Jose, who runs a little eatery on the side of the street carries a Magnum 44.
He's changing batteries and sims in his three phones.
'My Samsung was stolen recently,' he says. The other three Samsungs he has are the fake ones made in Vietnam.
'Two guys broke into my SUV,' he says, which is parked out his shop, where his children are having a rave party inside dancing to top forty tunes are belting out of the expensive music player.
Jose got access to CCTV footage from the building across the road and was able to track down the two petty thieves.
He's a bit chubby, loves nothing but a long chat and is your typical friendly Philipino who brags about being connected with police and top generals.
'I got a permit from the General to carry a gun,' he says, 'normally it takes time, psychological tests and training, but I got mine instantly.'
He carries a gun to protect his family.
'Just that simple,' he says.
Running a 24-hour business on the streets of Manila is dangerous. He'll usually sleep in his car during the evening shift, 'and if anything goes wrong, I'll be around to deal with it.'
During the day, he's a lab technician, taking samples of patients at their homes in the morning and analysing them at the lab.
He says those two thieves are off the streets now, 'for life.'
'The General thanked me for it, he says how long do you want them in jail, I had the option of short time or life. I said life. So the police planted drugs on the criminals and their usual two months for petty theft became an indefinite stay in jail.'
He says those two thieves had been targetting foreigners.
'And they denied they stole my phone at the police station. So the police put a bullet between their fingers and pressed hard. Still denied. So they turned off the lights of the interrogation cell and cocked the empty gun and fired a few times.That got the confession they were looking for.'
Jose says I can write about this, 'it's a true story, nothing most Filipinos don't know.'
He says the President has doubled the salary of police officers.
'You'll find less corruption these days,' he says, and even his wife who works in a government bank got a double pay rise this month. 'The teachers are next.'
He's hoping that will stop the brain drain of qualified teachers, many who work in Thailand.
Jose is a big supporter of Duterte and believes justice needs to be helped along.
'Hey, if I was a real assole, I could have had those crooks bumped off.'
He says the two thieves are in jail 'as long as president serves his term, only after that, they may get a pardon.'
I told him about how I was followed by a tout the other day.
'If I catch him, he'll be in jail for life too.'
He lets out a big belly laugh. He hates tourists being harassed. He gives cash to his children and they double time to Jollibee for a fast food fix.
Jose is a vigilante and a wonderful father. And he serves great and cheap food at his eatery and gives me generous portions.
He's offered to take me to a cockfight in the provinces.
'Double blades,' he says. I'm almost cumming in my pants. And he knows it.
He's quiet now, and reflective.
'If I didn't put those crims in jail for life, they'd be back out on the streets, and I'd be their first victim, then my family. It's a tough call but sometimes you gotta do what is right. Twisting the law is inevitable sometimes.'
I'm following his logic. There's a desperation on the streets, and if Duterte shoot-to-kill policy is deterring the nastier elements, it really can't be a bad thing, can it?
'Better we kill them than they kill us,' says Jose.
The working logic of that makes perfect sense.
'Before I couldn't drive across Manila without being held up by a thug. These days, it's safe. The streets are getting safer.'
The streets are getting safer. I wasn't mugged today.
'And if you were, then call me,' says Jose, 'we'll remedy that problem quick smart.'
I said when I enter Muslim countries, I know that it's a death penalty for anyone who uses or deals in drugs. I even told him about my cavity search in Medan.
'It's the law,' he says, 'and the condition on entering the country, you must know that. If you don't like it, don't enter those countries.'
He says here in the Philipines it's more clear-cut.
'Instead of waiting on death row, we dispense of the problem quickly. If you haven't volunteered yourself for rehabilitation, the end of the road could be bleeding out on the streets.'
I nod.
'And if you don't agree with it,' he continues, ' don't come here. And if you come here and still don't agree with it, don't use drugs, or else we'll kill you. It's just that simple.'
I mentioned that the armed forces also had their salary doubled.
'That's right, how else do you prevent a coup, keep the military happy.'
Makes perfect sense in any coup-prone country.
He's changing batteries and sims in his three phones.
'My Samsung was stolen recently,' he says. The other three Samsungs he has are the fake ones made in Vietnam.
'Two guys broke into my SUV,' he says, which is parked out his shop, where his children are having a rave party inside dancing to top forty tunes are belting out of the expensive music player.
Jose got access to CCTV footage from the building across the road and was able to track down the two petty thieves.
He's a bit chubby, loves nothing but a long chat and is your typical friendly Philipino who brags about being connected with police and top generals.
'I got a permit from the General to carry a gun,' he says, 'normally it takes time, psychological tests and training, but I got mine instantly.'
He carries a gun to protect his family.
'Just that simple,' he says.
Running a 24-hour business on the streets of Manila is dangerous. He'll usually sleep in his car during the evening shift, 'and if anything goes wrong, I'll be around to deal with it.'
During the day, he's a lab technician, taking samples of patients at their homes in the morning and analysing them at the lab.
He says those two thieves are off the streets now, 'for life.'
'The General thanked me for it, he says how long do you want them in jail, I had the option of short time or life. I said life. So the police planted drugs on the criminals and their usual two months for petty theft became an indefinite stay in jail.'
He says those two thieves had been targetting foreigners.
'And they denied they stole my phone at the police station. So the police put a bullet between their fingers and pressed hard. Still denied. So they turned off the lights of the interrogation cell and cocked the empty gun and fired a few times.That got the confession they were looking for.'
Jose says I can write about this, 'it's a true story, nothing most Filipinos don't know.'
He says the President has doubled the salary of police officers.
'You'll find less corruption these days,' he says, and even his wife who works in a government bank got a double pay rise this month. 'The teachers are next.'
He's hoping that will stop the brain drain of qualified teachers, many who work in Thailand.
Jose is a big supporter of Duterte and believes justice needs to be helped along.
'Hey, if I was a real assole, I could have had those crooks bumped off.'
He says the two thieves are in jail 'as long as president serves his term, only after that, they may get a pardon.'
I told him about how I was followed by a tout the other day.
'If I catch him, he'll be in jail for life too.'
He lets out a big belly laugh. He hates tourists being harassed. He gives cash to his children and they double time to Jollibee for a fast food fix.
Jose is a vigilante and a wonderful father. And he serves great and cheap food at his eatery and gives me generous portions.
He's offered to take me to a cockfight in the provinces.
'Double blades,' he says. I'm almost cumming in my pants. And he knows it.
He's quiet now, and reflective.
'If I didn't put those crims in jail for life, they'd be back out on the streets, and I'd be their first victim, then my family. It's a tough call but sometimes you gotta do what is right. Twisting the law is inevitable sometimes.'
I'm following his logic. There's a desperation on the streets, and if Duterte shoot-to-kill policy is deterring the nastier elements, it really can't be a bad thing, can it?
'Better we kill them than they kill us,' says Jose.
The working logic of that makes perfect sense.
'Before I couldn't drive across Manila without being held up by a thug. These days, it's safe. The streets are getting safer.'
The streets are getting safer. I wasn't mugged today.
'And if you were, then call me,' says Jose, 'we'll remedy that problem quick smart.'
I said when I enter Muslim countries, I know that it's a death penalty for anyone who uses or deals in drugs. I even told him about my cavity search in Medan.
'It's the law,' he says, 'and the condition on entering the country, you must know that. If you don't like it, don't enter those countries.'
He says here in the Philipines it's more clear-cut.
'Instead of waiting on death row, we dispense of the problem quickly. If you haven't volunteered yourself for rehabilitation, the end of the road could be bleeding out on the streets.'
I nod.
'And if you don't agree with it,' he continues, ' don't come here. And if you come here and still don't agree with it, don't use drugs, or else we'll kill you. It's just that simple.'
I mentioned that the armed forces also had their salary doubled.
'That's right, how else do you prevent a coup, keep the military happy.'
Makes perfect sense in any coup-prone country.
