Tourism is an important sector for the Philippine economy. In 2015, the travel and tourism industry contributed 10.6% to the country’s GDP (wiki). It is as important a pillar as our OFW remittances and BPO industry for keeping our economy humming and ensuring hot pan de sal stays served on Juan’s breakfast table.
With all the damaging publicity that some squealing pigs in the slaughterhouse are generating with all the focus on EJKs, something’s got to be done to salvage our country’s image and suffering sidelined tourism industry. Now here’s some welcome news – the Department of Tourism (DOT) will be changing its marketing slogan next year as a reflection of the new administration’s thrusts.
| SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Opt into a paid subscription and you'll get premium insider briefs and insights from us. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
Why? What was wrong with “It’s more fun in the Philippines”? Well, many foreign tourists around the world actually did bite the bait, only to discover the appalling reality that “It’s more dysfunctional in the Philippines.”
Now if you stare at the word “DYSFUNCTIONAL” long enough, you will easily recognize the 3-letter word in the middle which tells a lot about the root cause of the miserable state of this happy-go-lucky laughter-filled nation with its people caught in mental hypnosis by its mind-dumbing mesmerizing clowning-around local media. Many foreign visitors get shortchanged and feel bad about being tricked into a scam in trying out this so-called “fun” country.
It’s time to move on. Having such dysfunctional infrastructure, communication, and transport systems turns out to be not so funny after all. The idea of focusing on seeking one’s own delight at the expense of placing priority on the general welfare and safety of the people no longer sits well with the current administration as well as the 90% of Filipinos who approve of the Du30 brand of management. It’s time for a cool change, but a change to what?
What Attracts Tourists?
When I go about traveling abroad, one of the best tests and surest signs of a functional country is a tourist’s ability to navigate from point A to B without the need to ask anybody questions. Is there an information bulletin map on display when you walk out of the station or airport? Are there color-coded arrows and signboards all around? How easy is it to find the toilet?
The last thing tourists want after a long-haul body-stiffening plane ride is to go out of the airport puzzled about what to do while being swarmed by flies offering all sorts of scams when all he really wants is to simply first relax at the hotel. There’s just a soothing feeling to get out into a new world with the warm assurance things will be working out smoothly as you anticipate the adventure that awaits you.
Each visiting tourist creates jobs for Filipinos. Every hotel room constructed creates two direct and two indirect jobs. We need to make sure they are stress-free and satisfied, or better yet come back hauling a bunch of relatives and friends along. Their positive experience will be our free marketing arm when they get back to their home countries. A friend of mine overheard a tourist on the plane flying back to their first-world country saying that their trip to the Philippines was the worst experience ever. Another set of visiting friends from abroad said that they were so happy every time they stumbled across Jollibee while travelling around the country, as they can all finally get to go to a decent toilet. What does that say about our public utilities?
Rapid Response, Relentless Improvement
First impressions last. That’s why the international gateway into the country should be at its best.
The past condition of NAIA (aka MIA) hit rock bottom during the BS Aquino administration with fellow incompetent bozos running the show. In the recent article Aviation black hole no more :
Apparently, we are known in aviation circles as a black hole in the region. All our neighbors have sophisticated satellite based communication and navigation systems while we relief on an outdated and often non-operational land-based radar system. …
Mar, and later Jun Abaya, sat on the project for two years. They claimed they were reviewing the contracts for the Communications, Navigation, Surveillance and Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) system that Sec Ping (who Noynoy fired) already cleared for implementation. In the meantime the old system they were using was always “dying” and if working, some of its monitors were blinking.
Thankfully, Someone up above must have had some mercy reserved for the Filipino people and its many visitors – in squeezing out much of the sickening putrid yellow pus out of our institutions. Under the new Duterte administration, the new navigation system is finally almost done at over 90 percent completion.
This brings us to some vital lines of code in the Creed of Winners: Time is gold. Relentless improvement drives success.
President Duterte is a man of lightning-speed action who has zero tolerance for sluggards in government content on the status quo, or even having his customers made to wait in lines. Acting fast to accelerate progress in this country will work wonders. In fact, teaming up with fellow fast-growing China (Duterte’s strategy) can turn the tide around by bringing in functionality into our national culture/psyche and much needed infrastructural investments.
For sure, Filipinos will again come up with some catchy slogan to market our should-have-been attractive country to potential tourists around the world. Let’s just hope it lives up to the claim this time.
Zealous revolutionary advocate of bringing back common sense for the common good in a land of dysfunctional and delusional zombies.
Good points, zaxx. Philippines encourages tourism and has a lot to offer, but Visa on arrival is only 21 days. Every day “overstayed” is a penalty, extending a visa is a 1/2 day spent at immigration and a fee.
If every day a tourist stays and pays is an added boost to the economy, make it easier for them to do it.
My guess is, fees and fines are divided as per Official Corruption Protocols. Hopefully a phone call from DU30 can improve that policy.
Re: changing the “Slogan”, try a simple “Welcome Home”, even for first time visitors. It’s warm and inviting like “Mi Casa es su casa”. “More fun in Philippines” sounds like a tourist trap.
Re: the Press, tourists are not as concerned about gunslingers on the street as they are about the “Bullet in Your Bag” scam at the airport. Tourists that could cost them $thousands and may get their names added to a terror watch list, ruining their lives forever. Just some thought.
No it’s been changed to 30 days since 2013 or 2014 for most of the world. But Brazilians and Israelis get 59 days for some inexplicable reason.
GOODLUCK. Shitty service, ‘college graduate’ waitresses that can’t get an order right, stupid owners and/or managers who think foreign tourists should be milked or bilked, receptionists that behave like they are doing you a favour letting you stay in their shitty turd world hotting with fucked plumbing, dumb noisy staff, scamming taxi drivers, security guards, on McDonalds, grocery stores and anything else turning ix your airport, your infrastructure…whatever….What you need to fix is Filipino attitude. Am I being hard? biased by experience? NO. Read between the lines from people with any experience with Philippines, talk them…it’s a tourist shithole and the figures prove it…unless you want to play pinoy pride bullshit about the numbers and what they represent.
I’m genuinely surprised that tourism constitutes 10% of the economy, for the reasons you mention. The Philippines has enormous potential as a tourist destination, but Filipinos just can’t do anything about their “reverse Midas touch” (google it).
I can only assume it accounts for 10% of foreign income because the rest of the import/export economy has been destroyed by that proud bastion of theft, mindless paper-shuffling and corruption, the BOC.
Yes, the PH is a shithole.
Yet I do my part to make sure it doesnt sink into deeper shit, just as what i believe the president is currently doing, despite all the flak he’s receiving. I do hope more and more will start to emulate incorruptability.
Thanks for the GOOD LUCK, i do know the PH needs it.
Make it a habit to give yourself enough reasons to relentlessly push forward with a high level of enthusiasm. You are more mentally stronger than you could ever possibly imagine.
Most foreign tourist going to the Philippines will enter the Philippines through an airport.
Making that airport a-state-of-the-art building is nice. But then what?
– No metro/underground/sub going from Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) straight to Cebu City.
– Taxi drivers that may con you by not using the meter.
– Jeepneys not built for tall people (and thus hitting their heads)
– Jeepneys that cant bring you from CEB to Cebu City due to constraints of legalities/city-borders (Mandaue City, Mactan, Cebu City)
– No city buses whatsoever.
You can make an ugly girl (MIA) pretty and hot again but pls also look at the internal organs (the hinterland).
News about the ISIS Abu Sayaff , beheading foreigners..news of kidnapping foreigners, for ransom, travel fast …
Who would want to be kidnapped or beheaded ?
Along with the lack of good facilities, like sanitary public toilets in our country. I just talked to a “Balikbayan” who visited our country. He told me : “there are no toilet papers in any public toilet”…” you have to bring your own toilet paper, while traveling in our country”…
Tourists are also pestered by Pimps, offering sex services , to tourists ! Some of those prostitutes are just children or young teenagers…
Words of mouth bad news, travel fast…so whatever , slogan you put on… will never work; unless you clean up this mess first !
I had been complaining about that. ” no toilet paper ” in the Philippines airport 36 years ago nobody listen ….already how many president sat in the palace and still no toilet paper ?
There are three possible reasons for the lack of toilet paper:
1) Filipinos don’t use toilet paper, preferring water instead. Which would be fine, except that … there’s never any water either. The water-spray thingy common in other Asian countries only exists in high-end hotels. 9 times out of 10 there isn’t even a tabo.
2) Filipinos have stolen the toilet paper.
3) Nobody has bothered to put toilet paper there because they know full well Filipinos will steal the toilet paper.
It’s number 2. There is a budget for Toilet paper, but the money has been stolen already.
Just to be clear, I think washing is far more hygienic. I find the Western habit of using toilet paper quite disgusting. However, trust the Filipino to take an excellent idea and completely undermine the purpose of it: a public tabo is just a breeding-ground for filth.
Marius,
this really is an interesting issue/topic.
For as long as I live, I am used to clean my butt using toilet paper (same goes for women in my neck of the woods; they even clean their genitalia – after peeing – using toilet paper).
When I visited Spain for the very first time, I saw a bidet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet). A bidet is a very good tool to clean both the front and back of the lower body.
On the other hand, I am also used having a washing machine. So its easy to change underwear even every day.
As far as I know, nobody ever made complaints about using toilet paper being un-hygienic. And maybe it’s cheaper than to use water.
Furthermore, when you visit friends its kinda rude to go to the bathroom and clean your butt with water. Mind you, we have seperate toilets and bathrooms.
Robert, Robert, Robert. Do we really have to go there? Around the hole of your ass to better understand the issue?☺️I don’t know if anybody here gets to feel comfortable in having the ‘pleasure’ to know how you clean you pipehole. Though, judging from the healthy exchanges here, I could be wrong. ☹️
Anyway, there is such a thing as tradition or mores among humans that separates or differentiates them from each other. In the case of a poor country like the Phil. people from more advanced countries, especially those who are not open minded, will really get a rude awakening of how other people do things their way. ????
Gnogid,
Lets take it to the next level then, shall we?
For hygienic reasons, you clean your butt using water (and maybe soap) but on the other hand for the same reason, males are circumcized in your country.
Is that tradition, mores, religion, culture or hygiëne?
For a god-forsaken country, its scares the hell out of me, to be circumcised for that reason.
Robert, thanks for not getting offended with my jocular ‘attack’ on what you wrote. It’s just all for fun. ????
Okay, for fun (and education I hope!) I’ll go with you on the next level.
As far as I know, Filipinos clean the essentials with either water or toilet paper or a combination of both. Defends.
On tuli or circumcision, it’s an open secret that it has been with us since the country’s history was written. But to tell you the truth, growing up and submitting myself to the ritual, I thought it was part of the Catholic religious rite. Turns out it was influenced by Islam and Jewish culture.
In my entire adolescent life I thought that to be circumcise was to comply with the Christian practice of hygiene, manhood, etc.
The practice has social significance because it is considered as a rite of passage. However, it’s also been the source of something that is not so nice in the sense that one who is not tuli/circumcized were often ostracized as being ‘supot’ or your manhood questioned. ????
In short, the dictates of the majority is clearly exemplified in this category. ????
Gnogid,
If Wikipedia is correct then 98.5% of the entire Philippine population is religious.
That means – according to the population – that god is your creator. Then why cut off something that he created????? And why only do it with males? Why not also cut off the female clitoris. Lets be equal, right?
If I cant masturbate, then they should also be not allowed to masturbate (lol).
Now again, what is the title of this article? Dysfunctional …?
My country was originally – as yours still is – religious. Christian-Jewish in origin. As far as I know, my country doesnt have a history of circumcizing. The current dutch government is even dis-couraging the practise of circumcision.
Robert, I don’t know the real explanation nor the origin of the practice. Maybe my friend Toro Hyden can explain it (if he’s circumcised!). Anyway, let me give, in a combine way, my guess and my two-cents on the matter.
There’s a possibility that circumcision is another act perpetrated by the pagan or heathen. I don’t know if Jesus was circumcized. I don’t remember a church mass that talks about circumcision. And I also doubt if Judas was circumcised. Had he been he could have brag about it before hanging himself.
We, at least in my country, are all bound to encounter the blade eventually. It’s the tradition and an embarrassment if you happen to go the opposite direction. In your case, you are lucky because it holds nothing in terms of religion or social relevance.
If I’m in your country and you are in my country, this saying
will apply to both us. Lol! ????
Gnogid,
Blind in both eyes and deaf as well (me, that is) and waiting for a wheel chair any day now.
Robert: yes, it’s quite fascinating 🙂 All Asians use water to clean themselves after using the toilet. Having lived in both East and West, I’d say Easterners have it right and Westerners have it wrong, for the simple reason that toilet paper (by itself) just doesn’t get you 100% clean.
However, as I said, Filipinos usually manage to take a sensible idea and break it. Filipino public toilets are absolutely disgusting. There’s absolutely no reason for this except laziness and carelessness. Go to any neighboring country and the toilets are spotless. With a proper squirt-gun for washing.
As for circumcision:
I agree. I can’t understand religious people who attempt to ‘fix’ what God has created. As a religious person myself, I’d call that the worst form of blasphemy. I’m a farmer, and although I have to push things in a certain direction to make a profit, I never assume that God was wrong. If my plants have “pests” on them, it’s probably something I’ve done wrong. If I assume that the pests are not supposed to be there, and I kill them all with poisons, that’s an insult to God (note that there’s actually no such thing as a “pest”-icide, only broad-spectrum biocides that kill useful creatures as well as harmful ones). It goes without saying that the “God-fearing” Filipino farmer loves his pesticides.
Interestingly, the New Testament spends a lot of time negating the law of the Old Testament (ie., the Jewish tradition). For example, the apostle Peter has a dream in which God presents him with “forbidden” animals (eg., pigs) and tells him “get up, kill and eat”. Peter refuses because those animals are “unclean”, but God tells him: “do not call unclean that which God has made clean”. It’s supposed to be a metaphor (breaking down the line between Jews and non-Jews) but for the metaphor to make sense, it must also be taken literally.
It doesn’t surprise me at all that Filipinos circumcise their kids just because that’s what everybody else does. That’s the way we do it in de Pilipines!
We wouldn’t want to think, make our own decision on the matter, and tell the critics that they’re just idiots and sheeple, would we?
One assumes, then, that the laws of the Jewish tradition had reasons, but those reasons were for a certain time and place. For example, food scientists point out that a nomadic population [the Jews were on the move when the Law was written] keeping pigs would have trouble controlling what they eat; therefore, they would be more likely to contract trichinosis. A complete ban made sense.
Marius,
“We wouldn’t want to think, make our own decision on the matter, and tell the critics that they’re just idiots and sheeple, would we?”
I take it that you wrote this in a ironic way?
Otherwise…
If everybody (else) is jumping off a bridge, so will you?
Exactly for what you wrote, is the time to say ‘enough is enough’ and start to change (things).
Do you want change? Yes
Do you want to change? No
Marius,
At home, I can wash my behind with water but because by far and so far most houses have seperate bathrooms (shower and/or bath tub) its simply rude to go to your bathroom and wash my behind.
Hotels are often not equipped with a bidet.
Secondly, I really start to wonder what is so un-hygienic about using toilet paper. As far as I know a person never died from using toilet paper; a person never got sick/ill from it.
I dont know the history about the use of toilet paper (after a person did his thing on the toilet). Maybe it was introduced by foreigners; maybe it was the toilet paper lobby.
Robert: yes, just to be clear, I was being facetious. One of the things that irritates me about Asian culture in general (and the Philippines in particular) is the obsession with social compliance, and punishment of those who don’t comply.
The circumcision thing reminds me of the (possibly apocryphal) experiment with the monkeys who learn to hate bananas:
http://www.wisdompills.com/2014/05/28/the-famous-social-experiment-5-monkeys-a-ladder/
“That’s the way we do it here. We don’t know why. We just do.”
Marius,
sometimes, I think I understand the Philippine psyche, behavior and mindset.
At other moments, I am totally and absolutely lost.
I think the Philippine society totally drives on conformity. One has to walk the paved path. He/she will be in trouble when she/he strays off from that paved path.
Thats why, most Filipinos/Filipinas are very predictable in their mindset and behavior.
Being different, behaving differtent, thinking different is almost a crime.
This is why I understand the ‘crab-mentality’ that seems to be vivid in PH. Being different is not tolerated and not accepted. Its a result coming from not knowing how to handle people that are different.
Robert, just curious, is the religion you belonged to one that you chose or you were born in it?
Gnogid,
It depends on what you consider what a religion is and what not a religion is.
I consider atheism not a relgion (but thats a personal opinion). I was born and ‘raised’ an atheist. My parents didnt show me a bible nor quran and we never visited a church. The only churches, I visited was from an architectural point of view (amongst others: Notre Dame, Paris; Sacré-Cœur, Paris; Sto Nino, Cebu City).
During my relationship with my pinay GF, I (read: we) also visit(ed) churches during church services. During at least one, I left after about 15 minutes or so (I seated myself in the back so that the least number of people would notice me leaving).
I didnt leave the service to make a (bold) statement, but if someone is trying to tell me something (and maybe trying to convince me of something) its his task to keep my focus/attention and interest. Most preachers/priests are not able to do that. They never learned that in school. A missed chance, a missed opportunity.
Do I dislike religious people? No.
But I do hate and loathe stupidity and people following something blindly without being critical.
I hope this answers your query. If not, pls dont hesitate to ask further.
Robert, the point I’m driving at is a lot of us gets to choose what we want and some don’t. For example, children gets to be baptized as Catholics as babies. The parents get to decide. I have not heard or met a person who was given the option or freedom to choose the religion he/she wants upon reaching a certain age. I’m sure there are but it’s very, very rare.
Same thing with circumcision/tuli. Some were born and circumcised a few hours after birth and a lot gets to be circumcised upon reaching adolescent age.
Anyway, am I correct in saying you, too, did not have the option to choose to where you want to belong because like you said, you were born and raised (and programmed) to be an atheist. And you also didn’t have the quandary of whether or not to get the blade.
Gnogid,
I have to correct you about the word ‘programmed’. Both my parents always stimulated and encouraged us (my 2 sisters and me) to explore the world (and everything that relates to life). Furthermore, I was even enrolled at a school with a religious signature.
The advice given to us (by our parents) was always to make decisions based on information and facts and to look closely at all the pro’s and all the cons. So that included and includes the option to ‘convert’ to a religion, the option to get a circumcision.
We – the 3 of us – also were given information and facts (by our parents) about sex (sex-ed). So that we never would end up in situations we dont like to end up with and in.
So we will never use stupid lines such as “if god will” bec it is clear that god makes nobody pregnant and he also doesnt decide about when and who. (pls read your biology books; chapter human reproduction).
(PS: the other day, I was chatting with a 36 year old pinay, asking her if she wants kids. She answered: “yes and if god will”. She is still childless. In my neck of the Woods, wanting still to have kids at that age is ‘dangerous’. Probably that ‘rule’ doesnt apply to pinays. Dangerouys in what sense? Giving birth to multiplets and/or giving birth to a kid with Down syndrome. So if probably doesnt matter what the baby has; its more important to have a baby, no matter what). You get my drift?
I always told my pinay GF, that I wont allow our prospect future child to be baptised and in case of a boy, to be circumcised. For the simple reason and fact that parents already decide enough for the kids. Kids can make that judgement themselves when having ALL the available information at the right age.
In my country and in my country’s culture, kids reaching the age of 18 are free to do what they wanna do. They dont need to ask permission from their parents; they dont need consent from their parents. Is that disrespectfull? No. They are now (from the age of 18) mature grown up adults. By law, they (the kids) are (legally) the equals of the parents.
If and when kids go the other way then nobody is insulted, offended and nobody is embarrased.
Another characteristic of Philippine psyche is to hoard more than what you can consume to establish your wealth and status.
Thanks, Robert.????
Funnily enough, LOTS of people get sick from it. Not from the toilet paper specifically, but from the act of wiping and not washing your hands afterwards. It’s the most common cause of food poisoning from commercially-cooked food.
You would get the same result, of course, from using a tabo and not washing your hands afterwards.
A spray gun, probably not.
The history of toilet paper is quite fascinating 🙂 There’s a whole Wikipedia page on it…
Anyway … I didn’t really want to spell this out, but the issue is more to do with “cleanliness” rather than “hygiene”. Consider private moments with your good lady in a certain position, and you’ll get the idea. Toilet paper leaves … residue. Washing doesn’t.
🙂
This wouldn’t surprise me at all.
I can completely identify with this sentiment. The Philippines is the most alien culture I’ve ever encountered.
Marius,
“Anyway … I didn’t really want to spell this out, but the issue is more to do with “cleanliness” rather than “hygiene”. Consider private moments with your good lady in a certain position, and you’ll get the idea. … ”
I am not 100% sure if I follow you but in case I do then =>
we take a shower before we do things like that.
When you get a fever (higher body temperature), its actually a good sign. Your body is fighting ‘alien intruders’ that dont belong there. After a few days you recover even without any medications (most of the times you will be in bed, sweating your pants off, drinking loads of water, maybe tea and/or orange juice and not eating much). Only when your body is not strong enough, you will need a little assistance from – for example – antibiotics.
The quality of the hotels is also a serious issue for tourism. Apart from major centres like makati and Cebu there really isn’t much up to western standards. I live in the Philippines and all our family holidays are abroad because of this. What is on offer in places like Vietnam and Thailand for between 100 and 200 dollars per night plus the cheap cost of flights is much better than what we can find locally.
my best travel experiences in Australia have been at YHA (Youth Hostel Associations) which I doubt you have here; way better than YMCA, it’s a European concept which lets tourists of modest means have an enriching experience without getting ripped off, it’s a basically do-it-yourself concept, make your own brekky and other meals in the communal kitchen or enjoy low cost meals in their canteen etc.
In the Philippines, staying with friends and family members makes life that much more enjoyable, even the humble hospitality of people living in a nipa hut!
As for CRs – best story I ever read about those was a gold-plated one from a service station in the main city of Bohol, where it was such an over-the-top luxurious exercise that it was hard to believe that it wasn’t some sort of send-up
(I read about it in the magazine section of The Philippine Star in 2015).
Has it been stolen yet?
What drives me mad about the Philippines is that there are many simple solutions that could be used for basic infrastructure (social justice warriors call it “appropriate technology”) but Filipinos refuse to use them because they’re “not good enough”. Filipinos want whatever Americans have. Nevermind that those things aren’t appropriate, don’t work very well, and are simply unaffordable in a country which (a) has a failed economy and (b) is burdened by thieving public administrators. Thus they end up with third-rate roads, second-rate power and water infrastructure, and seventh-circle-of-hell class toilets.
the only ‘appropriate technology’ that comes to mind is when someone has a wake and they want to have it at home, so they borrow a big canvas top with the local politician’s name on it and stretch it halfway across a busy road so that all and sundry can pause and say a prayer for the deceased…
gnogid:
You were a former blogger in the : “Pro Pinoy” Website of Aquino. Your blog name there was: G. Nuguid. Here , it became :gnogid.
You were a rabid YellowTard; together with “UPNGRAD”, “Joe America”, etc…
You endorsed in your blogs: Mar Roxas for President; Leni Robredo for Vice President; Leila De Lima for Senator. You defended rabidly Aquino.
Maybe, De Lima paid you with her “drug money”…to be here, to defend her… Perhaps, De Lima is paying you a lot of her “Drug Shabu money” !!! De Lima’s bank account will soon be frozen, by Sec. Aguirre. Ask De Lima, to put some money in your bank accounts, before they will be frozen ! Do it Now ! time is running out !
I’m G. Nuguid? Who’s that? If he’s good, I’m honored. If he’s bad, F(ine with me, too!) you Toro! ????
Anyway, since you turned out to be a friend of mine let me indulge you. This is not the first time I posted here. I posted here a number of times with a different handle the past. The Joe America you’re talking about, I used to post there too, very seldom though. Incidentally, they just started to resume it’s political flavor which for some reason they suspended. I don’t know about Pro Pinoy. I tried to go there by typing “pro-pinoy.com” and all it gives me is a page on physical fitness called pro-pinoy cyber club. You can try it. I’ve visited istorya.net, rappler, Political forum, Politiko, DebatePolitics, and other forums the names of which I can hardly remember now.
Now about my handle: gnogid. Let me just satisfy your curiousity as well as klara’s. She’s right, it was a play on Pres. Duterte’s nickname “Digong”. But it’s not only that. There’s another reason why I chose to use it. I drink during my free time and I have a pet dog. For me, it’s always my Dog & my Gin or Gin & Dog. See the play there? And that’s how I found the ‘digong’ (Yes, the president’s nickname) and play around it. Hence, gnodig.
On you calling me ‘tards in various forms, that’s fine. I get that on both sides. I’m not one and I’m not affected. You calling me ‘tard this, ‘tard that have not proven your point. You have not shown that my point of view or my logic is faulty or wrong or inferior than yours. When people disagrees with what you say they can respond in a lot of ways to show and prove that you are incorrect, out of line or simply wrong by pointing out facts or presenting an opposite view. Name calling is not the way. Just because somebody disagrees with a Marcos loyalist like you it doesn’t mean that he is already a yellow fan or anti-Marcos. I worked in a Marcos office back in the day (surprise!) so, more or less, I know where I’m talking about. ????
You’ve told us who you are here professionally so I expect that you will conduct your self in a professional manner. No need to be brash or cocky because it’s counterproductive. ☺️
Going to the Philippines is not easy. I remember my first trip landing in Tacloban, and people were staring at me like I have 6 horns coming out of my head; people stare. One cab driver was hovering around me like a fly on tae. As a foreigner I felt out-of-place and “on display.” The roads are few and people drive like there are no rules. It’s hard to figure out where the fuck you’re going, unless the person with you knows. There is a legitimate risk of hepatitis and water-born diseases; this in part because handwashing and basic hygiene is foreign to many 3rd world people. The air pollution is bad. If you eat a specific diet, good luck finding food; just accept that you will not and will lose weight. People try to scam you constantly; they do some rent-seeking shit like move your bag 2 meters(without asking), then demand a ‘tip.’ You see the young girls with foreigners old enough to be their grandfather(tatay). You see starving cats and dogs on the street, as well as street kids begging for money. The place feels like some inhumane warzone a year after fighting has ended.
@Greg. No chance for the Philippines to lift themselves up from everything you’ve described unless “All” Filipinos make the effort to do so. The destruction–and rebuilding–of their country is up to “All” Filipinos.
David, I have to agree 100%.
Everything you mentioned is a fact. I once came upon a dog I thought had been flattened by a truck, then it got up and could barely walk but it was NOT because he got hit by a truck, the dog was STARVING TO DEATH..and no one would feed the damn thing. ICFBI !!!
After having lived in the country for quite a while, it is clear to me that the country is completely FUCKED…and NOTHING,or NO ONE, not Fuckin Duterte or Aquino or Enrile or any fucktard politician, can save the place…IT IS TRULY HOPELESS.Life is cheap and it is corrupt as shit eatng pigs…nothing will bring the country up to 3RD World standards, NOTHING !!! It is long passed the point of no return.
THE RETURN OF GERRY,
I agree. Yeah the misery on the faces of these starving animals -whose bones are sticking out – pretty much sums up the Philippines. The culture and people are screwed beyond anything fixable. The list of problems I mentioned is just the tip-of-the-iceburg. What a miserable fucking place.
Re. starving animals, I noticed something a bit different. There are two sorts:
1) The ones that are chained up with a six-inch piece of rope, 12 inches away from a food/water bowl which is perennially empty, or perhaps occasionally filled with leftover rice.
2) The ones the mope around scrounging.
Here’s what I noticed about (2). In most countries, stray cats (for example) are well-known for two things: keeping the vermin population down, and devastating local wildlife (especially birds). All the stray dogs and cats where I live look fat and happy. A few of them get fed by the locals, but 90% of them go out hunting for food. None of them look like skin-and-bones.
So here’s the crazy thing: even the stray animals are Filipinos. Everybody’s yard is full of those stupid fighting roosters, mostly uncaged. Why aren’t the strays doing their jobs and eating the lot of them? There are plenty of rats, mice, birds and other wildlife around – somehow, they survive the onslaught of Filipinos spraying illegal agricultural poisons everywhere. Why aren’t they out hunting?
My conclusion: there’s something in the air, or in the water. Filipinos, even the wretched animals, are all so lazy they’d rather die than work for a living.
Just to clarify: “where I live” refers to the place where I am now, not my alternative-universe home in the Philippines.
Marius,
The ‘stupid fighting roosters’ is a quintessential example of the stupidity of Filipinos. Cock fighting is immature and primitive, and it should be banned so that these stupid Filipinos evolve, stop gambling and drinking, read something and get a job. There’s too much dicking around and not enough work ethic. Asking these types of Filipinos to progress is rather stupid of me, however.
Greg: there are not many cultures on the planet that can find a way to turn an otherwise profitable domesticated animal into (a) a money sink and (b) a despicable symbol of the people’s complete disregard for Life and enjoyment of cruelty.
Tatay – father
Lolo – grandfather
Lola – grandmother
Nanay – mother
No toilet paper in the Philippines? Well, why still go here? You can go and enjoy life in other countries like Syria of Afghanistan? ????
If you are looking for comfort, satisfaction and happiness, forget the Philippines.
You might want to look at this list and pick your choice of a country where you can spend the rest of your life in total bliss.
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2015/12/21/25-worst-countries-to-live-in-the-world/
????
I’m better off going to the “Sin City” (Pasay City) with cheap beers and cute girls than listen to another Flip Pride bullshit.
AIDS CITY YOU MEAN? Careful, careful, the devil wears Prada and idiots dont wear condoms.
This entire country is full of people–rich and poor–out to stroke their “Pinoy Pride” ego and line their pockets with praise and profit, respectively–by “pimping” and “whoring” their land, people, and souls to anyone for the right price and opportunity. This makes “all” Filipinos (and I’m not excluding myself from that equation) an A.S.S. (arrogant, selfish,and stupid).
Most of the people I know who did not come for the ladies told me that they will never come back.
The Philippines is a tourism disaster.
It only attracts gamblers & sex tourists, now mostly from Korea. The Philippines is not only totally disorganized, but far too expensive compared to other Asian destinations.
@Jim DiGriz. This is why you’re not going to find many foreign women wanting to live in the Philippines–unlike Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and even Cambodia–where foreigners feel safer.
The Philippines has–and always will be–a tourist haven for D.O.M (Dirty Old Men) from other countries, with Filipinos luring them in for their money.
Also, being a cheap Asian destination is a thing of the past, with the out-of-control building of high-rise condominiums, casinos, and shopping malls, as real estate prices and cost of living climb up the roof.
So you’re right. The Philippines is mainly designed for sex tourism and gambling or anyone that has money to spend. This country is a big money drain for everyone.
Even the hookers are half-wit amateurs and completely overpriced, so Filipinos will succeed to even kill off that source of income.
“This country is a big money drain for everyone.”
Just like owning a yacht!
A hole in the ocean you throw money into.
IDK, it cost me as much to live in the Philippines as it does to live in the 1st world, but it also cost the same to do so in Thailand as well. I will not go to Vietnam or Cambodia but lets face it, a Honda cost the same amount of money in just about every country. An air conditioner cost the same in every country. The things that cost more in the failippines wer gasoline and electricity & electronics(camera’s,PC’s, etc). Everything else is on par with what it costs everywhere else( a bottle of Jack Daniels was more then I thought it would be, due to taxes).If you want to live like a 1st world citizen. the country you live in doesn’t matter, it costs the same wherever you go, except major world cities like NYC,PARIS, BERLIN,TOKYO etc etc etc…. where most 1st world citizens cant live anyway.Point being, if you want to live like a 3rd world citizen it will not cost you much,but you probably will not like it.Wanna live like a 1st world citizen? Fork over the CA$H and pay up! !!!
I don’t know anyone who could put up with what I put up with during the many years I have lived in the Failippines. It is just that the shitty things I have to put up with are the price I have to pay to live on the beach in Camiguin,Surigao,Dinigat(Cloud 9),Palawan 85% of the time….and its worth it. ‘Island-Hopping’ is a way of life you can used to, just MYOB, have a four-wheel drive vehicle, loaded weapon, Rottweiler and faithful partner and it can be paradise, 80% of the time….
i too have spent alot of time in the dinagat area.it certainly is quite beautiful,although,yes,there is a certain amount of bullshit that one must put up with.i rode on the top of a jeepney from basilisa to libjo,and my wife and i rode on the back of a motor bike from san jose to cagdianao,both grueling,dangerous trips,but well worth every bit.maybe people need to lower their expectations somewhat,the Phils.is not a first world country,and shouldnt be promoted as such…at least for now….
The Philippines is fast becoming another HongKong, where wealthy and powerful Chinese businesses (with Koreans not far behind) and their well-bribed political dynasties, will someday own the entire archipelago; while the masses will be living in high-rise tenements called “condominiums,” or, on the water in small boats called “bangkas.”
You cracked me up at the part of Jolibee having a “decent toilet” haha!
I’m currently in Manila, a long cherished trip finally realized. Unfortunately it’s been the worst vacation I’ve ever experienced ever since I landed. I initially planned to stay for six months. The last month has been spent searching for reasons not to pay $150 in ticket rescheduling fees.
The BI is a corrupt group of scammers donning badges. The entire city is a garbage dump but the real cancer to this country is the complete lack of standards across every genre. Sure people are super polite, smiling, welcoming, & treat you as if you are special just for being a tourist. However these same people lie more than they breathe, scam or rip you off constantly, & I have yet to find a single location which is not overridden by worthless barking dogs. Everyone joyously blames drug users & pushers for the barking dogs, but this is typical Filipino nonsense. The dogs behave rambunctiously & obnoxiously because nobody smacks them in the mouth, or appropriately trains them. The Filipinos don’t do this to themselves so why would they apply decorum to their dogs? Surely it’s those evil drug addicts at fault despite the high noon sun. Nobody cares about anything or does a single thing to make their community better in meaningful ways, not enough do anyway. I’m sure there are good people scattered about, there are not enough. Too many are focused on nonsense endeavors of hollow consequence. Being seen doing something ineffective is far more cherished here than anonymously instilling undeniable progress.
Unless you overpay for a closet sized condo, expect to be woken up constantly from midnight to 6am from dogs barking. This can not be stressed beyond its realm of certainty. The thumb sized flying roaches are more ubiquitous than even the dogs. Each supermarket or pharmacy I’ve frequented has living & dead roaches canvasing the products. Many outside places serving food are infested by roaches whom openly attempt to take your food while you eat it. Of course they run off at the slightest gesture, but without one they will certainly run onto your plate. Buying fresh food from the wet markets on the street alleys is your best bet. Make the food at your apartment. The term fresh is still relative, but it is far cleaner than the restaurants. I hate it here. I’ve hated it here for weeks. Going home is something I very much look forward to.
The Filipinas are certainly externally arousing. Internally they are brainwashed & hypnotized to be childish idiots by a culture devoid of logic. There is no accountability anywhere to be found here. When all else fails either Jesus or God, will be given the burden of responsibility, accountability, & motive . Any problem is always someone else’s fault. Excuses are offered more readily than the pineapple, coconut, or bananas. Poverty can be tolerated from tourists if it is combatted by effort, responsibility, honesty, integrity, & progress. The Philippines is devoid of such traits. Manila is an embarrassing disaster. Filipinas & Filipinos are more focused on being blamed or accused of something they did wrong than recognizing they actually did something wrong. Clarity is extinct here. The same person will do the same wrong behavior to you after you point it out, or even after yelling at them about doing it. Experiences such as these fuel contempt. Intelligent people do not conduct themselves in this manner.
I’ve lost my respect for Filipinos after this trip. Filipinas are not worth whatever sexual appeal they may radiate. Others wax poetic about child prostitution & the horrors of it. When the adults themselves think & behave like five year old children, I can no longer take such sonnets seriously. The children here are victims in far worse ways than sexual predation. There is no distinction between the children & the adults mentally or temperamentally. There is no maturity inherent within adults here. For anyone who isn’t attracted to children sexually, it is extremely repulsive to endure the childish, immaturity of alleged adults in the Philippines. Anyone can be stuck in a terrible situation or burdened by variables. Filipinos hide from their own flaws by scurrying towards pride, culture, government corruption, & the plague of drug addicts. The true cancer here is the mindset of every Filipino.
Previously I intended to buy property here & retire somewhere in the Philippines. This will never happen now. When I get back on that plane I am never coming back. I do understand now why all of Asia discriminates against Filipinos, & considers the Philippines to be a toilet bowl. I used to defend Filipinos, never again will I be so foolish.
I can’t say I blame you on how you feel about the Philippines and its people. The country is beautiful but the people makes it ugly with their country-destructive arrogance and selfishness for praise and profit, respectively. From the Chinese businesses and their well-bribed political dynasties, who are raping this country of its wealth and quality of life, to the masses who have to resort to extreme means to survive, everyone in this God-forsaken society is either “pimping” or “whoring” their land, people, and whole being to anyone for the right price. This blog is not helping very much either to put all these societal problems in proper perspective, by blaming only the obviously persistent sources (the rampant corruption in government and desperately oppressed masses), and the not-so-obvious forces that fuel these problems (Chinese “legal and illegal” businesses). You can’t solve the problem if you”cookie-cut” the cause of the problem.
Did GRP delete my comment to Jack?
Welcome to the Philippines!
I think a majority of foreigners react as you do. They’ll come here for a holiday and live life on the edge for a bit, and then they’ll be happy to go home and never have to interact with a Filipino ever again.
It’s worth bearing in mind that Manila is not really the Philippines. It’s a weird twilight zone where the reasonably intelligent congregate to attempt to make some money, and the worst scum of humanity congregate to try to deprive them of it. The rest of the country is not radically different – same people, same characteristics, same problems – but it is at least at a different level of intensity, so it’s easier to ignore the stupidity around you and get on with your life. Earplugs help, of course.
Try to consider the Philippines in perspective. The place is living in a time-warp. It has deliberately rejected all civilising influences and walled itself off from the rest of the world (albeit with a few gaps to let money flow in). Look at this quote from an 19th Century writer:
“Not that people were always going around with fierce looks … on the contrary, a moment ago they were joking, now they mock each other, one word leads to another, and suddenly from the midst of laughter they find themselves in the fiercest feud.”
It’s Filipinos, right? Knifing each other over a KTV argument? No, it’s 15th Century Europe. In their natural state, humans are pretty vile, and the eternal struggle of humanity is to rise above what we are. But Filipinos, mostly, don’t really want to. They’re content to be looked down on, abused, exploited and vilified because it takes less effort to be a victim than to be a winner, and if there’s one thing that strikes fear into the heart of the Filipino, it’s the prospect of making an effort.
8 years later, and nothing has changed. When will this country ever get its act together…
What do you expect? PH is a backward and low IQ third world country. Look at how arrogant many Pinoys, they laugh at Ukraine for having an actor as their president while their president has an outstanding warrant of arrest in the US and their some of their senators have pending corruption cases and are ex-convicts, not to mention their ex-convict senators are actor while the other is just a media broadcaster. At least Zelenskyy had a law degree, not to mention that media broadcaster senator thinks he’s big yet people applaud him for his arrogance and disrespectful attitude, yet those who argue or even criticize him are labeled by him and his supporters as arrogant and disrespectful, they treat that senator as their god, he and his supporters resort to ad hominem when they lose in arguments, no wonder Philippines has low IQ, not to mention crab mentality and anti-intellectualism are huge parts of Philippine culture, they don’t like or trust smart people, so smart people don’t get elected. Philippines is just getting worse due to its backward development which is worse than even stagnant development.
@No Data: Who issued that supposed ‘warrant of arrest’ against the Philippine President?
Don’t hold your breath for an answer. The President has no “outstanding warrant of arrest in the US”.
It’s very clear that only those with a very low IQ will say it that he has.
@Sam and @Ben Marcos Jr. failed to comply with a US court order, so they are cited in contempt. The reason why he doesn’t get arrested in the US during his visit is because he has diplomatic immunity.
And by the way, only very low IQ people resort to ad hominem. Smart people do not resort to ad hominem in discussions and debates.
@No Data:
I don’t think you get it. Please focus on the question at hand and be truthful.
Is there truth to your claim that “their president has an outstanding warrant of arrest in the US”? Who issued the warrant?
Honestly, it’s so very easy to answer the question with a simple ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ than to try to insult the people’s intelligence here.
@Ben you’re the one insulting people by saying that only those with very low IQ will say it that he has. Ad hominem shouldn’t be allowed here. Anyway, he was cited in contempt and he could be arrested if he goes to the US without having diplomatic immunity. One News.ph claims that he and his family have a warrant of arrest there.
@No Data:
If you’re saying One News.ph claims it and then you also claim it, where’s the proof?
Should we believe you outright just because we’re simply told?
Do you view people here with a low regard as having a low IQ? It’s an insult to the people’s intelligence, right?
Even the latest slogan is a love-letter of a joke: “Love the Philippines” more like “LEAVE the Philippines.”
I’m not imagining my long-term life here in the country.
No one in their right mind would choose to stay in the Ph. Period. No amounts of bs-ing and justification makes sense. It’s simply lying to yourself which like most USAians do this to get through their horrible daily lives of capitalistic slaves
@Eugene those who are benefiting from that pathetic country’s corrupt practices will choose to stay there.