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^^^
Hmmmm if I were you, I would just wait for him to visit Manila & Phils if he really plans to. Either he is just a bitter Filipino who happens to live in Toronto now who had a bitter experience when he used to live here that pretends to not know when in fact he very well know most things whats happening here or he is really genuine foreigner who is very much maligned by his beliefs and all stuff that media propagandas are sketching the image of the Phils. Let him discover the true Phils if he really is unaware of that. A true criticism is constructive in nature and I barely see it with his posts. I personally Im not blind with the problem this country has including the inequality,disparity, cronyism, etc. Its not that we have monopoly of those problem. It is a worldwide epidemic. Really interesting someone is very much concern with our geographical,economic and political issues to the point that ever since he started it here in this forum twas probably regarding Phils and its problems that makeup most of his posts and that seems to be suspicious. But anyway lets give him the benefit of the doubt. Let him visit Phils. Its more fun!
Income inequality is not coming to an end in 2016 because that's just two years away. Eliminating political dynasties will also not do it by itself. The big question is just who are you going to put in these government positions if you ask all these officials to step aside? Don't you think some people already tried to change their leaders? There had been cities/towns, provinces, etc. who voted people into office because they're new faces and not part of a political dynasty. There were some that were worse than the ones from the political dynasties. Also, not only is there lack of support within the government itself to implement such changes, anything like this can be interpreted as unconstitutional. If you want some changes in the Philippine Constitution, might as well change the whole government structure.
I also don't know who wrote those articles that the OP has read. It sounds more like socialist/communist propaganda. Do understand that Makati and BGC are major financial/commercial districts of a nation with a population of 100 million, in a metro area that has a population of 12 million. There are posh areas. A lot of upper and middle class people go there. In fact, a LOT of middle class people work there! And I don't see it like the elite is spending the money of the masses... First thing to understand is that these businesses you see there paid their taxes and provided employment to a lot of people. The government officials took the money instead of providing services (like quality education for the masses) to the people. Most likely, the money siphoned out are in bank accounts in Switzerland, Hong Kong or Singapore rather than somewhere in the Philippines. These corrupt government officials stole from ALL Filipino people, not just from the poor.
Also, don't compare the Philippines to Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. Comparing it to Indonesia, Thailand and India is more accurate. It's not like there are no posh areas in Jakarta, Bangkok or Mumbai, and there are slums in these cities that are as bad as in Manila.
Income inequality is not coming to an end in 2016 because that's just two years away. Eliminating political dynasties will also not do it by itself. The big question is just who are you going to put in these government positions if you ask all these officials to step aside? Don't you think some people already tried to change their leaders? There had been cities/towns, provinces, etc. who voted people into office because they're new faces and not part of a political dynasty. There were some that were worse than the ones from the political dynasties. Also, not only is there lack of support within the government itself to implement such changes, anything like this can be interpreted as unconstitutional. If you want some changes in the Philippine Constitution, might as well change the whole government structure.
I also don't know who wrote those articles that the OP has read. It sounds more like socialist/communist propaganda. Do understand that Makati and BGC are major financial/commercial districts of a nation with a population of 100 million, in a metro area that has a population of 12 million. There are posh areas. A lot of upper and middle class people go there. In fact, a LOT of middle class people work there! And I don't see it like the elite is spending the money of the masses... First thing to understand is that these businesses you see there paid their taxes and provided employment to a lot of people. The government officials took the money instead of providing services (like quality education for the masses) to the people. Most likely, the money siphoned out are in bank accounts in Switzerland, Hong Kong or Singapore rather than somewhere in the Philippines. These corrupt government officials stole from ALL Filipino people, not just from the poor.
Also, don't compare the Philippines to Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. Comparing it to Indonesia, Thailand and India is more accurate. It's not like there are no posh areas in Jakarta, Bangkok or Mumbai, and there are slums in these cities that are as bad as in Manila.
I decided to sift through a huge amount of articles from mainstream news sources, forums and all kinds of other sources as I am keen on using the 'check tons of sources before you come to a conclusion' type of method. And in general, it is said that while corruption is perceived to have gone down compared with other countries, the Philippines' overall structure is pretty bad shape such as laws and stuff as well as gov't officials. Terms like dynasties, monopolies and oligopolies, also tycoons are pretty regular for the Phils, so you see what the situation is. I don't even think the corruption perceptions index is accurate since some countries that are faring far better got worse rating. So either that index is all wrong, or there is little correlation between corruption and overall quality of life for countries below 30 number.
The only reason I questioned about Philippines having such an upscale district is that specific comparison I made about Mexico.
Mex has been developing for decades and it still has no super duper Singapore-style districts. How can one explain that Mexico, which has much more people and much higher GDP per capita than Phils, has a mediocre rich district with just a bunch of rich houses, but no super malls, futuristic designs and crazy condo developments and Phils has all of this in what looks like one of the worlds most upscale districts. So the fact that a bigger and richer 3rd world nation doesn't even have those goes to show that a country with less people and the type of Poverty as Phils should not have a posh district this wealthy. It takes a lot more improvement in a country that runs fairly to end up with this level of development for the wealthier component of society. Philippines until recently was known as the country getting the lowest Foreihn direct investment and is still among the lowest, yet it has by far the most upscale districts out of the less developed nations in the region. Even Indonesia, which has well over double the population barely even has such an upscale looking district. You have to google "what are the rich areas of Bali(or Jakarta)" just to be able to find them. They are there, but there are just a bunch of richer dwellings mixed in and some shopping areas, but nothing outstanding. In Philippines, barely zooming down on central luzon and there you already see the big open zone with condos bein thrown up all over, the biggest upscale district I have seen in any country and a sea of rich houses. I already read that inequality there was the worst in Asia or SEA so this makes sense what I am seeing. All the countries have a rich section, but the Phils' rich area is out of this world. Again, it rivals any in Canada, which just goes to say that this is no balance. And this is why I am comparing it to Canada. The fact that you say I should not compare it to Canada proves even further how serious this situation is because a country like this should not have such a massive rich man zone that rivals Canada.
I think the main reason for this issue is how the country is highly restrictive in starting a business making so that only the dominant players can take a lead, such as Sy and this SM chain. So all this retail money goes in the pockets of them. And the call center salaries are nearly TEN TIMES LESS than N. AMerica. Again, all this money is going in the pockets of a few. Barely enough for these people to pay for anything more than food, transport and maybe a rent. Big time exploitation. And these jobs will only stay in Phils as long as they remain low wage and competitive.
I decided to sift through a huge amount of articles from mainstream news sources, forums and all kinds of other sources as I am keen on using the 'check tons of sources before you come to a conclusion' type of method. And in general, it is said that while corruption is perceived to have gone down compared with other countries, the Philippines' overall structure is pretty bad shape such as laws and stuff as well as gov't officials. Terms like dynasties, monopolies and oligopolies, also tycoons are pretty regular for the Phils, so you see what the situation is. I don't even think the corruption perceptions index is accurate since some countries that are faring far better got worse rating. So either that index is all wrong, or there is little correlation between corruption and overall quality of life for countries below 30 number.
The only reason I questioned about Philippines having such an upscale district is that specific comparison I made about Mexico.
Mex has been developing for decades and it still has no super duper Singapore-style districts. How can one explain that Mexico, which has much more people and much higher GDP per capita than Phils, has a mediocre rich district with just a bunch of rich houses, but no super malls, futuristic designs and crazy condo developments and Phils has all of this in what looks like one of the worlds most upscale districts. So the fact that a bigger and richer 3rd world nation doesn't even have those goes to show that a country with less people and the type of Poverty as Phils should not have a posh district this wealthy. It takes a lot more improvement in a country that runs fairly to end up with this level of development for the wealthier component of society. Philippines until recently was known as the country getting the lowest Foreihn direct investment and is still among the lowest, yet it has by far the most upscale districts out of the less developed nations in the region. Even Indonesia, which has well over double the population barely even has such an upscale looking district. You have to google "what are the rich areas of Bali(or Jakarta)" just to be able to find them. They are there, but there are just a bunch of richer dwellings mixed in and some shopping areas, but nothing outstanding. In Philippines, barely zooming down on central luzon and there you already see the big open zone with condos bein thrown up all over, the biggest upscale district I have seen in any country and a sea of rich houses. I already read that inequality there was the worst in Asia or SEA so this makes sense what I am seeing. All the countries have a rich section, but the Phils' rich area is out of this world. Again, it rivals any in Canada, which just goes to say that this is no balance. And this is why I am comparing it to Canada. The fact that you say I should not compare it to Canada proves even further how serious this situation is because a country like this should not have such a massive rich man zone that rivals Canada.
I think the main reason for this issue is how the country is highly restrictive in starting a business making so that only the dominant players can take a lead, such as Sy and this SM chain. So all this retail money goes in the pockets of them. And the call center salaries are nearly TEN TIMES LESS than N. AMerica. Again, all this money is going in the pockets of a few. Barely enough for these people to pay for anything more than food, transport and maybe a rent. Big time exploitation. And these jobs will only stay in Phils as long as they remain low wage and competitive.
I find it really odd that you have some kind of repulsion towards Makati and Bonifacio Global City. They're nice areas, but it is not as posh as you make it out to be. Have you actually been there? Have you actually been to Mexico City? BGC is a new development and some things just look nicer because it's NEW and it has better design. It's just normal in most other cities. Good that some of the Filipino architects and designers make them look that great, but it's not that ostentatious that you have to be repulsed by it. It's not Dubai or Versailles and nothing is encrusted with diamonds or plated with gold that's on display there. Among the globally known brands that have stores on Bonifacio High Street are GAP, Muji and Krispy Kreme. Those aren't exactly luxury brands outside of the Philippines.
Anyway, instead of ranting why there are posh areas in Manila and think that this area will just collapse if the Philippine government becomes better, why don't you think instead that this area will remain as is and that it will be the slums in Tondo that will be torn down to rebuild a better area if ever the Philippine government becomes better? It's not a zero-sum game, it's not like Makati exists because the slums in Tondo exists. I don't know why for someone who claims to have not visited the Philippines, you know Binay and the SM group, but you do know that no one in the Sy family ever held any political positions and that they had been doing business under at least 7 Philippine presidents. Of course a business that size does have some political clout, just as Wal-Mart in the US has some political clout. Your posts are just full of illogical conclusions and one of your sources seems like Karl Marx.
Err the rich district in jakarta can be pretty eye gawking too, rich district like pondok indah, senayan, menteng, pantai indah kapuk etc name it and the houses there are pretty big. Rich quarter can be easily found if you use the indonesian language, jakarta may almost have nothing first world but it does have ultra luxurious shopping malls that would blow the mind of every foreigner who visited the city. And the selection of luxury brands in its mall will beat anything you've seen in greenbelt or powerplant mall.
If i wasnt mistaken bali's local rich lives in renon, denpasar area while the mixture of expats and locals rich housing can be found at pockets scattered in seminyak-kerobokan area.
I find it really odd that you have some kind of repulsion towards Makati and Bonifacio Global City. They're nice areas, but it is not as posh as you make it out to be. Have you actually been there? Have you actually been to Mexico City? BGC is a new development and some things just look nicer because it's NEW and it has better design. It's just normal in most other cities. Good that some of the Filipino architects and designers make them look that great, but it's not that ostentatious that you have to be repulsed by it. It's not Dubai or Versailles and nothing is encrusted with diamonds or plated with gold that's on display there. Among the globally known brands that have stores on Bonifacio High Street are GAP, Muji and Krispy Kreme. Those aren't exactly luxury brands outside of the Philippines.
Anyway, instead of ranting why there are posh areas in Manila and think that this area will just collapse if the Philippine government becomes better, why don't you think instead that this area will remain as is and that it will be the slums in Tondo that will be torn down to rebuild a better area if ever the Philippine government becomes better? It's not a zero-sum game, it's not like Makati exists because the slums in Tondo exists. I don't know why for someone who claims to have not visited the Philippines, you know Binay and the SM group, but you do know that no one in the Sy family ever held any political positions and that they had been doing business under at least 7 Philippine presidents. Of course a business that size does have some political clout, just as Wal-Mart in the US has some political clout. Your posts are just full of illogical conclusions and one of your sources seems like Karl Marx.
Yeah, it shows that he's never actually been there. The houses in Makati aren't even that nice, considering that many are $5- $10 million USD. You can buy nicer houses in the US for $500,000. I don't know who's buying houses in Makati for that much money, but they're crazy.
you clearly have no idea what you're talking about. The elite universities in the Philippines are Ateneo and De La Salle. One is in Quezon City, the other is in Manila. But a lot of wealthy Filipinos study overseas.
Gloria Arroyo attended high School at Assumption College Makati for girls and I know she studied in the US too and Bill Clinton was actually one of her classmates in Georgetown
While preserving the core of the law – requiring the state to deliver the full range of family planning services to the public – the SC decision limits the scope of its coverage.
According to the decision, the state cannot oblige private hospitals and those owned by religious groups to refer patients to other facilities that offer reproductive health services.
Minors will also not be permitted to avail of family planning services without parental consent even if they have already given birth or suffered a miscarriage.
Moreover, government workers who refuse to provide RH services to patients will no longer be punished, as originally prescribed by the law.
The essence of the law embodied in Section 7, which requires the state to provide family planning services, including artificial contraceptives, has been upheld.
And because something like 70% of Filipinos support this law, I really think it will have a huge impact on population growth.
And because something like 70% of Filipinos support this law, I really think it will have a huge impact on population growth.
I just hope that the RH Bill will implemented in a correct way. But I am still against of abortion.
I am still pro-life, I hope senators or politician lessen their huge salary income like millions of pesos and Filipinos who belongs to poverty are getting more poorer & those richer become more richer. I hope they implemented 'Anti-Corruption Bill', because the money supposed to give to these people & not for them.
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j/k
