Poverty and the Fancy Corporate Headquarters in Manila


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5th April 2006

Good point
The photos you posted speak for itself. You have presented the real image of Manila - the impoverish society needs the attention not only of the Philippines government but also by the local and international sectors. Would be nice if Filipinos can rebuild and turn Manila into a clean and modern city like Makati.
5th April 2006

poverty
Thanks for sharing with your viewers the other side...the ugly side of Manila which is seldom featured in most travel blogs.
7th April 2006

poverty in manila
precisely what President Arroyo wants to do, alleviate if not totally eradicate this. our office is currently into mainstreaming the informal sector (that is how we call the squatters) but government alone can't do it. we need more help from the private sector or the filipinos who can afford to spare some money for the betterment of their fellow men. example are the informal settlers at the Batasang Pambansa area, we have a client who needs only Php50,000.00 so she can have her home re-blocked (conform to the approve community plan, gov't is giving them the lot at very very low price, amortized pa!) yet she can't do it. nobody would lend her the amount since they are only daily wage earners. and she is not alone in her plight. would it not be nice if someone will lend money so that the whole face of the community will change... better kinds of shelter...liveable communities...
13th April 2006

Thanks
Tita Mun, Thanks for your comments. I know it is a big challenge but I'm happy to know that the Philippine government is working on it. Keep up the good work and hopefully you will achieve your agency's goals in the near future. I'm always proud of your work!
15th April 2008

investment
no one in their right mind is going to lend these people money , how will they repay , answer they wont , just like all the people of the philippines that have borrowed/conned out of me
8th May 2008

hi
nice photos..
21st September 2008

Interesting, but possibly overdone topic
Your images are very interesting, but sadly the squatters seem to be the only image of Manila that is known in the West and worldwide. A few friends of mine were gobsmacked to realise that Metro-Manila actually possess malls, LRT trains, skyscrapers, highways and all the other amenities of contemporary living, considering the image of the city (and the country) that was rampant throughout the 80's and 90's in Western media, which was one of extreme poverty. This negative imagery has affected tourism in the country for over 20 years and indirectly, the continued suffering of the poorest in the country. In Southeast Asia, the Philippines has the least number of international tourists and travellers, in light of neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. It is unlikely to suggest that slums and poverty are not present in these countries as well, just google images of Bangkok, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh's residential areas and you'll see they all uncannily resemble Manila. The Filipino also cannot blame the economy fully either for our disfavor with travelers and investors; the Filipino, while still being poverty-stricken, earns on average twice as much as the Laotian and a third more than the working Indonesian, and the country is (finally) becoming one of the fastest growing economies of Southeast Asia in the noughties. The main difference lies in how the people of these respective countries portray their homeland to prospective travelers. Many overseas Filipinos are intent on showing how terrible Manila is to non-Filipino employers and friends in the hope of gaining pity, whereas neighboring countries' overseas citizens tend to portray their countries as a "paradise on earth", and this really affects the minds of people who'd then to want to visit and experience such a place. In the case of the Philippines, I really think the image is in dire need of a change. Who would want to visit Manila after being reminded that it is a capital of a developing country? Travelers want to see past these things to find the beauty or unique qualities of the place they want to visit. I know I sure would. Thus I think we (travelers to the Philippines, native or overseas Filipinos) all need to make the effort to show the Philippines as the country it really is, as opposed to the ultra-negative portrayals that still deter the much needed dollar and investment from the average Filipino. If Manila is a lively, colorful, historic, modern and multicultural mix of many different people, places and flavors, as we who have been or live/d there know it to be, and is presented in such a light, then it is what the traveler expects and sees in the city; but if Manila is presented as a tragic case of capitalism-gone-wrong, consisting solely of polarized and separate communities of ultra-rich versus the economically worst-off people on earth, then it will be the only thing travelers will see (if they ever decide to go).

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