⌛ My Experience in Dumaguete City

As the first poster to criticize Rev Robinson's post, let me say why I did so. The Revs original post comparing things in the Philippines with things in the U.S. was totally one-sided. I have no problems with a poster airing the negative aspects of living in the Philippines, but such posts are just as misleading as those which only mention the positive side of living here. If he thinks I have tunnel vision, I suggest he reads some of my posts on the main Philippine Yahoo groups, which have a vastly more varied membership than this forum.
On a subject that somehow got raised in this thread (I am not sure how or why), to say that the U.S. 'saved' the U.K. in WW2, is just arrogance. The U.K saved itself with Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain in 1940. The entry of the U.S. into the war, in late 1941, certainly speeded up the defeat of Germany, but that was inevitable in the long run as Germany did not have the manpower to suppress 3/4 of Europe indefinitely, especially after the Russian campaign. Oh, and just so you know, I am an American.
Gary

 

jss,

Just like to respond to your points

1)

2) Look at the BAE systems deal as a case in point, the UK is bribing Saudi Arabia to sign up to crazy defense contracts, whilst at same time we go around the world preaching to 3rd world countries about how bribery is bad for the global economy and their's. The USA is now looking into the whole affair to find out how the UK managed to get one up on them. This little trick probably outstrips Phils corruption in monetary terms for the same period. I'm not suggesting that we should have played fair and let another G8 member get the contract. I'm saying corruption is part of human nature. I agree that at a personal level UK corruption is not perceivable and that is a very good thing. Better at hiding it… yeah the BAE thing is only coming to light now, 10+ years after the contract was signed. Hey, in a few years time it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that Darfur and Iraq were motivated by oil and that we ignored the crisis in Zimbabwe because there’s no oil there.

3) Climate change is just the most obvious argument against us living the 1st world way of life. There's not enough viable farm land for us to all to eat meat at the rate we do in the West. I'd like to believe that we could all drive around in solar powered Humvees, I just don't think it's going to happen any time soon.

4) It's not the price of Gold that's cheaper in the Phils, it's the cost of labour. I lived for two years in the Phils on 3months wages from the UK... I call that cheaper.

5) I admit that I am a little out-of-touch with the property costs in the Phils. Here in the UK we've been in a property boom for more than 10 years. The cost of land here is ridiculous, so the Phils still seems very cheap, but may not be cheap by USA standards.

6) Are there any people on this forum who would admit to being former poor locals?

John.

 

I am one of the very poor locals, the reason why I whinge and bad tempered sometimes out the many bull and craps.

 

I have only been in P.I 7 months but I have a better life here than in the U.K If your friendly and kind to the local people, they go out of there way to help you. they have much more respect for older people here than the Uk. at least here as poor as they are, they look after their parents, not put them in a home like in the Uk and visit them once in a blue moon.

 

Thats why iam still waiting in the uk for a spine operation, 10 months , it sucks

 

On one visit to the Philippines I ignorantly ignored a small cut on my foot which became infected. I was able to get some amoxicillan from the local farmacia and it cleared up in just a few days.
Diagnosing and treating myself cost in PI = US$2
Going to a doctor, getting a diagnosis for something I had already diagnosed myself and getting a prescription cost in US = US$80

 

This and that...

 

jss,

1) I do admit that as corruption is typically understood as per your example, the Phils is very bad. But I think the USA/UK have their own issues more globally... ironically both countries supported Marcos, and they were the years of missed opporunity. So while USA/UK see that corruption is bad of every aspect of society, we're happy to support corrupt dictators when it suits us.

2) Countries like the Phils should really be able to achieve a good level of development, but as you say it's not happening at the rate it should. Clearly if we are all going to live at a similar level, we in the 1st world need to alter our lifestyles too and 3rd world need to develop to meet that level. Surely the 1st world countries need to move quickly to live more responsibly so that developing countries are setting their sights on a responsible lifestyle. However if you look at China the rich are setting their sites on the Hollywood lifestyle hence my pessimistic view toward short-term global development and it's repercussions, long-term I'm (oddly) optimistic.

3) Only commodities like Gold have a negligible labour element, practically everything else has a labour element and is cheaper for it. The other big difference is tax. We can get the latest Honda Dream model here in the UK, it's priced at P170,000 the main reason it costs so much is UK import Tax and the transportation costs from Vietnam. But it has a labour Element, the profit on this bike has to be enough to keep the people who work in the dealership on proper UK wages... that element of cost just doesn't exist in the Phils, it's a few dollars. Where costs are rising in the Phils it's the energy element that's driving things up. I think things are about as cheap as they can be.

On the land thing, I'm married to a Filipina so can jointly own property... I agree that it's risky if you're not a Citizen of the country where you own land.

John.

 

John,
Aside from labor-intensive things such as doctor visit and restaurant service, its very expensive here. Virtually every electronic goods are more expensive than U.S. All motorized vehicles are more expensive than U.S. Furnitures are more expensive than u.s. Packaged supermarket goods are more expensive than U.s. Construction materials are more expensive than U.S. Tools are more expensive. Sure contstruction labor is very cheap, but look at how the concrete is mixed...by hand. In u.s. u order trucks. In the end its cheaper. The only thing cheaper is beer at restaurants and food (as i said, food is low price, but lacks in value). Real estate is cheaper in absolute terms, but again location and risk... I dont know, maybe i am just complaining more because within the span of 1 year, everything went up 20% in price in real terms to me, a dollar based person.

And by the way, u cant JOINTLY own real estate, even if u are married to filipina. Its NEVER YOURS. Ask ur lawyer...

 

Who cares if individual items cost more or less than someplace else?
What's important is the OVERALL cost of living which is low.