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I feel so bad for this small business that's been waiting nine months for CHED to pay them, which is longer than a pregnancy. CHED is seriously something else. And on the FOI site, when you file a complaint about a university, the reply tells you to report the university to PBBM, but isn't that CHED's job?

Share your views

This is the 360-degree view from the rooftop. Gorgeous scenery… peaceful, thought-provoking, humbling, awe-inspiring.
It's home (for half the year).
See you next week.

Anyone else want to share "your view"? In a video! 😉

That time Patrick Stewart took a shot at James Corden

I'm planning a trip, and I'd like to know the best way to send money from the US to the Philippines.

Does anyone here own a Benelli TRK 251? I'm thinking about buying one but I'm on the fence!

Which dating app do you recommend for a Black Christian woman living in the Philippines?

Hello, expats!

I'm a 26-year-old African Christian woman living in the Philippines, and I'd like some advice on how to navigate the dating scene. Honestly, dating here hasn't been smooth. I've thought about trying dating apps, but I've always been a little hesitant because of the horror stories I've heard. Still, I'm at the point where I want to put myself out there and really give it a try. Before anyone tells me to just meet people naturally, I know that's ideal, but in my situation it's not a realistic, easy option. It's rare to meet like-minded men, and when I do, most of them only want something casual or are basically passport bros just looking to have fun before they go home.

That's not what I'm looking for.

I'm dating to find someone who wants a serious, committed relationship that could eventually lead to marriage. My faith is really important to me too. I'm a Christian, and I want to meet a man who sincerely practices his faith and shares similar values. I'm open on denomination, but I want someone who takes his relationship with God seriously. I know these requirements narrow the pool, but I don't want to compromise on the things that matter most to me. In the end, I just want to meet someone I can confidently introduce to my parents and build a beautiful life with. Someone who shares my values and has marriage and family in mind. So, Reddit, advice please.

Help me out! 🤎

I'm really impressed by this group ✨
Everyone here is amazing. I'm so grateful for the good friends I've met here, because you're all REAL, and that's rare. It means a lot to me. I'm moving to Dumaguete City, the biggest change I've ever made in my life. My next step is finding a simple, private, budget-friendly, clean studio apartment with a trustworthy landlord around April (but I have to fly out on a one-way ticket and move right away). Any advice would be appreciated. Love you all ✨

Mayon Volcano right now:

SC: Men Can Also Be Victims of Sexual Violence

The Supreme Court (SC) ruled that men can also be victims of sexual violence, stressing that the law must protect all victims of abuse regardless of gender.

In a decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, the Court En Banc convicted a woman of acts of lasciviousness against her 11-year-old nephew.

The incident happened when the child visited relatives on his father's side. While the child was sleeping, the woman woke him up, ordered him to take off his clothes, and made him lie on her bed. She then had sexual intercourse with him.

Curious about what was happening, the child did not resist at first. But after the incident, he felt ashamed and even thought about taking his own life.

After undergoing psychological debriefing and supportive psychotherapy, the child was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the sexual abuse.

Both the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals found the woman guilty of acts of lasciviousness in relation to Section 5(b) of Republic Act No. 7610 (RA 7610), the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.

Before the SC, the woman argued that the child had consented to the sexual act.

The SC did not accept this.

The SC explained that at the time of the incident in 2018, the age of sexual consent was 12. Since the child was only 11, he was considered legally incapable of giving consent.

However, the SC clarified that the correct offense to apply was not RA 7610 but statutory acts of lasciviousness under Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).

Citing the case of Gramatica v. People, the SC explained that RA 7610 applies when a minor appears to have consented to a sexual act because of an adult's coercion or influence, and does not apply when the minor is completely unaware, unconscious, or legally unable to consent, as in this case.

The SC also stated that the woman was charged with "statutory acts of lasciviousness" because, at the time of the offense, her act did not fall under the legal definition of rape in Article 266-A of the RPC. At that time, the law limited rape to a man inserting his penis into a woman's vagina, and to the insertion of a penis or any object into another person's genital or anal orifice.

However, RA 11648, enacted in 2022, broadened the definition of rape, providing that it is a crime that may be committed by any person who has carnal knowledge of another person under the circumstances set by law.

According to the SC, the law's use of the term "person" without specifying the offender's gender means that women can also commit rape.

Despite this amendment, the SC pointed out that some rulings still describe rape as a crime committed by men against women. The SC noted that this view stems from the old patriarchal rape law. That law was originally meant not to protect women from violence, but to punish men who took away, through rape, women who were regarded as the property of their fathers or husbands.

The SC held that such beliefs about rape are not only sexist but also exclude male victims who suffer the same trauma. Being unable to acknowledge that one can be a victim of rape can make it even harder to realize that one has been victimized. The SC stressed:

"Thus, while the historical injustices suffered by women must be acknowledged, the law and its interpretation must be flexible enough to provide equal protection to all victims and to prevent the stereotype that all women are victims and all men are perpetrators. When the law is not gender-neutral, male victims suffer twice: once at the hands of the perpetrator, and again through the justice system."

The SC noted that many countries have adopted gender-neutral rape laws to protect every person's right to make decisions about their own body and to safeguard them from non-consensual sexual acts. Properly recognizing and identifying this type of abuse challenges societal attitudes of denial and encourages both male and female victims to seek support and legal remedies.

"[Our] law should recognize that sexual violence is equally devastating no matter how it is committed, and there should at the very least be a reassessment of whether the historical basis that has justified the distinctions in rape law remains valid today and, more importantly, whether it is fair."

In this case, the SC pointed out that the sexual violence the child suffered caused extreme shame and guilt and left him traumatized. The woman also made the child believe that he had consented to and enjoyed what was done to him. The SC stated that if the genders had been reversed, this case would have been treated as rape. As things stand, however, the punishable act does not fall under the legal definition of rape set by law at the time of the offense.

The woman was sentenced to imprisonment of 9 to 16 years and ordered to pay PHP 250,000 as civil indemnity and damages.

In a separate concurring opinion, Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez stated that the sexual act in this case could be considered rape under the expanded definition of rape in RA 11648. However, that definition cannot be applied retroactively, because doing so would impose a heavier penalty on the accused, contrary to Article 22 of the RPC. That provision allows retroactive application of penal laws only when favorable to the accused.

Source: Supreme Court of the Philippines (https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/sc-men-can-also-be-victims-of-sexual-violence/)

The very moment he hears that crunch

Good morning, I'd like to know if the ferries from Bohol to Cebu are still running every day.

According to the news, it's now officially confirmed that the entire DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) is 100% corrupt.

I'd guess 50% of project money goes to corruption, so unless the projects are already ghost projects, the quality of the work must be shoddy too.

It's also been confirmed that practically all the politicians and DPWH officials involved in the matter are corrupt.

It's a real mess, and I don't know how the Philippines will ever be able to clean this up.

So the corruption is 100% of politicians and 100% of top DPWH officials.

Crazy.

No wonder the peso is at 64 to the dollar right now.

Former DPWH official exposes agency-wide kickback scheme across projects

State witness Roberto Bernardo testified that kickbacks were tied to every DPWH project, but Martin Romualdez added that he never demanded any.

A Cosmo magazine from 20 years ago. John Lloyd really nailed the future

It's yashiyashi baida.

I was looking for something simple to snack on with beer, found this, and ordered it.

I thought it was tasty, but my friend took one bite and said it was in their top 3 worst foods they've ever had in the Philippines, and suffered because the smell was so awful.

I wondered if it was really that bad and tried it again, but I still thought it was good.

Huh, that's weird.. I said it tasted okay to me and I couldn't even smell anything, but my friend said our tastes are just different and refused to eat it.

After that, whenever we ordered snacks with our drinks and I ordered nachos, I saw my friend pick the nachos very seriously. I think that memory left them with a trauma.

Have you ever been mistaken for a different ethnicity or race while traveling abroad?

My friend just got back from Fiji, and she said she was often mistaken for a Polynesian there. People kept asking her if she was Tongan. That's never happened to me, so it got me thinking about my own travel experiences and those of my other friends.

Southeast Asia - taken for a local
East Asia and West Asia - always recognized as Filipino (Filipino American, because of how I speak)
South Asia - Nepali, Assamese
Most of Europe - Latino, usually Brazilian, Venezuelan, or Colombian. Only in the Netherlands was I taken for Southeast Asian
South America - usually a local; in Brazil, Japanese or Indian
East Africa - Malaysian or Singaporean, and in my case, occasionally Mauritian or Nigerian

Other friends have often heard Central Asian (in India they get Kazakh a lot), Chinese, Japanese, Korean (common in Europe), Sri Lankan, Arab (in Latin America), Latino (in the US and Canada), and other Southeast Asian nationalities (in Australia, usually Vietnamese).

The world is really diverse, and so are Filipinos! I've also realized that when locals see a somewhat unfamiliar face, they match it to the closest reference point they know (like being taken for Japanese in Brazil), even if you don't look much like the average person of that ethnicity.

In Africa, economic reasons played a bigger role. Singaporeans come across as wealthy Asians who travel, and Mauritius has a large Creole population and is relatively well off on average, so people there travel a lot. Wealthy Nigerians (a high proportion of whom have lighter skin, and whose skin tone is similar to a morena [brown-skinned] Filipino like me) reportedly go on safari in East Africa a lot, so I think Kenyans and Tanzanians linked me to those nationalities they're familiar with.

I'd love to hear how locals saw you when you traveled too!

My Canadian driver's license expires in December. If I switch to a Philippine license, will it still be internationally recognized in Canada?? I mean for when I go back to Canada and rent a car. Any advice would be appreciated.

Seeking advice from expats living in the Philippines – Late death registration, US Embassy CRODA, SUMC hospital issue

Hello everyone,

I'd like to ask for advice from expats living in the Philippines, especially Americans and anyone who knows about Philippine hospitals, the US Embassy, the Local Civil Registry (LCR), and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

I'm in a difficult situation because my late American husband's death certificate and death registration were delayed.

Background:

My husband died in May 2020 at Silliman University Medical Center (SUMC) in Dumaguete City. Unfortunately, his death was never reported to the Philippine civil registry. I checked with the LCR and the PSA, but no Philippine death record came up.

I am his legally married surviving spouse. We were separated when he died, but we never legally divorced or legally separated.

Regarding the US Embassy in Manila:

I contacted the US Embassy in Manila to ask about my husband's death. I was told that another close relative had already reported his death. However, the embassy said it couldn't tell me who that person was because of privacy protection.

I was also told that the Consular Report of Death Abroad (CRODA) was issued on February 25, 2025, almost 5 years after my husband died.

The embassy explained that the relative already has the CRODA, and that copies can be requested from the US Department of State's Passport Vital Records Section.

I'd like to understand how this US consular death report relates to a Philippine death registration that doesn't exist.

The SUMC hospital issue:

SUMC has records confirming my husband's admission and death, but there is an unpaid hospital bill of about ₱872,182 outstanding.

Before issuing the necessary death documents, the hospital keeps demanding that I sign a Compromise Agreement and a Promissory Note as a co-maker.

The hospital has also proposed a new agreement regarding the unpaid bill.

I haven't signed because I'm worried about personally taking on a hospital debt that I never agreed to.

I understand that SUMC also sent documents to the US Embassy in Manila to confirm my husband's death.

What I've done so far:

- I contacted the US Embassy in Manila about the death notification and the CRODA.

- I contacted the Department of Health (DOH) about the hospital's refusal to issue the necessary documents.

- I obtained a Certificate of No Death Record from the PSA.

- I consulted the local civil registry about the late death registration.

- I asked SUMC to explain the death documents and the requirement that I sign as a co-maker.

My questions:

1. Can a Philippine hospital withhold a physician's death certificate because of an unpaid hospital bill?

2. Can a surviving spouse proceed with late death registration through the LCR and PSA without signing the hospital's promissory note or becoming a co-maker?

3. Can the CRODA issued by the US Embassy be used in the Philippines as a supporting document for late death registration?

4. When another relative has already received the CRODA but I, as the spouse, need documents to register the death in the Philippines, what can a legally married surviving spouse do?

5. Can a surviving spouse require SUMC to issue the necessary physician's death documents without taking on personal liability for the hospital debt?

6. Which government agencies or legal aid organizations can help resolve this situation?

To be clear, I'm not seeking inheritance, property, or any financial benefit. I'm not trying to claim anything from my late husband's estate. My only concern is to obtain the necessary death certificate, properly register my husband's death with the Philippine authorities, and correct my civil status from married to widowed.

I sincerely welcome practical advice, personal experiences, and referrals from anyone who knows about Philippine civil registration, hospital regulations, and US consular death records.

Thank you for reading my story.

Seeking advice from expats living in the Philippines – Late death registration, US Embassy CRODA, SUMC hospital issue

Soup Belly Training

Trick or Treat: Adults vs. Kids

Are there any foreigners living in the Philippines around my age? I'm 26.