Is the Philippines a good place to live in and settle down?

 

Dayang Marikit

 · 

Philippine History Professor

Is the Philippines a good place to live in and settle down?

It really depends on what your idea of “good” is.

• Some like it because it’s cheaper.
• Some like it because of the people and culture.
• Some like it because of its natural beauty.
• Some like it because of all of the reasons stated above.

I remember talking to this foreigner once and I asked him (Why do you prefer living in the old and run-down part of Manila instead of the newly developed districts of Metro-Manila like BGC or Makati?)… He said that he loves the people and the characters of that place better, he loved the street children who would play with him, he loved the ‘tricycle’ drivers who would wave and smile at him, he loved the transexual salon workers who would joke around with him, he loved the wet markets, he also loved the elderly lady who owns a ‘Sari-Sari’ store across the street from where he lives.

Here are some photos to give you an idea.

• Street Children

• Tricycle Driver

• Transexual Salon Worker

• Wet Market

• ‘Sari-Sari’ Store

These aren’t the exact photos but this is just to give you an idea about what this guy is talking about. I agree with him, you know, individuals are still individuals but generally speaking once you actually get to know these people personally you end up liking them for who they are.

He also said that the High-End dristricts of Metro-Manila (where most of the middle and upper class people stayed) seemed to be ‘cold’, sterile and with less personality… He said they had nothing but “boring” office workers and “snobby” rich people.

Additional Information - (Manila proper and Metro-Manila are different)… Metro-Manila is composed of several cities (some old and some new), Manila itself is part of Metro-Manila.

• Manila was a centre of business and trade prior to Word-War-II but after the war “old Manila” was destroyed beyond repair… developers started developing other parts of Metro-Manila which you can see above. Big businesses moved out of the old district, while a lot of homesless people moved in, which explains why the city has a lot of poverty.

“Old Manila” before and after the war

• Videos

• Photos

In the end, it really depends on what you personally think is “good”.