The Filipino way

Filipino economy

As soon as we landed in Philippines, we were surprised by the fact that it is not that cheap. The most current products are rice and fuel which cost respectively €0.6 a kilo (I am sure most Asian shops in London or Paris can compete with that) and €1 a liter  A waitress or a fisherman earn about 150€ a month though.

Other products are never less than the third of the UK price whether you buy them in supermarkets or in local shops. So how on earth can they afford to do some shopping?
In Dumaguete, the student city, big malls are being built and there are people  busy shopping around. Who are they?

A bit of research underlined that over the last 20 years Philippines opened to foreign investments. They have developed outsourcing business centers and in 2010 even surpassed India in this sector. Honestly if I had to choose between the Filipino accent or the Indian one to set up a call center  I wouldn't hesitate for long:-) They also build up many electronic components for Korean or American companies. They now have their own Filipino mobile phone brand going from the basic to the i-phone type one. A strong asset is the level of education of young people and the fact that they speak English quite well. So an educated middle-class is growing. They probably are the ones shopping in cities. But what about the other people earning 150€ a month?

The mystery can be solved if you take into account two factors. Firstly, Filipinos working abroad do bring back a lot of money home to support their family. Secondly, according to newspapers, at least 40% of the economy is not taxed. So they have much more cash than the figures show. And we have seen that while taking tours with fishermen who will definitely never declared that substantial income...

There are people who live with nothing though. Fishermen villages away from the tourist track survive by selling fish to buy rice and fuel. Their houses are just made of bamboo. We were told and we hope it is true that in case of eviction (some villages are located in future touristic spots) the landlord must give them something like €1000 per family to relocate somewhere else in another home. Clearly the house will be much better than the falling shack on the beach, but... they may have no beach no more..

6.6% was the level of growth in 2012. Figures we are no longer accustomed to. And Philippines are one of the few countries the IMF revised the 2013 forecast up. Not sure this is a reference but it shows the trend.

Drawbacks are a high level of unemployment, around 7% despite the growth, and a severe  level of corruption. As usual economic development does not go well with environmental conservation even though there is a consciousness of sustainability issues. Reinventing an economic system not only based on material growth weights much more on our shoulders than on theirs.


Community-based tourism

It is interesting to notice that many touristic activities are actually managed by the local "barangay" (village). It is a very important network in Philippines.We noticed it first when we went to see the whale sharks. After the tour and their petanque party, the fishermen reconverted in tourist guides shared the money brought by the tourists. In Port Barton we did a trek to a waterfall. The trail was well-marked and extremely clean. There were litters in specific points and reminder not to throw plastic on the floor. It was maintained by the village located closed to the waterfall. There was no fee for the walk but donations to the barangay were possible for the maintenance. Ugon rock, in Sabang, was another example where following a project partly funded by governmental associations, villagers tried to benefit from the tourists coming to Palawan. They installed a zip line on one of the rock closed to the main road. Nothing exceptional but it was funny to see women and young people busy guiding tourists and maintaining the site. And of course, it was always easy to talk directly to fishermen and organised boat trips. In the North, the beautiful Unesco site of Batad is entirely managed by villagers. Guides from the tourist office are young sons and daughters from farmers families. It is really interesting to go trekking with them around the rice fields carved in the mountains They can answer any question you may have about their lives or the ones of their ancestors. So it is nice to be able to do activities while encouraging community initiatives and giving your money directly to local people (which might never be taxed it but that is another story:-)


There is no culture!

This is what people, specially from Europe, may say about Philippines. If what you are looking for is a deep ancient civilization  you'd better go a bit less Eastward indeed. There were isolated tribes, then the Spanish, then the Americans. It means that Filipinos are the closest Asians you could imagine to European culture. Their "temples" are large catholic churches, their music is full of American pop. Got it?

Nevertheless, if you are from Asian, this archipel must look rather exotic. The architecture of old churches or Spanish houses look so European. Their language has kept many Spanish and English words. Their food is different. Filipinos love meat and fish, but not sliced like in Chinese or Thai cuisine. They enjoy big pieces of barbecued meat! Their chicken is all organic as soon as you go in the countryside and it tastes like my grandmother's one...addictive:-) Physically, some of them look more from Central America than from Asia. Their main hobbies are playing basket-ball and gambling on cock-fighting.

If it is of interest to some tourists, there are also many tribes with their specific language and culture leaving in remote parts of the country. Ifugao tribe so famous for their rice field terraces is one of them in North Luzon. And in Mindanao in the South, the Muslim community may bring a bit of spicyness, sometimes not to the taste of Manila government.

But overall, to a western tourist eye, Philippines does not procure a strong cultural shock.

On the other hand, what an explosion of nature expression! Volcanoes, all kind of beaches, jungle, dramatic mountains form this beautiful archipel. It is clean and not polluted in the countryside. There is clearly an education regarding the rubbish collection. Some areas look virgin, something we have completely lost in Europe. Palawan for example is nearly unexplored in the South because if there are roads, they are terrible. Even in the North, you feel you are looking at a wild jungle inland.  So if you are a  nature lover and want to enjoy both the sea and the mountains, it is a very nice place to spend some of your time.


National sport

Basket-ball! Even the tiniest village has either a beautiful or an improvised basket-ball pitch. People play in flip-flop or barefeet, but they play rather well! So if Filipinos were taller, they could even compete with American teams.. It is quite funny to see that often, in the most remote country village in the jungle, the only paved area is the basketball pitch!.. literally .. and sometimes you are running on your motorbike on the one paved road around and suddenly you have to slow down because a 2vs2 is on-going on the half-pitch installed on the road!.. and as usual the Filippinos are very talented at re-using what is around, especially using thorn trees to attach the basket at a official height :) ..