Iloilo City Phillipines anyone?

[Jingthing]

Hi there.

Iloilo City Philippines has come on my radar as a potential next place after Thailand.

I wasn't really aware of it before but recently watched a bunch of videos and it looks appealing.

 

A medium sized city in the western Visayas.

The geography means it is generally shielded from the worse impact of large storms.

Access to other islands and beaches.

Noted for being relatively clean for an Asean city.

Less traffic than bigger cities.

Parts are very new and modern even westernized but other more charming parts that have Spanish colonial influence.

Local language is not Tagalog but as anywhere in the Philippines English speakers are common.

Regional food dishes, unfortunately heavy on offal.

Good international food options such as Korean.

Lower cost level than bigger cities such as Cebu City.

International airport limited but goes to Hong Kong and Singapore.

Friendly people of course.

Medical care is limited but I'm guessing better than Cambodia.

 

In the past I have been to Manila, Cebu City, Bohol, Bantanyan Island, and Dumageute. My conclusion after that trip was that I could live in Cebu City but really wouldn't want to. Dumaguete which is somewhat expat popular seemed too backwater and boring to me.

 

I am most interested in hearing from people that have been to both Dumaguete and Iloili City somewhat recently. My guess is that Iloili City is somewhat less boring and somewhat more modern developed than Dumaguete. Am I right or wrong about that?

[Jingthing]

Sample video

 

 

[Destiny1990]

I heard that Bacolod and or Bohol are better alternatives for Iloilo.

[diwata]

Some nice places to visit in Iloilo:

https://welcome2philippines.com/category/visayas/iloilo/

[bradiston]

On 12/25/2019 at 9:10 PM, Destiny1990 said:

I heard that Bacolod and or Bohol are better alternatives for Iloilo.

A friend has a place (for sale, actually!) near Bacolod. He likes it there. It's pretty quiet but has hidden gems. There's an airport nearby but domestic only. I've visited Dumaguete. Main ferry terminal for Mindanao and elsewhere. Has a pretty promenade with a variety of expat cafes etc. Never got to Ilo. It has 2 international airports along with Kalibo which serves Boracay. It's ridiculous! Negros has none!

 

Most Filipinos I mention Bacolod to all say the same thing. Happy people there!

 

I've been looking at Sabah too, just BTW.

[Jingthing]

37 minutes ago, bradiston said:

A friend has a place (for sale, actually!) near Bacolod. He likes it there. It's pretty quiet but has hidden gems. There's an airport nearby but domestic only. I've visited Dumaguete. Main ferry terminal for Mindanao and elsewhere. Has a pretty promenade with a variety of expat cafes etc. Never got to Ilo. It has 2 international airports along with Kalibo which serves Boracay. It's ridiculous! Negros has none!

 

Most Filipinos I mention Bacolod to all say the same thing. Happy people there!

 

I've been looking at Sabah too, just BTW.

Could be because of their manufactured Maskara festival and branding as the city of smiles. 

 

 

 

Marketing works?

 

I read an interesting thing about the Ilonggo language/ people there and that includes Bacolod and Iloilo

 

That they're less interested in relationships with foreigners than other Filipinos, more independent, perhaps prouder.

 

I have no idea if that's true.

 

The feature of the long river walk in Iloilo City sounds appealing. 

[bradiston]

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Could be because of their manufactured Maskara festival and branding as the city of smiles. 

 

 

 

Marketing works?

 

I read an interesting thing about the Ilonggo language/ people there and that includes Bacolod and Iloilo

 

That they're less interested in relationships with foreigners than other Filipinos, more independent, perhaps prouder.

 

I have no idea if that's true.

 

The feature of the long river walk in Iloilo City sounds appealing. 

I had a gf from near Bacolod. She certainly smiled a lot, until the inevitable happened, and I caught her out. But really, she got me first!

[connda]

On 12/25/2019 at 4:41 PM, Jingthing said:

Medical care is limited but I'm guessing better than Cambodia.

If you're ex-military look at the SRRV program for US vets.  The health care system may not be like Thailand, but unlike Thailand you can buy into the system and receive health care. 

[Denim]

I've been to Cebu , Iloilo and Dumagete but unfortunately not recently. 

 

Nonetheless I think Cebu would be a better bet since being a bigger city there are more facilities and better connections. Don't need to live in the city but somewhere nearby maybe.

 

Using google street view can be interesting since you can have a virtual drive around to get a general idea of what its like.

[Destiny1990]

Would consider Bohol or Baguio.

[Jingthing]

I've been to Bohol and just wasn't feeling the vibe there. Baguio is kind of isolated.

 

There are some cooler temperature choices closer to Manila. 

 

Tagaytay (overlooking the volcano), Lipa City, some other areas in Batangas.  

[Johnny Mac]

Haha, no longer Istanbul then, lol.

[HappyFive]

iloilo

On 7/11/2021 at 4:53 PM, Jingthing said:

I've been to Bohol and just wasn't feeling the vibe there. Baguio is kind of isolated.

 

There are some cooler temperature choices closer to Manila. 

 

Tagaytay (overlooking the volcano), Lipa City, some other areas in Batangas.  

what country are you in now? 

 

do you want my take on iloilo? i've been all over. 

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, HappyFive said:

iloilo

what country are you in now? 

 

do you want my take on iloilo? i've been all over. 

Thailand. 

Yes of course would like to hear your take on Iloilo.

 

Also,

Tagaytay

 

 

[HappyFive]

7 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Thailand. 

Yes of course would like to hear your take on Iloilo.

Also,

Tagaytay

Both are good places to live.

 

Tagaytay has worse shopping, and used to get invaded every weekend by day trippers from manila, making traffic much worse. Because of the location near the capital, Tagaytay people might be more dynamic in their thinking. 

 

Iloilo can be boring. But the good news: some good shopping, new malls, new wide roads. This might be the easiest large city in Ph. in terms to getting around (but you may need to take taxis or get a motorbike if you don't want to walk /wait for the jeepneys and trikes to turn up.). 

It's a city of fish farms. The air quality is one of the best. You could even live on the coast and still be near the city center. But locals have a more comfortable life and are less inclined to venture out looking for foreign friends, as they are in Manila or Cebu. There are also very few immigrants looking for work, from other provinces. Hotels are less competitive than other cities for this reason. Less new blood. Harder to meet a nice lady than Cebu. Most people are not used to seeing foreigners on the regular. 

Getting out: the airport is super strict about weight of your hand carry. it's the only airport i've ever been hustled for overweight bag. The gates entrance has strict weighing policy. Fckers. 

 

How are you going to get into the country? What's wrong with Thailand? (need a change?) I spent a long time in Ph. and I want to go back to Th. 

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, HappyFive said:

Both are good places to live.

 

Tagaytay has worse shopping, and used to get invaded every weekend by day trippers from manila, making traffic much worse. Because of the location near the capital, Tagaytay people might be more dynamic in their thinking. 

 

Iloilo can be boring. But the good news: some good shopping, new malls, new wide roads. This might be the easiest large city in Ph. in terms to getting around (but you may need to take taxis or get a motorbike if you don't want to walk /wait for the jeepneys and trikes to turn up.). 

It's a city of fish farms. The air quality is one of the best. You could even live on the coast and still be near the city center. But locals have a more comfortable life and are less inclined to venture out looking for foreign friends, as they are in Manila or Cebu. There are also very few immigrants looking for work, from other provinces. Hotels are less competitive than other cities for this reason. Less new blood. Harder to meet a nice lady than Cebu. Most people are not used to seeing foreigners on the regular. 

Getting out: the airport is super strict about weight of your hand carry. it's the only airport i've ever been hustled for overweight bag. The gates entrance has strict weighing policy. Fckers. 

 

How are you going to get into the country? What's wrong with Thailand? (need a change?) I spent a long time in Ph. and I want to go back to Th. 

The Philippines isn't open to travel to yet. I think possibly they will open to fully vaccinated in 6 months or a year or more.

 

I have been there before but not Iloilo or Tagaytay.

 

I do see the great benefits of living in striking distance of Manila but not in Manila. 

 

What you say about Iloilo is mostly quite positive and confirms what I've heard in other places. 

 

It definitely isn't the cheapest place. 

 

The part about how the locals aren't jumping for joy to mingle with foreigners is interesting. Is that good or bad? I think it depends on what you're looking for.

 

Reminds me of something funny my driver from Cebu City said to me on the way to the ferry port to Bantayan Island. "You'll have a great time. The people are backwards and ignorant. They love all foreigners."

Well I did have a great time. I was even invited into people's homes to share some shockingly awful poverty cuisine.

 

I'm only researching backup options to Thailand. In case things go fully south here. They include the Philippines, Mexico  and Colombia.

[HappyFive]

9 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

The part about how the locals aren't jumping for joy to mingle with foreigners is interesting. Is that good or bad? I think it depends on what you're looking for. Reminds me of something funny my driver from Cebu City said to me on the way to the ferry port to Bantayan Island. "You'll have a great time. The people are backwards and ignorant. They love all foreigners."

Well I did have a great time. I was even invited into people's homes to share some shockingly awful poverty cuisine... 

The same thing happened to me in Bantayan Island. I was with a friend on the beach when this cute lady walked past and we spoke... eventually I was invited to her parents home, with a floor of rubble. But I love experiences like that. It might be possible in Iloilo, but my experience was people were guarded and didn't want to risk being the center of gossip for being seen with a foreigner. I made friends with a dull gay student for a while, figured it might help me meet a girl... nope...

then I asked directions to girl and we went for a quick drink and didn't see her after that. 

 

Contrast with driving my moped to the far side of Bantayan Island and seeing all the school kids gather to watch me when i stopped for a coconut cake was pretty funny. 

 

In manila I met a lady from Bacolod. If I had known what I know now, I might have skipped iloilo and gone straight to her town. 

 

meanwhile my ex girlfriend was in manila moody at me for... exploring without her. LOL

 

can you tell i'm bored now? fduck this locdoqwn...

[eppic]

My wife is from Iloilo so I have been there many times and return regularly, except since Covid

 

In the past, it wasn't necessarily a great place because of underdevelopment -- just a typical city in the Philippines.

 

Since a new airport was built a number of years ago, there has been a development boom at the site of the old airport.  Numerous new condos, shopping malls, etc.  We stayed in the new area once and over time I expect it will be quite nice, but no doubt Covid has slowed the condo craze (before the airport redevelopment, condos basically didn't exist in Iloilo).

 

One thing to mention, perhaps because its a new industry, pent up demand, and limited competition, I found the condos to be significantly overpriced and with relatively poor quality -- again, this may change over time, but currently you would get better quality in some other cities.  I was open to buying a holiday condo there, but decided to pass until the price/quality ratio improves.  At this stage, one of the usual gated housing developments would probably be a better choice.

 

As for the locals, it's true that they have not been inundated with foreigners and sexpats, but there are a lot of positives for that. You won't see the large number of predator women you see in a place like Cebu, nor the large population of old white guys holding hand with 18 year old girls (I find this distasteful, but many wouldn't mind).  Nor will you get stared at as you often are in other cities in the Philippines.  Overall, the reputation of Ilongos in the Philippines is that of mostly gentle, sweet people - even the language is considered sweet sounding (tagalog also wdely spoken in the city, but not always elsewhere in Iloilo).

 

Also of note: Panay island also includes the beach resort area of Boracay, which can be amazing, and you can reach it by car / ground transport.

 

I personally don't like Cebu City at all, although the beaches nearby can be beautiful.  The city itself is horrible in my opinion, but some would differ.

 

I have been to Dumaguete and it's nice, pleasant and charming, but a bit to small unless you really want to enjoy the leisurely life at home with little to do. It's also a bit isolated if you like to travel.

 

To be honest, if I were considering locations in the Philippines, I would add Davao to the list for consideration.  It's a nice, safe, more developed city in comparison with friendly locals and pleasant environment there. I was fortunate to spend a fair amount of time there when I was seriously dating one of the "mutyas", an annual beauty pageant winner (beauty pageants a huge thing in the Philippines).  Women are very curious, friendly and approachable, I would say more so than in Iloilo. The one downside to Davao is a lack of nice beaches, so look elsewhere if that is a priority.

 

We were actually in the process of moving from Bangkok to Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Metro Manila just before the pandemic hit, but that has been put on hold indefinitely until Covid is contained.  If you want a first-world experience, BGC and nearby Rockwell are really the only areas in the Philippines that provide it. BGC has a bit of Singapore feel to it, modern, controlled and safe, but at a cost.  The rest of Metro Manila is mostly horrible, but if finances aren't an issue, Makati / BGC / Rockwell area is the most developed, safest, and nicest metro area in all of the Phils.

 

Anyway, that's my dissertation, you won't really know until you spend some significant time in these cities to decide what you prefer.

 

[Jingthing]

18 minutes ago, eppic said:

My wife is from Iloilo so I have been there many times and return regularly, except since Covid

 

In the past, it wasn't necessarily a great place because of underdevelopment -- just a typical city in the Philippines.

 

Since a new airport was built a number of years ago, there has been a development boom at the site of the old airport.  Numerous new condos, shopping malls, etc.  We stayed in the new area once and over time I expect it will be quite nice, but no doubt Covid has slowed the condo craze (before the airport redevelopment, condos basically didn't exist in Iloilo).

 

One thing to mention, perhaps because its a new industry, pent up demand, and limited competition, I found the condos to be significantly overpriced and with relatively poor quality -- again, this may change over time, but currently you would get better quality in some other cities.  I was open to buying a holiday condo there, but decided to pass until the price/quality ratio improves.  At this stage, one of the usual gated housing developments would probably be a better choice.

 

As for the locals, it's true that they have not been inundated with foreigners and sexpats, but there are a lot of positives for that. You won't see the large number of predator women you see in a place like Cebu, nor the large population of old white guys holding hand with 18 year old girls (I find this distasteful, but many wouldn't mind).  Nor will you get stared at as you often are in other cities in the Philippines.  Overall, the reputation of Ilongos in the Philippines is that of mostly gentle, sweet people - even the language is considered sweet sounding (tagalog also wdely spoken in the city, but not always elsewhere in Iloilo).

 

Also of note: Panay island also includes the beach resort area of Boracay, which can be amazing, and you can reach it by car / ground transport.

 

I personally don't like Cebu City at all, although the beaches nearby can be beautiful.  The city itself is horrible in my opinion, but some would differ.

 

I have been to Dumaguete and it's nice, pleasant and charming, but a bit to small unless you really want to enjoy the leisurely life at home with little to do. It's also a bit isolated if you like to travel.

 

To be honest, if I were considering locations in the Philippines, I would add Davao to the list for consideration.  It's a nice, safe, more developed city in comparison with friendly locals and pleasant environment there. I was fortunate to spend a fair amount of time there when I was seriously dating one of the "mutyas", an annual beauty pageant winner (beauty pageants a huge thing in the Philippines).  Women are very curious, friendly and approachable, I would say more so than in Iloilo. The one downside to Davao is a lack of nice beaches, so look elsewhere if that is a priority.

 

We were actually in the process of moving from Bangkok to Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Metro Manila just before the pandemic hit, but that has been put on hold indefinitely until Covid is contained.  If you want a first-world experience, BGC and nearby Rockwell are really the only areas in the Philippines that provide it. BGC has a bit of Singapore feel to it, modern, controlled and safe, but at a cost.  The rest of Metro Manila is mostly horrible, but if finances aren't an issue, Makati / BGC / Rockwell area is the most developed, safest, and nicest metro area in all of the Phils.

 

Anyway, that's my dissertation, you won't really know until you spend some significant time in these cities to decide what you prefer.

 

Money is an issue. I didn't hate Cebu City but didn't feel that I wanted to live there. Dumaguette I found boring but could be OK. Yeah the beaches near Iloilo sounds intriguing. I also checked the condo prices there and there is no way I would buy at those levels but I've found condo prices overpriced overall in the Philippines compared to Thailand. I probably have an irrational bias towards Davao because it's in Mindanao. 

[bradiston]

5 hours ago, eppic said:

My wife is from Iloilo so I have been there many times and return regularly, except since Covid

 

In the past, it wasn't necessarily a great place because of underdevelopment -- just a typical city in the Philippines.

 

Since a new airport was built a number of years ago, there has been a development boom at the site of the old airport.  Numerous new condos, shopping malls, etc.  We stayed in the new area once and over time I expect it will be quite nice, but no doubt Covid has slowed the condo craze (before the airport redevelopment, condos basically didn't exist in Iloilo).

 

One thing to mention, perhaps because its a new industry, pent up demand, and limited competition, I found the condos to be significantly overpriced and with relatively poor quality -- again, this may change over time, but currently you would get better quality in some other cities.  I was open to buying a holiday condo there, but decided to pass until the price/quality ratio improves.  At this stage, one of the usual gated housing developments would probably be a better choice.

 

As for the locals, it's true that they have not been inundated with foreigners and sexpats, but there are a lot of positives for that. You won't see the large number of predator women you see in a place like Cebu, nor the large population of old white guys holding hand with 18 year old girls (I find this distasteful, but many wouldn't mind).  Nor will you get stared at as you often are in other cities in the Philippines.  Overall, the reputation of Ilongos in the Philippines is that of mostly gentle, sweet people - even the language is considered sweet sounding (tagalog also wdely spoken in the city, but not always elsewhere in Iloilo).

 

Also of note: Panay island also includes the beach resort area of Boracay, which can be amazing, and you can reach it by car / ground transport.

 

I personally don't like Cebu City at all, although the beaches nearby can be beautiful.  The city itself is horrible in my opinion, but some would differ.

 

I have been to Dumaguete and it's nice, pleasant and charming, but a bit to small unless you really want to enjoy the leisurely life at home with little to do. It's also a bit isolated if you like to travel.

 

To be honest, if I were considering locations in the Philippines, I would add Davao to the list for consideration.  It's a nice, safe, more developed city in comparison with friendly locals and pleasant environment there. I was fortunate to spend a fair amount of time there when I was seriously dating one of the "mutyas", an annual beauty pageant winner (beauty pageants a huge thing in the Philippines).  Women are very curious, friendly and approachable, I would say more so than in Iloilo. The one downside to Davao is a lack of nice beaches, so look elsewhere if that is a priority.

 

We were actually in the process of moving from Bangkok to Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Metro Manila just before the pandemic hit, but that has been put on hold indefinitely until Covid is contained.  If you want a first-world experience, BGC and nearby Rockwell are really the only areas in the Philippines that provide it. BGC has a bit of Singapore feel to it, modern, controlled and safe, but at a cost.  The rest of Metro Manila is mostly horrible, but if finances aren't an issue, Makati / BGC / Rockwell area is the most developed, safest, and nicest metro area in all of the Phils.

 

Anyway, that's my dissertation, you won't really know until you spend some significant time in these cities to decide what you prefer.

 

The story of the international airport is intriguing. The huge budget of 20bn PHP was initially awarded to upgrade the airport at Silay/Bacolod, but got mysteriously diverted to Ilo. Why and how is a tale of well, let's say everyone was keeping very tight lipped about it. Governor of Ilo, governor's son, mayor of Ilo, etc etc. I bought land near Silay airport on the basis it was going to get this massive upgrade. Me and hundreds, maybe thousands of Filipinos and foreigners, were completely stiffed as the land prices rocketed, but the airport remains the same 5 years later. Be careful in Philippines. 

[HappyFive]

6 hours ago, eppic said:

My wife is from Iloilo so I have been there many times.

I personally don't like Cebu City at all, although the beaches nearby can be beautiful.  The city itself is horrible in my opinion, but some would differ.

I have been to Dumaguete and it's nice, pleasant and charming, but a bit to small unless you really want to enjoy the leisurely life at home with little to do. It's also a bit isolated if you like to travel.

To be honest, if I were considering locations in the Philippines, I would add Davao to the list for consideration.  It's a nice, safe, more developed city.

We were actually in the process of moving from Bangkok to Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Metro Manila just before the pandemic hit, but that has been put on hold indefinitely.

Good post. 

Iloilo. Thx for confirming what i thought. I'm not excited to visit again.

Cebu city: yes the West side city (around main colon area, aptly named) is awful.

But the island of mactan is different:

* Important airport on the island.

* Spread out development, island air quality higher.

* Possiblity of maintaining friends from all over, the chance of your friends coming to mactan anyway because of Cebu airport being there! 

* Also friends who live in Cebu city will occasionally seek refuge from pollution and visit mactan. 

*Tons of young bright minds move to Cebu from all over Visayas and Mindanao.

* If i lived in mactan i might never go into Cebu city Central.

 

Davao is a less stressful life. But would get boring. 

 

The Philippines is a tough sell overall. The rents are high vs Thailand or Bali and the quality is consistently low.

[Jingthing]

Rents are high?

I've been following a youtuber in Cavite province that shows livable apartments for under 100 USD a month and claims 200 gets something really decent. Similar region as Tagaytay. 

 

"There are some roosters in the background."

 

 

[eppic]

17 hours ago, bradiston said:

The story of the international airport is intriguing. The huge budget of 20bn PHP was initially awarded to upgrade the airport at Silay/Bacolod, but got mysteriously diverted to Ilo. Why and how is a tale of well, let's say everyone was keeping very tight lipped about it. Governor of Ilo, governor's son, mayor of Ilo, etc etc. I bought land near Silay airport on the basis it was going to get this massive upgrade. Me and hundreds, maybe thousands of Filipinos and foreigners, were completely stiffed as the land prices rocketed, but the airport remains the same 5 years later. Be careful in Philippines. 

I was actually not aware of this story, but I can't say it surprises me. Government corruption in Philippines probably even worse than Thailand and keeps the people down. From the Iloilo perspective, of course it was a huge win and has made traveling there much easier (we were living in Singapore when the airport opened).

 

14 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Rents are high?

I've been following a youtuber in Cavite province that shows livable apartments for under 100 USD a month and claims 200 gets something really decent. Similar region as Tagaytay. 

 

"There are some roosters in the background."

 

 

I would also say rents are high in Philippines for comparable accommodations in the city, for example comparing BGC / Rockwell to the prime areas of Bangkok, the rents are higher in BGC / Rockwell for similar quality, although this has changed a bit during the pandemic.  We know this firsthand since we did a serious search and nearly signed a lease in Rockwell just before the pandemic hit (March 2020), but fortunately canceled just in time (although some of our stuff shipped already).

 

16 hours ago, HappyFive said:

Good post. 

Iloilo. Thx for confirming what i thought. I'm not excited to visit again.

Cebu city: yes the West side city (around main colon area, aptly named) is awful.

But the island of mactan is different:

* Important airport on the island.

* Spread out development, island air quality higher.

* Possiblity of maintaining friends from all over, the chance of your friends coming to mactan anyway because of Cebu airport being there! 

* Also friends who live in Cebu city will occasionally seek refuge from pollution and visit mactan. 

*Tons of young bright minds move to Cebu from all over Visayas and Mindanao.

* If i lived in mactan i might never go into Cebu city Central.

 

Davao is a less stressful life. But would get boring. 

 

The Philippines is a tough sell overall. The rents are high vs Thailand or Bali and the quality is consistently low.

Interesting perspective on Mactan, I haven't been there in quite some time so maybe it's worth consideration.  I just know that Cebu City proper is a horrible pit.  For us top schools were the major consideration, so really the only option is the BGC area which has International School Manila (ISM) and British School Manila (BSM) easily walkable from a very nice, ultra-safe urban area that is not heavily polluted -- unlike in Bangkok where the schools are very remote and/or in very chaotic areas and pollution is now deadly for three months per year.  So for us in the Phils, it was BGC/Rockwell or nothing -- we will still go there for at least a couple of years after Covid finally subsides (we did a rush escape from Bangkok to the US a few days ago - Pfizer vaccine within a few hours of landing, could have had J&J vaccine without leaving SFO airport).

 

I agree that the Phils is generally a tough sell unless you have special considerations (in my case, a Filipina wife and a PhilAm child I would like to expose to Filipino culture).  However, if you are interested in actually being accepted and integrated into society, IMO the Philippines is 100X better than Thailand - you can be genuinely and warmly welcomed there, and also communicate much more easily.   So it's really about the people, and Philippines wins easily in this regard, although it absolutely cannot compete based on many other factors (infrastructure, food, etc.).