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

 

Dayang Marikit

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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”.

It's 2026, why are we Filipinos still poor?

 

Dayang Marikit

 ·

Philippine History Professor

Not everyone here is poor… look around you, a lot of people are progressing, I have friends who bought condominium units and they've turned them into rental properties, each unit earns around 60,000 pesos a month. You need to surround yourself with positive and business minded people. The pandemic should've burst the condominium bubble, but prices bounced back within a year, this is due to strong domestic demand. Clearly a significant portion of the population have some money to spend. People have gotten way too comfortable stereotyping Filipinos as “poor”… I'm not saying that poverty doesn't exist here, but when people talk about Filipinos they make sweeping generalizations and they act as if the middle-class, upper-middle-class, and upper-class doesn't exist. The way people speak, you’d think that everyone here just live in slums.

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Why are Southern Filipinos better than Northern Filipinos in terms of manners and behavior?

 

Dayang Marikit

6,992 followers

364 following

My Quora account is mainly focused on promoting and educating people about the pre-colonial period. Below are some of my articles and as well as some informative videos.

I would like to inform people that “nothing is set in stone” because we are constantly gathering information and learning about our history, somethings may change in the future, but for now the things that I publish are the things that we currently “know about.”

Based on what measure?… and how far "South" are we talking about?

• When you say "Southern Filipinos" I'm assuming that you're referring to the "Visayans" instead of the "Mindanaoans".
• There are "cultural norms" from each region of the country that may greatly differ from each other… "this doesn't mean that one is "objectively right" and the other is "objectively wrong".

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The "Visayans" of central Philippines are considered to be more "jolly, straightforward, jokesters, outgoing, talkative and generally friendly towards strangers, the females also tend to display their "closeness" towards their male friends much more and this is generally considered "normal" to them, (nothing "sexual or anything")… They are generally "touchy-feely" which Western tourists may find to be "more appealing".

• The warm smile of a Visayan lady from Central Philippines.

However this is not considered to be "normal" in Luzon… and the further north you go, the more "conservative, silent, aloof and serious" people tend to be. People also tend to keep their personal space more until they have "warmed up"… they may perceive Visayan "straightforwardness and humor" to be "rude and disrespectful" and their friendliness might also be perceived to be an "invasion of personal space". Females who show so much "closeness" to their male friends are also perceived to be $/vt$ in the north, and thus being very close to your male friends is considered to be "inappropriate". In turn, people from Luzon may also be perceived as "rude" by the Visayans.

• I'm not generalizing but people in the north just tend to have that "unimpressed" look in their eyes.

And if we also go all the way down to the south of the country in the island of Mindanao, especially where the Muslims reside… the people may also be equally "appalled" by "Visayan manners", especially the "closeness" displayed between friends of the opposite sex. Just like in the northern parts of the country, the people also tend to be more "conservative, silent, aloof and serious".

Lastly, Manila being a "melting-pot" that is situated between the Visayas and the far north of the country tends to mix some aspects from both cultures… (We in Metro Manila may not be as "jolly" as the Visayans, but we are also not as "uptight" as those in the far north and also the far south of the country).

• I would like to make it clear that my observations and assessments are mainly based on "generalizations".

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In the end, these are just cultural differences within the country and no one is "objectively right or wrong"… by the way, kindly read the article made by Allan Daniel in the link below.

• Allan Daniel Serrano's answer to What do Tagalog people think of Cebuano people in general?

In the Philippines, is it considered rude or impolite to call someone by their first name?

Dayang Marikit

Yes, but it depends on your rank, relationship and dynamics towards each other.

• It's not acceptable for children to address their parents and elders by their first names.
• Between siblings, elder siblings might take offense if younger siblings address them by their first names, they are rather addressed as (Kuya/Older Brother) and (Ate/Older Sister). The youngest sibling could be addressed as (Bunso) but it's perfectly acceptable to address them by their first names.
• In school and work settings, you would be required to address your teachers and work superiors as (Sir/Ginoo) and (Ma'am/Ginang). People would generally find it disrespectful to address your teachers and work superiors by their first names.