General enquiry about PH

The cost of living in the Philippines keeps going up except the local employees' salaries and quality of life.  This is the reason the socio-economic gap keeps getting bigger between the poor, working class and the "Big Business" and Filipinos who can afford to work abroad.  The Philippines is well on its way of becoming another Hong Kong, where you can afford to live there comfortably if you're rich and work abroad.

Aeta Tribe wrote:

The cost of living in the Philippines keeps going up except the local employees' salaries and quality of life.  This is the reason the socio-economic gap keeps getting bigger between the poor, working class and the "Big Business" and Filipinos who can afford to work abroad.  The Philippines is well on its way of becoming another Hong Kong, where you can afford to live there comfortably if you're rich and work abroad.

Thats where we come in & try to do our little bit to support the Philippines and its people.
Anyway Inflation is going to hit all of us both here/elsewhere like it or not.

Btw the new player "Dito Telecom" has finally started early 2021, making them the long-awaited third network provider in the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte has fervently wanted to give the country's two-player telecoms industry a shake-up.

Understand he's was also seeking investments to improve the horrendous "water-supply" system here & that too I presume is already in progress.

Aeta Tribe wrote:

The cost of living in the Philippines keeps going up except the local employees' salaries and quality of life.  This is the reason the socio-economic gap keeps getting bigger between the poor, working class and the "Big Business" and Filipinos who can afford to work abroad.  The Philippines is well on its way of becoming another Hong Kong, where you can afford to live there comfortably if you're rich and work abroad.

Wow that sounds like Australia, probably plenty of other countries too. As sad as it is most of us are powerless to do anything about it except head down and work hard to stay abreast, hopefully.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Good to see a new player in the telco game finally manwonder. Telstra Australia tried their best to get a leg in the door years ago (before President Duterte) and never went ahead, too difficult fighting the system then.

As for Dito, that's great if you live in a large city for coverage and I suppose they will expand, what I did find interesting is their operating system won't work with iPhones but seems every other recognised brand according to their site. Time for iPhone to upgrade?

Cheers, Steve.

AKLO- If it costs too much to have it imported to the Philippines if you know  someone in the states or

country you live in have them sell it for you if you can trust them  and wire you the money. Vehicles

here are less money as in the states. When I was in Korea teaching English 7 years I knew I wasnt going

back to USA again and Asia was my new home. I left my 1987  Mazda pick up with a friend there and he

was kind enough to let me park it on his property so I decided to give it to him. I wrote a letter to DMV

and emailed it to him and he got it transferred into his name. I disposed of alll my belongings there

AFTER I knew I wasnt returning to the states. It just made sense to me not to take "stuff" with me 

when I can buy everything I need here at a cheaper here. My contacts in  the states helped me sell

my 2 bedroom mobile home on a 2.6 acre lot I owned at the time. Was paying paying annual taxes 

on that so why keep it?  Just  my comments for today. I dont know your exact situation so I wont say

anything more. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I, personally, do not like what has been happening in the Philippines for more than 3 decades since the end of Martial Law. The political and economic climates have been swallowed/corrupted by mostly Chinese-Filipino big businesses with ties overseas, instead of fostering Filipino-owned "Cottage Industries" businesses that employ Filipinos, giving them a better employment packages so they would not have to leave and work abroad. These big businesses are catering mostly to foreigners, OFWs, and Balikbayans, raising the price of goods and services in the country that most economically strapped Filipinos can not afford to keep up with.

At least Australians  still have food to eat, roof over their head, and shirts on their back; they won't have to resort to illegal and unethical means to meet their daily needs. In the Philippines, most people have to resort to extreme means just to meet their everyday needs because "Big Businesses" are turning the country into a fiefdom of lords and serfs that caters to foreigners, OFWs, and Balikbayans.

Aeta-Every country has its flaws. Corruption everywhere and America now is probably the worst. A wise

man once said "Walk softly and carry a big stick" Its great advice! I will add: Always be aware of your

surroundings and who you converse with. Be an eagle eye!

Aeta Tribe wrote:

At least Australians  still have food to eat, roof over their head, and shirts on their back; they won't have to resort to illegal and unethical means to meet their daily needs. In the Philippines, most people have to resort to extreme means just to meet their everyday needs because "Big Businesses" are turning the country into a fiefdom of lords and serfs that caters to foreigners, OFWs, and Balikbayans.

Interesting observations here. I could ramble on for hours but..... I find it interesting as I seem to remember your first or maybe second post was seeking information on the Philippines, your headliner even says that.
Now you seem to know more about the Phills than the Filipinos and continue to to bag a country that you have probably never been to.
You also seem to have an opinion on the Australian socio economic situation as well. Did you know that there are over 100,000 homeless Aussies? In fact  116,000 according to the 2016 census. There are poor in all countries.

I will also quote you. " in the Philippines, most people have to resort to illegal and unethical means etc"
"most" as you say would not welcome any opinion/s that you have proffered. Probably a good thing you are not coming now as you mentioned in another post. I live here and have a very different outlook. Perhaps go bag your own country because I'm sure there are misgivings there.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Yes pain exits almost everywhere/even in your so called developed countries and I predict that it may get even worse....Those who have prepared well/took nothing for granted all these years are in for a treat (as they deserve to be)....so tighten your belts lads and enjoy the ride and your freeedddoommm here.

Three most important things in our lives are Time-our health and our freedom. WE can sometimes

regain our health. and try to and hope we live in a free society but the big one we have and perhaps the

most important is our time. We can NEVER get that back.

Aeta Tribe wrote:

t their daily needs. In the Philippines, most people have to resort to extreme means .

Yes very hard to survive at 7000 pesos per month salaries.

Aeta Tribe wrote:

because "Big Businesses" are turning the country into a fiefdom of lords and serfs that caters to foreigners, OFWs, and Balikbayans.

Not "turning".  The situatioin have been screwed up all the time since Spain  made a colony "divide and conquer" by favouring some Filipinos to split them.  Even laws were made to protect the RICH, and such laws are valid STILL !!! And when USA "left" then they added problems by giving WHOLE to Manila, which have made some Visayans some anmoyed by unfairness concerning language, but mainly muslims in south, who hadnt got beaten by Manila but by USA, so they found it very unfair they didnt get their land back.

Freeeddddoooommmmm

coach53 wrote:

Aeta Tribe wrote:

t their daily needs. In the Philippines, most people have to resort to extreme means .

Yes very hard to survive at 7000 pesos per month salaries.

Aeta Tribe wrote:

because "Big Businesses" are turning the country into a fiefdom of lords and serfs that caters to foreigners, OFWs, and Balikbayans.

Not "turning".  The situatioin have been screwed up all the time since Spain  made a colony "divide and conquer" by favouring some Filipinos to split them.  Even laws were made to protect the RICH, and such laws are valid STILL !!! And when USA "left" then they added problems by giving WHOLE to Manila, which have made some Visayans some anmoyed by unfairness concerning language, but mainly muslims in south, who hadnt got beaten by Manila but by USA, so they found it very unfair they didnt get their land back.

Coach 53,

I'm not going to go back 400 years ago when Spain first started colonizing the Philippines, over a century ago when the Americans took over after beating Spain in the Spanish-American War, 80 years ago when the Americans defended the archipelago from the Japanese, nor the ongoing strife between Muslims and Christians.  I'm talking about in my lifetime when the quality of life could have been much better for Filipinos if they had simply taken better care of protecting their sovereignty from continued foreign influence that feeds their ongoing aristocratic and self-serving ways, in the manner with which they see themselves and each other.  This is just my opinion of the direction the Philippines and its people and going, and how they will eventually lose their rights to their own land someday if they don't change their ways.

Aeta Tribe

bigpearl wrote:

Aeta Tribe wrote:

At least Australians  still have food to eat, roof over their head, and shirts on their back; they won't have to resort to illegal and unethical means to meet their daily needs. In the Philippines, most people have to resort to extreme means just to meet their everyday needs because "Big Businesses" are turning the country into a fiefdom of lords and serfs that caters to foreigners, OFWs, and Balikbayans.

Interesting observations here. I could ramble on for hours but..... I find it interesting as I seem to remember your first or maybe second post was seeking information on the Philippines, your headliner even says that.
Now you seem to know more about the Phills than the Filipinos and continue to to bag a country that you have probably never been to.
You also seem to have an opinion on the Australian socio economic situation as well. Did you know that there are over 100,000 homeless Aussies? In fact  116,000 according to the 2016 census. There are poor in all countries.

I will also quote you. " in the Philippines, most people have to resort to illegal and unethical means etc"
"most" as you say would not welcome any opinion/s that you have proffered. Probably a good thing you are not coming now as you mentioned in another post. I live here and have a very different outlook. Perhaps go bag your own country because I'm sure there are misgivings there.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

bigpearl,

Contrary to your assumption. I am a Filipino who born and raised in the country until I was 14 years old. My parents had to leave the Philippines back in the 70s because of the lack of political and economic stabilities that I had mentioned above. As an adult with my own family, I moved back to try to make a life in the country that I had hoped would someday change for the better; it never did.  After a few years, I had to make the same hard decision my parents did decades earlier.  Move out.  So, if anyone knows what he or she is talking about, it would probably be me.  To this day, I still have not given up hope of moving back to the Philippines someday to live out the rest of my life, but that possibility is becoming less and less of a reality each passing day as the quality of life in the country, that I will be sharing with other Filipinos and foreigners, gets harder to live each day. 

Aeta Tribe.

Filipinos tend to blame others for their problems, but the biggest one I see is right at home. The Catholic Church. I'm surprised (or not) that you made no mention of the role of the Church in all this, with consideration to the policies which have limited birth control and sex education, leading to a QUADRUPLING of the population of the Philippines in a little over 50 years.  No amount of sound economic policy can keep jobs and income growing fast enough to keep the per-capita GDP high with that many people.

This has led to the cycle of poverty. Huge families, no money to send kids to college, they become low paid laborers.. and the cycle continues as uneducated women tend to have more children as shown in study after study. With population growth like that how can there be enough  jobs for all the young people? No wonder so many look for an easy way out.  When you look at Thailand, and to some extent Vietnam, their population was roughly the same in 1975 but now is lower and GDP per capita considerably higher. And in Philippines the class split between rich and poor is greater.

I do see as part of this the influence of the Spanish, in setting up a class system, which was reinforced in many ways by the Catholic priests, and which remains in place and keeps the people poor. It seems rich Filipinos care little for their less fortunate brethren. When my GF studied it for her college course, I also read Noli Me Tángere, by Jose Rizal, and was shocked at how little the culture, the church and the class system has changed since those days of Spanish colonialism (written in 1887). Every expat should avail themselves of that book to understand some of the roots of the Philippine tragedy.

Aeta Tribe.

We all have opinions but yours seem contradictory. Asking about the Philippines and pretending to want to come here and visit, complain about the government quarantine being too hard, bagging the country and now the truth comes out.

So, and only my thoughts, why not stay in the country your parents fled to (wisely) while living under the Marcos regime at the time?
As you obviously know the Philippines is very unique and definitely an acquired taste.
Whinging about the inherent problems here on an expat site devoted to living in the Philippines?

If you feel so passionate about the issues here then do something about it at a government level, education, voluntary work, donations etc.

I have learnt that I as a blow in will never change the Philippines but it has certainly changed me.

OMO

Cheers, Steve.

bigpearl wrote:

Aeta Tribe.

As you obviously know the Philippines is very unique and definitely an acquired taste.

Whinging about the inherent problems here on an expat site devoted to living in the Philippines?

Cheers, Steve.

I prefer Cheese with my Whine.

Freeeeddddoooommmmm

bigpearl,

So to not sound “contradictory,” would you rather have me paint a pretty picture of what it would be like for a tourist or “Balikbayan” to travel to the Philippines during the pandemic, how they would be quarantined for 10 to 14 days at their expense, and how impractical and costly it would be for a would-be-traveler when they are met with this situation and not know what to do?  If you think what I am doing is “bagging the country,” then I should just keep my mouth shut about these things and let the travelers figure it out for themselves.

It wasn’t the Marcos’ regime that drove my parents out. Instead, it was the political tide that was starting to sweep the entire country, which led to the declaration of Martial Law, that drove my parents out of the Philippines in the early 70s. That political tide resumed its momentum after Marcos’ ousting in the late 80s and continued to this day. 

If the Philippines is an “acquired taste” then we should be accepting of everyone’s experience and be grateful to them for sharing their opinion since no one’s taste is the same nor perfect. In other words, this forum should be about giving merit to everyone’s opinions, based on their unique experience, even if they don’t match ours. I am not “whinging about the inherent problem” of the Philippines. Everyone already knows about the Philippines’ “inherent problems” but choose to ignore them for someone else to figure out, while the sad legacy continues that affects all of us today---whether we realize it or not.

If I had a dollar each time someone tells me that I should do something about changing the country at the government and public service level, I would be a rich man.  Unfortunately, the problem and solution do not lie within one person. The problem lies at the cultural level that everyone (Filipinos and foreigners who have dealt with this society, in one form or another) must continuously address and not leave to chance, if they expect any possibility of ever changing the Philippines for the better.

Aeta Tribe

Enzyte Bob,

"I prefer Cheese with my Whine."

bigpearl did say everyone's experience in the Philippines is an "acquired taste."

Why not?

Aeta Tribe

Aeta Tribe wrote:

bigpearl,

So to not sound “contradictory,” would you rather have me paint a pretty picture of what it would be like for a tourist or “Balikbayan” to travel to the Philippines during the pandemic, how they would be quarantined for 10 to 14 days at their expense, and how impractical and costly it would be for a would-be-traveler when they are met with this situation and not know what to do?  If you think what I am doing is “bagging the country,” then I should just keep my mouth shut about these things and let the travelers figure it out for themselves.

None of us want a sh*t fight in our lives but at times we stand up. "Contradictory" was in relation to your unsubtle way of sliding into this forum then very unsubtly bagging what now seems to be your country of origin. With your opinions you probably wouldn't be welcomed well here. As for quarantine requirements and costs? Did you look into other countries?

Australia: https://tinyurl.com/bf55vp4j

Philippines: https://tinyurl.com/btsu827s

More countries?

You can do the math, I'm sure Australia will be too expensive as well for you to visit even though we have food and shirts on our backs,,,,, get real. Go to Antartica.
You have to remember that the whole world is stifled with this pandemic and honestly? The Philippines are doing their best and very well to control a very bad situation and honestly in my opinion are doing far better than many apparent 1st world countries, look at the figures, what the people here have achieved:

USA: 1,853 deaths per million

Philippines: 211 deaths per million

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

These laws and protocols are in place to protect the people, not visitors.

BTW there are more than enough pretty pictures in this country, you certainly have to review your canvas.


It wasn’t the Marcos’ regime that drove my parents out. Instead, it was the political tide that was starting to sweep the entire country that led to the declaration of Martial Law that drove my parents out of the Philippines in the early 70s, which resumed its momentum after Marcos’ ousting in the late 80s and still continues to this day. 

Ha Ha another believer it seems! My better half holds the Marcos regime in high opinion even though he wasn't born until 1990, propaganda? Family political beliefs? Who declared martial law? "it wasn't me".

https://tinyurl.com/hedxvyph

You have to remember that most of us here are old enough to remember those time, watched with dismay and empathy for the Filipino people and their plight and the carnage delivered by the then leader. The very same that your parents wisely fled from.

If the Philippines is an “acquired taste” then we should be accepting of everyone’s experience and be grateful to them for sharing their opinion since no one’s taste is the same nor perfect. In other words, this forum should be about giving merit to everyone’s opinions, based on their unique experience, even if they don’t match ours. I am not “whinging about the inherent problem” of the Philippines. Everyone already knows about the Philippines’ “inherent problems” but choose to ignore them for someone else to figure out, while the sad legacy continues that affects all of us today---whether we realize it or not.

While I see and maybe in a ways appreciate your opinion/s I disagree with what you have offered so far, perhaps a somewhat bias opinion having lived in a first world country for so many decades has eroded your understanding, humility and heritage. You mentioned the crime and scams earlier, my adopted family, better halves family and relatives,,,,,,, all 5,000 of them are honest hard working people with very little by western standards but I see them much happier than my family in Australia. None of them that I am aware of in my 9 years of being part of our family have never had a problem with the law nor seen any type of scams or illegal opportunities.
As for taste? If I didn't like the cheese or the Sauvignon Blanc I wouldn't be here,,,, it's really the JD that keeps me here.

If I had a dollar each time someone tells me that I should do something about changing the country at the government and public service level, I would be a rich man.  Unfortunately, the problem and solution do not lie within one person. The problem lies at the cultural level that everyone (Filipinos and foreigners who have dealt with this society, in one form or another) must continuously address and not leave to chance, if they expect any possibility of ever changing the Philippines for the better.

Wow, big statement. You would probably be rich just for whinging and in the meantime you do what? Many political figures are in power for simply whinging and whining. Your turn?
Tell that to Mahatma Gandhi! Adolf Hitler! The Dalai Lama.

I will simply go back to my earlier post that this is an expat site and there are forum rules to follow.
Political, religious or derogatory posts are not tolerated and honestly I'm surprised that this dialogue has made it this far.
I'll give you an example with what we deal with here daily yes you have been there I'm sure, a new battery for the 2 year old car on the Motorlite site for our car is an ns60,,,,,,, a few enquiries, found a supplier, yes sir we have 3 in stock and that's correct for your car,,,,, the better half who has no mechanical knowledge or experience at this level went there this morning, in fact is telling them now after a phone conversation together to jamb the battery they want to sell him squarely where it fits because it's 2.000 pesos more expensive than quoted, but sir you told me that's the correct battery, Your site says that's the correct battery. Sorry sir it won't fit. Yeah I'll get one delivered from Lazada or Shopee. Even those sites have their moments. Guess what we have moments like that in Australia and I have travelled widely and see the same short fallings in American, European and other Asian markets. Deal with the short comings we do no matter country.
Now I have to ask if you have any positives for the Philippines?

Nothing more needs to be said, you don't like here? go home or don't come or come back.

Aeta Tribe

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Aeta Tribe wrote:

Enzyte Bob,

"I prefer Cheese with my Whine."

bigpearl did say everyone's experience in the Philippines is an "acquired taste."

Why not?

Aeta Tribe

Seems your taste may be bitter for some ungodly reason, some taste the sweetness.

Again OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Enzyte Bob wrote:

What is your interpretation of a Digibox? I was under the impression that a Digibox was for decoding satellite signals.

This was what I was referring to when I said "digibox":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABS-CBN_TV_Plushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMA_Affordabox

I have the ABS-CBN TV Plus. I bought it for my housekeeper around 2 years ago because there's no cable port in her room. It still works despite the closure of ABS-CBN. Having one keeps my housekeeper happy because she likes watching teleseryes. She is actually more updated than I am when it comes to local news.

I don't know though if a digibox would be able to capture channels from Lopez Quezon where the OP will be residing. I guess it works in some areas and not in others. Enzyte, since you're not using yours, why not donate / loan it for free to the OP.

bigpearl wrote:

Aeta Tribe wrote:

Enzyte Bob,

"I prefer Cheese with my Whine."

bigpearl did say everyone's experience in the Philippines is an "acquired taste."

Why not?

Aeta Tribe

Seems your taste may be bitter for some ungodly reason, some taste the sweetness.

Again OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

bigpearl,

The most effective medicine and diet in the world, like a dose of reality, are bitter and not sweet.

Aeta Tribe

There are so many off-topic posts in this thread, when the OP is simply asking where to shop for groceries, how to get internet / cable / tv channels, and setting up a meet and greet with expats in Lopez Quezon, where he and his wife will be moving.

I will have to request that some posts be moved to a new thread.

Aeta Tribe wrote:

coach53 wrote:

Aeta Tribe wrote:

because "Big Businesses" are turning the country into a fiefdom of lords and serfs that caters to foreigners, OFWs, and Balikbayans.

Not "turning".  The situatioin have been screwed up all the time since Spain  made a colony "divide and conquer" by favouring some Filipinos to split them.

I'm not going to go back 400 years ago

You better do, because thats the REASON    to some main problems still...  Very unfair laws since then are there still e g a rich can PAY to avoid prison for some serious crimes or the poor dont have money to file a case which SHOULD be filed by the POLICE. AUTOMATICLY   NOT by bribing, but by some LAWS are sio still!!!

Aeta Tribe wrote:

nor the ongoing strife between Muslims and Christians.

The big problem in Phills depend of - as I said - USA by not giving back musim part to the muslims.  Phils live in PEACE with other neihbour muslim countries...

Aeta Tribe wrote:

I'm talking about in my lifetime when the quality of life could have been much better for Filipinos if they had simply taken better care of protecting their sovereignty from continued foreign influence that feeds their ongoing aristocratic and self-serving ways, in the manner with which they see themselves and each other..

So it ISNT turned, its continued and ongoing as you say yourself   

Aeta Tribe wrote:

in the manner with which they see themselves and each other.  This is just my opinion of the direction the Philippines and its people and going,

The 10 richest familes in Phils have 80-90 percent of the votes in the parlament STILL.
Sweden had similar problem with rich - supported by the church -  abused the poor, but around 110 years ago Swedish workers changed that by taking big part of the piver by, deonstrations, strikes, starting an own political party - and vote for it... (Since then the workers party have been in pover many of the years and concerning jobs the pover is ballanced, both sides know they lose at conflictss so almost never any strikes, theey reach agrements by negotations, which have made the lowest salaries in Sweden are much HIGHER than in USA, and the bi companies CEO salaries are much LOWER than in USA.

Aeta Tribe wrote:

This is just my opinion of the direction the Philippines and its people and going, and how they will eventually lose their rights to their own land someday if they don't change their ways.

Well. Earlier a few owned almost all land PRIVATE..  Since then there have been land reforms taking part of land from the rich and "give" it to the poor - BUT in many cases the GOVERNMENT took the land and KEPT the owning of it, just giving USING RIGHTS to the poor.  PLUS - which is a big minus   -  the government demand A LOT of permits.  For instance
/TINY businesses as e g sarisari or selling through e g Lazada demand THREE permits to be allowed to start and two of the permits need reneval every year!!!
/When PLANTING forest the owner need around FOURTY permits before its harvested, and it can take a year to get the cut permit!!!

Big businesses make some problems too - although they add jobs too. Mainly its the government MAKING problems.. The government add jobs too, but OPPOSITE to productive      by making it HARD for small businesses...  Athough the government have made a GOOD law for small business giving incentive to make owners stop being at the black market and register, but at the same time they have made it very hard to register!!!   Its so hard so many dont even try. E g we were the first, who registered such businesss in whole that municipaly EVER, although its a common business there... We have looked at over 10 FOR SALE just in this  municipaly stil none registered.  Perhaps depening of it was impossible       before my stubborness made DTI (=Department of trade and industry)  change their registration system so it became possible to register such type of business.  But now we are some stucked at BIR    but they told they wil solve it if we come back the 28th. Left to see.  And they demand  punnishment feee from US for being late, when its THEM who have taken MONTHS     to do the registration process THEY say is suppoused to take 30 minutes!!!

After America received The Philippines from 300 year Spanish rule the USA should have just given the Philippines to the Philippines. Its there land and no one elses. That short war US had with Philippines should have never happened. All it did was stir up trouble. There are still some resentful Philippinos and I dont blame them. It eased things over a bit after WW2 and the US left all their jeeps in the Philippines instead of transporting them back to America. The guy who came up with the idea to modify the jeeps into transportation vehicles. well that was a genius idea. Can anyone get a good distance ride in America or anywhere else in the world for less than a quarter? After the war(skirmish) the US had with Philippines USA went on to build Baguio City in about 1901 and completed around 5 years later. American engineers built Baguio with American, Philippino and Chinese workers( I read this in their newspaper here) William Taft was 1st Governor of Philippines in 1901-1903 after the war and later became POTUS and even later Supreme Court Justice. The only person to have held both offices. I think USA and Philippines have developed a fairly good alliance. If the Chinese(Philippines  biggest trade partner) and Russia or anyone tries to start a war with Philippines we will surely help them. There are deep concerns with the Spratly Islands. They sure as heck dont belong to China but China thinks they do. There may be a war over this dispute. Lets hope not. We have had enough needless wars! Death and destruction are NOT the answer!

Yes the truth is always painful.

FilAmericanMom wrote:

Enzyte Bob wrote:

What is your interpretation of a Digibox? I was under the impression that a Digibox was for decoding satellite signals.

This was what I was referring to when I said "digibox":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABS-CBN_TV_Plus

I have the ABS-CBN TV Plus.

Yup, that's the one I bought, probably worth the 1500 Pesos for some. But on a High Definition TV, it was real loser, poor picture quality, put it back in the box and is gathering dust someplace.

When I saw it  advertised on TV I thought it was a good idea. I was going to buy two of them and my wife convinced me to try one first.

Aeta Tribe wrote:

It wasn’t the Marcos’ regime that drove my parents out. Instead, it was the political tide that was starting to sweep the entire country, which led to the declaration of Martial Law, that drove my parents out of the Philippines in the early 70s. That political tide resumed its momentum after Marcos’ ousting in the late 80s and continued to this day.

Explain please, how was that tide.
IF it was unstable because the poor protested, thats what Phils NEED to get chance to get a good result, stoping the rich to screw up for the poor...
(I know rather much about OLD Phil history, but  ltle about that startup.)

Aeta Tribe wrote:

If the Philippines is an “acquired taste” then we should be accepting of everyone’s experience and be grateful to them for sharing their opinion since no one’s taste is the same nor perfect.

Well. I know some exceptions, but common among (malay) Filipinos are DONT WANT to learn from others with experience, instead even when told a GOOD way things can be done, they dont follow and do it some even stupid way.
E g I have told elsewere about
/screwed up  well construction first geting mudd water by nott tighten the wals at all, then tightened whole so got no water at all   
/plumber put the pipe in knee hight DIAGOONAL across the room so peple had to climb over it   

Several say its common (malay) Filipinos have to be checked all the time to not screw up with NOT folow instructiions.   (By not wanting to admit anyone else know better, and many have no logic thinking capacity, screwed up be the CHURCH, they often screw up when not folowing instructtions...)
But some OTHER Filipino ethnic groups are not like that.  An Amerucan has hired a team of indigenous people for some projects.  He said  In difference from Filipinos (malay) after told how to get it done I can leave them and its done like that when I come back.  A " funny" thing is its common Filipinos LOCK DOWN at this indiugenous people for being stupid!!!  (They are less EDUCATED by less access to schools, but thats  NOT same as being stupid.  Proven by when I were in a forum about business in Phils with amost all Filipinos to learn Filipino business culture I learned high education dont cure stupidity         It was common rich Manila Filipinos LIED  a lot and DENIED they did even when it was proven!!!)

Aeta Tribe wrote:

In other words, this forum should be about giving merit to everyone’s opinions, based on their unique experience, even if they don’t match ours.

NOT when oppinons are much wrong        specialy when such oppinions can make damage leading AWAY from good solutions.  Thats why I argue against e g when someone say things are very good because of church or USA fight for democracy, which both are false,.. Big part of the poverty in Phils is partly BECAUSE of the church support the RICH        It was same type crap church in Sweden back when Sweden was poor.

pnwcyclist wrote:

Filipinos tend to blame others for their problems, but the biggest one I see is right at home. The Catholic Church. I'm surprised (or not) that you made no mention of the role of the Church in all this, with consideration to the policies which have limited birth control and sex education, leading to a QUADRUPLING of the population of the Philippines in a little over 50 years.  No amount of sound economic policy can keep jobs and income growing fast enough to keep the per-capita GDP high with that many people.

This has led to the cycle of poverty. Huge families, no money to send kids to college, they become low paid laborers.. and the cycle continues as uneducated women tend to have more children as shown in study after study. With population growth like that how can there be enough  jobs for all the young people? No wonder so many look for an easy way out.  When you look at Thailand, and to some extent Vietnam, their population was roughly the same in 1975 but now is lower and GDP per capita considerably higher. And in Philippines the class split between rich and poor is greater.

I do see as part of this the influence of the Spanish, in setting up a class system, which was reinforced in many ways by the Catholic priests, and which remains in place and keeps the people poor. It seems rich Filipinos care little for their less fortunate brethren. When my GF studied it for her college course, I also read Noli Me Tángere, by Jose Rizal, and was shocked at how little the culture, the church and the class system has changed since those days of Spanish colonialism (written in 1887). Every expat should avail themselves of that book to understand some of the roots of the Philippine tragedy.

Yes. A bit improving but SIX kids per family in average in Phils, while THREE in "normal" POOR countries.  TWO or less in rich counties..
The church make it HARD for people by working AGAINT lowering kids per family. The church even went to highest court to try to stop when parlament had made an improvement 
Fast growing population make PROBLEMS for POOR
while being GOOD for RICH by big unemployment make salaries can stay extreemly low...

bigpearl wrote:

If you feel so passionate about the issues here then do something about it at a government level, education, voluntary work, donations etc.

I have learnt that I as a blow in will never change the Philippines but it has certainly changed me..

As I have tried in some diufferent countries wihich have politicians   =All  countries    and majority of them make more prioblems than they solve by greed or I believe mostly stupidity   
I try to improve a TINY part and try not to bother about the rest.  But its very hard to not protest      when seing bad politics.

Aeta Tribe wrote:

If I had a dollar each time someone tells me that I should do something about changing the country at the government and public service level, I would be a rich man. Unfortunately, the problem and solution do not lie within one person. The problem lies at the cultural level that everyone (Filipinos and foreigners who have dealt with this society, in one form or another) must continuously address and not leave to chance, if they expect any possibility of ever changing the Philippines for the better.

You are correct. MANY people needed to get the BIG problems solved.
But you can do as I and try to solve TINY parts 
I have allready managed to make  DTI change their not functioning online registration so it functions now!!!   
And Im trying to add some jobs in one oif the most poor parts of Phils and introduce two big improvements in the production process the common is ineffective or even screwed up so I have much mess to solve in the businesses we are in process of buying.  And it seem I have got a customer allready for next season to use the SERVICE we are in process to make too for OTHER businesses to use to get their businesses done effective.
(I have done business consulting jobs in my home country too both economical and organisation, but the errors I aim at mainly for our service section is technical. One oif the improvements Im implementing the Fiipino method functions too but need ten times more work      while the other is realy screwed up kind of "sabotaging" the production they have.  Thats why many of them want to sell cheap instead of solving the problems, because almost NONE owner have a clue how to solve it!!!  (In years I had found only TWO businesses knowing how to do . Then I found my now businesses poartbner and laer one more who knew a litle about it.)

And most busineses owners in Phils dont even know a  BASIC thing as "Supply and Demand" rule!!!  So not odd most of them earn bad or even lose...
So Businsses knowledges are much needed in Phils, but its AGAINST THE LAW for businesses to be dominated by foreign KNOWLEDGE!!!  Very stupid, Phils LOOSE much at not using all knowledge they can get...   
(Because of that law it would have been illegal to start "my" business, but it got solved by I finaly found my now business partner, who had enough knowledge allready to make my compleeting knowledges not being dominating. Although its an important compleeting part     which give us big advantage over competittion except the few others who know.  BUT this is NOT loosing for the others by they can get their products sold too anyway  by Phils import such. And I suppouse some will improve by tsismis will tell how we are doing.  Phils is world champion in tsismis and copying    although often get problem by they copy TO CLOSE to the origin so each get to few customers...  In OTHER than our business, because our type of products are almost all sold elsewere where the biger markets are anyway.)

Coach 53,

You're going to have to separate my quotes and your replies as separate posts, so I can reply to each one individually and clearly. 

Aeta Tribe.

FilAmericanMom wrote:

There are so many off-topic posts in this thread, when the OP is simply asking where to shop for groceries, how to get internet / cable / tv channels, and setting up a meet and greet with expats in Lopez Quezon, where he and his wife will be moving.

I will have to request that some posts be moved to a new thread.

Good idea     This is a very important subject which has developed in wrong topic 

Aeta Tribe wrote:

Coach 53,
You're going to have to separate my quotes and your replies as separate posts, so I can reply to each one individually and clearly.  .

No I dont because you can cut and separae quotes as I do 
(I erase the parts I dont answer to try to make my posts short, but they often become long anyway of some odd reason!   

And you contradicted yourself some in two posts so I "had to"    put them together in same post.

aklokow wrote:

Another question to all, what is the best supermarket price and quality to buy groceries, veggies and meat. I have seen on the internet SM, Robinsons, S&R etc.

Additionally ow does the TV channels work, is through a decoder or the internet?

Thanks

Back to the OP,
For price I recommend Puregold over the three you mentioned for groceries. You’ll save approx. 10 to 20% on your purchases. For your fresh veggies, you’ll probably do better at local markets. For meats, S & R has a good quality selection, but not cheap. Landers might be another option, but I’ve never been inside one, and I don’t think there’s one in your mentioned area. Robinsons or SM might be best in your area.

As far as the TV, others have mentioned both the ABS CBN box and the GMA affordabox (890 pesos), but unless you’re fluent in Tagalog, you’ll have very, very limited things to watch on them.
There are two major cable/satellite companies, plus many smaller ones.
Sky cable I had in Makati, it’s got a good range of plans to choose from.
Cignal is a satellite dish system, you get the dish and they have multiple plans available also.
Cignal seems more geared to Asian/Australian, while Sky more western.
PLDT and Cignal have also partnered for a internet/cable bundle, which is what I have now, called Fiber plus.   
It’s a decent DSL type internet, with cable signals delivered by the fiber optic cable, so no dish needed.
I’ve got the 50 mbps package, which runs me 2499 per month.
Having never been to quezon province, I have no idea of the availability in your area.
Availability is an issue here. For six months, I relied on what is basically a pocket home WiFi.

Hope that helps.