Criminal Foreigners Arrested in the Philippines

Hey YouTube, Alex here and in today's video I want to discuss criminals in Southeast Asia, criminal expats.

This is prompted by an article that popped up in my feed showing that I believe a Swiss individual was just arrested in Manila.

And I'll try to throw a link to this article in the description below.

Tried to find it again, couldn't find it, but I'm sure if I dig a bit more, I'll find it.

Anyway, I wanted to address this comment or question or concern I had from an audience member saying, "You're always talking about criminals.

Why don't you uh get more specific?

You don't ever provide proof." Well, I've got some reasons as to why I don't name people specifically.

I'm happy to, like I said, include a link.

Um, in this instance, there's a news article about it.

I feel a bit more comfortable with that.

Uh but for the most part, I want to avoid singling people out because uh they are entitled to privacy, right?

Uh they may have friends and family or loved ones that are concerned about the situation.

And for me, it's more about patterns of behavior.

It's not about, oh, this guy's a bad guy or this girl is a bad girl.

Uh it's more about just these are patterns of behavior I've noticed over the years.

It's not the first time or the last time somebody's going to get into trouble for some of these issues, but this is more to just prepare people to uh be aware of the situation at large.

So, let's go ahead and get into it.

My first reason is that throughout Southeast Asia, there are defamation laws.

So this is very different than the US where in Southeast Asia you can be charged and arrested for a defamation even if it's true.

Uh I'm not going to get super specific cuz it varies from country to country.

But there are laws that say you cannot go and just uh trash a business.

You cannot trash an individual.

And foreigners have gotten in trouble for this.

uh even when the allegations are true, even when the criminal activity is proven to be uh accurate, you're not entitled to speak your mind about these issues like you might be in the United States or your home country.

Uh so for me, it's in considering the law, uh I don't want to risk getting in trouble.

Why would I risk getting in trouble to um you know, Yeah.

Why would I risk getting in trouble?

there's no point in that.

Uh for me, it's more about patterns of behavior.

Like look, I can't control the actions of other people, but I can control my own actions.

And so, uh kind of preparing you to do your own research to uh potentially look people up.

I'm not going to uh specify it by name, but there was an expat in Dumageddi, I think a year or two ago, and he had done the rounds of the podcasters and talked about what a great guy he was.

And then it comes out that he is actually a somewhat notorious criminal in the uh United States.

And all these uh people were fooled.

I mean, I know some people say, "I knew it all along." I'm sure some people did, but many people were fooled by this individual.

Very charismatic, very well spoken, articulate, um guy that if you met him on the street, uh I think the majority of people would be like, "Man, what an interesting guy.

What a cool guy." and think nothing of it.

Right?

There were a few people that called them out, but many people were totally blindsided.

And so this idea that, oh, you know, I'm so good at it.

Well, not everybody is good at um catching this kind of red flag, if that makes any sense.

Um and so moving into the next point, there is this risk of lawsuit.

So even if you are uh you know basically calling somebody out uh and it doesn't go criminal there's a risk they could sue you.

I know of another expat um that basically was involved in some conflict uh and then turn around and sued the other party.

And so uh there are people and this is a similar behavior you see in the United States where they go and try to bait people into conflict or bait people uh into argument and then they turn around and try to get them in trouble.

And so there is this type of expat you may run into in Southeast Asia that tries to uh start a fight with you and then turns around and wants to take you to court.

So, uh, this is another instance where I don't want to be involved with this type of person.

I don't want to have to go to court to deal with this kind of situation.

It's not worth it for me.

There's no upside that I can see.

Um, and it goes back to patterns.

Like, if you think, oh, it's just this one person or just this this other person.

I'm discussing this more in the context of systems, not individuals, because uh people come and go, but you know, you're hopefully your expat journey is a long one.

and uh you're able to get your pattern recognition um down such that you catch some of these instances regardless of who that person is.

The uh the third one is that I don't like to discuss the harming of children.

I'm just going to keep it that way.

I've had people, well, why don't you well why don't you talk about and blah blah blah and I don't like to discuss that topic.

It's very unpleasant topic.

It's very unfortunate.

Uh but this is another one where you know you Google foreigner arrested in Southeast Asia.

This will come up.

There are uh news stories just about every year of foreigners getting arrested in Southeast Asia for this kind of activity.

It's very very unfortunate.

It's disgusting.

It's I think among the worst crimes an individual can commit.

But those people still have some semblance of uh legal protections or legal rights.

And I I'm thinking about the long term, like I don't want to um be enjoying a life over in Southeast Asia and then having to go to court because I brought this topic up.

I've unfortunately uh you know seen individuals in public in Southeast Asia that I through friends of uh friends figured out, oh yeah, this individual is a creep.

This individual is a weirdo and I don't want to be around them.

I uh I'm not going to become a vigilante, which is uh my next point in this video, but I'm certainly going to steer clear of that individual.

I'm not going to be friends with friends of that individual.

I don't want anything to do with them.

Am I going to come out and um make a video at risk to myself?

Absolutely not.

Uh, but I'm not going to um I'm not going to be fooled or I'm not going to normalize that kind of uh ideal idea or activity.

And if you spend a long enough time in Southeast Asia, unfortunately, you're probably going to meet uh somebody that that fits this description.

It just um you know, it's just something that you have to be mindful about.

Uh I don't certainly don't think that's everybody.

I don't even think it's most expats in Southeast Asia, but I find some expats, they operate in this like they have this inability to think that other people are different from themselves.

So, they think I'm I'm a law-abiding person.

Everybody's law.

No, no, no.

If everybody was law-abiding, we wouldn't have law enforcement.

If everybody was law law abiding, uh none of these regions or countries would have jails, um prisons, um you know, incarceration uh systems, lawyers, a whole legal system designed to deal with people that don't follow the rules.

Uh if I, you know, I wish we lived in a perfect world where none of that was necessary, but unfortunately, we do not.

And it's important to be mindful about this stuff because u you you don't know um the system like you know the system in your home country.

like I'm well aware of how the US legal system works through education and uh just you know also like you read the news you kind of get a sense you know you can go talk to people involved in the system United States if you want to go and uh down to your local police station or sheriff's department and ask questions do a ride along for example you can easily do a ride along I wouldn't feel comfortable with these kinds of things in other countries not because I think there's anything wrong with them but Um, it's just uh, you know, it's just some I I don't even understand.

I don't even know if that's allowed, right?

I don't know if you're you're really encouraged to engage in the way that you are in your home country.

Uh, so yeah, I think point number four, there's no point for me to engage in vigilanteism.

I'm not here to um, you know, bring people to justice.

I'll leave that up to the professionals.

I'll leave that up to the legal systems in other countries.

I'll leave that up to law enforcement in those places as an example to get the visa I had in the Philippines to extend past a certain point.

I had to undergo a background check.

Um, and so in that case, if I had had a a bad paperwork, I would have been caught, stopped, I would have been deported.

I would have been sent away.

Uh fortunately, you know, I don't have a record like that.

So, um nothing came up.

I was given my visa extension and that was fine.

But I leave that up to the professionals.

I'm not in uh Southeast Asia trying to figure out uh who I can uh get in trouble.

That's not my responsibility.

And I I don't I don't want to be I don't want to have legal implications resulting from trying to do the right thing, trying to be a hero.

That's uh that's something that can quickly get you in a mountain of trouble.

You don't know um what that person with nothing to lose is capable of.

You don't know uh whether or not they're they're u you don't know how desperate they are.

And uh people who are involved in criminal activity like this, they already have a pattern of making bad decisions.

What's one or two more bad decisions?

Um once again, this is not about everybody's a bad guy.

All expats are bad.

It's really just having that awareness because it's it's uh the the guard rails go down.

If you've ever played billiards, you know, for the kids and for noviceses, then they put up these rails on the side, right?

They have these rails that protect the ball from going in the gutter and you're going to score some points.

You don't have that as an expat.

You're dealing with very different systems, different cultures, different uh belief systems, different sets of rules.

What's permitted in your home country may not be permitted at all overseas.

What is not permitted in your home country may be perfectly fine overseas.

And I think it's best to consult with a lawyer.

Uh if you have if you're going overseas, talk to a lawyer if you have questions or concerns.

Those are the paid licensed professionals that can advise you.

I'm certainly not a lawyer in any country.

So take everything I say with a grain of salt.

And this I'm just going to wrap this one up.

This one's not going to be as long of a video because I just don't think it needs the time for that.

But the fifth one would be just the a bigger picture, right?

So this is not, you know, I occasionally I feel comfortable mentioning it.

Like in the situation with Vitali, there's dozens and dozens and dozens of videos on that individual and his uh situation.

I don't think that anybody would argue, oh no, he's he's uh done nothing wrong.

I think it's pretty obvious.

His his actions were recorded on video.

Uh and in this instance, there's news articles about it.

Uh but for many other cases, I'm not here to speculate, right?

It's not for me to guess at things.

It's just instinct.

It's just articles.

It's I I'm looking more for proof.

And I don't have to what's the word?

I'd rather show you how to fish than catch the fish for you, if that makes any sense.

So yeah, if you're ever curious, Google foreigner arrested in this country or expat arrested in this country.

You'll get articles.

It's not just Americans either.

I think some people might think I'm picking on Americans.

You'll see people of many different nationalities getting arrested in other countries.

It's not just limited to one person or one type of person or one demographic.

Unfortunately, people of all different backgrounds choose to engage in crime, choose to break the law.

And it's not on us to uh try to, you know, be the arbiter of good and bad, but I think you have to take responsibility for the people that you choose to hang out with when you go overseas, especially you have to in any country, but even more so overseas.

I mean, this reminds me of an instance when I was in the mountains of Colorado.

Uh I was in the Aspen area, actually, and I was leaving a concert at the Belly Up concert venue there in Aspen.

and an individual is getting arrested.

Not going to specify um why, but the law enforcement officer turned to him and said, "Was it these guys?" Implying that I or the friend of mine that I was walking with were involved in this crime.

Unfortunately, the kid said, "No, no, shook his head." No, I wasn't involved in this this crime.

But, you know, this is in the United States.

This law enforcement officer is trying to figure out what's going on.

And I'm just walking by like I with a crowd of about 500 people.

I think that's the capacity of Belly Up.

It was sold out.

Maybe 550 people.

Uh but just like that, just walking by total stranger.

Don't know this guy.

Don't know the officer involved.

I could have been wrapped up in that if I wasn't quick thinking and just looked at him like, "What are you talking about?" you know, just um unfortunately nothing further came about.

The individual who was getting in trouble indicated I wasn't involved.

Uh but this is this is how quickly uh things can go wrong.

And and so I just think like when I'm overseas, I want to be very very careful about who I associate with.

um when I'm going out, for example.

I'm not a a big night owl abroad like um I might have been in my younger days here in America.

And so anyway, let me know what you think down in the comments.

What do you think?

Uh do you think I'm being overzealous?

Do you think that I'm uh acting like a cop or something like that?

Maybe you think the opposite.

Maybe uh you think I'm being too forgiving or um too careful.

It's uh it's just worth thinking about.

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Bye-bye.