THE CONCLUSION
Background
This is a story of Tim. A man who fell madly in love with a Filipina named, Mayen. Tim claimed that his search for genuine love and relationship in the Philippines was ruined by a real estate business who was engaged in an organized crime of extortion together with the hospital and real estate agents as fronts of a big real estate and hospital scam. (Barrio Fiesta UK 2008. These are just the new keywords that Hellumbra is using. Barrio Fiesta UK Tierra Maria and Barrio Fiesta UK 2008.)
Not a happy man
Tim admitted he’s not a happy man. His life was in a rut. His relationship with his wife drifted away. He was a musician, happy at work but tired and always financially drained. He wanted to get out of his marriage but he is tied up to the house. The mortgage of his house was his big problem and his life was not getting anywhere. He doesn’t have money. Quite possibly, financially bankrupt. He wanted out and start something new.
1st suspicion of being scammed
Tim described himself as a very cautious person. He had a Friendster account. He met a young Filipina there who started telling him that her family could no longer afford her tuition fees as a trainee nurse. He immediately cut-off any communication with her. This was the 1st incident that he suspected that a scam was about to happen to him.
Attracted to Asians (Eastern look)
He said, he has always been attracted to an Eastern look since they have great respect for elders, they are not particular about physical appearance of their partners and they appreciate more of the attributes of loyalty and honesty and they are God-fearing.
Dating in Asia (DIA)
So he joined an Asian dating site where he met Mayen, the “Curly Hair”. She worked as a "Property Consultant" for Tierra Maria Estate’s sales office in Paranaque City. He made known to Mayen that he was extremely cautious. Indeed, there are a lot of fake people on the Internet, Mayen warned him, but that she was genuine.
Love at first type
Mayen was only 23 years old, then. One simple photograph. He got infatuated or love at first type? (My reference to keyboard). Big time.
Mother knows best
He visited his mother and asked for and was given blessing about his intent to meet Mayen, given the fact that he was still a married man. The next morning, his sister in Portugal dreamt that some guardian angel told her that Tim was in danger. He was decided. He was meeting the love of his life.
Absolute secrecy
Tim considered his marriage as over. He was still a married guy that’s why the travel plans were in absolute secrecy. So secret that he asked his friend to purchase the tickets online that could not be traced to his bank account. As cover, he planned the trip to coincide with his 10-day business trip to Jersey.
1st show of doubt
Given the cautiousness of Tim, he doubted if Mayen was for real. To quell his fears and doubts, Mayen sent her phone number. He phoned her. They talked. Mayen was real. He loved it.
Manila, here I come
He then flew to Manila with the help of his friend. A trip where he would come face to face with scammers. A trip that is full of deception, according to him. In his preface, he said:
This is professional racketeering by people suffering from the impoverished conditions that unfortunately befall the vast majority living in the Philippines, constantly alert for any way to make more money for themselves. Morals don't seem to concern them. Aware of the potential in the raw power of emotions - like an untapped natural resource - they resort to a type of suburban savagery, using modern technology to wreak their havoc - destroying lives in the process - as they consciously manipulate situations to be able to take advantage of people's sincere and deeply felt emotions - yes - people's love - for their own material gain.
Filipino hospitality & culture, misunderstood
Filipinos are well known for their hospitality. We may not be the only people in the world who are very friendly and welcoming, but our attitude towards other people, especially foreigners are always exceptional. However, foreigners find some of our culture as odd. Even my officemates would laugh at my anecdotes. But to the unsuspecting foreigner, it could be a different story.
The 2 months that Tim and Mayen met online, were not enough for Tim to prepare and understand the Philippines and the Filipinos culture. I seem to believe that he made a little bit of preparation, but it was not enough. He was simply too ignorant about the culture. Here are the instances where I found that Tim seemed to have a lot trouble understanding the Filipino culture and hospitality and most of them have been taken in a really, really bad context. Take the case of the following:
Chaperone
Chaperone is a big part of our culture. It’s as simple as making sure that someone is safe especially meeting strangers. When Mayen met Tim at the airport, with her friends, there was no indication on the Journey that Tim made a big deal of this one. Which is good.
In Day 2, when Mayen brought him to his rented room and to Mayen’s home base, the people he met there treated him very nicely. According to him, he sometimes feels ashamed at the respect, near to reverence that’s being shown to him by these sweet, so beautiful people. Yet, in his mind, there are many snakes as well and it’s all about money, courtesy of the exchange rate and the appalling standard of living here. He said that these are all fake, apparently insinuating the fake respect that’s being accorded him.
Courtship & Pre-marital sex
In Day 3, when Mayen told him that she wanted to sleep with him, Tim got confused. Why? He was probably expecting that there was supposed to be some courtship to happen. Instead, they started to live like husband and wife. There was no more courtship. In Filipino culture, this is such a blatant no no! Because people will immediately think that you are one "pokpok" (prostitute!). We do not expect a Filipina to tell a stranger that she wanted to have sex with him. Why? Our culture prohibits pre-marital sex.
Making visitors feel at home
In Day 3 and Day 5, Sir Francis offered to tour them. This is a very common Filipino hospitality, welcoming visitors and making them feel at home. In Day 5, he was very impressed with the kindness of Sir Francis. Towards the end of the Journey, it was interesting that he gave a very bad meaning on this act of kindness on the part of Sir Francis.
Common with our culture, especially if you are in the courtship stage is the kind of parental protectiveness with their kids. Just like this one:
Parental protectiveness
1. In Day 7, Mayen’s mother quizzed Tim not only about her intentions to her daughter but she also asked him if he had any children. The mother was just trying to make sure that he was a good man.
People in the province and the inner barrios are not used to seeing foreigners. It might not exactly be the same when you get stared at and approached by Chinese people in China (as described by Kotsengkuba in his trip to Shanghai), but yes, people in the barrio will certainly be curious at you, like this one:
People’s friendliness
In Day 7, people in the barrio kept staring at Tim. To him, he was an oddity, a celebrity, and a source of money because Filipinos are very poor. He did not understand that this curiosity is actually a show of Filipinos friendliness.
In the Philippines, we have a culture to even share the family bed to the visitor and we sleep on the mat, outside of the room. We also make sure that visitors are well fed. On the table, one would always hear “Kain ka pa! Wag kang mahiya!” (Have some more food! Don’t be shy!). Take this instance:
“Eat some more!”
In Day 7, Tim felt that people in the house don’t have any concern for him. He was describing an incident when they returned to the family house for the evening meal. He said, he was shocked that he was only offered a meager chicken wing and a small spoonful of rice while the others piled in, considering that he been asked to pay for the feast. Soon he realized, that he was just offered a taster, in case he finds it disagreeable.
Courtship & Pre-marital sex
In Day 7, the mother agreed for them to sleep in one bed. At the later part of Tim’s journal, he said that this was weird considering the Catholic upbringing of these people. Tim was correct. This was very un-Catholic considering that pre-marital sex is not acceptable to our culture.
Another sign that guests are welcome or that Filipinos enjoyed your company and that you are considered as one of them is an invite that you come back or visit them again. We consider it as an honor if you accept the invitation and we only accord these to people who we consider as one of us. It was obvious that the family considered Tim as part of the family already. Like:
We are family
1. In Day 10, the mother wants Tim to come back while the father was already comfortable with his son-in-law and is already thinking long-term business for his son-in-law. As a matter of fact, both of them were ushered by the mother to the chapel, lit candles and said prayers. I think Tim appreciated this one gesture.
Overseas Filipino remittances, let me tell you, it’s one of the economic drivers in the country but let’s not discuss that here. There’s also barrio remittances and our culture has it that if you work in Manila, that you must send money to the barrio. The more it is true in the smallest social unit called Family. We help one another. Sending money is one that my American officemates do not understand even my ex-boyfriend Hugh who was from Dublin, Ireland. Let me show you one instance where Tim saw this happening. Disregard the fact that Mayen doesn’t have money because people in the barrio always believe that you have money. Agree?
Sending money
1. In Journey 16, Tim was describing an incident where Mayen received a call from a sister telling her that there’s supposed to be a family festivity in the barrio that she must send money. This, according to him, transformed Mayen to a cold, hard, completely impersonal attitude to him.
Convenience stores, although they are already getting swanky in some parts of the country, you’ll find them all over the place. Any corner in the Philippines there is a sari-sari store. But he has a completely different explanation of this one.
The Sari-sari store
2. In Day 4, he explained that Sari-sari store was a repository of smalltime crime of shoplifting. This happened when they went to Mayen’s sister in Quezon City where he was privately bewildered and amazed to see an array of all sorts of general household goods hanging around, as if on display - cards full of small shampoo sachets, plastic tubs full of lollipops, cans of this, cans of that.
“I am being scammed” Theory
It was the incident on Journey 16 (sister asking money from Mayen to pay for some family festivity), which Tim thought seriously – way too seriously that this was all part of the plan, part of the reason why he is there and everything else were a sweetener.
His mind started to work. As proof, he offered the following explanations:
1. Mayen acted like a bad humored terrier to him when he accidentally banged into the top of her shoulder.
2. Mayen wanted new shoes, he said: it is not the amount of money that is the issue here - it touches on trust and moral behavior and shows a very unfamiliar angle to them.
3. The first night's meal with the family, he was waiting to see if his prematurely empty plate would catch anyone’s attention or an invitation for more. No one. Obliviously, “like a family of crabs in a feeding frenzy”.
4. While on the picnic at the seashore - again - in a perfectly graphic depiction of what was happening - I felt the deep fear pass over me once more.
5. There was this incident when they were in a small fishing boat on the ground. Mayen was showing Tim some various fisherman’s implements stowed on the boat, a catch net, a cleft stick for picking up sea urchins and a giant gaff hook that she posed with him as the big fish and her as the successful fisherman. Everyone laughed and she muttered something in Tagalog to which they all erupted in laughter. He felt so mocked and was extremely unsettling for him.
6. Mayen had originally told him that the hotel room would be P800 per night - I had forgotten this detail - but on checking in, the price I was quoted per night was P1, 800. Lost in translation? No. To Tim, this was part of the plan.
7. Even all the negotiations that Mayen was doing, he now thinks that Mayen was earning commission here:
a. He said, I'm sure that from the moment I stepped off the plane Mayen was probably earning herself percentages of all the deals she struck with these people - who themselves were only too happy to make more than the going rate - all at my expense.
8. There is no question that Tim is in love with Mayen. But there is no question that doubts to Mayen is now engulfing him:
a. How much of her behavior had been simply a charade?
b. How much had it been disguising a far less amorous motive - just giving dear Hansel sufficient sweets to lure him in?
9. More of “I am being scammed theory” and this is what he has to say:
When there is a determination to deceive, the illusion is very easy to achieve in communicated material alone - depending on its perception - which the scammers believe has been preconditioned - emotionally - by love - to accept that everything can only be how it appears.
He offered this as proof:a. Bear in mind that in the Philippines, as no doubt in other areas of the world subject to poverty, some people will sell their integrity, compromise their honesty - "truth" can be purchased - by threat, by favor or by pesos.
b. I am no longer prepared to accept what information I am given as true. Viewing the history of our relationship with this same suspicion throws absolutely everything into the shadow of doubt - how does one decide where to draw the line between fantasy and reality - once complete trust has gone - it is probably gone for good - the boy who cried wolf was never believed again.
10. To this point, his fears of being scammed, of being fleeced are getting real, yet Tim offers that explanation that: “ Let me please emphasize something crucial here - this is not an issue about money - far from it - it is all about trust, honesty, respect and integrity - essential ingredients, surely, for me to concern myself with - planning, as I was, to spend the rest of my life with this girl.”
“The stage was being set” TheoryWhile reading through his journals, I wanted to find out what part did he discovered that Sir Francis was one big actor in this scam? Journey 17 is another case of culture shock for Tim. This is where he concluded that they were all part of the scam.
There are so many things happening here which to Tim signs of the scam were:
1. Tim was always being asked: Why you don’t have children? Even Mayen asked the question. Even the mother asked the question. Filipinos are just used to asking these questions. I wonder if they asked Tim about his salary.
2. Two people in love, having no protection was not on the table. The fact that they were permitted to share the same bed in the province, with Mayen’s mother approval runs counter to the strict Catholic morality.
3. When Mayen requested money to pay for Internet café fees then turned into hospital check-up thinking that she might have catched dengue fever because her friends’ brother has been hospitalized. He sent money. 160 pound. To Tim, he believed that Mayen now knows that he is an easy prey.
4. That Mayen was a liar because Friday 13th of July – Tim learned that Mayen thinks that she’s showing signs of pregnancy. But Tim continues to doubt. To make sure, Mayen went for a 2nd checkup. It was false alarm.
5. Mayen got a fever. Could it be STD? Tim went bananas. He had himself checked-up because the cause is herpes. Many things playing in his mind. Throwing away his marriage, his house, destroying any vestiges of trust with wife, he’s got STD, a pregnant girlfriend whom I love so deeply. Is this all true, he said? I shall have to go underground - change my identity - I envisioned a horde of machete wielding Filipino men coming after me to avenge their family honor, he said.
6. That Mayen was a "dirty woman, loose morals, infected with an STD. Mayen cried, locked herself up in the bathroom. To Tim, this was part of the charade.
7. The more it got stickier when Mayen informed Tim that her boss has decided that all 3 girls should now share a room. Mayen wants to find another place to stay. Questions on Tim’s mind: will he pay? To Tim, the stage was being set for a scam and it’s the work of Sir Francis.
Who’s behind this scam theoryWhen Mayen was brought to the hospital, the ectopic pregnancy solidified his scam conclusion. To Tim, ectopic pregnancy was just a perfect vehicle for extortion from a loving boyfriend because it’s worth quite a bit of money. He suspected all along that he will be scammed and this is it. They were all in it. The more his scam doubts were coming true because he could not talk to anyone at the hospital. And to prove that this is a scam, he has these to offer:
1. Mayen's behavior regarding money during my trip and since
2. Her denial of having an STD is later proved a lie
3. Mayen's confusion over the dates suggesting to her that she was pregnant
4. The pregnancy itself
5. The rarity of Ectopic Pregnancies
6. The time scale of the Emergency operation - pains at 4.00am - operation at 3.45pm
7. Ruptures of Ampullary Ectopic Pregnancies normally occur at 8 to 12 weeks. This is 6 weeks, 6 days from the earliest possible date of conception 23rd July - very early
8. The fallopian tube was not removed - very unusual after a rupture
9. Mayen is only expected to be in hospital for 2 to 3 days
10. That this is happening just 5 days prior to my scheduled visit.
Tim’s conclusion: This was a scam. Who’s behind it? The real estate business, the team of girls luring westerners into parting their money, small amounts by western standard – but multiply that by the “number” of girls involved and the amount of potential clients they can have at any one time and it adds up to quite a business.
The Golden Goose Theory
What’s interesting about Tim, based on his journals was that, the scam was ever present. There was already a scam from the moment he met someone on Friendster. There was already a scam at the hotel. In other words, it seemed to me that the scam theory was already finished even before it started and everything that happened were just proof about the scam. I am left wondering, what could have happened to Tim in the past?
We may never know if he had a very bad childhood or a traumatic experience in the past. We may never know how bad the marriage was, and how deep did it contribute to his very negative view of everything. True he admitted having an unworkable marriage. Just what could it be that happened in his life such that he must always be and constantly be reassured that red is red and white is white and here are the valid pictures? Tim does not trust anyone. He’s scared like hell about somebody milking him. In his mind it’s called the Golden Goose Theory.
In Day 4, Mayen bought presents for her family. It was clear in Tim’s mind that although he enjoyed the feeling of generosity but he didn’t enjoy feeling like the golden goose. Nor will he wallow in his new role as a benefactor, courtesy of the exchange rate. He has his own financial problems in the UK. He was insinuating that he would not enjoy being Mayen’s Golden Goose.
In Day 8, he explained that Mayen was the Golden Goose of her family. This was the day that Mayen cried because he said; she’s fed up with some of her family members trying to fleece the golden goose.
In Day 11, even though he was the one who bought Mayen a new cell phone since the old one was giving up he admitted that he doesn’t care if Mayen drains him of all his money since they have a genuine love. In his mind, the Golden Goose Theory is real because of so much poverty in the Philippines
Tim needs continued reassurance
Tim is such a fragile person, very insecure, very scared. Continued reassurance that everything is ok. That’s what Tim needs. He has doubts about everything. In Journey 16, Tim was still having some serious doubts about Mayen and I don’t think Mayen understood that Tim continually needs assurance that she was for real, that this was not a scam and that she was not fleecing him, that the world was not out to con him. This was where Tim described himself:
Despite numerous requests for her to be more illuminating about herself - all that followed were harmless, day-to-day remarks - generally positive - to keep the wheel spinning - as it were. But - being ever the cock-eyed optimist - perhaps a good choice of phrase in the circumstances, not simply for its musical theatre location, I managed to blind my vision at the time.
Cock-eyed, which means, cross-eyed, absurd, foolish, completely wrong – and optimist. More of the cock-eyed probably. But optimist? And this is where I beg to dis-agree with Tim. An optimist is a person with a positive outlook on life. And that always finds something positive in any situation. All throughout the journal, the entries were full of doubt, scam and fleecing him. Based on his journals, he showed how seriously negative he was and gave me reason to believe that there must be some serious incident that happened in his life why he is like this.
As a matter of fact, he admitted that he was trying to do something about it. He admits that there's something wrong with him. Let me show you:
Tim was doing something about his negative thoughts
In Journey 2, he admitted of doing quite a bit of uplifting, inspirational reading recently - The Secret, Conversations With God, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - all telling him the same thing, the same message. The world is abundant, have faith, create your own future by attracting it towards you - keep the thoughts clearly on target, be thankful - it so much makes sense - I am changing, day-by-day. This he does because of a lot of negativities in his head.
Tim’s fears proven wrong. By him.
He always fear about something and interestingly, how many times his fears proved him wrong? Let me show you.
Feared Mayen was not real. To quell his fears and doubts, Mayen sent her phone number. He phoned her and found out she’s real. He loved it.
Feared that the hotel was a scam because it was newly built and it has no Internet connection. The British Embassy could not confirm the location; he confronted the girl with his fears, angry and upset because he feared for his life, being kidnapped, extortion and entrapment.
In Day 7, during a family meal that he paid for, he was given a meager meal that shocked him where soon after, he realized he was offered a taster.
In Journey 17, he went for an STD check-up nothing confirmed. He thought he got STD from Mayen. Although in Journal 33, he now claims that third return of Herpes symptoms occurred. This time - the tests brought a confirmation.
In Journey 26 and Journey 29, Tim questioned Mayen about the Php44, 600 that he sent to her for the wedding ring. He accused her of lying on this one. But for some reason, there was an entry on Journey 24, indicating that his telephone was being fixed that day which was the reason why the transfer was not transmitted.
Tim suffers from never ending worries, doubts and fears
In Journey 18, I was particularly struck by this incident when he was trying to sell his story and make profit out of it.
I try to think of ways to raise some money - I phone the Sun newspaper - a human interest story - but no interest from them and the phone very tersely slammed down on me after a brief explanation. I phone another "Sell-your-story" contact - ask her to read the story so far on this blog. She is interested but cannot help financially at such short notice. Now I am becoming extremely worried about my security when I arrive in Manila - if this is a scam - they are all in on it - including some people at the hospital - they already know that I'm suspicious - and determined to deal with the hospital through the proper channels - who will in fact meet me at the airport, where will I be taken?
Tim, the over-cautious person, wanted the hospital to deal with him directly. He doesn’t trust anyone. Not Mayen, not Marivien nor Sir Francis. Only the hospital. There was just one big problem. Fiancée relationship does not count in releasing some patient information in the Philippines. This is very much true in the West. Stuck – he could not get any help. From the embassy. From the authorities. From the hospital. The more the “I was scammed theory” was getting real. To him, this pregnancy is not true. The hospital through the help of the real estate business was extorting money from him. Mayen, his love made a fool out of him.
Mayen, the good side
There were several instances in the journal where Mayen was actually very protective and caring to Tim. I’m not sure if this was in fact a show of love by Mayen or was just the nature of Mayen. Let me show you:
In Day 6, Mayen was simply trying to be frugal. She was doing all he can to negotiate better pricing for taxicabs and in Tacloban, tricycles. There have been so many instances of this already with Mayen trying to negotiate pricing for taxicabs. You see, it’s a known fact in the Philippines that if you’re a stranger, a balikbayan or an OFW who’s not very familiar with the city, chances are you will always be overcharged. Why do I know? This has happened to me and my family many times when we go home to Manila. Now, is this only happening in the Philippines? I have been to Prague; in Budapest they’re even worst.
In Day 7, they were in Tacloban and he was he was crossing the street to go to Mercury Drug for some Imodium for his stomach, when he noticed as he was weaving through the traffic crossing the road that Mayen, with a towel wrapped around her head, was peeping out of the hotel window at him to see if he was safe - he waved at her.
In Day 7 still, another demonstration of Mayen’s caring attitude: when they went to the shore they tried to shelter from the rain underneath the roots of a coconut tree. Mayen, concerned that he might get his shorts dirty on the rock I was about to sit on, as it was covered in ash from a recent fire that someone had lit there, placed the fan down for me to sit on. Simple things.
In Day 8, when they went to the beach to eat sea urchin, it was hot and his feet were gradually getting extremely sunburt, Mayen advised him to go and sit in the shade - suggesting that he don't sit directly under any of the coconut trees, for obvious reasons.
In Day 9, they went to the seashore that morning and he saw a big fish (maja-maja) that he wanted to take a picture but forgot his camera. When they went back home, he was reloading his camera with film when there's some activity going on in the kitchen - Mayen, realizing his wish to have taken a photo of the fish has asked the fisherman to come up to the house - there he is, busily reconstructing the pieces of fish on a plate by the kitchen sink. How amenable is that? That’s what he said.
Mayen, the ugly side
But there was also the ugly side of Mayen. It’s definitely not one Filipina image that could be proud of. Carefree, bahala na. It’s obvious that she also wanted out. Out of poverty and have a good life. If the letter was real, as written by Sir Francis in Journey 32, Mayen, being an unsuccessful agent had the opportunity of her life to get out of the poverty she was in, had she played her cards right. Here are the instances where it showed Mayen’s indiscretion and lies:
In Day 3, Mayen surprised him when she said that she wants to sleep with him. From then on, they have had several unprotected sex, almost every day. Tim was right, what Mayen did was not very typical of a Filipina, which was why he was taken aback. All throughout Tim’s stay they were having sex and they were not even married yet. This was a big no, no to a Filipino Catholic family.
In Day 7, when they were in Mayen’s barrio, Tim asked her if they were sleeping in one bed. Even the mother did not complain. Tim was also correct here. This was not very Catholic for them and for Mayen.
In Journey 26 and Journey 29, I don’t know who’s lying here. Did Tim sent Php44, 600 to Mayen and Mayen did not received it? There was no more indication on the journal what happened to this amount. Tim could have checked WU who received the amount. Instead, he gave Mayen a wrong reference number. When Mayen went to pick up the money, she never received anything because there was no match. But for some reason, there was an entry on Journey 24, indicating that his telephone was being fixed that day.
In Journey 28, Mayen lied about her mother’s stroke.
In Journey 29, Mayen lied about being in Sogod.
In Journey 30, Mayen accepted the Sogod lie. The father’s visit was also a lie. The stroke was also a lie.
I have a feeling that Mayen do not have any feelings for Tim in the beginning. She was a small-time money-asking girlfriend who was trying to enjoy the little money she could get from Tim.
Tim’s theory on the hospital involvement
- 1.) It’s in the invoice.
Mayen was admitted on August 10, 2007. When did she checked out of the hospital? On the 22nd. The dates on the invoice indicated that she was admitted on the 10th and checked out on the 13th. That’s three (3) days. If you look at the details of the room charges, it was for 10.5 days. There was the nail in the scam button as far as Tim was concerned. Could this be a result of panic invoicing?
- 2.) And all because of this.
In Journey 23 and in Journey 24, he was sure that it was the duty of the hospital to get in touch with him urgently on the Monday 13th August. They failed to do so - and as a direct result of this inaction, they corroborated the evidence that there was a fraud-taking place, preventing him from flying to the Philippines. To Tim, that was conclusive evidence.
- 3.) As well as the Legal letter without the address
In Journey 23, the more it solidified his doubts because he received a letter from some attorney without any return address that later he would discover to be a writer for the Philippine Daily Inquirer - Efren C Carag.
Tim’s theory on the real estate involvement
In Journey 17, Mayen informed Tim that her boss has decided that all 3 girls should now share a room. Mayen wants to find another place to stay. Questions on Tim’s mind: will he pay? Eventually, he sent money to pay for the room. But to Tim, the stage was being set for a scam and it’s the work of Sir Francis. This was the part where he tied Sir Francis to the “scam”. The rest that happened with Sir Francis paying for the deposit, assisting Mayen, communicating to the hospital, instructing Marivien, including the invitation to tour the real estate were just proofs of the scam.
CONCLUSION
I do not believe that there was scam at the hospital. The inability of the hospital to return the calls to Tim could well be because of the doctor-patient privacy rules. If it was the hospitals inability to return the calls to Tim nor was it a refusal on their part was not conclusive enough that there was a scam. The mistake on the dates on the invoice could very well be just that – a mistake. After all, if you’re an accountant in such a pressured situation where you were just accused of scamming, I wonder how the accountant was feeling preparing and printing the invoice. Panic invoicing?
Although I disagree with the insinuation of Filipina Images blog to the effect that a scam won’t happen because somebody is Christian, which is not only ridiculous but outright outlandish, I do not believe that there exists a real estate scam. There was no evidence to prove that Sir Francis and his real estate agents were acting as fronts for a real estate scam simply because Sir Francis made some re-arrangements as to how many girls will be sleeping in Mayen’s room.
What is this all about then?
This is a story that’s done, finished and the characters involved – convicted, in the minds of Tim. He has already made up his mind that new stories coming out and bloggers writing about this will just repeat everything without offering any new evidences, but rather, just denounce his story as hoax.
This is a story about two colliding cultures and personalities. Mayen was the victim of her own doing. She was a small-time money-asking girlfriend that was not in love with Tim in the beginning which is why she was enjoying asking small amounts of money from Tim and enjoying it with her friends. Tim was madly in love with Mayen. Because Mayen could not offer “protection” to Tim (reassurance that the world is not against Tim), he created his own “I was scammed theory”.
This is a story about two people who wanted to get out of a ridiculous situation both wanting to have a perfect life.
1. Tim who at his age wanted out of his dysfunctional marriage and life in the UK and start a new life while the twilight years are still just a few years ahead of him.
2. Mayen who wants desperately to help her family and herself out of poverty.
This is a story about love that can’t seem to overcome and conquer some serious personality and cultural differences.
This is a very sad story of utter ignorance. Ignorance about the Filipino culture. How each act of kindness, friendliness and even smiles were met with some insane explanations like snakes, hungry crabs and small-time shop-lifting.
This is a story about a personal, a very personal problem of Mayen and Tim that has become so public and that only they could resolve.
This is a story that is a product of Tim's doubts and fears and escalated into a mix of fantasy/reality that’s already imbedded in his mind. A story that was already hatched in the UK even before it started in Manila and everything that happened in between were just proofs of those doubts and fears.
This is a story about a person who believes and continues to believe that the world is against him, that the world ruined his dreams and shall therefore suffer his internet wrath. We may never know what kind of traumatic experience he had in the past nor how bad his marriage was, that contributed to this unbelievable rage of negative opinion of everything and anything.
This is a story about a person who does not have faith in himself and in anyone, a person who is not thankful for what he has, and a person who believed that everyone around him is out to con and scam him.
(Note: Barrio Fiesta UK 2008. These are just the new keywords that Hellumbra is using. Barrio Fiesta UK Tierra Maria and Barrio Fiesta UK 2008)
Related Entries:
1. Moral righteousness, Part 1
2. Moral righteousness, Part 2
3. Was there a scam? - Part 1
4. Was there a scam? - The motive
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