I agree, but I would dare to express that to pay helpers 1.500 Pesos (33 US$ !) a month, even if you give them shelter and food and if this is the local market price, this is not very far from slavery! By doing this you are supporting a social system which for my part, I do find, for the least, not sustainable in the 21st century. I am sorry if this is offending to you, but this is just my sincere opinion. Answering that the poor Filipinos are happy/smiling under this condition, is not a valid argument for me. Filipinos have learned to smile in any circumstances. As an average westerner you will never know what they really feel inside their heart. Would you be happy if your child is dying of infection, just because you cannot afford to buy the antibiotics?
As mentioned in my previous post, this depends your possibilities and your exigences. If you are ready to live like an average/poor Filipino, then there are probably not many places in the world where you can live with less money as in the Philippines. But if you want to live like a middle to upper class European/American, then your expenses will probably not differ much from the ones of a western country. BUT YOU STILL BE LIVING IN A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY! I am aware that some people are not really concerned about this, but most of them wake up, at least at some point when they, or one of their family members are directly concerned. I do not write this in order to criticize your lifestyle, but in order to avoid that some other foreigners, ignorant about these facts do come here and have some very unpleasant surprises. One Philippine ex-pat site/forum, does go as far as advertising: “living in the Philippines like a king on 1000 US$ a month". This is absolutely dishonest, even if you take the word “king” as a very relative statement.
Here a link to a condo in Makati. Please do check the prices! - Sorry, I am not entitled to publish links on this site!- Condos, in a good neighborhood, in or close to Manila, are sold from 2,000.000 (for a 30 sq.m. studio) till 25,000.000 (for a 3 bedroom penthouse or upscale house). With today’s rate exchanges 1,000.000 Ph Pesos are equivalent to 22,100.00 USD. Some of those flats can be rented for between 50,000 - 150,000 Pesos (1300 – 3,300 US$) a month. This is still only about 1/3 of the price in Hong Kong!!! I would pretend that under 30’000 pesos (600 US$) a month it is very difficult to find a place with western commodities, nearby to a bigger city, with constant power and water and with medical services available.
It is not possible to make valid statistics of crime rates in the Philippines. Most minor crimes, which do not involve politicians or celebrities, are not even investigated or reported. Please consider that an important part of the population does not have any ID or even birth certificate. They virtually do not exist! Over 60 journalists have been victims of extrajudicial killings (placing the Philippines only second to Iraq) during the last 5 years. Not a single one has been elucidated (report from Philippine Inquirer). If you report robberies, the police does nothing! This is my very personal experience. Manny time security guards are part of the game and sometime also the police, due to their miserable salaries. The worth of a human life is one of the cheapest in the whole world. The families of victims from the sinking of the “Princess of the Stars” do receive 200,000 Ph Pesos (4,420 US$) each. This is the worth of a human life in the Philippines. No liability will ever be more as this.
Natural catastrophes can hit about every place in the whole word, but judging from very credible statistics, you have much more chances to loose your house/ belongings or even your life, in the Philippines. You will have trouble finding an insurance company, which is willing to give you adequate coverage.
Just to finish off… Many foreigners in the Philippine try to describe the country in a very positive way. I have the experience that the same ex-pat’s, while at foreigner meetings, do nothing else as bashing Filipinos, the mentality, the politic and about everything. The reasons why many are here, are not really because the country is a paradise.... There are some very positive sides about the Philippines, I did learn a lot here, in both ways….. I have a Filipino wife and she is sharing most of my opinions about her country, as well as many others, prominent, intellectual Filipinos and foreigners. This could be a wonderful country…IF....