You plan to move to the Philippines? Wollen Sie auf den Philippinen leben?

There are REALLY TONS of websites telling us how, why, maybe why not and when you'll be able to move to the Philippines. I only love to tell and explain some things "between the lines". Enjoy reading, be informed, have fun and be entertained too!

Ja, es gibt tonnenweise Webseiten, die Ihnen sagen wie, warum, vielleicht warum nicht und wann Sie am besten auf die Philippinen auswandern könnten. Ich möchte Ihnen in Zukunft "zwischen den Zeilen" einige zusätzlichen Dinge berichten und erzählen. Viel Spass beim Lesen und Gute Unterhaltung!


Visitors of germanexpatinthephilippines/Besucher dieser Webseite.Ich liebe meine Flaggensammlung!

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Sunday, July 6, 2014

Crooked Politicians Contribute to Strife in The Philippines

By:

Philippine politics has long struggled with corruption, and it seems that it is getting worse.

When former strongman, the late President Ferdinand Marcos, was ousted in 1986, everyone thought freedom and clean and honest government were going to reemerge, but it didn't happen.

What bothers me the most is the fact the disparity between the rich and the poor in the Philippines is getting wider by the minute, and I believe that one of the causes of the country's rapid economic decline is the corruption going on in all three branches government.

Recently, several key figures — sitting senators and congress members — were arrested in connection with a pork barrel scam: The politicians are alleged to have accepted millions of dollars in kickbacks from what was then known as the Countrywide Development Fund.

And involvement in the scandal may go all the way up to the presidential palace, according to recent news reports.

Meanwhile, millions of Filipinos worry how they are going to get their next meal.
The percentage of the Philippine population considered to be poor is higher than the Southeast Asian average, based on a study of the Asian Development Bank and the National University of Singapore, titled "Ending Asian Deprivations."

The report said around 17.71 percent of the populace, or close to 18 million Filipinos — based on the estimated 98 million Philippine population — still live below $1.25 a day, which is the internationally accepted poverty line.

This is depressing considering that the combined wealth of the 50 richest families — including families of politicians — in the country already equaled 25 percent of Philippine gross domestic product.

And, remember Typhoon Haiyan in November that affected 4.3 million people across 36 provinces and killed nearly 7,000 people? Eight months later, the United Nations estimates more than 100,000 people there in the storm zone still live in tents, waiting for better housing.

Tens of thousands more are rebuilding in places the government is trying to close down.

The Philippines suffered one of the world's worst disasters in history in November 2013. Haiyan rendered at least 4 million homeless.

The Philippine government (big question mark here), private sector, and non-governmental organizations have been behind a massive rehabilitation program for Haiyan, but the process has been slow and at times frustrating.

In the province of Tacloban alone, more than 12,000 homes were completely destroyed and 46,000 severely damaged. The rebuilding needs are immense.
Aid agencies have so far provided emergency shelter supplies — tents, tarpaulins and the like — to 570,000 families.

A further 160,000 households have received tools and materials to help them rebuild their homes.

So, I ask: Do these alleged political crooks have any conscience left in their bones?
I haven't been back home in more than 20 years. It was very hard, to say the least, watching footage of the November storm's aftermath. Some of my former colleagues in the islands sent me photos of their coverage, lifeless bodies of victims lying on the streets.

My fellow journalists there then asked me: "Do you remember back in 1991?"
Sadly, I do.

As Haiyan relief efforts went underway days and weeks after the disaster, bloated bodies lay uncollected and uncounted in the streets and survivors pleaded for food, water and medicine — much like what I saw in 1991.

Before Haiyan earned the distinction of being the worst storm that hit the archipelago, Tropical Storm Thelma, or what Philippine officials named Typhoon Uring, hit Ormoc City, also in Leyte province.

I was a young journalist when I was sent to Ormoc City in November 1991 to cover the aftermath of Thelma that killed roughly 6,000 people. Seeing hundreds, if not thousands, of bodies on the street made it very difficult for me to find objectivity.
I can still remember the looks on the faces of the grief-stricken people of Ormoc, some of whom had lost many members of their family.

The cries of the victims I heard back in '91 are strikingly similar to the cries I hear today.

It will be a long road ahead for those left to make sense of the devastation, for life as they know it has changed forever.
Losing everything for a people who have nothing is irony in itself.

Typhoon Neoguri Seen to Enter The Philippines

Expected to move toward the Ryukyu Islands, typhoon Neoguri will be given the name Florita once it enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

The skies will be cloudy in Visayas and parts of Luzon on Sunday, July 6, as a strong typhoon is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), said the state weather bureau PAGASA in its 24-hour weather bulletin on Saturday, July 5.
Typhoon Neoguri was spotted 1,360 kms east of Casiguran, Aurora, at 4 pm Saturday. It is moving northwest at 25 km/h, with maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h and gustiness of up to 185 km/h.

The typhoon is headed toward the Ryukyu Islands between Taiwan and southern Japan, and would not be a threat to the Philippines. (Data from Weather Philippines is not official data. Official weather information is issued by state weather bureau PAGASA.)

PAGASA advised the public and local disaster risk reduction and management councils to be on alert. Updates about typhoon Neoguri will be posted on PAGASA's next weather bulletin on Sunday morning.

The Bicol and Mimaropa regions, as well as the Visayas, will experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and thunderstorms.

Meanwhile, Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

Coastal waters will be moderate to rough, as moderate to strong winds blow from the southwest to west over Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Over the rest of the country, light to moderate winds coming from the southwest will prevail.

City Forecast Temperature
Range
Metro Manila Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
25°C-32°C
Tuguegarao Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
25°C-34°C
Laoag Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
25°C-32°C
Baguio Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
16°C-23°C
Subic/Olongapo; Clark/Angeles Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
25°C-31°C
Tagaytay Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
22°C-31°C
Lipa Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
24°C-32°C
Legazpi Cloudy skies with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
25°C-32°C
Puerto Princesa Cloudy skies with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
25°C-30°C
Iloilo/Bacolod Cloudy skies with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
23°C-30°C
Metro Cebu Cloudy skies with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
25°C-30°C
Tacloban Cloudy skies with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
24°C-31°C
Cagayan de Oro Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
24°C-31°C
Metro Davao Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
25°C-33°C
Zamboanga Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
with rainshowers
and/or thunderstorms
25°C-33°C