Max Remington (@agentmax)

Even a short-term visit is ill-advised, not without lots of protection. The U.S. State Department even says to reconsider travel to other areas of Mindanao due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping. Guess where Sibuco, the town where Eastman was living in, was located? Not only that, State very explicitly says not to travel to anywhere in the southern Sulu Sea! Even U.S. government employees are restricted in their movements while working in the Philippines. There was no big mystery about the trouble Eastman was getting into. Even short-term visits, while less likely to result to catastrophe, were pushing it. This isn't even a young person underestimating risks; this is a young person straight-up saying "It won't happen to me."