Stephen Fletcher
I spend on average 6 months each year in the Philippines, in fact am writing this sat in my hotel nursing a hangover after spending the evening with my friends in Side A band. After the show we sit chatting and discussing everything from life in the U.K. to their upcoming release. Then when the bar closed, and we all left, They offered to drive me back to my hotel, rather than let me use Grab at 2am.
If you interact with the locals, then they welcome you and are incredibly warm and open. Yesterday I travelled on the PNR to Sucat, yes it was crowded, and the train slow by western standards, but I had multiple people offer me their seat simply because I am a foreigner standing and then start talking interested in why I use local transport like them rather than have car and driver.
In the past when I have driven alone around Luzon, I have stopped in small Barangay to ask for directions, and have been invited to join in with local celebrations, and parties, and have been the only foreigner there.
Just learning a few words to say thank you, makes a big difference in how you are treated. If you look like a tourist, act like a tourist, and think of yourself as somehow better or superior then you will be treated with politeness and Courtesy on the outside whilst may be derided and ridiculed in Tagalog behind your back. Treat the Filipino with respect and they will welcome you with open arms.
The Filipino people are some of the warmest, most friendly, open people that I have met.
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