Why do some foreigners like to come and stay in the Philippines, but many Filipinos want to leave?

Chris

 · 

Follow

Spent many years in the Philippines Upvoted by 

Jeanne Pauline Sekhon

, lives in The Philippines 

I lived in Boracay island for 5 years and was always surrounded by a lot of expats and their stories so I think I can shed some light on this.

Most foreigners when they are in their own countries and they are looking at countries like the Philippines to move to, they are usually thinking 3 things.

1) beaches - they think the Philippines has nice beaches so it would be a good place to live.

2) weather - most foreigners are typically looking for a country with nice weather (warm/hot) if they come from cold climates.

3) price - most foreigners think the Philippines is cheap.

There are other things too like language if the people are friendly or not etc.

Before foreigners move to the Philippines, most think that it will be a little bit similar to their countries, but they have no idea what is waiting for them! lol :)

When I was living in Boracay island I owned an internet company in the UK which I could manage from anywhere in the world as long as I could connect to the internet. I ended up in the Philippines because I went backpacking around the world and ended up in Boracay island because the beach was one of the nicest beaches I've seen, i could drink for 30-50 pesos for a beer/hard drink in a bar in the evenings, right on the beach and it was hot and the people are friendly.

I had no real interaction with the real Philippines though, i was living in Boracay which is like a paradise bubble, i was only renting an apartment on the beach for a good price compared to UK rent (no buying or anything), i enjoyed mingling with the locals and other expats, my income came from the UK (i wasn't doing business here or interacting with the Philippine government). Also, my British pounds converted into a lot of pesos (because of the exchange rate) which meant I could suddenly live to a much higher standard, in a better climate, on a paradise beach, whats not to like? Most people who move to the Philippines and who simply head out to some of the amazing beaches and use their income from their own countries I think they usually end up really enjoying the country :)

However, the expats around me in Boracay Island, who were usually more involved in the Philippines in terms of having a business there, or property, paying taxes, having a job and or kids, and having complicated/expensive immigration visas, etc, many of them seemed to NOT like the country as much as I did, in fact, many hated the country and would be complaining non-stop until they simply packed up their bags and left. Many also seemed to move to the Philippines and watch their lives fall apart for various reasons.

As soon as foreigners move here and start to interact with the government or try to make a living in the country then many of them start to realize the Philippines is not what they thought it was and many leave and quickly realize why Filipinos want to leave.

Don't get me wrong, some people set up really nice family businesses here and are very happy, but these are the few good stories, the rest of the stories are people losing their life savings in property purchase scams which even often involve the government (government workers faking documents, etc) or loosing their savings in setting businesses when they don't understand the buying habits of Filipinos and more reasons.

When I moved to Manila and started to live like a Filipino, eg trying to earn a living in the country and send my kids to school, etc, I opened a business in Manila and suddenly I learned why so many Filipinos are trying to get out, everything changed, suddenly I saw the real Philippines and I was very very disappointed :(

The below is specifically Manila but it applies to most of the Philippines, not just Manila.....

Heavy heavy soul crushing traffic - the government seems to not spend its own money on infrastructure, ever! The traffic means the pollution is dangerous, meaning you can't walk around or cycle on the streets and theirs a genuine health hazard.

The heat - The sun and heat are fun when you're on the beach, but if you're not, the extreme heat of the Philippines becomes a burden.

Mass poverty - living in Manila you suddenly realize how much EXTREME poverty there is here.

Very ugly/depressing structures - many building owners don't take care of their properties, if you go outside of Makati/Fort/Ortigas then the scenery becomes very depressing to look at.

No lifestyle/culture/hobbies - the government doesn't spend money on recreational parks, sports areas, areas for hobbies, etc. Everything is privately owned by businesses and you need to pay to do pretty much anything. Even the beaches near Manila, most are privately owned by expensive hotels.

The government is a money-making machine - taxes are high for employees and in return, they get no free schools, no free healthcare, no infrastructure, nothing. So I really don't understand why Filipinos would pay taxes if they get nothing in return. The Philippine government doesn't seem to understand that they are supposed to take taxes and then spend those taxes on services that the people need and want, not just spend the taxes on their salaries.

If you want to start a business in the Philippines for some reason you need to pay the barangay, the mayor (mayor permit), fire department, and so on. You will end up paying the government a lot of money just for the basic human right of being able to earn a living through owning a business. The government makes EVERYTHING complicated, and difficult, lots of paperwork, lots of queues and moving around to different offices, and puts a tax on everything too.

Relationships - A lot of older foreigners who come to the Philippines do so specifically to meet Philippine women, they usually end up meeting the women in bars or online, many of the foreigners think they have hit the jackpot at first as they marry their beautiful, 20 years younger wife after 1 month of meeting, they can't believe their luck at first but a huge percentage of these foreigners end up supporting their GF/wives entire family (business ventures, hospital bills, medicines, loans) and just generally getting used for money until they have nothing left (it's amazing how blinding love can be for some of these guys), I'm not sure why so many foreigners expect the bar girl they picked up to become an amazing wife and then get surprised when their new wives end up scamming them or abusing their bank accounts, not because these bar girls are bad people but desperate conditions (poverty) can make people do all kinds of unpleasant things. So many foreigners stop using their brains when they arrive in the Philippines, but just remember just in any developing or even rich countries too, there is a small percentage of the female population in the Philippines that is actively looking for foreign husbands purely for financial reasons and many of them do not care what so ever about the guy. Needless to say, the vast majority of Philippine women are not like that though, all the thousands of couples I've met (expats with Philippine wives) who met each other under normal circumstances are very happily married or have long relationships (myself included).

In summary, when foreigners move to the Philippines and live like Filipinos eg they try earn a living from the country they quickly learn the many many problems/corruption caused by the corrupt government that is disabling the country and they quickly leave, even if the regular Filipino people are awesome which they are, and the beaches are nice, the negatives outweigh the positives by far.

The foreigners who go to the Philippines and enjoy the people and the beaches by using their own incomes from their own country though will be very pleased that they live in the Philippines.

If I was a born Filipino and just finishing university I would do one of two things...

1) All these problems and inefficiencies = a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs, despite the bad business environment the government has created there is still a HUGE amount of opportunity here for daring entrepreneurs.

2) Get out of the country as fast as I can and never look back.