Manila Shore Patrol

The day after the USS CURTIS WILBUR arrived in Manila was my duty day. The ship usually divides the crew into six duty sections. Each section should have enough people to get underway in an emergency. In foreign ports the sections are combined into three for some extra manpower if needed.

My assigned duty was early shore patrol. Shore patrol is broken down into two time periods, early and late. The patrol work in pairs to walk around the popular hangouts ashore and keep sailors out of trouble. I was assigned to a mall fairly far away from the ship. This would actually be the first time leaving the pier for me. Initially, I was not sure if this would be any different from shipmate or shore patrol in Japan.

The mall we went would probably be best defined as a luxury mall. In the five or six hours I spent walking around the mall, I only saw a couple members of the crew. I was surprised how expensive the items in the mall were. I had seen the prices of items being sold on the pier by street vendors, and wondered if items in the mall would be cheaper. I was wrong. The other aspect that surprised me was how heavily armed security was around the mall. They were openly carrying M16s around through the streets and parking areas. Not a new sight for me, but I wondered what American tourists would think about that.

The mall was not that much different than an American one. Many of the brands were American and English was common. American restaurants were scattered all over the mall along with popular clothing and fashion chains. We were told not to go into any of the drug stores as the ingredients used in their medicine were different than those on the ship.

I learned quickly that we had been restricted to a small area of the Philippines for a good reason. The areas we were allowed were far more affluent than much of the country. Thus the extra security measures being taken to keep much of the population from entering them. I was told not to carry a wallet or credit card because of the possibility of theft. I am not aware of any member of the crew being robbed while in port though.