I would like Phil Greco's email address to inquire about the ages of the shipwrecks in the Phillipines. Roy Britten

To Mr. Britten or anyone else with inquires- visit- www.stallionrecoveriesltd.com

Unfortunately, not only the Govt. of the Philippines but practically every "3rd world" country ROUTINELY digs up its own treasures and raffles them off to a long list of collectors from the world over, MANY of them US cits & N.Y.C. residents. Few if any of the archeological finds made by many of these countries themselves have been done scientifically or ever make their way into the respective national museums, except in the form of a small token donation of less important and lucrative items or in the form of reproductions. The items salvaged by Greco are more likely to be sold at auction and wind up back in the Philippines national patrimony than anything anyone from and in the Philippines might have salvaged to date. Mr. Greco is not the only person to have such a collection, and I don't mean me. The collection I knew of was bought in the Philippines from Filipinos decades ago & has since been broken up and sold off. There has been an open, burgeoning trade in this type of artifact for many decades. The same situation exists - although in even more egregious circumstances - with regard to Latin American pre-Columbian artifacts. Remember that US Customs has guidelines for and lists of national patrimony items that are to be confiscated on sight upon any attempt at importation into the US. If Greco did bring them thru Customs, then obviously he procured them by legal means, legal in this case meaning IAW/international conventions on salvaging, etc. It is also HIGHLY unlikely that Greco could have been conducting his operations without at least the knowledge of, if not the tacit consent of the Philippine govt., given the long-standing national security problems owing to the Communist guerrilla insurgency there. This brouhaha now that Greco is going to auction off his cache is just one more example of the usual blackmail-type ploy of 3rd world bureaucrats making a last desperate grab for some cash because they didn't get the chance the first time around. I wish all of this were otherwise, but I am being realistic, not cynical, poverty and greed being the catalysts for most of the world’s ills.

Mr Greco and his artifacts have now turned up in Malaysia. he appears to ahve a huge collection of stalagmites and stalactites ... is he also plundering the natural heritage of the Phillipines? Please let me know.

Its been some six + months now since I first heard of this man, Mr Phil Greco.And though Ive read alot of disparaging comments about him and his collection,most of which is done by folks unwilling to sign there names of full (i;e Sharon) to such comments.I've read repeatedly the threat of the P.H. Goverment filing charges and or investigating Mr Greco for the work he's done. The phillipine Gov has no claim to any of Mr. Greco's artifacts and has done nothing but flood the media with idle threats and redereck for the benefit of there own political agenda (i;e then Sen.Legarda).The true tragedy is the time and energy spent on such matters as opposed to time being spent on cataloging and researching and bring this important collection to the great museums of the world for all to enjoy and see.Mr Grecos efforts have allowed the world the opportunity to share some of the finest chinese artifacts known.Mr Greco's time(some 11+years)and money have provided the world and more importantly the chinese people a truly rare look at their past that was gone forever. It is only a matter of time before these issues and others are put to rest so the world can --applaude-- this man and his crews for a job well done, and not a witch hunt to see how a man and his crews followed the law and brought to the world this fine collection.It is only my opinion,but perhaps this time should be spent investagating more important goverment issues at hand and perhaps even antiquated laws and procedures and not the individuals or entities who used them! welcoming your responses..............Brian

Kudos to Phil and Co. AND to the local divers/fishermen who worked with him! I am very familiar with the Philippines and all the twisted, corrupt machinations that drive that place. It is one of the most corrupt and reptilian spots on the planet and the leaders/politicians are some of the most avaricious scumbags on earth. I spent many years there and continue to return from time to time as I and my Filipino friends dig for WWII Japanese army relics left behind during the final stages of the Pacific War....It is almost impossible to find an honest soul in the entire archipeligo, especially if it involves money or the promise of material gain. Phil Greco and his efforts to recover ancient artifacts are nothing new as the whole country is crawling with treasure hunters and fortune seekers, the majority of whom are native Filipinos dreaming of hitting it big and latching onto the so-called "Lost Gold of General Yamashita". Even the old snake Ferdinand Marcos had his armies of hunters roaming the country searching for even more riches than what he already stole from the country's treasury and public resources. The biggest theives and threats to the national treasures of the Philippines are the Filipinos themselves, and Phil Greco is just a scapegoat for all the inept, incompetent and grasping creep politicians who can't make a living from honest and legitimate work on their own......

I know some of the treasures of Phil Greco came from Butuan City, Mindanao Island,Philippines,where I come from, I am now in Los Angeles.

I heard that he was given a permit to transport some of these artifacts to the USA.

The whole city is an archaelogical site since 1978, most probably an ancient buried city where hundreds of treasures hunters openly dig ( first probing the ground with 15 feet steel rods) and sell artifacts and the government opened a museun " Balanghai Museum " to exhibit some of the archaelogical treasutre that have been recovers including nine ancient wooden boats (Balnghais). The most famous treasue found is the "Philippine Golden Tara" found in 1917, now exhibited at the Chicago Field Museum.

I am now on a project to look for sites of the refineries that made the Golden Taras in the hope that more Golden Tara remain buried within the gold refinery sites which are already indicated by several archaelogical finds.

If you are interested to join me in the hunt just drop me a note at "arcelie@sbcglobal.net"