Every single day, I am contacted a number of times by expats from around the round world with a variety of questions about retiring to the Philippines. Including , the cost of living, medical care, cost of insurances, safety and security, the best places to live and the whole nine yards. Without failure, at the top of the list is about relationships with the women of the Philippines. Yes, with Filipinas. I always tell them that while most every Filipina, no matter where they live, have some general similarities, we cannot paint them all with the same wide brush!!
Many expats seem to focus on the horror stories, which are widely circulated, but in fact,this is not the overall picture of the women of the Philippines. These stories gain attention because, let’s face it, many people are negative instead of positive and they like to see bad in everything, especially about the Philippines. They had one bad experience and now they are going to shout from the roof top that this is the way it is in the Philippines and this is the way it is with all Filipinas. Nothing could be farther from the truth!
The Last Strong Hold In The World
Conservative, liberal and moderate are adjectives but they do not apply to only politics! The Philippines is probably the most conservative Christian nation in the world. The Philippines is the only nation in the world that does not have a Divorce Law. Abortion is illegal in the Philippines. Adultery is a crime in the Philippines. Libel and Slander are not civil issues but they are crimes in the Philippines. Other than in the USA, the Philippines is the only country in the world that allows gun ownership and issues permits to carry firearms so generously, for self protection. These issues are not actually political in nature but politicians are the ones who use these during election time.
The love and closeness among family members and not only knowing but also caring for your neighbors have long been thrown out the window in the USA! All these are alive and kicking in the Philippines!
Losing Your Religion?
The Philippines is the only predominantly Christian country in the world, with about 93% of the country claiming to be Christian. In stating this, I am not going to debate religious topics but my statement is true. Being a Christian has many different meanings to the world population and while I know what being a Christian is like for me personally, what you know or believe is on you! As to whether you are a believer, a non-believer or just do not care one way or the other.
Between 5pm and 6pm in SM Department Store in Bacolod, a prayer is broadcast over the sound system. Shoppers are expected to be respectful, regardless of their beliefs, and stop their movement in the store and cease loud talking. Every Sunday in many retail stores in malls in Bacolod, Gospel and Christian songs are played over the stores sound system. If stores and malls did this in the USA, they would be sued! Because a non-believer would say their rights are being violated and the ACLU would most likely join in stopping the store owner’s rights to broadcast prayer and the music of their choice. That type of law suit would be thrown out of every court in the Philippines!
Hard Cold Facts
Have you ever heard of the Pew Research Center? The results of Pew Research for 2013-2014 concerning the morality of Filipinos may be surprising and may even shock some expats! I know, without doubt, that many non-religious people in the world still have morals and a high standard of morality in their lives.
In Pew’s Research, it was discovered that 90% of all Filipinos believe it is unacceptable for married people having an affair! 93% of all Filipinos reject abortion. Concerning having sex before marriage, 70% of Filipinos agreed it is not acceptable. I am not going to bore you with a long list of statistics, however, I think over the years, many websites and some media outlets have commercialized and promoted a side of the Philippines that is not The Real Philippines. The things depicted, such as the exotic dance clubs, the prostitution, the bank robberies and other crimes, the scams and all the things committed mostly due to the social ills, including poverty, do happen but not on the wide scale as projected! Yes, some Filipinos have several wives and families but they are not in the majority. We know many poor Filipinos and the vast majority of them are not turning to a life of crime, the women are not prostitutes or club dancers and some would cut their hands off before they stole anything!
To the expats who bring their way of thinking into the Philippines and try to change the country, I would like to ask, “Who were you thinking of?”