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  1. Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    25,016
    #1
    Another country bashing blog... I agree, the best part of the Philippines is outside Manila.

    http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Phili...og-642646.html

    I honestly do really HATE to write negative posts. If you check through this blog you’ll see that even the posts on Afghanistan have a few positive things to say…….

    But my GOODNESS the Philippines!!! Or more precisely Manila, because you cannot and should not generalize about such a large country spread over thousands of islands. Manila - what a dump!

    The city has got to be the disgrace of South-east Asia, all the more so because twenty years ago when I used to come through here en route to Papua New Guinea it was THE place in the region to come to for shopping and R&R. How the mighty are fallen!

    Let’s start with the international airport. Ninoy Aquino International is exactly the same as it was all that time ago; the same awful green lino when you arrive, the same over-crowded Departure Hall, nowhere to sit if your check-in desk isn’t open. Once through security you find the same down-market shops, toilets that don’t work or are “under repair” and very few F&B places.

    I pay the extra $15 to go up to the Sampaguita Lounge just to get out of the crush of people. No, despite the fact that I’m an inveterate traveler I DO NOT LIKE crowds of people! The travelling public en masse is a necessary obstacle that has to be endured and overcome.

    The coffee in this over-priced lounge is awful…. Over-boiled and they don’t have a modern machines (which these days can be purchased even for home use) to produce fresh coffee from beans. NO ONE uses this old filter method anymore, at least no one that likes good coffee. Where is George Clooney!!???

    As for the hotel downtown: I have stayed at the
    Discovery Suites in Ortigas Center for the last 15+ years ever since it opened. It used to be very good and remains convenient for my business meetings. But the owners have invested nothing in upkeep and I stay in a room that has the same furniture, same carpet as it has always had; it smells musty. The TV is years old. The water heating system provides limited hot water for my bath. My room is not cleaned until I have to go and ask. The internet (OK, free wifi in the room) is dreadfully slow and the room service food lukewarm.

    Frankly at $119/night the Discovery Suites is no longer the good deal that it once was and I shall change to another hotel if I have the misfortune of coming back here.

    Manila itself is a shambles. The traffic is AWFUL (I seem to be using a lot of capital letters in this post) and nothing has been added to shops or other amenities (whereas e.g. Bangkok has transformed itself into an almost livable city).

    Look: people will say the Filipino people are nice, and indeed they are polite – we Brits might say “smarmy” – obsequious or ingratiating are maybe less pleasant words. But they do try. That does take the edge off the sheer misery of a crumbling, filthy, depressing city and an economy that exists only on the remittances of the smart ones who have left.

    Sorry folks. I know there are many people who love the Philippines, but its economic development has been a disaster; the irony is that Manila is the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank (the reason I come here) and it has the WORST growth history of any of the ASEAN countries – Cambodia which was torn apart by civil war up until 1997 has a first-class airport (fresh ham and cheese sandwiches on foccacia, freshly brewed cappuccino , clean lounges) and some great restaurant food and hotels (see my next post). But the Manila, where the intelligentsia sneer at their Asian brothers and sisters for their lack of English, is beaten hands down even by little Phnom Penh and left standing by every other mega-city in the region.

    [size=2]There seems to be a theme here: the Philippines has many natural advantages and in fact a talented people who provide services everywhere in the world. But there has been no re-investment in the country, neither by the public sector (hence the terrible airport facilities), nor by private industry. People might build a hotel, but they run it into the ground rather than trying to build a long-term institution. Philippines can be described as an extractive or exploitive economy, not one where people want to build sustainably long term. As I say, the smart one’s all want to leave.[/size]

    My suggestion if you want to see the Philippines: get through Manila as quickly as you can, it has nothing to recommend it. Go out to the islands, Cebu, Mindanao, up to the cool of Bagio and see the people in the countryside and some of the spectacular scenery. That’s probably worth the trip. Otherwise pick almost anywhere else in Asia and you’ll get a better deal.


    Final note: for those that wonder, I’m NOT backpacker and I’ve travelled so much that the novelty or “exciting local colour” of dirt, disease and bad food no longer fills me with wonderment; I stay in decent hotels and expect good service, anything less is patronizing the people in these emerging countries. For most of Asia I get it in spades – better value overall than travelling in North America or Europe - but not the Philippines.

    For the Philippines the question is surely will it ever emerge from the mire into which it has sunk? Very frankly based on my very long experience of the place I really doubt it, in fact it is a “disappearing” country if there is such a thing.

    Discovery Suites
    25 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center
    Pasig City 1600
    Philippines

    P.S. No pictures because there's nothing worth photographing in Manila, it's drab and dirty.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  2. Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Posts
    3,823
    #2
    How is it bashing when the author is only telling the truth?

  3. Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    40,026
    #3
    tama naman lahat ng sinabi niya eh

  4. Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    9,431
    #4
    amen! problem with us is we dont like to hear negative comments from outsiders.

  5. Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    5,994
    #5
    foreseeing offended onion skinned individuals to bash the author
    Damn, son! Where'd you find this?

  6. Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    1,112
    #6
    The truth hurts..... but it will set us free.. :D nyahaha

    I'll to forward this to DOT

  7. Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    25,016
    #7
    Look: people will say the Filipino people are nice, and indeed they are polite – we Brits might say “smarmy” – obsequious or ingratiating are maybe less pleasant words.
    obsequious :attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
    bootlicking, fawning, sycophantic, toadyish (sipsip)

    ingratiating :an individual attempts to become more attractive or likeable to their target.

  8. Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    40,026
    #8
    hinde ko pa napuntahan yun blog, pero I'm guessing kinuyog nanaman siya ng mga pinoy. I guess hinde pa nakaka travel abroad yun mga tinamaan doon kaya napakaliit ng mundo nila. hinde nila alam na ang laki ng improvement ng mga katabi natin countries.

    huwag na tayo lumayo sa HK pa lang. yun old airport nila super pangit din and halos tamaan mo na ng airplane ang mga buildings pag mag landing na but look at their airport now.

  9. Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    17,340
    #9
    Next on the list: Congress and the Senate will call the blogger to retract his statements, issue an apology or risk being persona non grata.


  10. Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    2,053
    #10
    Quote Originally Posted by safeorigin View Post
    foreseeing offended onion skinned individuals to bash the author
    Expect the PNoy's student council staff to declare the author a persona-non-grata.
    And also to demand a formal apology.

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Philippines - Manila - Awfully Disappointing