 Life in the Philippines |
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The Philippines, is an archipelagic country located in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. The Philippine archipelago comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Modern Filipino culture, though primarily Asian, has many more influences from the Western world than other nearby Asian cultures who have been able to retain more of their core Asian identity. Most of these influences are a product of previous colonization and derived mainly from the cultures of Spain and the United States, with a secondary influence from Latin American cultures who were under Spain during the same period the Philippines was. The influence from the United States being so strong that the Philippines continues to integrate newer American cultural influences into it's culture even in this post-colonial period.
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History
Philippine tourism started to flourish in the 1970’s up to 1980's, but in the mid 1980’s, the growth of the Philippine tourism started to slow down. One of the major evidence of the slow growth is the average length of tourist stay of 8.9 days in 1988 down from 12.6 days. In 1987, this growth was slower compared to other countries in Southeast Asia. Signs of a faster growth showed up in the early 1990’s. About 1.2 million tourists visited the Philippines in 1992, which was a record high in the number of tourist visits since 1989. The tourism growth of the year of 1992 gave the Department of Tourism a reason to forecast a positive outlook for the future years. In 2000, the Philippines' tourist arrivals totalled 2.2 million. In 2003 it totalled 2,838,000 it grows almost 29%, And it is expected to grow as much as 3.4 million in 2007. In the first quarter of 2007, the tourist arrival in the Philippines grew as much as 20% in same period last year.
General information
The Philippines comprises 7,107 islands grouped into three regions, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, covering a land area of 115,739 m². (299,764 km²). The capital city is Manila, and the time zone is GMT + 8 hours.
Economic benefit
Tourists plays an important role in the Philippine economy. In the year 2000, net tourism income in the Philippine totaled to 2.1 billion U.S. dollars. Most of the foreign tourists came from the United States, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and The Netherlands. There were also tourists coming from Taiwan, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, Israel, Russia, France and Singapore.
Transportation
The Philippines has different means of transportations. Jeepneys, taxis, and buses are on every main and sub thoroughfares that includes pedicabs and the thrifty tricycles that roam the city streets. MRT (Metro Rail Transit), and LRT (Light Rail Transit) are also accessible in the main commercial districts. Sea and air transport are the most popular means of transportation getting to other parts of the country. The Philippines have its airports and seaports situated throughout the country. The Philippine government is currently spending more to improve Philippine infrastructure to boost not only tourism, but also trade and commerce.
Events
The World Pyro Olympics is held in the Philippines every year starting from December 2005. Foreigners come to the country to support their own countries joining in the competition.
The 2005 Southeast Asian Games was held in the country. The games attracted more tourists compared to the World Pyro Olympics because the Pyro Olympics was only held at night unlike the games which was held at day and night. The government took advantage of the games to show off the tourist spots around the country through the games’ advertisements.
The beauty pageant Miss Earth is held in the Philippines every year. The competition is also used to advertise the beauty of the country around the world.
There are a lot of festivals in every part of the Philippines and many of them are very worthwhile visiting. The following are the main festivals :
- Procession of the Black Nazarene, January, Metro Manila. It's a large event with thousand of barefoot men parading through the streets carrying a life-sized, black wooden statue of Jesus of Nazarene. Pilgrims from all over the country attend, wanting to touch the statue in the hope of a miracle.
- Ati-Atihan Festival, January, Panay. It is the wildest among Philippine fiestas and many consider it as the Mother of All festivals in the Philippine . Everyone paints their faces with black soot and wears bright, outlandish costumes as they dance for the last three days of this two week-long festival. Religious and non-religious folk alike observe this day of parades, dancing and music, there may even be beer to be had.
- Sinulog festival January, Cebu City. The festival features a street parade with participants in bright-colored costumes dancing to the rhythm of drums, trumpets, and native gongs. Smaller versions of the festival are held in various parts of the province, also to celebrate, and honor the Santo Niño. There is also a "Sinulog sa Kabataan", performed by the youths of Cebu a week before the grand parade.
- Moriones Festival March-April, Marinduque. The Moriones is an annual festival held on Holy Week on the island of Marinduque, Philippines. The "Moriones" are men and women in costumes and masks replicating the garb of biblical Roman soldiers as interpreted by local folks. The Moriones or Moryonan tradition has inspired the creation of other festivals in the Philippines where cultural practices or folk history is turned into street festivals.
- Pahiyas festival May, Lucban, on the border of Quezon City. This festival is in honor of San Isidro where the town celebrates by colourfully decorating the town with fruits, vegetables, flowers,and Kiping, which are imitation leaves made from rice-starch.
- Flores de MayoFlores de Mayo May. Flores de Mayo is a Catholic festival held in the Philippines in the month of May. It lasts for a month, and is held in honor of the Virgin Mary. The Santa Cruzan is a parade held on the last day of Flores de Mayo in honor of Reyna Elena.
- Pagoda-Sa-Wawa festival July, Bocaue. In the town of Bocaue in Bulacan province, on the First Sunday of July, The festival celebrate the discovery of the miraculous cross floating on the Bocaue river 200 years ago. A large pagoda is sailed down the river WaWa and if your luck enough to ride on the pagoda, it is said that your life will be improved and you will have good luck for the year.
Famous tourist spots
- Intramuros is a walled city in Manila, built by the Spanish in the 1500’s. Originally, Manila‘s boundaries were the city walls. But due to the growing size of the city, newer buildings were built outside these walls. As of today, Intramuros contains museums, churches and an old fort.
- Manila's vibrant party scene rivals those of Shanghai and the nightlife is amongst the underrated in the world with the Filipinos penchant for parties and fiestas. Somewhere in the archipelago, there is at least one fiesta being celebrated 365 days a year (By Third Week of January - head off to Kalibo for the Asia's version of the Mardi Gras). Manila, Cebu and Boracay are the ground zero for parties - pool parties, yacht parties, rave and fashion events.
- Makati City is the modern face of Manila. It is the complete opposite of Intramuros. Major malls, business centers, hotels are situated in Makati City. Makati has a lot of high rise buildings, the Makati skyline is the best in the country.
- Aklan is one of the most visited provinces in the Philippines not only because of its beaches but also of its popular yearly colorful event which is the Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo.
- Chocolate Hills are limestone hills that turn brown during the summer. Chocolate Hills are found in the island province of Bohol, which is also the home of one of the smallest primates in the world - the Philippine Tarsier.
- The Hanging Coffins of Sagada and the Banaue Rice Terraces are worth a visit in the Northern Philippines. The rice terraces were carved out of mountains thousands of years ago and by far the most extensive of its kind in the world (longer and bigger than those in Indonesia) with sophisticated irrigation and engineering that was unthinkable during the time it was built.
- Taal Volcano, one of the smallest active volcanoes in the world, sits on a lake and is just an hour away from Manila. The fresh cool air off the Tagaytay Ridge provides a spectacular view of the lake and the volcano. Visitors should confirm whether hiking to the crater is safe or not before attempting to do so.
- North of Manila, take the rough road and go to Mt. Pinatubo, the volcano which caused a massive eruption in 1991. Now you can marvel at the volcano up close and swim inside its crater. The last eruption was one of the biggest during the last century and lowered the global temperature by at least a degree.
- The Hundred Islands, also located in the Northern Philippines, is a group of more that 400 islets with coral reefs surrounding the islets. These islands are famous for their beaches and the coral reefs, which can be explored by snorkeling.
- About two thousand years ago, mountains in Northern Luzon were carved by indigenous people to form what is now the Banaue Rice Terraces. The rice terraces cover 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2) of mountainside. The Banaue Rice Terraces is a UNESCO world heritage and is said to be the 8th wonder of the world.
- The province of Palawan is an island in the South China Sea. Palawan has natural gas fields on the northeastern part of the island but the beautiful beaches around the island are still maintained.
- Boracay Island is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. The island boasts a 4-kilometer stretch of white sand beach, considered to be the best beach in Asia and one of the top ten beaches in the world.
- Surfing in the Philippines is comparable to the best in the world - with the world-famous cloud 9s off the island of Siargao facing the Philippine Trench in the Western Pacific as well as the surfing destinations of La Union and Zambales (facing South China Sea).
- The Philippines also boasts as one of the top three best diving destinations in the world the other two being Palau and the Maldives. The archipelago is also considered as one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world, with the most number of species concentrated in one area. The best dive sites in the Philippines are located in Anilao, Boracay, Malapascua, Apo Island, Balicasag, Pamilacan, Tubbataha, Palawan, and Puerto Galera. Subic Bay, home of a former American naval base, is also known for World War II wreck dives.
Popular tourist destinations
- Bacolod
- Boracay Island
- Baguio
- Bohol
- Cebu
- Davao
- Cagayan de Oro
- Hundred Islands National Park
- Ilocos Norte
- Manila
- El Nido, Palawan
- Banaue Rice Terraces
- Taal Volcano
- Mayon Volcano
- Puerto Galera
- Vigan
- Tagaytay City
- Taguig Town
Shopping
Shopping is one of the things tourists love about the Philippines. One of Asia’s largest bargains are found in the Philippines. Bargains in the Philippines are cheaper compared to the bargains in Singapore and Hong Kong. Prices of the goods for Philippine bargains are comparable to the ones in Thailand and in China. Not only are the products cheap, they are also of good quality. Three of the biggest shopping malls in the world, SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, SM City North EDSA are all located in the Philippines. Other well-known shopping malls are Robinsons, Greenhills in San Juan, Greenbelt, Glorietta, PowerPlant Mall in the city of Makati, TriNoMa and Gateway Mall in Quezon City, and The Podium in the Ortigas Business District.
External links
- The Philippines: Live your dreams
- Philippines Tourism Authority Official Site
- Wow Philippines Official Site
- Tourism Philippines- Unbiased, Updated Travel Information
- - Unlimited calling from the U.S. to the Philippines
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REFERENCES:
1) Culture and customs of the Philippines By Paul A. Rodell
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