OH Yeah, It's so beautiful that I love the way manila has lots of smog and lots of squatters. Is it really that beautiful? I know other Islands in the Philippines are more beautiful like Boracay and all the other beautiful Island, but the main land of the Philippines? Not so beautiful to me. But the people are beautiful as in great people.
Would I go back to the Philippines?? Hell Yes!! because it's a great place to hang out, big malls, nice bars, funny people. But the Island is not so beautiful to me, It looks like the biggest ghetto in city of chicago.
2006-12-02 09:35:11 · 18 answers · asked by BokBok 2 in Travel ➔ Asia Pacific ➔ Philippines
yeh! wats the Q?
2006-12-02 09:38:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, it's up to you how will you appreciate such a nice country. If you've gone to a crowded cities all you've seen was big malls and lots of lots of people walking back and forth but you havent seen the entire Philippines for you to fully appreciate it. There are some growing beaches that you can find in Philippines. More quite, subtle, calm and relaxing.Have you been there? When you say the main land, do you think that Manila is only the main land in Philippines? You can find so much nice cities. You can appreciate it more if you yourself find it. Going back again and again in Philippines is my passion. I must say people are so hospitable, kind and with warm heart. I appreciate the Philippines because of the people I met and not the crowded cities ive been. It's just a place that i could stay for a week but the people that I could talk and laugh with can stay for more until morning. That's the best among the Pinoys to hang out with. Im still coming back there as long as I wanted. And I can define BEAUTIFUL more than it's own beauty.
2006-12-02 18:05:34 · answer #2 · answered by gaygags 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Manila is no more the real Philippines than New York City is "America the Beautiful".
Beautiful places here: Bohol (Chocolate Hills), Guimeras Island (Eco Resorts), Antique Iloilo (Mountains and waterfalls), Catanduanes (Nice beaches). That's just the short list off the top of my head.
Not so beautiful places here: Manila, Cebu, Bagio, Angelis City.
Yes the people here are very nice and hospitable. I have lived here for the past 5 years and wouldn't evan consider moving back to the rat race in the U.S.
Next time try the Visayas or evan Mindano to see the real Philippines.
Paul in Iloilo
2006-12-02 19:49:46 · answer #3 · answered by oneiloilojeepney 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Philippines is a beautiful place. The politicians and government officials are not. Corruption within the government robs the Philippines of developing its beauty. The Philippines could be one of the most desired travel destinations in the world and it could also be one of the most desired places for Senior Citizens around the world to retire to.
They had a major oil spill in one of the beautiful spots this year and the government was slow to respond to the cleanup and are even slower to make those responsible for the spill to pay. The politicians are more interested in protecting the interest of their friends than the interest of the people and the natural resources.
The politicians pretend they want to attrack American retirees with incomes of $1500 a month yet they do nothing to make the Visa program for these people attractive. In order to be able to stay in the Philippines without renewing your Visa about every 60 days and leaving the country once a year you will pay the government around $50,000. That is dollars not pesos. Please tell me what retired person living on $1500 a month has $50,000 to pay the government for living in their country. Keep in mind that the Social Security health benifits provided by the American government do not cover you outside the U.S.A. therefore a retired person will be responsible for their medical care if living in the Philippines. I believe if they had $50,000 for a Resident Visa they would want to reserve it for a medical emergency.
They do not allow foreigners to own land. You can purchase a condo or townhouse but that is even risky. You cannot own more than 40 percent of a business. Some will tell you to form a corporation and open a business, but a foreigner cannot own more than 40 percent of the corporation. Who wants to invest their hard earn money in a business when legally they cannot make decisions for that business.
Small Business' employ 95 percent of all the workers in the U.S.A. does it not make sense that if they allowed foreginers to come and open small business' they would employ the people of the Philippines and help develop the natural beauty of the Philippines. I would open a Bed and Breakfast and I am sure that many other foreigners would likewise, but not if I cannot own the land. The government admits that the room rates in the Philippines are the highest of anywhere in Asia because there are not enough rooms available. They claim the high cost of rooms in the Philppines stop some tourist from coming to the Philippines yet they do nothing to solve the problem because they are more interested in protecting the interest of the five or so families that own nearly everything in the Philippines and control nearly all the business'.
Recently the government announced that the land owned on one of the islands would be taken back by the goverment after many foreigners had spent large sums of money and years of labor to develop small resorts that were attracting new and repeat tourist yearly to the island. Yes, the government did back down, but will they back down under the next Administration. The politicians and the people are responsible for creating an aire of instability that frightens away the foreign dollars that could develop the natural beauty of the Philppines and put it people to work so they could stay home instead of seeking work abroad.
Generally when I leave the Philippines once a year to satisfy Visa requirements I spend 3 to 5 thousand dollars. That is money I could have spent in the Philippines. I make sure that I do not book passage on a Philippine owned airline because I figure if the government is going to force me to leave for at least 24 hours each year nothing affiliated with the Philippines should prosper from it. Although I do believe the government has the 60 day Visa renewals and once a year exiting policy so they can collect the fees for these services and it provides money for the politicians and government officicals to steal.
I have read in Philippine media that 40 percent of all money given to the Philippines by foreign governments to develop the country are stolen by the politicians.
There is far more to the Philippines than Manila, but it is a disgrace that the welcoming point to this country looks like a ghetto. It does not have to be like that. It did not look like that during the 1950's. There once were wide avenues and beautiful buildings. I loved living in Manila because there were many cultural events, but last year was forced to move elsewhere in the Philippines because of the pollution. After spending 41 days in one year in the hospital with lung problems I finally gave up.
The Philippines has mountains, valleys, beaches, water, places that are hot and places that are cool, every type of water sports, world class golf courses, tennis, horses, caves, city life, urban life and rural life. The Philippines has it all it just is not managed properly.
The people are ultimately responsible for the poor conditions of the Philippines because instead of demanding the laws and Constitution be followed they themselves violate the laws and the Constitution by taking to the streets and following any Opposition Party regardless if they have a plan or not. They will vote for a family name or a movie star regardless if they are qualified to govern the country or not. I expect a "Boxer" to be mayor of Manila and President of the Philippines.
You think I am ranting, well you are right because the Philippines is a beautiful place and there is no reason for anyone to leave with a bad taste in their mouth. There is no reason for the pollution, poverty and starvation. God provided well for the Philippines if the people of the Philippines would stop looking for quick fixes and put legitimate demands upon the politicians. How many times have the people taken to the streets to overthrow an Administration and are not any better off today for doing so. When will they come to understand you cannot keep doing the same thing in hopes the results will be different the next time.
There is much beauty in the Philippines and I hope before I die that beauty will come to life. By birth I am an American and America will always be my home, but the Philippines is where I choose to spend that life. I still have hope for the Philippines.
2006-12-03 00:11:32 · answer #4 · answered by tom1941 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Philippines is a beautiful country. But the problem here is that we have lots of cars and buses and the squatters are just victims of the social cancer.
By the way, Jordan! Isn't it that you want to learn Tagalog? Kindly send me your email address so as to start with your Lesson No. 1.
2006-12-03 11:28:42 · answer #5 · answered by Maganda 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes the philippines is a beautiful place. it is and will always be. i think what makes the philippines look ugly is the people in the government. with rampant graft and corruption foreigners will surely be scared with our country. also with the political instability of the government there is always a threat of a coup. i don't know if the government is just paranoid or anything. back to the point, our country the philippines is a beautiful country.
2006-12-03 02:51:12 · answer #6 · answered by joseph lawrence 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
ya i just got back went to digos city very poor and davao but i have never found such nice people in my life who ask nothing of you but to help you and want to know about americans , but yes traffic and dirty emmisions and smog is crazy, manilla i really dont like but the people there are nice as well, but cost alot more and more people to rip you off yeah alot like chicago, but i only passed through manila, want a great place to vacation go to davao to semal islands called paradise island i was there for 4 days so great wow and dirt cheap for americans so so great
2006-12-03 02:48:37 · answer #7 · answered by DAN M 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There you go ... Chicago has a ghetto place, so is Manila. It's not all ghetto in Manila, just like the Southside Chicago. Downtown New york is kinda dirty too. If you ask me if its beautiful, it definitely is.
2006-12-02 22:54:15 · answer #8 · answered by Dave Star 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately you haven't gone to Davao City, the world's biggest city in land area. You come here and I will play host and guide.
2006-12-02 21:38:17 · answer #9 · answered by junior 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
next time you visit the philippines...try the visayas region....this place is awesome.if you love scuba diving and snorkelling you must try APO ISLAND(www.apoisland.com)its a world renowned dive site....the people are great too...the air is fresh...the place is pretty laid back...there are lots of nice places to hang out....try it next time and discover the mystique beauty of the philippines
2006-12-02 21:13:11 · answer #10 · answered by maricor 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a beautiful place if you really know where to go and hang out there.... They have such a nice shores and rainforests with sweet hills and rivers.
2006-12-02 17:40:53 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋