Let’s try to compare my country to other privileged countries, shall we?
Climate
Pros: The majority of our land does not go below 0 degress celsuis. We have no need for winter shelters, or snow boots and snowcoats. While typhoon season creates havoc and take many lives, we are becoming better at handling it and it usually does not last two months unlike winter.
Cons: Many people can camp and live in the streets. A lot of uneducated foreginers and Filipinos think this is because we’re the poorest of the poor. One of the reasons why you can barely see homeless people in a country with four seasons is because winter will kill you. There’s no amount of thick tent that will save a human from freezing to death, hence, they have winter shelters. Whereas, here in our country, there’s no need for those.
Transportation
Cons: Metro Manila is the worst place to commute. I’ve given up riding trains since 4 years ago and I will never recommend it to visitors. Buses are okay but they’re dangerous, especially to foreigners. I’m glad there’s Uber, Grab and the newly (quite expensive) P2P buses. They are the safest, most convenient way to get around the urban mess that is Manila.
Pros: It’s not the same situation in the whole country. In our small town, you can go from point A to point B without fuss. This is true to other provinces and cities as well. Unless you need to go to Manila, stay away from it. Even us locals avoid major roads and please, do not ride local buses (with the exception of P2P) and trains (with the exception of LRT2).
Standard of living (in the Metro)
Pros: Almost everything is cheap here. Average apartments can range from P5,000.00 to P10,000.00 including utilities. Rooms for rent are even cheaper. You can have a full meal for just P60.00. Meryenda or snacks are as low as P3.00 (see kwek-kwek) and local beers are only P50.00 to P70.00 if you want a good time. Personally, our grocery is only P3,500.00 to P4,000.00 a month. That’s for two people and one very spoiled local dog.
Cons: Unfortunately, there’s no regulated price range here (edit: there is a regulated price but many vendors add at least P1.00 to P10.00). Not like in Singapore where all keychains are SGD30 (can’t exactly remember if it’s 30) wherever you go. Most stores, groceries and vendors do what they can to “spike” up the prices so you gotta be patient in looking for the most reasonable price. Haggling is a skill here. A skill I wish I will never have to learn.
Standard of living (in the provinces and other cities)
Pros: Seafood, meat and vegetables are incredibly cheap. Provinces are seafood heaven because there’s always a beach nearby. Four bedroom houses with a garden and two car garage can be rented up to P10,000.00. Compare that to a one bedroom condominium in Metro Manila. Depending on which province you are, most of the time there’s no need for airconditioning, so your electricity bill will be cheap as well.
Cons: I can only speak for my home town. Camarines Norte always have power outage that take days. Hospitals are not as complete like in Makati Med, so if you are in serious health risk, provinces may not be your best bet, unless you have access to go to Manila anytime you need. My grandparents used to travel nonstop to Manila to get their health checked.
Health care
Admittedly, I don’t know how health care is to non-working citizens. But I do know ours is mediocre compared to Canada, France and the rest of Europe. Poor Filipinos are often sick because the government don’t pay for major health care. Reproductive health bill is still on hold. We have no safe and legal abortion clinics. Dental care may be cheap but below average workers will never be able to afford a P7,000.00 root canal. Lastly, mental health is not taken seriously here.
Because of this, those who can’t afford medical care resort to witch doctors for abortion & hope their boyfriends/lovers won’t impregnate them (which rarely happens), the mentally ill bunch of us buy the cheapest alcohol & drugs or just go to the church to feel cured. In the end, these unwanted, malnutritioned, financially unequipped Filipinos set up camp in the streets, and do the things I’ve stated. The cycle goes on while the old, pot-bellied politicians get more taxes from middle class workers like me and go to another country to get the best health care they need.
Education
Like our health care, quality education is reserved for the middle class and the rich. Where the middle class will go as far as drowning in debt just to get their children in an expensive school. These schools offer a bright future, and they usually deliver as promised. When a struggling middle class puts their child in a well-known university, they are exposing the child to good education, good environment, and a whole lot of opportunity. Schools here are like visas. They are the quickest way to change your social status.
Which means bad news to those who can’t afford it. But this doesn’t mean they will never be able to succeed in life, it just means you have to hustle, just like in other democratic country. My fiancĂ© didn’t graduate from a well-known university, but she has a promising career. As opposed to me, who went to a Catholic school. Because I’d really rather skate than work my way up to a promotion.
Politics
We are democratic. We have the right to say what we want, and we rarely get jailed or shot because of it. Our politicians like to talk, taunt and smile at the cameras but they don’t do much for us. They see our country’s potential, but the majority of them uses it for their own purpose. Our land is rich. The US and Europe can only dream of having our natural resources. From our mountains to our deepest oceans, the Philippines is abundant and wealthy. But alas, our current government takes advantage of our passiveness and ignorance. Most of us are victims of opportunistic leaders.
Religion
Even though Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion here, there are so many active and thriving religions. Muslims, Iglesia ni Cristo, Christians, etc are all free to express themselves. I think it’s great. In my gradeschool and highschool, religion was never a big deal. It only becomes a topic when one has to explain why they can’t do certain activities or eat certain types of food. I think it’s safe to say, that the majority of us, especially those who grew up in the provinces, are exposed to differences, and learned to appreciate and respect them at a very early age.
Roman Catholic’s entitlement is another story. Since the occupation of the Spaniards, they have always had their teeths on the necks of our politicians. Have you watched Godfather III? It’s kind of like that. And it sucks. They’re mostly the reason why abortion, divorce, annulment, same-sex marriage and even the distribution of condoms are prevented here.
Gender Equality & LGBT
In gender equality, we are 7th in the world, top 1 in Asia according to The World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Gender Gap Report 2016. LGBT here are not normally killed or hurt. Judgements usually come from self-righteous zealots and/or uneducated ones. But no one here has bombed our annual pride parade, or any LGBT events for that matter.
So, there. Is life hard in my country? I say, just like in any other well-functioning country, it depends on the place, your social status and your mindset. In general, I like our country. There are so many places to retire to, the beaches are nice, there’s no winter so natural resources don’t die, it’s democratic so money and power are up for grabs. Health care and government are sh*t but we can always do something about it. I also believe in our future. Despite what everyone says about the Filipino millennials, I think, being more globally exposed than us, they have a lot to offer.
