I visit the Philippines often, about 3 times a year. My wife is a philipina. My question is what’s wrong with the philippines?? Great people, beautiful country, plenty of beaches, freindly and hard working people, etc. But still, the country is a mess. I’m sure everyone is going to blame it on the corrupt politicians. But that’s taking the easy way out. I think the corrupt politicians are a product of the people themselves.
I think one big problem in Manila is the situation with the squaters. They’ve totally messed up the city. Not just short term either. No one wants to invest in Manila, because it’s future doesn’t look very bright. It’s a messy city which looks like will get only messier.
Please no hate answers. I want to get some positive solutions.
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14 Responses
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
Quit depending on Foreign aid & build up your country the way the Americans did!
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
Other countries are a mess as well, but we can’t find just one solution.
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
Yes, the people are are kind, intelligent, hard working, simple, hospitable and very carefree. Those qualities are not the reason the country continues to flounder.
The primary reason in my opinion is that the few Filipinos (the richest 1%) who have the means to effect a significant positive effect to the Philippines, have no intention of doing so.
Why? A couple of possibilities.
1. They don’t want to and don’t care.
2. They do not think the situation is “that bad”.
The first case is the narcissism, ego and greed that persists anywhere in the world, which is more destructive in poor nations.
The second case is more disturbing. I’ve noticed in the 30+ years of direct contact with pinoys is that they are very proficient in the practice of denial. Even though it is near impossible to go anywhere in Manila without seeing at least 50 or so starving streetchildren and beggars on the way, some wealthier pinoys still do not “see” them. There is no serious acknowledgement of the severity of the problem. Hundreds of squatters (mostly the elderly and young kids) die every day. “You cant fix what you cant see”
Imagine New Orleans directly after Hurricane Katrina, the exact same chaotic and tragic scenario on a grand scale.
Unlike N.O., which was alleviated after several months, in the Philippines it has been a mess EVERY DAY for decades.
My suggestion is that the pinoys need to formally realize the extent of the problem and force those with the means to assist in its resolution or at least in its mitigation. That means the tax rates for the wealthy have to be increased or at least the existing tax laws need to be enforced as it stands. The rate of tax evasion is off the charts in the country. Then the additional monies will need to fund the programs to provide education, housing and healthcare assistance.
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
change everyone in the government and start all over again but its impossible right so now u got the answer its impossible to change
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
i think discipline (on the individual level) is the magic word towards the solution to all our ills and problems. sadly, we don’t have the national discipline to make things happen for us. in times of plenty, we overspend whimsically; in times of drought, we borrow frantically. when will we ever learn?
i believe that once discipline has been instilled in the hearts and minds of individual cititzens, then collective discipline is achieved. this in turn leads to better citizenry, better government, better economy…..ultimately, better philippines.
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
oust gloria…philippines will become better country.
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
A better question to ask is how did the Philippines end up like this in the first place there are alot of reasons but as far as my opinion goes I think 2 pivotal things that made the Philippines the way it is now.
Number 1 – The occupation by the Japanese in WW2, In 1940 Manila was considered the Pearl of the Orient where people from all over the world worked and lived and it was a time where the Philippines was doing well for itself until the Japanese invaded in 1941 wich in result has halted their progress as an Independant nation upto this very day and the devestation that followed the retaking of the country devestated its ability forever to regain stability for itself.
Number 2 – American Infulence, Even though the Americans are the ones who drove the Japanese out of the country they in part took control of the country from then on. Yes they have put alot of money into making the Philippines better but on the other hand guess where all those nice things that Western Foreigners enjoy so much are being made by someone who earns less than 10 dollars a day, The Philippines. Alot of well know Brands such as Marlboro,Colgate etc have many production sites in the Philippines where they pay the workers peanuts and all the profit goes to overseas owners.
So to sum it all up the Philippines even though it does obviously have alot of political,social and economical problems its probably one of the very few countries that has been through so much crap yet the people themselves in my opinion are the reason of the many good things you find there.
So before anybody just blames a certain lot of people like the “squatters,bums and low lives” of the Philippines think hard and give it a thought on how they ended up that way.
Go the Philippines go you good thing.
Peace!
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
I think the main problem (besides the government and rich minority) is that most of the “brains” go abroad to get better paying jobs. People who study certain fields end up in okaypaying callcenters utilizing only English and minimal brainwork usually in customer service. Also Filipinos love American products and don’t really “buy pinoy” further hurting the local economy. It can become better with a change of government to utilize taxes better and restructring the investment strategy to make sure Koreans don’t buy up areas.
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
My two cents on this question is, not many Filipinos love the country enough. This is actually a chicken-egg situation. Was animosity developed because of dirty politics or did our apathy gave the politicians the opportunity to practice dirty politics.
Right now, I really think it’s rooted to the lack of love Filipinos have for the country. I personally love my country and I strive hard to abide by its laws even though it pains me to see outright corruption.
If only Filipinos will develop nationalistic love and pride, we can surely rebuild our country. Sadly, most Pinoys have a “me (and my family) first” attitude that is actually pulling our morale and economy down. IF we love this country, it will be easy for us to follow and impose laws. If we love this country, we will not litter and practice good governance. If we love this country, then we will always act in a way that will benefit this fair country.
I hope the Filipino people will soon develop this love.
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
Here’s an answer you might understand – The Philippines should stop corruption and clean up the government. The Philippines should stop focusing on sports events like boxing or billiards and should support scientific inventions by Filipinos. the Philippines should promote Filipino inventions and science rather than useless boxing and billiards matches. take a look at REALITY. the USA became a great country, why can’t we? it’s because of useful American contributions to mankind.. Why don’t we focus on promoting ourselves of being intelligent & civilized race rather than focusing on useless sports?
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
Blame the politicians! Philippines COULD have been the 49th state or even a U.S. territory
But, They wanted to be Independent!
And when the politicians kicked out the U.S. Military out of the P.I.
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
i think less corruption. and be honest
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
I think the capital of every country is where the inspiration for the rest of that country comes from. And manila, being a slum in most places is no inspiration.
Manila was the Paris of South East Asia at one point. But those days are long forgotten. Manila in my opinion is a lost hope in every respect.
I think the best thing this government could do would be to shift the capital to another city and start from zero. No squatters, no Jeepnies, no air polluting tricycles.
Build up a clean capital and start of a new attitude.
I think people of the Philippines are guilty of complacency. They allow their corrupt government to run the country anyway it wants. There is no system of check and balance in place for the gov.
But if I was in the government I would probably become corrupt also. Politicians are just normal people. They are just a little richer. Anything they are guilty of, the rest of us are also guilty of. It’s easier to point the finger at them though! It makes us feel like we have done our part and are just victims of a loosing battle. But that’s rubbish! We all try to get away with little things if we can, don’t we? How many of us have paid for a certificate to pass something? Or a driver’s license? Etc. How many of us heard of someone doing that and just thought it was normal, or even funny? That might be funny, but the politicians are the ones laughing. They’re the ones doing the same things, on a larger scale and with more dividends. To them we are all just petty thieves and that gives them a perfect right to steal from all of us.
We the people of the Philippines are responsible for everything happening in the Philippines today. Good and bad!
I think also the problem should be solved with long term plans.
First, Philippines is a small country with few natural resources. We do not need an 80+ million population. Population control should be part of the system and one or two child limit should be stressed.
Second, we should promote the beauty of our country. Tourism can be a very lucrative source of income for any nation. That would be specially so for the Philippines.
In my mind, if Philippines has one potential savior, that would be the tourism industry. But people also need to be educated about that. We need to learn how to keep our country appealing to the tourists, and how to make them enjoy our country and make sure that they tell others and come back themselves too.
.
Wednesday, 3. February 2010
The Philippines acquired a huge national debt because of the Marcos regime borrowing from the world bank and the funneling of the monies to personal accounts. During the early 1980’s the Philippines was widely viewed as a potential economic world player. Then when Marcos fell and all the misappropriation of funds was realized, the Philippines economy crumbled. Every Philippine president since then has been faced with the daunting task of paying off the debt acquired by Marcos without the benefit of that debt being originally invested in the economy. In 2000, foreign debt interest payments alone account for 20% of the Philippines national budget.
Paying down debt, as an individual or a nation, requires either an increase of income (revenues) or a decrease in expenditures. For the Philippines, either are bitter pills to swallow. Increasing revenues requires taxing an already poor electorate. Decreasing expenditures means the poorest of the poor get left with no safety net. Doing either also means there is little left over for government investment in infrastructure, which is key to developing a strong economy.
The bright side, if you can call it that, is the Philippine GDP for the 1st qtr grew at its strongest rate in 17 years. The debt is being paid down. Foreigner investment (not loans) is starting to pick up from Japan, China, New Zealand and Australia. The Philippines has a very intelligent and economically savy president. But there is no quick fix to a situation that was years in the making, short of debt forgiveness from the World Bank, which is very unlikely. One can also not ignore the corruption that exists in the government. Although one can argue it has been lessened, it is still an epidemic, especially in the election process. The Filipino electorate must learn to use it’s voting power instead of participating in soft government overthrows when things are not going well.
But to blame a particular politician, to say it was because the US closed military bases there (which was actually much of the reason US President Carter pushed so hard for the World Bank loans and why Reagan was so oblivious to Marcos activities) or to blame it on the Filipino work ethic are not valid points. They only show the lack of understanding of the facts and the finger pointing that results from those who choose to ignore facts and look for the easy way out.