Kidnapping risk in the Philippines, from someone whose family was held hostage in Baguio
Hi everyone, I saw someone else's post about the risk of getting kidnapped in the Philippines.
I think sometimes when we see something on the news, we immediately assume the risk is bigger than it really is. Even something happening to you personally doesn't make it statistically more likely.
Actually, my daughter and her mother were taken hostage in Baguio within the last four years. It was a fairly random incident involving someone who seemed to be having a mental breakdown. Something like that could have happened almost anywhere, though maybe the outcome would have been different somewhere else.
Still, it hasn't changed how I live here. I go wherever I want.
Every time I see a story about someone getting killed in the Philippines, I find myself asking: what are the statistics for the same thing happening back home? A terrible individual event makes the news because it's rare and dramatic. That doesn't tell you much about your own statistical risk of it happening to you.
For me, it's about staying aware of your surroundings and using common sense, without letting a few isolated incidents dictate how you live your life.
