Is Philippines good for expats?

[ASEAN NOW News]

 

Its gorgeous beaches, bustling cities, great golf courses and low cost of living have made it a popular choice for expats.

 

The mostly English-speaking population, as well as the many opportunities its growing economy has to offer, also add to the attraction.

 

Aside from this, foreigners love the traits of the Filipinos and of course, the food!

 

Where to stay?

 

Metro Manila is where most expatriates in the Philippines live, but it is a congested city with bad traffic and air pollution.

 

Baguio City is the summer capital of the Philippines but does not attract many expats because of the lack of facilities.

 

Davao's coastline

 

Davao City is among the most live able and safest cities in the world, primarily because of a low crime rate thanks to a strict local government.

 

With more than 7,600 islands and some of the most spectacular ocean scenery in the world, the Philippines understandably appeals to beach lovers. 

 

Dumaguete, a city on the island of Negros that is home to a large and established expat community, including a good number of U.S. veterans, is a top seaside lifestyle choice.

 

Cute bar girls in Angeles City

 

Many US Veterans also like to visit Clark which was the main US air base in the Philippines during recent conflicts. Nearby Angeles City with its Pattaya style nightlife is another draw.

 

Therefore, expats have been flocking to the Philippines for years.

 

Are you an expat living in the Philippines?

 

If so maybe you can pass on some tips and helpful advice on moving there?

 

Join our AseanNow 3 x a week Philippines News, Travel and Expat information newsletter and keep up to date. https://aseannow.com/newsletter.php  

 

 

[HashBrownHarry]

No.

[ASEAN NOW News]

2 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

No.

please can you explain why?

[HashBrownHarry]

2 minutes ago, ASEAN NOW News said:

please can you explain why?

Massive gun & knife culture / terrible food / lot's of typhoons / lots of poverty.

 

The only good thing about it is everyone speaks decent English ( however, it's with an annying accent ).

 

Good for a holiday if you're into beaches, not for living IMO.

[BritManToo]

18 minutes ago, ASEAN NOW News said:

Therefore, expats have been flocking to the Philippines for years.

Me and my boozy pals did a lot of flocking in the Philippines.

The beaches were way better than Thailand, and the booze was really cheap.

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by BritManToo

[Denim]

Pointless question since right now the country is still closed to tourists.

[patongphil]

35 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Me and my boozy pals did a lot of flocking in the Philippines.

The beaches were way better than Thailand, and the booze was really cheap.

 

Agree with the beaches being far superior and the booze much cheaper but the food must be close to the worst on earth!!

[kevinsan]

The real question on everyone's mind - Do they mandate health insurance on arrival?

[Jingthing]

35 minutes ago, Denim said:

Pointless question since right now the country is still closed to tourists.

I think its opening up to SRRV visa applicants though. Tourists not far behind.

[HashBrownHarry]

7 minutes ago, patongphil said:

Agree with the beaches being far superior and the booze much cheaper but the food must be close to the worst on earth!!

Bingo - plus the burds all have rice bellies and goofy teeth.

[BritManToo]

16 minutes ago, patongphil said:

Agree with the beaches being far superior and the booze much cheaper but the food must be close to the worst on earth!!

I never really ate Filipino food.

There were resorts with German, English, American and Mexican food all nearby.

 

I did have the occasional Pork Adobo at a street restaurant ..... which wasn't so bad.

 

German/American breakfast.

Edited November 3, 2021 by BritManToo

[tlcwaterfall]

Yes.

[Denim]

The whole thing about Filipino food being the worst is just a played out platitude.

 

I lived there 6 months and had plenty of good food, western and asian.  True , it's not up to Thai standards and not as ubiquitous but no worse than what I found in Laos or Cambodia. 

 

For elderly expats the main issue will be the medical facilities which are nowhere near as good as what you find in Thailand.

 

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by Denim

[2 is 1]

7 hours ago, HashBrownHarry said:

Bingo - plus the burds all have rice bellies and goofy teeth.

 Cheap Charlies pay few hundred pesos and what you pay is what you get! Philippines woman has won many miss universe title (25) Thailand total 3, last one 1988. Even that tell little. But that is in viewers eyes. Also in dateing page's if compare average woman from those (Phil/Thai) average Filipina look much more nice than Thai woman. Every country has minuses and positives. Philippines really are more dangerous place than Thailand but idiots get trouble in any place. Good food you can find everywhere, but people who walk whit blinded eyes  not find nothing. But that i agree that fast food places is really sht in Philippines. Mcdonalds dont use real meat and KFC is whitout taste, Jollibee dont earn even mentioning. 

[HashBrownHarry]

1 hour ago, 2 is 1 said:

 Cheap Charlies pay few hundred pesos and what you pay is what you get! Philippines woman has won many miss universe title (25) Thailand total 3, last one 1988. Even that tell little. But that is in viewers eyes. Also in dateing page's if compare average woman from those (Phil/Thai) average Filipina look much more nice than Thai woman. Every country has minuses and positives. Philippines really are more dangerous place than Thailand but idiots get trouble in any place. Good food you can find everywhere, but people who walk whit blinded eyes  not find nothing. But that i agree that fast food places is really sht in Philippines. Mcdonalds dont use real meat and KFC is whitout taste, Jollibee dont earn even mentioning. 

Are these Miss PH Universe woman available for a rumble?

 

Nah, never thought so....

[Destiny1990]

1. Don't marry, 2. only rent properties..

[olfu]

Its all depends on your income.

[Jingthing]

Good?

No.

But

 

[Mickeem]

17 hours ago, HashBrownHarry said:

17 hours ago, ASEAN NOW News said:

please can you explain why?

Massive gun & knife culture / terrible food / lot's of typhoons / lots of poverty.

 

The only good thing about it is everyone speaks decent English ( however, it's with an annying accent ).

 

Good for a holiday if you're into beaches, not for living IMO.

Pretty much nailed it

 

Pros ... cheap beer

 

 

 

 

[NotReallyHere]

On 11/3/2021 at 10:30 AM, BritManToo said:

German/American breakfast.

There is absolutely NOTHING German about that breakfast.  I don't care if the "resort" is run by some guy named Fritz.  I wouldn't feed that <deleted> to my dog.  Is that supposed to be a sausage?  Jesus Christ, that's disgusting...

[shdmn]

On 11/2/2021 at 9:56 PM, Denim said:

The whole thing about Filipino food being the worst is just a played out platitude.

 

I lived there 6 months and had plenty of good food, western and asian.  True , it's not up to Thai standards and not as ubiquitous but no worse than what I found in Laos or Cambodia. 

 

For elderly expats the main issue will be the medical facilities which are nowhere near as good as what you find in Thailand.

 

 

I initially thought the food was terrible my first few visits.  However, I learned that good reasonably priced food can be found, it just takes a bit more work and adaptation, like finding some good carinderia's, which are cheap and all over the place.  I found that getting a hotel or AirBnb with a kitchen also helped.  Especially for things like breakfast, which is easy.  The fresh fruits and vegetables in the markets are good and cheap.  I also eat lots of spit roasted chicken (lechon manok) which is found all over the place.  Just get them to chop it up for you, throw in some cooked rice from a food stall, and take it back to your hotel.  Also, their Mexican food is better than the Mexican food you find in Thailand.  Good reasonably priced Italian/pizza can be found as well.

Edited November 7, 2021 by shdmn

[ChrisP24]

Good Chinese food too, in fact you can find a wide variety of good international food in any area with foreign presence, which is pretty much everywhere that you are likely to want to go other than the deep province.   In the past when visiting the province I've brought along some of my own food, things like sardines, corned beef, canned tuna, nuts and trail mix and that sort of thing to make sure I wasn't completely dependent on locally-prepared food.  But if I had a kitchen (vs. being a guest in someone else's kitchen) that wouldn't be necessary as there is ample good quality available at provincial grocers and markets.

[shdmn]

8 minutes ago, ChrisP24 said:

Good Chinese food too, in fact you can find a wide variety of good international food in any area with foreign presence, which is pretty much everywhere that you are likely to want to go other than the deep province.   In the past when visiting the province I've brought along some of my own food, things like sardines, corned beef, canned tuna, nuts and trail mix and that sort of thing to make sure I wasn't completely dependent on locally-prepared food.  But if I had a kitchen (vs. being a guest in someone else's kitchen) that wouldn't be necessary as there is ample good quality available at provincial grocers and markets.

There are fish farms all over the place so the markets are always well stocked with fresh fish, which is very health and easy to cook.  Most tourists probably won't be interested in cooking fish in their room but there are lots of barbecue places around which can grill up a fish for you.  Either theirs or yours.  

Edited November 7, 2021 by shdmn

[BritManToo]

7 hours ago, NotReallyHere said:

There is absolutely NOTHING German about that breakfast.  I don't care if the "resort" is run by some guy named Fritz.  I wouldn't feed that <deleted> to my dog.  Is that supposed to be a sausage?  Jesus Christ, that's disgusting...

Beef sausage ....... they were really good.

[Denim]

9 hours ago, shdmn said:

Also, their Mexican food is better than the Mexican food you find in Thailand. 

Definitely . Agree about the carinderias also. Once you find a couple then good cheap food no problem. Problem is that tourists are often wary of entering as they worry about hygiene so they miss out and go for places that may look nicer but are in fact less hygienic because slower food turn over

[Jingthing]

This boychik is rather young to give retirement advice, but I think this is good information. However, I think his estimates for rent in Cebu City are too low.

 

I've been to Dumaguette and Cebu City, but I really would like to check out Tagaytay.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Jingthing

[Mike Teavee]

If I were to move to the Philippines (& it was a close call between moving there over Thailand) then I would move probably move to Davao City, one thing the OP got right was that Davao City is considered one of the safest cities in Asia due to the extreme methods that D30 used to stamp out crime there - In 30+ visits I'm yet to witness/hear of any crimes there, I used to comment that you rarely even see people smoking on the street.... It had changed a lot since I 1st went though (1st trip I saw 5 non-filippinos in 2 weeks & 4 of them were 2 white couples) & in particular I noticed that the Old(er than Typically found in Thailand) White "Monger" has found their way to Davao...   

 

In terms of food, I'm not a fan (though Adobe, Calderada & Kare Kare are pretty decent) but there are masses of Korean & Japanese restaurants there so you won't exactly go hungry.  I did find the selection of fesh veggies & meat in the supermarkets a bit dire.   

 

 

Oh & for me, the Southern Philippines girls (especially ones from Cebu) are much hotter on average than a Thai girl (Lol, I guess I'm one of the guys who really didn't move to Thailand for the ladies). 

 

For guys who are looking for long term visa options, marry a Fillipina (No such thing as divorce in PI) & you get easy 1 year extensions (1 year stamp on entry) & access to the Public Health Care system.... For confirmed batchelors the SRRV is cheap & easy to get. 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Mike Teavee

[steven100]

52 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Davao City is considered one of the safest cities in Asia

I wouldn't be seen going to an ATM without an escort of some sort ......  that's for sure. 

[steven100]

On 11/7/2021 at 10:43 PM, NotReallyHere said:

There is absolutely NOTHING German about that breakfast.  I don't care if the "resort" is run by some guy named Fritz.  I wouldn't feed that <deleted> to my dog.  Is that supposed to be a sausage?  Jesus Christ, that's disgusting...

I tend to agree ......   I think a dog would even throw up after eating that slop .....   

[Mike Teavee]

31 minutes ago, steven100 said:

I wouldn't be seen going to an ATM without an escort of some sort ......  that's for sure. 

Maybe check out the crime rates between Davao & say Pattaya 

https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Thailand&country2=Philippines&city1=Pattaya&city2=Davao