Re: My week in Manila:Dial M for Mayhem.

You need to get away from Manila, Mattd. It just ain't the Philippines, any more than Paris is France. Also: give yourself some time for acclimation before writing. I'm glad I didn't see this piece in '96 before I first came here, because I would have had a completely false impression of the place. We notice the things we're not used to and forget the multiple instances of violence we see in our hometown news in the States because we're used to that. Perspective is needed. Marc de Piolenc living peacefully and happily on Mindanao mattd wrote:

Dial M for Mayhem Abduction,melodrama and murder: Just another week in "Arroyo's greater Manila".