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Is the Philippines becoming less welcoming and more dangerous for foreigners?

For context, I'm 26, and my Filipina fiancée and I are getting married in January. We've been together four years, and in a week we're heading there for six months.

I've traveled to a lot of places, from Thailand to South Korea to Taiwan to Mexico (I'm currently staying with friends in Puebla for two weeks). But lately I keep seeing on social media, subreddits, Facebook and the news, stories about foreigners being attacked, beaten up, robbed and even killed. Is there some kind of anti-foreigner mood going on there lately? How do things look from the perspective of the foreigners living there in this group?

In my experience, too, the Philippines has felt less welcoming and less friendly than Mexico, Thailand and so on. And trust me, I've been all over these countries in non-touristy areas, staying with local friends for long stretches. I'm just worried about rising violence and anti-foreigner sentiment ahead of my upcoming trip, because the vibe I've seen online over the past few months has definitely been off.

Why do you think this is? Or is it simply that rare acts of violence against foreigners get more exposure online?

Has anyone brought their dog over? What's the culture around pets like in the Manila/Quezon City area? Thanks for the info!

The laugh I didn't know I needed

If you could live anywhere in the Philippines without worrying about budget, safety, natural disasters or nosy neighbors, where would you go?

Anyone know where to get tobacco nasal snuff near Manila?

I'm trying to finish my bucket list of trying everything tobacco and nicotine lol

My son made me a heartfelt card.

Hi everyone!! I need some advice, please. It's my first time in the Philippines. Unfortunately we'll only be there for 8 days. I don't know where's best, but I'd like to visit two places while we're there. Where would you recommend for a first-timer? My options right now are a boathouse in Coron, Boracay, and Palawan (a very secluded island place called Patawan Island Resort). What do you think? Or any better recommendations..

Hi everyone,
I've lived in Sydney for 34 years and another 11 in the Whitsundays, and now I want to go back home to Pangasinan, Luzon. I'd like to ask how much it costs to send a single 40-foot container to Subic.

Thanks for your help👍

Cheers.

Drift isn't a big deal.

Hi! Any fellow Filipinos who emigrated and then moved back home?
I was born in the Philippines, moved to Canada at 14 and have spent half my life here (I'm 31).

I've been thinking about moving back home. I'm single right now and have no plans to have kids, but the reason I'm considering living there again is to look after and take over the family businesses.

I got my dual citizenship last year, so I can live there and stay longer than 6 months. And considering the cost of living here in Canada, well, it's pretty darn expensive.

Of course, I'll have to learn to drive aggressively there, unlike in Canada. I'll also have to adapt to a mentality and culture I didn't pick up growing up in the West.

I think that's it for now. Let me know what you think. Any insights would be great.

I really hate Filipino time!!!

You seriously have to tell them to come 2 hours early just so they show up on time.

Driver who fell asleep while driving

I hit a cat pretty hard to protect my property. Was I wrong?

So basically there's a cat that tears up everyone's garbage every trash day, and on top of that it poops on my front doorstep. Diarrhea, at that. It also damaged my neighbor's motorbike by clawing the seat. Anyway, it was digging through the trash, so I hit it pretty hard with a stick. LET IT BE KNOWN that I first tried spraying vinegar around the area to keep it away, but it didn't work. The cat doesn't come around anymore, so it was effective.

I'm looking at flights from IAH to Cebu and would love some input.

We usually fly Delta to South America and within the US.

Does United still suck?

EVA Air is double what United charges for basic economy. Is it worth it? Economy is economy, you know.

Any other airlines I should consider? Maybe fly Houston to LA and catch a direct flight to the Philippines from there.

Chocolate Lab + giant puddle = total idiot sprint!

Is there anything I need to do when arriving in the Philippines? Like vaccines or eTravel requirements. I'm flying to Cebu in a few weeks.

License renewal

My 5-year LTO license expired, so today I went to Olongapo SBMA and got the new 10-year version.

It was pretty painless.

First, a 650-peso medical right next door, no issues

Then at LTO you now have to register an online account so you can do the e-learning, about 30 questions on a PC. I didn't know them all, so I googled a couple, like the minimum age for a license, which is 17, same as my home country.

Then another 650 pesos or close to it, and checks on your photo, signature and index fingerprints.

Ta-da, I got a 10-year license..

I think it took about 20 minutes for the medical and 45 minutes at LTO ..

Nature is beautiful

Looking for dental advice

Hi everyone. Has anyone here had implants, veneers, all-on-4 or the like done around Manila or Baguio? I've had a chipped tooth fixed here, but I'd like to get my teeth looking great before I go home for Christmas.

Looking on Google, there are a few places in BGC, Makati and QC. If you've had a good or bad experience, I'd love to hear your opinion.

We're landing at Terminal 1 at 11pm with four 50 lb checked bags, two carry-ons and two personal items. My family doesn't have a van, so someone suggested getting a van at the airport. They say there's an official kiosk that works for the airport, not some shady business that'll charge you an arm and a leg. Has anyone used this service? We're headed to Quezon City. Thanks so much!

Update: My friend used the service at the airport and paid 700 plus a 250 tip from the airport to Acropolis, so I'm expecting about the same range. Anything over 2000 I'd consider pretty high.