Makati City, Philippines

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There are both photos and movie clips in this set and the clips are still uploading to YouTube and I have to make this as quick as reasonably possible to get some other things done.

Here are the photos first.

I had intended to get a better shot of the outside of the new building but I'd taken so many by that time that I just wanted to move on.

The first is the outside of the foyer of the new Fire and Police (PNP) stations.

The second shows the aging truck that they have to work with. The firefighters tell me that it's a 1979 model.

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My first stop was to the new firehouse. I'd come to visit in the old building and knew that at least some of the firefighters would remember me from the summer.

Genalyn C Tan is the ranking officer at the firehouse and she was nice enough to give me a quick tour of the new station. Thanks also for allowing all the pics.

Here are a few shots of the inside. First is the general quarters. No AC here but it appeared comfortable.

Then the meeting room. Very nice table and chairs for the Philippines.

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This is the commander's office. An office with a view ( ) a powerful AC unit and comfortable seating.

I appreciate comfortable seating no matter where I'm at in the world.

Simple, neat and new.

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This is the view from the commander's office. A nice view of the truck.

This station is a sub-station which means that it's much less busy than the main station. The reality is that most of the younger FFers are at the main station and this is generally for FFers that are...approaching retirement.

Certainly not a country club here but much less action than many of the surrounding stations.

The central station in downtown Makati dispatch staff from this station to assist with fires in close proximity to the sub station.

Does that mean that the sub station FFers take a tricycle to the fire and use the equipment and the trucks from the central station?

I never got an answer to that with all that was going on.

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Here are some pictures of the recent opening of the sub station and the services that they provide, training and the like.

The next pic is of the org chart here.

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Thanks to all the staff at the Comembo sub station.

Now on to the PNP station. I've not known any of the cops here so when I walked in with my camera the police there were a little curious about me.

This police station is pretty quiet so I started asking some questions before taking a lot of photos. Let them get used to me before I go full out with the pictures.

There were a few officers there and I asked them questions about the area and their experience in the PNP. Simple questions turned into more interesting complex conversations and before I knew it I had been there over an hour shooting the breeze.

I took these pics of the holding tank just to give an idea of what the facility is like. Everything is new but this is the temp holding tank and there's not even a chair to sit on.

Luckily for the prisoner, there is an unclaimed motorbike there but it's not looking too comfy to sit on.

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Here's the inside looking out.

Just imagine being really drunk and being locked up here. You can't sit down or use the toilet and you cannot see the TV.

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After more than an hour of Q and A, they prepared for thier patrol and asked if I'd like to come with them.

Yes, of course.

The driver gets the cruiser cooled off and loads the M4 and stows it in the back seat.

Cop: Go ahead and sit in the back seat. There is an M4 back there. Do you know how to use it?

Slang: Um....Yes. Do you think I'll need to?

Cop: No, but if we are attacked, secure it. Don't shoot it just point it.

Slang: Well, if we get attacked and you guys are all dead....I'm going to shoot it, you can bet on that.

Cop: Fair enough. If we're all dead....

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We all pile into the cruiser and head toward the hospital.

There is a suspect at the Ospital Ng Makati that they are going to check on.

We then arrive and walk into the secured area of the Ospital.

They tell me that I can take pics inside but I opt not too. The suspect has been stabbed and beaten up. He's wrapped in a sheet and sitting in a wheelchair.

He's a young man with tatoos on each arm. I can see stitches in his chest. He's eyes are blood red and there's dried blood outside of his ears. He might have been an asskicker last night but today he's a pretty slow mover.

I stand for a minute or two while they attempt to talk to the guy and take a few photos of him with their camera.

The ranking officer talks briefly to the doctor and then we're out of there.

Interesting in a way, yes but this is real life for sure.

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This was just a lucky shot. It's a Porshe 911. One doesn't see a large number of these here in the Philippine.

There was a pinoy driving it but this was the best shot that I could get as we were moving in the cruiser.

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This is the biggest fire station in the Philippines, the Makati Central Station.

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Most of the equipment is old by American standards but compared to the rest of Luzon, it's much better.

We we're running out of time and I didn't have time to get a thousand pictures of the trucks like I normally do.

Most of them are from the late 80s and early 90s.

There are newer trucks in Binondo and I've seen them. They are Chinese and seem to have the same features. As far as stations go though, this is the biggest.

I've also seen the results of a recent fire in a high rise building. The buildings must have their own fire suppression systems or fire hoses because there just aren't enough fire trucks to effectively respond to fires in time to prevent them from destroying an entire building.

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This is the Makati Central Police Station. It's the building in the background with the blue windows.

It seemed like a good idea to leave the camera off in the station but I did get to roam around for a few mintues.

There is a thriving lockup there, both male and female. The female prisoners seemed happy to see me and waved enthusiastically.

The chief of police has an office here but I did not have the chance to meet him.

I was allowed into some of the offices while the cops were gathering paperwork. There was a number of women police officers at the station. Officers in the same uniform as the guys that I was hanging with.

I've not seen any women PNPs up to this point.

No one at the station had an M4 hanging off an tac sling.

Sidenote: I was told that the security for the Main Station was done by outside agencies, not PNP. That seemed strange but that's what I was told.

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Here's a clip from the inside of the cruiser. We are near the station at this point.

The PNP may be the cops here but they are not feared. Respected, yes. Feared, no.While there were not people flipping birds or gesturing the cruiser, people were passing us on bikes and cars.

I suppose traffic control would be a different situation.

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Many of the previous descriptions were rushed. There are a lot of typos and details that I'd like to add.

The edit feature is often only available for a few hours and I don't have the time now to change them anyway.

There are some important indoor online activities that demand my attention now.

My next post here might not be until the first of the month.

Thanks to all of you that visit the thread. See you then.