, months even years before e are moved forward. Don't take it for granted he can pay his way out of it anymore as the new ruler of Phils also have directed some efforts to get rid of corruption as well. He better needs a lawyer by then. I don't say this just because you didn't give a shit me not being senior member and I need to be right. I can trust you I have more experience than some of the seniors (some also learned the hard way). No need to listen to experience as your friend obviously didn't.

Then I take the ID as a not senior member as well. I trust only passports and SSS ID's. Others than that the gut feel will go a long way. If he knows the hotel staff and its a Hi so hotel I trust them more evaluating a girls ID than a lo so one. But a student ID or swap between girls I have tested for fun even at my Hi so hide out and it didn't raise any alerts. She did have a fake one ID in first place and even swapped it with her sister. So you do the math what to trust. Passports and Sss ID is the answer in my case. Because faking those two will cost heaps of moneys in today's fashion and simply only top of the notch criminals would have the resources to do so not the average pinay we know. It will leave someone out but still a big pond to fish from.

[b][u]EDITOR'S NOTE[/u]:[/b] [blue]This report was edited to [u]remove text not in English[/u]. While I encourage contributions from all volunteers, the Forum is an English-only website. Please do not post reports in any language other than English. If you wish to post text in any language other than English, then please include a full English translation.[i]Thanks![/i][/blue]

It doesn't matter if your friend had sex with her or not. Just being in a room with a girl not 18, without her parents, is a crime in the Philippines. Same punishment.

Hotel registration is not an effective way to screen out minors. Fake IDs can fool them too. Also, a lot of guards just go through the motions.

If she had not blackmailed your friend before he left, then she probably won't report him. She has nothing to gain from it, and it may end up hurting her job prospects. As others have suggested, he should change SIM cards. Block her from all social accounts. If she can't communicate, she can't blackmail.

She can still track him down via the Subic hotel, assuming the standard practice of the hotel making a photocopy of his passport. But unless she was angry at him and vindictive, I just don't see her making the effort. Most girls doing this for a living are inherently lazy. I know I'm going to get flamed for that.

If she does track him down, he needs to pay up.

Despite what I wrote, he may have a surprise awaiting for him as he clears immigration. Personally, I would be sweating it.

I hope this is a lesson to forum readers to be careful with whom you go. Think of the long term consequences of your actions. It doesn't end with being jailed in a third world country. If you are ever released, you will not have a job to go back to. Your local paper would probably have broken the story. You will not have friends to return to and your neighbors will shun you. Who will pay the rent or mortgage? You will not have any income. Any beloved pets will pass away before you see them again. You may have to register as a sex offender. What will your family (Mom, Dad, siblings) think? Or worse, your children? Your life as you knew it is pretty much over.

Is the encounter worth the risk?

[QUOTE=SaltyPete;1921022]
Is the encounter worth the risk?[/QUOTE]Sobering thoughts SP.

[QUOTE=Dg8787;1920398]You didn't say which east coast city you are flying out from. Nor your age, food preferences, hobbies and whether you are an active person or more laid beck.

United Airlines have some pretty decent prices out of New Jersey and the Houston hub. I didn't check other cities.

Hotel prices are way down. I use [URL]tripadvisor.com[/URL] for comparison rates. Many decent hotels with pools in the $60 range..[/QUOTE]Thanks for the reply. And for everyone's help. I'm getting a membership today.

I'll be flying out of Raleigh-Durham in NC, I'm 29, very laid back. I could shorten the trip to assist with the increase in the budget, maybe 8 night there? I enjoy any kind of food really. I was stationed in Korea and enjoyed the Filipino food I tried.

Are there any hotels to avoid? Or are most OK with you bringing girls back?

Thanks again everyone! I need this trip.

Well a lot more than the casual visitor. NAIA has been a topic discussed before and this article seems to suggest things can only get better (well they can't get much worse!

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating and maybe the new administration would have a more enlightened approach to the airport than the previous one.

[URL]http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/2016/08/17/hope-abounds-for-manilas-main-airport/[/URL]

[QUOTE=WickedRoger;1923886]Well a lot more than the casual visitor. NAIA has been a topic discussed before and this article seems to suggest things can only get better (well they can't get much worse!

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating and maybe the new administration would have a more enlightened approach to the airport than the previous one.

[URL]http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/2016/08/17/hope-abounds-for-manilas-main-airport/[/URL][/QUOTE]As usual, NAIA executives--with little vision and a total lack of longer-term planning--focus on immediate solutions with little to no view of long term amelioration. The simple fact is that the capacity of the current airport cannot be expandED significantly. Another, equally salient fact is that ground equipment hasn't been upgraded in decades and there are no plans to do so. Lacking high speed rail, which there are no plans to build, Clark is not a viable alternative. The only viable longer-term solution is a massive upgrading of the entire air transportation system, and there's nothing I've read indicating that this is a possibility. It's amazing that neighboring Thailand managed to construct a world class new airport in 5 or 6 years while this place has been "studying" the problem for ten years or more. San Miguel Corporation presented a viable solution 3-4 years ago; a solution that would have cost the government nothing. Had that proposal been accepted a new airport would have been nearing completion.

On Tuesday, it took me more than 7 hours, portal to portal, to travel between Davao and Makati, largely because the infrastructure of this place is similar to that of some of the poorer African countries. I've seen nothing to indicate that any sustained vision to change things is going to happen any time soon.

GE.

Today when terrorists surround us, as in a here and there sit, we can all sit down and think how Phil would cope with this threat. My latest 3 deep I have from reasons unknown to man forgot my bottle water in my carry on, no never I've been stopped? Naia T3.

[QUOTE=GoodEnough;1923929]As usual, NAIA executives--with little vision and a total lack of longer-term planning--focus on immediate solutions with little to no view of long term amelioration. The simple fact is that the capacity of the current airport cannot be expandED significantly. Another, equally salient fact is that ground equipment hasn't been upgraded in decades and there are no plans to do so. Lacking high speed rail, which there are no plans to build, Clark is not a viable alternative. The only viable longer-term solution is a massive upgrading of the entire air transportation system, and there's nothing I've read indicating that this is a possibility. It's amazing that neighboring Thailand managed to construct a world class new airport in 5 or 6 years while this place has been "studying" the problem for ten years or more. San Miguel Corporation presented a viable solution 3-4 years ago; a solution that would have cost the government nothing. Had that proposal been accepted a new airport would have been nearing completion.

On Tuesday, it took me more than 7 hours, portal to portal, to travel between Davao and Makati, largely because the infrastructure of this place is similar to that of some of the poorer African countries. I've seen nothing to indicate that any sustained vision to change things is going to happen any time soon.

GE.[/QUOTE]And again due to lack of infrastructure (to be see in at least the late 1990 ies) it would be sane to know how many billion pisos phils miss every day due to delayed cargo / mail / people? No one has the right answer but I am up to my neck of it and told every aviation connection I have to meet in neighboring countries (aka more developed). This is not an attack on the common phl man / girl (high light girls). But a big kick in the arse to the Hi so rulers of this -airport / craft lack of handling skills. Would be quite easy to view across te sea to a few neighbors and their airport facilities (which would be highlighted amongst the world leading).

7 hours delays can of course happen all over the world but I get a grip of it happens certain places more than others. The phil way to handle trouble is to repair when broken (aka ground radar system at Naia running on a 13 yo infrastructure where its starts to get hard to replace and buy new parts), instead of maintain constantly (no hick ups). Hard to get attractive slots at Naia so if you plan starting up a new business idea you better plan arr / dep in wee hours where airspace and ground operations are at a minimum.

[QUOTE=Vitaplex;1923932]Today when terrorists surround us, as in a here and there sit, we can all sit down and think how Phil would cope with this threat. My latest 3 deep I have from reasons unknown to man forgot my bottle water in my carry on, no never I've been stopped? Naia T3.[/QUOTE]In T2, after the last security check, unless you are flying to US, you can assemble a lot of possible dangerous stuff from duty free and the food stalls.

Waiting for a flight and I check flight status online. Clearly shows it will be late 4 hours. I ask at the gate and they say they don't have any information other than every 30 minutes they announce the plane has not arrived. I then ask the gate people where is the plane coming from and they tell me where and I get the flight number. I check that planes flight status and see it won't be departing to Manila for 2 1/2 hours.

Many passengers huddled in the overcrowded, overheated gate for 4 different flights thinking their plane will be arriving in less than 30 minutes!

Du30 should add the executives at the airport and airlines to his priority hit list.

I bet it would be all resolved in 30 days.

This is just the way CP operates without concern for its passengers.

[QUOTE=Dg8787;1924392]This is just the way CP operates without concern for its passengers.[/QUOTE]It's such a bizarre airline. I've had flights that were perfect. On time, great service etc. And then others, like yours, that were a total nightmare. It's not just that they screw up, but they're completely uncommunicative about it.

And more and more, after the last 3 hour taxi wait, I've decided to avoid Terminal 3 altogether. Fly PAL, use Clark (they still have a few flights to KL and Singapore), whatever. Just anything but T3.

[QUOTE=Dg8787;1924392]Waiting for a flight and I check flight status online. Clearly shows it will be late 4 hours. I ask at the gate and they say they don't have any information other than every 30 minutes they announce the plane has not arrived. I then ask the gate people where is the plane coming from and they tell me where and I get the flight number. I check that planes flight status and see it won't be departing to Manila for 2 1/2 hours.

Many passengers huddled in the overcrowded, overheated gate for 4 different flights thinking their plane will be arriving in less than 30 minutes!

Du30 should add the executives at the airport and airlines to his priority hit list.

I bet it would be all resolved in 30 days.

This is just the way CP operates without concern for its passengers.[/QUOTE]They are an LCC, operate with thin margin and high resource utilization.

And getting the president involved in a commercial enterprise?

Really? The solution is simple. Don't fly CP if you don't like them.

BTW PAL isn't doing better. All my flights left 30 minutes to 2 hour plus late, ex SIN, KUL and return.

[QUOTE=Betong;1924444]It's such a bizarre airline. I've had flights that were perfect. On time, great service etc. And then others, like yours, that were a total nightmare. It's not just that they screw up, but they're completely uncommunicative about it.

And more and more, after the last 3 hour taxi wait, I've decided to avoid Terminal 3 altogether. Fly PAL, use Clark (they still have a few flights to KL and Singapore), whatever. Just anything but T3.[/QUOTE]A lot of flight delays now happen due to congestion as well, take off and departing.

Like once I had a 2 hour delay leaving Batanes because pilot announced Naia is having one hour plus landing delay, so we can't take off until NAIA is less crowded. Fair, unless you expect to orbit and divert.

And few times the plane couldn't dock in T2 due to lack of gates. Longest was 1 hour wait in the apron.

Welcome to Philippines!

[QUOTE=EconoTech;1924671]They are an LCC, operate with thin margin and high resource utilization.

And getting the president involved in a commercial enterprise?

Really? The solution is simple. Don't fly CP if you don't like them.

BTW PAL isn't doing better. All my flights left 30 minutes to 2 hour plus late, ex SIN, KUL and return.

A lot of flight delays now happen due to congestion as well, take off and departing.

Like once I had a 2 hour delay leaving Batanes because pilot announced Naia is having one hour plus landing delay, so we can't take off until NAIA is less crowded. Fair, unless you expect to orbit and divert.

And few times the plane couldn't dock in T2 due to lack of gates. Longest was 1 hour wait in the apron.

Welcome to Philippines![/QUOTE]Both PAL and CP are bad airlines. CP is the best amongst them despite PAL pretend to be a legacy carrier like Singapore, Thai, ANA, JAL etc etc. In my view they fail. I choose CP any given day given the chance to choose. Ex from PALs relatively new fleet of B777, CP have a newer more modern fleet. They use T3 which is best for me as I allways go to Makati. My CP flights have been relatively on time. If they just could skip the annoying competition onboard. Fun airline, hehe.

Delays and congested air traffic (ground and air) are really not the airlines fault. Lack of solid info goes for both airlines. Its almost like listening to a girl, lies lies.

I think some of these discussions are conflating two problems that are largely unrelated. One is the inept manage, est of Cebu Pacific and its poor record of customer service. This has little or nothing to do with the obvious inadequacies of the country'S woeful air transport system. The CP management issue is clearly internal and has little or nothing to do with politics or government. The crumbling, archaic air transport infrastructure is exclusively within the purview of government.

From my perspective, the general management of PAL--while admittedly falling short of acceptable international standards--is orders of magnitude better than Cebu Pacific, which is why I fly PAL exclusively on the Davao-Manila route. If I must suffer the frequent flight delays. I'd rather do so from the relative comfort of the Mabuhay Lounge, receiving accurate and frequent flight updates, than in the squalid, teeming atmosphere of Terminal 3, receiving little or no information.

GE.

[QUOTE=EconoTech;1924671]A lot of flight delays now happen due to congestion as well, take off and departing.[/QUOTE]I understand about congestion, and of course it's getting worse all over the region. I don't blame CP for that, just for their flakey attitude toward customer service. PAL ain't great, but it's a whole lot better.

The bigger problem for me lately has been airport infrastructure. It's ironic that we all used to complain about the dreadful Terminal 1 but it wasn't all that hard to get there, or to get away from there, by taxi. The traffic at Terminal 3 now at peak hours can be totally jammed up, to the point where it can take you longer to get a taxi than your flight took from HK or KL. We're assured that the construction there will end someday but how many years has it been already? I've learned the hard way just to walk out, jump over the fence, and catch a jeepney going toward Villamor. One more reason to travel light when you're in the Philippines.