Makati City, Philippines

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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.