I will start by saying that I’m an American expat and I have lived in several countries, but have lived in the PH for the last 12 years.
Obviously I don’t think the PH is a terrible place at all, or at least no more so than any other country including the US.
There are slums here but there are slums in the US and every other country, there are crimes here but no more than other countries including the 1st world ones.
The people here are very friendly and inviting even if they have little they want to share, and they aren’t just trying to “get over on you” the are genuinely kind.
It is tropical so if you can’t take heat and humidity this isn’t the place for you, but there are areas that are fairly cool though you will never get away from the humidity.
But the sea is warm and inviting for swimming, snorkeling or diving. Where I live there are beautiful reefs and tons of colorful fishes as well as turtles, whale sharks, and sea snakes.
Terrible is in the eyes of the beholder so if you really think that 3rd world countries are terrible don’t come and I promise we won’t miss you.
Personally have absolutely zero desire to ever return to the US, or to leave the PH for that matter.
DISCLAIMER: I did not write the original question, this is only an answer to that question. I do not think the Philippines was a terrible place at all.
I, as a Canadian, visited the Philippines for a month. I spent most my time in metro Manila. The poverty is terrible and seeing starving children all over the place, was very sad. But I’d still rather have been raised in the Philippines than in Canada. The people there are friendly and outgoing.
People sing all over the place in public, And IMHO, that’s a sign of a healthy culture. But the colonial mentality is ruining it, in the same sense that it’s already ruined Canada. Too much greed, and people don’t care about one another outside of their immediate groups.
I did get scammed while I was there, so ya really gotta watch if people are too nice, and never bring your bank card with you, especially if a local suggests that you bring it for one reason or another. And if you’re hanging out with the locals, leave anything expensive at your hotel.
But there’s some bad people everywhere you go. I just got unlucky. The rest of the people there were genuinely friendly, and it was almost therapeutic being there, after spending a lifetime here. I felt more social confidence there than I’ve ever felt here. I miss it very much, and want to go back.
Although I must say, it was very humid, and that would take some getting used to. I mean, everytime I’d step outside, was like walking into a sauna. And long walks felt very exhausting. Perhaps if I’d had a bicycle..
I’d recommend the jeepneys and tuktuks over taxi though. Taxis there are very expensive in contrast. A short taxi ride can cost you a thousand piso. But that same ride can be done in a jeepney/tuktuk, or even a bus for 10-100 piso. And only 100 piso for the tuktuk if you’re the only passenger, most forms of transit are cheaper.
The tuktuks are great, cuz they’re like a taxi, you can tell them where you want to go. But they are regional, so they can’t leave their designated areas. I caught one once when it was raining very badly. It was so handy, cuz they’re all over the place.
But IMHO, a bicycle would have been ideal. Just make sure to bring a good lock, not a U-lock; maybe a thick chain.
Also, dental there is dirt cheap compared to Canada. If you need expensive work done, that would cost you 2k++, then you can get it done for 10-20% the cost, and still afford a ticket to the Philippines.
Oh, and most food there is reasonably priced. So unlike Canada post 2020, you can eat out guilt-free.
Having visited Philippines on several occasions I have always found the Filipino people to be warm and inviting to visitors and have never felt unsafe or vulnerable at any time unlike the time’s I have visited London
Where as there is poverty in the Philippines there is also poverty everywhere it just manifests itself in different ways but unlike other countries particularly in the west the people of the Philippines have strong family ties and help each other out
So in my opinion the Philippines are not a poor nation but a welf of family bond and ties makes them a rich nation.
Let’s compare and contrast two similar island nations: Japan and the Philippines.
The Philippines is geographically similar to Japan with a few notable exceptions.
Both are longitudinal volcanic island chain archipelagoes on the fringe of the East Asian continent. Both maintain similar population sizes of 100+ million people. Philippines has a tropical climate whereas Japan has a temperate climate.
Both the Philippines and Japan are subject to a large number of natural forces that create havoc for the human inhabitants, including typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. This make agriculture vulnerable to crop disruption and failure.
In terms of natural resources the Philippines has a bounty of natural resources, particularly metals and minerals including gold and copper. Japan lacks any natural resources except the bounty of the sea.
Both Philippines and Japan were inhabited early by Asian based peoples. Japan has successfully evolved and developed, while the Philippines remains stuck in a quagmire of poverty and underdevelopment and achievement.
One was never colonised and the other was heavily colonised — arguably retarding development in the Philippines.
The major difference, however, is that Japan benefited from its location close to China and Korea. It adopted and the imported ideas, technology and culture of the powerful Chinese civilization; including Confucianism and governance.
This led to a flourishing in Japan and the ability to form strong central rule — albeit with continuous warfare between states and kingdoms, as happened in China.
The Philippines is a remote archipelago which was not well connected to mainland Asia. It’s closest Association and cross-cultural interchange was with Borneo and the Brunei Empire. These were quiet pastoral kingdoms and whatever innovation was obtained came largely through contact with Java and other Indonesian islands.
The arrival of the Spanish in the 1564 and the colonization of Cebu, after strong resistance by natives, subjected the Philippines to the same treatment as the natives of South America. Conquest, conversion to Catholicism and enslavement to Spanish economic extraction.
The Spanish invested little to nothing in the Philippines to improve the plight of its people, although it did establish a mestizo elite — who continued to dominate the Filipino people long after the Spanish left, even through American colonial times, where a large part of Filipino GDP relied on American military presence.
This established elite set themselves up as feudal landlords and have ruled the Philippines till the present day. Although elections are held, it is the largest elite families that control the entire Filipino economy. They have had little incentive to improve the conditions for working people and have spent centuries exploiting the population to their own ends.
Politicians are bought off by the elites to continue the status quo. Some 12-15% of the Filipino population is forced to find employment overseas in order to support their families back home.
The Filipino people are a wonderful, kind and warm people who live a very social lifestyle and endure despite their little means and their poverty. Unfortunately they have been subjected to colonial and local oppression, which has curtailed any real development opportunities the country might have.
The recent election of Bongbong Marcos is endemic of the inability of the Philippines to shake the shackles of it past and it’s constant serfdom to the local elites.
In some respects it might have served the Philippines better to have undergone a communist revolution, reset the entire community, and emerge today as a more vibrant, cohesive and capable country, such as China, Vietnam and even Cambodia have become.
