Pirates are a very real part of the southern Philippines. Zamboanga is a historic trading center, where luxury goods from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and China are as plentiful as the raw materials from the sea and jungles that surround the city. The goods are brought in on tora-toras, flat-bottom boats, that are usually loaded to the gunnels with cheap TVs, beer, cigarettes and other prized items.
The "pirate" ships are an assortment of rusting freighters, aging ferries, modern speedboats, basligs-the large boats with outriggers to avoid capsizing in the heavy seas-and speedy canoelike vintas with their colorful sails.
The amount of trade in high-ticket items from duty-free ports, such as Labuan in Brunei, make legitimate traders easy targets for pirates who employ everything from parangs (machetes) to machine guns to kill their victims.
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