ok thanks for that,i cant belive all the troubles people have had in the phils,i have never come across it ,i guess i just mind my own buisness,as i dont go to bars and drink im more interested the province areas.and i always have pocket full of small peso bills or coins to hand out ,as lots of beggers are like magnet to a foriegnner ,i watched a few videos on you tube about some do;s and donts with a detector,like steel cap boots and personal jewelry ,some of the places i checked out had the hell blasted out of them by dynomite to take the whole side of the rocks out and so many big rocks along the beach had the marking of man made tools to get the gold or mineral out of them,the terrain is thick and well worth a go i reckon as my guide is the husband of my wifes sister and their family has been there for 4 generations ,when i went there i was treated like a god,cant wait to get back maybe this year again as i only just got back.