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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (8198)	8/12/2006 10:39:00 PM
From: Slagle	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 217745

TJ, We are back now from a long summer visit to the Philippines. Thanks for your advice in Post #5617 about possible China visit destinations, but alas, we were unable to go there as we were kept busy with our Philippine adventures and our family there. Like you, we lived there years ago, both in Manila and in Mindanao but I haven't been there since 1999 so the visit was a big eye-opener. We stayed mostly in Ozamiz City, our old Mindanao home, though we stayed in Cebu for about a week on our trip out of the country. I keep a vehicle there, a Toyota Tamaraw jeepney and while there I roamed the north shore of Mindanao from Dipolog to Cagayan de Oro. I really enjoy driving there, much more fun than in the USA. <grin> I have a few observations about the place and how things are going there, though this is mostly limited to Mindanao and Cebu as I didn't get to spend any time in Manila this trip: The general economy is doing pretty well, seems that the stores are full and lots of new houses and A VAST NUMBER of small, many of them Chinese, motorcycles on the street, many more than a few years ago. More imported cars and trucks too, many more and very many quite nice. It looks like that there are not nearly as many "local built" jeepneys as in the past. In the little provincial cities and even in the suburbs of Cebu and Manila up until fairly recently you had large bunches of "pedal-cabs" or tricycle taxis operating. Seems that, especially Filipinas, in these places never walk anywhere, they are always riding in a cab of some description, though maybe propelled by muscle power. Well, that was then and this is now. The "tricycles" are almost all gone, except for those with motor power. Another thing: ten years ago in an any provincial city I would guess that barely 5% of the people cooked with propane, most folks fixed their stir-fried meals with little tiny fires of dried palm fronds and sawdust. Now most folks cook with propane gas. I haven't been out roaming the third world like I did many years ago so my experience is somewhat limited. But I would be willing to bet that the patterns that I have observed in the provincial Philippines are in place everywhere, meaning that there has been created a huge and irreversible demand for fossil fuels. The family furniture building business is not doing so well as there is much competition from imports now, but an even worse problem is that now there is easy access to credit if the purchase is made through a national or regional retailer, so the small furniture builder and seller is at a disadvantage. OTOH the family copra and rice business is doing very well, especially with the higher prices for coconut oil. It seems that most folks have some family member working abroad and as always even a little remittance from abroad goes a long way in the Coconut Republic. It seems that local mayors have really struck hard at the squatter jungles that were springing up in and around all the cities. There are no more squatters at all in Ozamiz, many of them moved to a new location eight kilometers out in the boondocks and told to get busy and make themselves a garden. Out of sight and out of mind, I suppose. The shabu (methamphetimine) problem is very much reduced everywhere, so it appears. Most families, including ours have lost someone to the madness. Interesting story: The very progressive Filipino-Chinese mayor in nearby Tangub City (Mayor Chen, BTW) years ago had a great vision; to create a "Baugio of the South" on Panguil Bay. He bought a new D-9 bulldozer and built a road from the coast straight up Mt. Malingdan to an altitude of about 5,000 feet, just below the level of the cloud forest, terminating at a little highland community called Ho-Yo-Hoy. He sold lots and had plans for a resort hotel and other amenities. The place was just beautiful. I could go from the sticky, oppressive heat of Ozamiz City and in thirty minutes be in the cool clear air of the Malingdan highlands. And unlike the real Baguio, the view was just fantastic as you looked out upon the whole sweep of the bay into the Bohol Sea. Anyway, as this place was really rebel territory things never did get moving. In 2001 a foreigner was kidnapped and murdered there and as I understand it the plans for the "Baguio of the South" have been suspended indefinitely. The main problem is that the upland people, the folks who live in Ho-Yo-Hoy and the other little mountain towns just don't want any outsiders coming in and messing things up for them. Can't say I blame them. While there I followed the banter on the thread from an internet cafe, Kwiklink, in Ozamiz City. The Philippines is always interesting and always exciting, sometimes too exciting. It was fun but glad to be back home. Slagle