Day 8 of my trip to the Philippines. I did not take any really good photos today. I will spend a little time describing the Philippine lifestyle from my perspective. Middle class is rather new to the Philippines. When I first came to this country 57 years ago, most Filipinos were poor and lived in nipa huts. These were small one room homes built of bamboo frames, set up on legs about 3 feet in the air to protect from flooding, and used thatched palm leaf walls. The roofs were rusty pieces of tin. Most had no running water, toilet facilities, and if you owned a pig or a few chickens....they were fenced in at night under your nipa hut to prevent theft by neighbors. Children that were not toilet trained ran around in t-shirts and flip flops. Parents put underwear and shorts on them only when they were toilet trained. Fresh water was carried to the home from a common well or spigot. At that time 27M Filipinos occupied the 7,000 or so Philippine Islands. If you put all the land mass together, it would be about the size of Arizona. Most of the islands set well south of Mexico close to the equator. The populations has grown to over 100M now and the Philippines in the 12 most populated country on the planet. Imagine if you would...about 1/3 of the USA population crammed in Arizona! Middle class has grown dramatically with manufacturing, telemarking, and service jobs. Much of the population has converted from agriculture to these city jobs. The population as a whole is very well educated. I predict that in less than 30 years, the Philippine students will leave American students in a cloud of dust. While homes are still very basic and small compared to American homes, they are a vast up grade from nipa huts or scrap metal shacks. Due to the heavy rains of the monsoon season and frequent typhoons, I have never seen a home with a basement. Filipinos during my first visit decades ago were doing well to have indoor plumbing, a 6 transistor am radio, and a 3 speed bike. Now, they have the same thirsts as developed nations. Filipinos strive to have computers, wifi service, flat screen TVs and cable. refrigerators, microwaves, smart phones, motorcycles, scooters, and cars. Car insurance, life insurance, health insurance, and home or renter insurance are abstract luxuries to Filipinos. There is no social security, disability, food stamp, or any social safety net programs in this country provided by the government and supported by taxpayers. Life for the most part, is casual and without the hustle and bustle of the USA. People are extremely friendly. Families come first. Most children go to college in their home city, accept jobs in that city, and when they finally move out on their own, live close to their family within that same city. When mom and dad get old, kids take care of their parents. There are no nursing homes that I know about.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 13:52:25 +0000