Well I tried the nice approach. I asked the neighbours to control the barking dogs three times but to no avail. So, at the end of last week, when the barking started at 5:00am and continued on and on I called the police. Normally, anywhere else in the Philippines I'd be laughed at as barking dogs are the norm but in Subic, in an attempt to retain some semblance of civilization following the departure of the Yanks, there are some very strict rules in place to maintain the harmony and peace. They just need to be implemented.
I called the number and firstly had to deal with a guy who explained at length that it was the end of his shift but he would write the complaint in the log and pass it onto the day shift. Uh-oh, I thought, this is just going to be forgotten about but sure enough, at just after 7:00am the door bell rang and there was a tiny policeman in a US naval baseball cap at the door who introduced himself as the guy I'd spoken to on the phone and whose shift had ended. He then introduced me to his colleague from the day shift and asked me whereabouts the barking dogs were.
I did a double take because we were shouting at each other over the noise of the barking dogs. See what I mean? I'm sure Filipinos have something in their genetic make-up that means the sound of barking dogs doesn't register in their brain.
I led them over to the garden fence and pointed out the dogs in cages. I could see that they were thinking that the barking just wasn't that bad and why was I troubling them with a complaint. Anyway, they said that they would go and speak with the owners and issue them with a warning. No doubt I'm now public enemy No. 1 in their eyes.
I made a light-hearted comment to the end-of-shift copper that he should hand over to his colleague and go home and get some sleep. He looked at me and said that he'd sleep much better if he had a couple of cans of beer to drink and threw me an expectant glance - which I ignored.
Perhaps he can't sleep because it too quiet where he lives?
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