The Philippines

I am also a Filipino.... I'm proud to shout it.... The true beauty of Philippines is inside in it's pocket... You will not see the true beauty, if you are not personally to look it.... The world are just seeing the negative side of our country and not what it's really inside....

I am from the Philippines and I am a Filipino. As to the pros in visiting the philippines... we have a lot of good spots such as Spanish heritage houses, white beaches in the visayas area, festivals in various places every month, etc. its such as good place to enjoy spending you vacation with. The cons, you have to choose the places to go. In areas of Luzon and Visayas are among the best places to visit... There are few in Mindanao also.

I am fortunate enough to have lived in the Philippines for around 18 months. There are many positives about the country from a foreigners perspective, such as a cheaper cost of living (again from a foreign perspective); happy and accommodating people, great food and a comfortable climate most of the time! From a negative perspective, in my opinion there is a significant gap between those that are wealthy and those that are not; as well as a somewhat defeatist attitude portrayed by many I lived with and knew in that they were not educated or working yet rather than try to break the cycle of this; they chose to just continue as things are. Considering that the country is majority Catholic, the superstitious nature of many is also of detriment especially when it comes to witch doctors etc as the treatments given out by these people in some case is unbelievable from a foreign perspective! I do understand that this is also influenced heavily by cost issues and maybe what I experienced was typical to the area I was living in and not a reflection on the country as a whole; but I was less than 50 kilometres from Manila and the general attitude overall was common. In conclusion though, there are definitely far more positives than negatives when it comes to the Philippines!