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Is the Forbes article about Dumaguete really making a difference?

Discussion in 'Dumaguete City' started by sandersonph, Jan 23, 2018.

  1. Brian Oinks

    Brian Oinks That's Mr. Pig to you Boy! :) Highly Rated Poster

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    Plainspoken pretty much summed up my way of thinking with his math explanation.

    Our money is coming into the Philippines, not out. At the end of each month we have little left to throw around willy-nilly. Therefore I believe it is going into the local economy, and it is the locals who own almost everything that benefits as such from our money, that otherwise would not be here. Do we (expats) contribute more to the economy than the locals, I am 100% sure we most certainly do not. But take away our input and where would the local Business people fill that gap from? I am sure they would feel the hurt should we simply disappear (well our missing Pesos anyways...)

    Each and everytime I traverse the Check-outs at Hypermart the expats are well represented and I am sure are putting a decent amount of their cash through the Tills. Last time we were there I went to sit down while my wife dealt with the groceries, and an expat looked shocked and was speaking to my wife. I asked her later what he had said, and she said he was shocked as our Grocery Bill for the month was close to 15,000 pesos. (Our Monthly Grocery Bill is normally 10,000php but that 15k included a pair of size-14 knock-off NIKES at 4,999php! :biggrin: lol) Little did he know, that does not include the fresh daily bought Meat, Eggs and Vegetables we buy locally here at the Market.

    But it is what it is, and OUR money which arrives from another country is spent here, that surely has to contribute to the local economy in a more than helpful way.

    I remember reading somewhere one time how Billions of Pesos come into the Philippines each year from foreign Men supporting their Filipina Girlfriends/Wives/Families etc here. As well; OFW's bring in pretty much the same sending back to their families here. It went on to say that without this money coming in, the Philippines Economy would pretty much fall over on itself. I am pretty sure it was quoting one of the President's on his/her appreciation of this happening which helped to keep the Philippines afloat. I am not sure how true that is, or if; without all of this money coming in from foreign sources, if the Philippines could sustain itself, but a part of that did stick in my mind. If anyone else knows the article in question please share here. :wink:
     
  2. Plainspoken

    Plainspoken DI Forum Adept

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    Speaking of foreigners supporting their girl friends here. We go to the money sending place(ok I don't know what it is) for my wife to send HER money to her mother and orphaned nephews every week. Every week there are always a few nice looking Filipina's there picking up money from their "One and Only" Trouble is some of them have 6 or 8 "One and Onlies". I can only guess that they stay in touch with all of them because they are too kind to break any hearts. Sweet girls. They are certainly doing their part to bring money into the local economy.
     
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  3. Brian Oinks

    Brian Oinks That's Mr. Pig to you Boy! :) Highly Rated Poster

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    Yes noticed that at one Western Union Branch one day. I sat outside in our old Tricycle while my wife went in to pick up the money from my Son after he sold my car back in Oz. While I was waiting I was watching others pulling up on bikes, often a Filipina with a guy riding. The Filipina would go inside, then around 10/15 minutes later come out, often dividing the money with miles of smiles, and off they would ride together. One only incident would not have raised my interest, but having to wait longer due to a hiccup with my money, I got to see this repeated maybe a dozen or more times over the period of around an hour, some of them arriving together in small groups and leaving together chatting away with a handful of cash. Maybe they had OFW Family sending, maybe they were collecting payment from an 'Online Business' but who really knows? :whistling:

    Actually I had a Filipina friend who lived in Bislig City who had a harem of friends and one PC in a Unit who had many one and only's. She use to get me to check online with WU to see if their 'One & Only's' had actually sent them money to save them having to go out for a false call. She made no bones about what she did or why. Not all are dishonest about what they do. :wink:
     
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  4. Dr. Shiva

    Dr. Shiva DI Senior Member

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    In some degree you are right on this. But what will someone do, if the goverment is the one which burns the bridges behind him/her? Happens quite a lot to people not being able to earn enough pension for have a live in own country and are forced to move into a more cheaper country.
    In the Philippine it would be best to keep the life simple. This leads to less hassles and annoying situations at all. And choose the living location very well. A beautiful place must not be the best place for a living.

    EDIT: Choosing the right location moved the compound Valencia/Dumaguete a bit down on my list. Valencia is great for living but lacks in some degree in the activity area. For such stuff people have to go to Dumaguete.
     
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    Last edited: Feb 1, 2018
  5. garbonzo

    garbonzo DI Senior Member Veteran Marines

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    My wife just came back from Negros.....Had a great 50th High School Reunion there....Gives an indication of our age - LOL.....And she is really thinking we should utilise our large block of land - and build that house - in a well-known gated community.....It is in Talisay, and everything there from security to the pool and gym etc.....seem to doing what they should do and very viable...She was still very impressed. Five/ten minutes from the new 'airport' and very close to great shopping - north end of Bacolod so avoid the traffic, and the great restaurants of Silay are a right turn and five minutes away.....Silay reminds me of old Bacolod, but now with better food and almost half the price.....It does have me thinking...
    Just for fun, I did some city cost comparing on Numbeo.com.....I first compared Bacolod with equivalent Japanese cities.....only because we love Japan and spend a lot of time there.....But we do know we would be in and out on 90 day tourist visas....in Japan....Fair enough, sadly. Of course bacolod left all Japanese cities for ded......4-5 times cheaper generally.....

    Then I dug a little deeper....Compared Bacolod to Perth, Australia - where we live now.....and was pleasantly surprised.....The figures are a bit hard to decipher as everyone has different circumstances and life-styles...For example, you may not need a car even if that Corolla figure is included.....Anyway, Bacolod turned out to be roughly, in a Western lifestyle....as that is what they quoted for foods, utilities, transport etc.....about 80% cheaper than what we pay now - here.......I thought that was fairly compelling....Would I shift to another country that I like - to save 80%....bloody oath I would......I was expecting around half as the AUD has been fairly static last couple years - bouncing around .75 USD....So I dug deeper......Compared Bacolod with Dumaguete....That also surprised me a little.....The difference in total cost of living between them is a bit under 10%.....I would have expected Dumaguete to do better - but food prices, for example were slightly higher than Bacolod. No big deal really - an extra 10% for the lifestyle would be well worth it for many...You won't be snorkeling within 50k's of Bacolod for sure......I am just saying that living out in the province.....is not always the best deal.....And that fooled me as well!!

    Posted for what it is worth.....Not advertising for bacolod or dumaguete.....Frankly I like both....Personally I would be just as happy in either of them.....maybe a bit happier in Dumaguete with the more vibrant expat population and access to decent snorkelling and diving.....Hop on to the Numbeo website and compare the world......It was very interesting.....But if we make the move- it will be Bacolod, or staying in Perth......My wife is very firm on that....and we did a lot of research before we bought our land.....The good news is I like to drive and Dumaguete is half a day driving at worst.....for 3-4 days of relaxation......LOL...maybe a week? LOL.....
     
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  6. cabb

    cabb DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster ✤Forum Sponsor✤

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    Do you know that 10% of the Filipina’s population currently live and work abroad? And do you know that those 10 million OFWs abroad represent 10% of the nation’s economy? Indeed, all those people are sending money back home every year to their loved ones. The remittances go straight to families, relatives, households, friends. So they can improve their quality of life. The country received 28.4 billion of US dollars in 2015 (according to the World Bank). More than a third of the Filipina’s population receives money from family abroad.
    https://moneytis.com/en/blog/living-abroad/philippines-ofw-impact

    Money transfers from Filipinos working all over the world account for at least 10-percent of the country’s GDP, the second largest source of foreign capital after value-added exports like electronic components, and a major source of private consumption which in turn accounts for 75-percent of the GDP.
    OFWs – The Strong Pillars OF The Philippine Economy | Xpress Money
     
  7. mntnwolf

    mntnwolf DI Member

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    Wait, garbonzo sir, how do you figure that Bacolod "is half a day driving at worst" to Gentle Dumaguete? We just did a RT there, and it's a solid 8 hours of driving each way -- with the roads now much better than they were before (and major work still being done)....
     
  8. garbonzo

    garbonzo DI Senior Member Veteran Marines

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    We did it in about six hours, and less on the way back....Early morning launches in a Suzuki MPV...both ways..The roads were not flash - but the driver floored it whenever he could.....and there was a bit of road construction/recovery at the time......A couple mental cases, or job gratefuls, doing something with screwdrivers - on old tarmac....It can certainly be done.....If I do move there you can be my passenger and I will show you.....LOL....I drive incredible distances in Australia at, or beyond....sometimes far beyond in the bush..distances here are huge......speed limits...mostly optional......I regularly have done Perth - Kalgoorlie - Perth - about 1300 k's in 10.5 - 12 hours easily...round-trip..Son was studying there for a mining engineering defree......And only one ticket near Merredin to show for it....Or maybe better for you - Denver to Riverside, Calif.....in 21 hours.......Done that a couple times.....Get past Utah and floor it.....
     
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  9. Dr. Shiva

    Dr. Shiva DI Senior Member

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    Google Maps means near to 5 hours from Dumaguete to Bacolod. We had once used the Ceres from Bacolod to Tanjay using a bit more than 5 hours. When you need now 8 hours one way then there must be heavy traffic and lots of street work around.
     
  10. garbonzo

    garbonzo DI Senior Member Veteran Marines

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    Funny that.....there is a crime, I believe it is called estafa...or something similar...And it is essentially ripping off others financially because you have the means and position to do it.....I used to see it applied regularly against mostly junior civil servants...while the fat cats....got fatter......Now seems to rarely apply....Is it the internet which changed it from a crime to a shallow disgrace? I am just curious.....I have heard so many stories here in Oz about Filipinas ripping off their internet 'boyfriends'. It has gone very disgraceful....Filipinas are now being equated with dog-sh*t....Truth is, nothing wrong with that equation anymore...It is accurate under present circumstances......And still dumb Australian men line up to be robbed.....They obviously don't read.....
     
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2018
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