Good News Stories Regarding the Philippines

This is great news.

Just imagine if the Ayala, San Miguel, SM, or Camela group-family were to donate $10M each to build tiny homes on government land tracts....

Some good news from my experience:  my wife and I have retained an attorney to deal with local problems from a car accident and breach of contract (construction).  Lawyer is top shelf while charging 10,000P retainer fee. (I had a first free consultation with a New York City lawyer whose fee is $1500  per hour.  No kidding).  The judicial process does work overall, with some kinks here and there, but a lot better than Viet Nam or Myanmar etc.

Paul

"It becomes a problem for the rest of society  people do not have homes," Marcos said.

Most have family, tell em to move over.

What they don't have is economic opportunity- decent jobs. Put the governments money and effort into infrastructure, education and bringing in foreign capital for starters.

I'm all for having a roof, but what's the real

benefit of spending 6 years building slums?

One million homes per year? More pretend is all that is.

Better off doing something attainable with long term benefits - increase self sufficency for the masses.

My 2 pesos.

One cultural difference between PHL and similar low-middle-income (LMI) countries is the monopoly of corporate/franchise 'big box' restaurants and grocery stores:  Jollibee, McD, Burger King, Pizza Hut, SM Market or Robinson's market.  Street foods or wet markets drive the informal economies of nearby countries. 

On Thailand sidewalks, you can buy 2 fried chicken legs and sticky rice for 50 baht to support the mom-and-pop vendors.  And they taste better than JollyB chickens.

@Nightfish  I can see the real challenge to create a manufacturing industry here.  Let's be honest, factory assembly/production is really the job creation in these LMI countries.  How do you move products to ports for exporting?  The ways these typhoons hitting land 15-20 times, I don't know how these infrastructures can survive. 

Another difference:  something needs to be done with a population of 100M. Japan and Indonesia are the only island nations with populations greater than 100M in Asia or possibly the world (need to check on this).

Check  well because India has 1.4 billion souls as does China.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Duonguhm writes:

@Nightfish  I can see the real challenge to create a manufacturing industry here.  Let's be honest, factory assembly/production is really the job creation in these LMI countries.  How do you move products to ports for exporting?  The ways these typhoons hitting land 15-20 times, I don't know how these infrastructures can survive.

I would say that industry and agriculture sectors could use some modernization.

e-commerce, data management, software etc.

all wide open to those interested/ qualified.

How to move things around? How about the way the rest of the modern world does - good planning and construction, in other words difficult but doable.

There is currently enough stuff imported for 100 million people, I'd guess more stuff could also be exported.

A strong trustworthy gov. would be key to implement any or all of the above, so, yeah, might as well just pitch a million tents.

Said this many times before like a broken record, as a kid in the late 60's and 70's most cr@p came from the Philippines, perhaps even the early 80's but I was more interested in life and sexual encounters then so missed the 80"s so what happenned? Let's not go there on this site

Cheers, Steve.

Said this many times before like a broken record, as a kid in the late 60's and 70's most cr@p came from the Philippines, perhaps even the early 80's but I was more interested in life and sexual encounters then so missed the 80"s so what happenned? Let's not go there on this site

Cheers, Steve.

Wow! Can you say non-sequitur??l

This is great news.

we need to see more feasible and affordable housing, and less building of shopping malls and condos that only 2% of the Filipino population can afford to live in! 

(i'm looking at you SM, Ayala and SMDC. i spit in your face and shit in your general direction.)

@kristopherryanwatson Monopolists do kill off any chance for mom-pop businesses, sadly.

@duonguhm

This is true, agreed.

@Nightfish I agree wih modernization; however, the task is monumental.  Philippines does not have the massive money reserve or hi-tech know-how to build infrastructure to protect their land or assets from natural disaster.  Tokyo has a massive underground 'cave' to funnel flood water to avoid swamping the city.  Buildings on rollers, etc.

In Baguio, my house has Converge internet, which is supposedly fiber optic technology.  It goes off every time we have high wind or storms.  Those optical lines are hung on poles just like others, not underground, so the true benefit is lost. How would they bury these cables underground given the terrain (all hills) and finances?  I am not sure.   

`

Be interesting to see exactly where Marcos chooses to build this new public housing?

For example, the newspaper item copied above notes, In building houses, the President explained, "you cannot just build a house, you have to build a community. Otherwise, it is not practical for people to live there. So there has to be schools nearby, work cannot be farther, commute cannot be more than one hour, there has to be a marketplace, all of this. The transportation easy to get to," he added.

The Government Youtube video regarding this initiative appears to indicate the first two locations are on Luzon, just above and below Manila, which I guess would seem logical?

[link under review]

@PalawOne I try not to comment on national politics or political ways.  In Viet Nam and Thailand, capital projects (i.e. construction) are the only 'legitimate' way to gain li xi (the red envelopes with money as gift during lunar new year celebration in Viet Nam or Chinese-based cultures).  Just think, Marcos immediately appointed the celebrity anchor news to head the national department of social welfare and development. 

There is an oligarchy here as much as in US with a veneer of democracy.  My first wife came from a powerful family on a large island here in 1990.  I was whisked through Manila airport in a different gate when arrived and saw more guards with real rifles along their social networks.  I am just hopeful the current president will implement these changes.  Local people already talk about the current VP as the next president. 

I find it truly remarkable that people here make the best of their lot with a smile, a beer, or whiskey. 

Stay well.

The land where this housing will be built is probably being gobbled up by the politicians family and friends, later to be sold for big $$$, when development starts.

Building new Ghettos is not the answer and brings new problems.

@Enzyte Bob  You are spot on regarding first point.

@Enzyte Bob

Totally agree. To be realistic, the average/middle to lower class filipino will likely never see the benefit or be awarded this supposed new housing, because it doesn't benefit the Government in return.

"what is good for the goose is good for the gander"

@Enzyte Bob You are spot on regarding first point.
-@duonguhm

Both points. And the beneficiaries? Not wanting to  get into politics nor who runs any country but for many of us it's obvious.

No different to squatter resettlement to an area with no work and far from family but hey they got a new 50/60 M2 house that turns into economic ruin in the end, seen it with Bens family and friends.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

`

Haha, all white-people objections to Pinoy social-housing plans?

We have lots of concrete government social housing in Australia.

This system works well, and we have not seen a street-person for

many years. Sure, lots of bad things may happen. But, give it a go.

The plan is a million homes a year for six years? If they built them

ten years that's one new home for nearly every 12 Philippine folks!

Plus the already existing homes in the country, altogether, it could

perhaps eradicate homelessness in this whole country completely?

China has done it recently and built concrete apartments most of the

rural Chinese population. Why not the Philippines helping in this way?

`

Any country building social or low cost housing comes back to location, access to services and decent infrastructure.

Simply look at Sunbury, Victoria Australia where they built a satalite city with thousands of houses 20 odd miles from the CBD, great but no employment, no infrastructure for the poor that purchased low cost housing without social necessities to back up such a dream creates problems with crime and poverty. My belief is they only got a train service some 30 years after inception. These days have most of what they need but took 30 years.

Here? Most developments for the poor, other countries for that matter are fueled by oligarchs and corparations that have the pollies in their hip pocket, they win and create more wealth for all concerned and the poor in reality continue to suffer.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

`

Hey Steve,

Don't knock Sunbury, our planned city

And, today's prices for the Sunbury homes ..

Bedrooms    Price      Selling Time

2  House    $500k      21 days

3  House    $615k      23 days

4  House    $750k      30 days 

5  House    $955k      39 days

So a two-bedroom house = half a million Aussie dollars = 18 million peso?

And a large five bedroom house is selling quickly at a million or so dollars?

Each all pretty in their new, clean, well planned and conceived modern city.

Not everyone has your skills and can build their own concrete homes mate.

Everyone struggles to buy their first home. And everyone wants the chance.

Buying on time payment, a universally utilized Pinoy tradition. So, why not?

`

Kudos to Marcos if he can succeed in this plan for public housing.   I have my dose of cynicism as much as anyone here, but land grabbers will always land grab.  I suppose it is better than done by the country's oligarchs than beijing-back chinese capitalists.

Kudos to Marcos if he can succeed in this plan for public housing.  I have my dose of cynicism as much as anyone here, but land grabbers will always land grab. I suppose it is better than done by the country's oligarchs than beijing-back chinese capitalists. -@duonguhm

`

A sensible response Paul

Hope for the best and wait

and see. What will be will be