Welcome to the Pacific Ring of Fire: Philippines!

Mamamia che pulito!

It was far from being obvious but after 2 months in India, this is the first and only exclamation we could say when landing in Philippines. Singapore airline and airport had been like an oasis of cleanliness, technology and tropical gardens. A shock was to be expected in the Philippines, which is after all one of the poorest country in South-East Asia, right?

Manila used to be one of the most beautiful city of Asia but was severely bombarded in WWII. Remains a kind of chaos. It is composed of 16 different cities, each of one with its own characteristics and totalling 12 million inhabitants. From our hotel, we could see the business centre and the harbour. It is apparently a very busy, dynamic and artistic city. Of course, the traffic is terrible (nothing but nothing like India) and one should not forget that 40% of the population live below $2 a day.

A few bus, jeepneys, ferries, villages and hotels later, our fist impression is confirmed: Filipinos have a good standard of cleanliness. The first obvious reason is education. The literacy rate is 93%, it was around 65% in Rajahstan and the only Indian state which could compete with Philippines is Kerala. The second reason is the level of infrastructure: sewing system, drinkable tap water (according to the lonely planet but "you better stick to mineral water"), rubbish collection. There will always be poor areas that look like a slum, and where nothing works well. But the average standard is ok. It seems there won't be any need to check the sheets when arriving in hotels and to constantly look at your feet in case you jump in an open sewer:-)


Kumusta? (phonetic: koomoosta)

Say it again, and again, doesn't it remind you of "como estas?"
Spanish landed in Philippines in the 16th century and stayed there for 300 years. Their major influences can be noticed in the language with words like "gusto", "serbesa". "mansanas" and in the christianisation of the local population. Philippines is the only Catholic Asian country. Spanish never succeeded in fully christianising Mindanao in the South though. Up to today, Mindanao has a strong Muslim community in provinces closed to Malaysia. Strong tensions exist and it is not advised to travel in these areas.

The Church is so powerful that for several years, it managed to block a law aiming at giving sexual education and contraception to women . According to local newspapers,  the law has just been signed and hopefully Filipino population will be more controlled. It grows by nearly 2 million a year. They were 76 million in 2000, they are about 97 million today! With all due respect, only a stubborn Church can be blind enough not to see the link between poverty, environmental issues and over-population.

This may partly explain why Filipinos are the cheapest labour in Asia. Many of them go to work in Hong-Kong, or other Asian hubs. But their favorite country to work in is...Italy! Probably some catholic links can explain their presence there. No doubt they are very well treated in Italian families.


La cuisine: simple mais a base d'excellents ingredients

De tres mauvaise reputation, la cusine philippine se compose principalement de proteines et de riz. La viande ou le poisson sont grilles ou en sauce (il doit en exister 5 au maximum). Peu de legumes sont presents au menu. Comment leur systeme intestinal fonctionne-t-il? Mystere.
Tout cela semble negatif.....sauf qu'apres deux mois de legumes et d'epices, absolument delicieux et prepares avec imagination, il etait sans doute temps pour nos organismes de revenir a un regime plus rustique.

Alors vive le poulet, le porc, le boeuf, le buffalo, le poisson, les calamars, les moules et les crevettes! (desoles pour les vegetariens). Vive les sauces sans trop d'epices!
Quant aux legumes, il existe quelques plats "vegetariens facon filipino". Disons qu'il est sage de leur demander de ne pas rajouter de porc ou de poulet dans le plat:-).
Deux choses nous ravissent dans la cuisine. Ce sont les mangues et les ananas, incroyablement savoureux. Et puis les boulangeries-patisseries. Oh rien a voir avec la complexite et la beaute des vitrines italiennes ou francaises mais on trouve du pain, de delicieux biscuits ou gateaux et de la brioche (parfois saveur "creme au flageolet rouge" que l'on pourrait prendre pour du chocolat, en fait c'est super bon). Autant dire qu'il va falloir faire du sport pour utiliser toutes ses proteines et eliminer les petites douceurs:-)


After Don Quichotte... Uncle Sam arrived, never time to be independent!

Following the Spanish-American war regarding Cuba, Philippines was sold to the Americans  in 1896 for peanuts. Poor Filipinos who thought they had won their independence after fighting against the Spanish! Contrary to the Spanish who left the local popullation illiterate, Amerians taught them English (but nothing is for free with Uncle Sam..). It is amazing how many signs, specially related to adverts or business are in English today. Locals do not all speak English but they all know the basic words. Amerians also brought some political and economic structures to the country. Just before WWII it became independent.

During WWII however, it was invaded by the Japanese. Manila was re-taken by the US in 1945 and unfortunately completely destroyed in the process. American troops remained after the war until the 80's.


Et les femmes dans tous ca?

La prostitution s'est developpee aux alentours des camps militaires americains. Aujourd'hui, apres le depart des Yankies, la prostitution des femmes et des enfants est toujours presente. C'est parfaitement illegal mais la corruption est grande et beaucoup d'argent est en jeu. Pour de simples voyageurs, il est evident que certaines differences d'age dans des couples Occidentaux - Filipinos ne peuvent s'expliquer par la simple raison du coeur. Dans ce sens - la, cela rappelle la Thailande. Mais des couples mixtes, avec leurs enfants, peuvent heureusement denoter une certaine mixite culturelle.

Les femmes travaillent en ville et tiennent les magasins, servent dans les restaurants. Il fait chaud ici alors elles portent des shorts, des jupes, des debardeurs. Dans les campagnes, il semble qu'elles soient confinees aux roles de meres. Alors que les maris peuvent ouvertement avoir une "querida" (oui ils sont catholiques mais bon..), les femmes ne peuvent absolument pas transgresser la monogamie.