Getting Scammed: It's More Fun In The Philippines!

Is it really more fun in the Philippines? Unfortunately, one guy Luis Simeos had learned it the hard way with what happened. At your right is a picture of a selfie he took with that gang before he got robbed of his possessions. The picture and story were taken from Inquirer.

I still couldn't forget the stupid comment of what somebody said to a certain Mr. Banh saying this trash and until now the statement continues to piss me off like there's no tomorrow, "It's pure harassment, swindling, robbery, holdup, to a foreign tourist who came from a 3rd world country. Do you think they will do that to a foreigner who came from a developed country. Is this a normal practice in Singapore that they don't explain 1st to the customer the way the warranty should be charged. I said harassment because they threatened the customer that they will not give $600 refund if he call the police. In UNITED KINGDOM, warranty is optional but they charged it 10% of the selling price good for 1 year. I thought Singapore POLICE is very tough when it comes to customer complain much more Mr. Banh is a foreign tourist? Mr Banh the next time you spend your vacation come to the Philippines..... It's more FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES.... Filipinos are hospitable, you will not be fooled in our country if you buy electronics gadgets....cheers...."

Yes, Filipinos are "hospitable" to whoever wrote that idiotic comment and Mr. Simeos has learned it the hard way with what happened. According to the news article, they had some good time together as evidenced by the selfie. What seemed to be a good time ended up in a much miserable state. He was soon brought back to his hotel where he lost a lot of hist stuff. He had lost PHP 40,000.00 from his debit card. He said, "Since that day, giving trust and finding pleasure in dealing with new people had been lost, Manila gave me the worst experience of easily trusting people and accepting their help in a genuine way." Again, to whoever made that comment, will he please explain the situation now? But I guess he'll just say, "It's more fun in the Philippines." to justify one's blunder.

So really, does that idiot who wrote to a certain Mr. Banh still think that you can't be cehated in the Philippines? Is that his idea of hospitality? Boy, whoever he is, either he's deluded or in cahoots with the con artists. The whole phrase, "You'll never be fooled in the Philippines." is an outright lie in several levels. Worse, you have that idiot David Guerrero who just keeps raising that annoying ghastly slogan, "It's More Fun in the Philippines" which may have become the national opium of the Philippines. I'm afraid that there are more Filipinos who have bought the lie and use it to justify their culture of dysfunction. What is worse, Simoes had said he has no desire to come back to the Philippines. I would have felt that if I were him. As said, no matter how many times you flash a fancy slogan, you can't really use it to ignore a problem. You may go right ahead and endorse the slums of Tondo, Manila as tourist spots but when the tourists get pissed off, do expect a lot of badmouthing especially for the agency that conned them.

What is worse is that you have incompetent law enforcement. This statement from PO3 Mike Camillo made me facedesk when he said, "If they report it, they will not longer pursue the case because they have to leave the country," Really PO3 Camillio really? It's that attitude that has caused many of the cases of the Ativan gang to be dropped just because the foreigners already left. If tourist scammers aren't punished, how do you expect to get the Philippines to improve? Let me ask that nitwit of a police officer this question, "Does the victim need to file a case before you put on the handcuffs and arrest them? Don't tell me that the murder victim has to file a complaint before you arrest the murderer? Your irresponsibility will just cause the Ativan gang to do more mischief."

I should also expect anytime the stupid Commission on Human Rights to step in. The more I think of that organization, the more I think that their brand of irresponsibility and defense of crooks like trying to justify the Ativan's gang poverty (if the members are really poor) to do crime, then shame on them. Their brand of stupidity may have even inadvertently created a generation of vigilantes. The more I think about how crime is going unpunished, the more I think that the only solution left is to take the law into one's hands. There might not be any more room to be civilized anymore in a country riddled with impunity. I'd probably be glad if somebody decided to shoot those Ativan gang members dead because the irresponsible authorities refuse to do it. Then again, you know the typical, "Kawawa naman sila." or "They are worth pitying." if that should ever happen to them.

Unless con artists are dealt with swiftly and accordingly, there's really no room for real discipline. Again, what do you expect from a nation filled with people who refuse to follow simple guidelines to have proper law enforcement? I'm afraid too many Filipinos love impunity like there's no tomorrow. Do you think that ghastly slogan will keep tourism up now that scam artist incidents are becoming more and more viral? It will just continue to destroy the credibility because getting scammed is certainly NOT more fun in the Philippines.