Scam warning
Lies about the Philippines:
1. That we live on trees;
2. That we have tails like the monkeys;
3. That most people live in extreme poverty and squatters
4. That majority work in call centers and are nannies abroad
5. That many Filipinas works as prosti abroad, are gold diggers
6. That the govt is corrupt and there is no hope for progress
7. It is so crime ridden, there are insurgents and unsafe to live
8. Its economic and banking system sucks
9. That we are antiquated and so behind in many things
10. Many things dont work: power, water, telecom
Rebuttal point by point
1. That we live on trees;
These were old tales during the American regime. Many areas are now deforested so there are
few remaining trees. Many people still live on farms, like the mayor of Bamban Tarlac a Chinese
Many resorts in mountainsides, above the clouds, with great city or mountain scape have been
built during the pandemic.
There is a tribe in Mindoro Mangyans but now live in regular homes and wear regular Western clothes.. They go to schools. Their villages are indistinguishable from other villages
2. That we have tails like the monkeys;
There were few monkeys seen inside Subic bay and at the zoo. Other than that we have not seen
monkeys. Read too much on Darwin
Outdated information. False
3. That most people live in extreme poverty and squatters
ADB and the govt have both addressed this poverty problem. This was at 50% in 2,000. However
some provinces show a small 10% incidence of poverty. There is 4Ps program where the poorest
of the poor are given financial assistance in exchange for: work program, and undertaking to send
their children to school
4. That majority work in call centers and are nannies abroad
This is true. BPO workers and OFW bring in up to 20% of GDP,. BPO will continue to rise
since this reduces much the labor cost in the West by as much as 100%.
Even in the Philippines we run out of nannies. Our countrymen seek jobs that pay more than
Philippine wages. That is why they go abroad. Most of them have college degrees. But it should
not demean our country men. Many citizens seek the same route.
But such OFWs have brought in progress to the country: built houses, established businesses, intermarried with foreigners. Brought in investments. And produced beautiful Fil Ams. Euro ams
5. That many Filipinas works as prosti abroad, are gold diggers
There are many exceptions. Maybe 1-5% do. As they are even in other countries The desire
for self progress is universal and intense
6. That the govt is corrupt and there is no hope for progress
As all govt are: Japan, Indonesia, USA, UK etc are corrupt Where there is power, there is
corruption, and its absolute. If nothing moves because of a powerful person or official, you
are forced to come across.
May be but its not an excuse, our countrymen ape their Western counterparts. But corruption
must be stopped or even reduced. Or least, PHL must rise in ease of doing business ranking
7. It is so crime ridden, there are insurgents and unsafe to live
The NPA, the armed arm of CPP have been under constant attack by PNP and military Its
leadership has been decimated Many have gone to peaceful mode of living, and even openly
fought them in media and political front
8. Its economic and banking system sucks
The current BSP govt worked with Federal Reserve Bank of NY. Many members of the economic
team are graduates of US investment bank. So far the economy has been sound. They have
closed many rural banks and insurance companies that are weak
PHL has been the darling in economic growth even in pandemic times and even beat top economies
in progress.
If you go to MoA and BGC it is as if in you are foreign cities.
PHL has a huge FX reserve. It is projected by foreign think tanks that PHL will be 18th richest
economy by 2050.
PHL has robust electronix, shipbuilding, real estate, financial businesses. Its shipping and airlines
businesses are booming and expanding
Many of economies: Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia UAE, KSA had many Filipinos as their top
executives. Its doctors are nurses are some of the world's best
9. That we are antiquated and so behind in many things
Internet has brought PHL instep with the rest of the world. SMS in the PHL was ahead of
of US and rest of Asia. Many infrastructure projects are underway: subways, light rail transit
roads and bridges. RE.
So many great things are underway.
10. Many things dont work: power, water, telecom
Occasionally we have water outages, and power outages. Due to wrong computation of power d
power and supply. Or due to increase in price of fuel. But by far and large we are ok.
We have almost free SMS, cp calls are ok. Netflix, FB, DM works.
SEE FOR YOURSELF AND VERIFY THE LIES
There are crimes, homelessness, street people, street dwellers, graft and corruption anywhere in the world: developed. less developed, third world country.
