I’ve never watched his content because it’s always been focused on how the Philippines is this perfect paradise without really showing a balance of the negatives (although that’s changed recently)

But he seems to have really gone downhill lately. His dad was allegedly scammed out of ~$1 million USD and is now looking for a Filipino job, he posted about being beat up by a security guard without providing a lot of context, and now his girlfriend has left him and he’s demanding money back from her and humiliating her online by posting about how her private parts smell (the audio attached to the story). From the girl’s post, it sounds like he was the reason she abruptly left.

Of course none of us can say for certain what happened, but I’m starting to get weird vibes from this guy.

Lastly, I’m not a lawyer, but this is a good reminder for us foreigners that we need to be careful about what we post online while in the Philippines. The cyberlibel laws here (RA 10175) are stricter than what we may be used to.

I've been reading some posts lately here in This sub and honestly it's quite funny how expats can get delusional with their expectations and entitlement. Like the Philippines is an actual nation with its own problems just like their own. Did expect a developing nation to have first world level of accommodations and complain about it being different. It's a different country mate what did you expect a free sex fest where your currency decides what happens with cheaper accommodations nope. It's an actual nation struggling with its own problems both good and bad.

And before you go here just to complain do your research and it will save you a lot of time and money. Instead of going to Reddit and complaining.

How do you think Switzerlands tourists and expats compare to Philippines?

When a newcomers first Filipino experience is a taxi trying to charge them 4x the Grab price leaving NAIA you drive away good tourists.

When you have near daily brownouts you drive away good tourists.

When your (restaraunt) food costs twice as much as Thailand but has the nutritional value of a wet noodle you drive away good tourists.

When you need security guards at every business you drive away good tourists.

When your hotels cost twice as much for half the experience as other SEA countries you drive away good tourists.

You drive away all the normal people then complain when you are left with the LBH and people looking to date 30-40 years younger. ​.

Even more importantly you've driven away most of the talented and ambitious Filipinos to seek work in other countries.

Lately there's been some hardcore inflammatory expat posts and now there's multiple ph expat subs.

A lot of these accounts have super generic names and hidden post histories. It makes me wonder how much of it is authentic vs troll/botting. If I was a hostile foreign nation I'd probably want to poison people's opinions of eachother with bots.

Anyway, I love the Philippines. No where is perfect, but I absolute love it. Overall I love PH and I like making people's days better here.

That's part of the responsibility as a traveler or retiree. You have extra time and patience to have perspective. Every interaction makes someone's day a little better or worse which changes their emotional state and when people are in better emotional states it passed moved forward.

I’m an American, happily married to a Filipina for nearly 14 years, and we’ve lived in the Philippines for four.
When I happen to share an elevator or have some other brief encounter with another American man here, we rarely speak. And I mean rarely. Even when we seem to recognize each other as fellow Americans, there’s often barely any eye contact.

Have other Americans here noticed this?

I ask because when my wife and I are in the US, especially San Francisco, her encounters with fellow Filipinos can go quite differently. Once someone recognizes her as Filipino, they’re perfectly comfortable getting right into her business:

Are you Filipino?
Is this your husband?
Where do you live?
How many children do y’all have?
How long have you been married?
Where do you work?
What are your plans while you’re here?
And the list goes on.

Meanwhile, back on the elevator with my fellow American…

Crickets.🦗

I’m curious about the difference. Is it cultural? A preference for privacy? Something about Americans living abroad? Or is my experience different from yours?

What have you noticed, and why do you think it happens? TIA!

AMERICAN FACING TRAFFICKING, RAPE RAPS

LOOK: A 59-year-old American national, who is a retired investor, is facing several criminal charges, including human trafficking, rape, illegal detention, and drug possession.

This was after a 15-year-old girl, who was allegedly held for sexual exploitation, and 8 other women were rescued by the police inside the American's rented condominium unit in Barangay Kamputhaw, Cebu City, on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

Police said they would file the cases against the American today, October 15.

Knowing that the Philippines is on the ring of fire, and the level of general corruption, how confident are you that the condo you reside in is up to code for earthquakes?

Hi everyone! 👋

I’m conducting a small market survey to understand the preferences of non-native English speakers currently living in Cebu who are interested in improving their English through ESL classes.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the following questions:

1. Preferred class hours: Would you prefer 4, 6, or 8 hours of English lessons per day?
2. Budget: How much would you be willing to pay per month for English classes only?
3. Learning goals: What would you like to study? For example:
   • Beginner English (A0–A2)
   • Intermediate English (B1–B2)
   • Advanced English (C1–C2)
   • Conversational English and speaking confidence
   • Business English
   • English for work, travel, or daily life
   • Grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, and writing
4. Preferred schedule: Would you prefer morning, afternoon, or evening classes? Weekdays, weekends, or a flexible schedule?
5. Class type: Would you prefer one-on-one lessons, group classes, or a combination of both?

A few important details:

• This survey focuses on tuition fees for English classes only.
• Accommodation and meals are NOT included because the target participants already have their own places to stay in Cebu.
• The goal is to understand what foreign residents actually need and what prices they consider reasonable.

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated and would help in planning ESL programs that suit the needs, schedules, and budgets of people already living in Cebu.

Feel free to comment below or share your suggestions. Thank you so much for your time! 😊

Going back to the states after this one

And for that reason, not viable.

I miss bread in France so curious to see if there’s a boulangerie in the metro that sells something close!

What's your favorite hotel that you've stayed at in the Philippines and why?

For me it's the Conrad. There are nicer hotels but Conrad has the whole package the with the location in all. When I'm there purely for business Discovery Primera in Makati

One of you is about to become my husband. i dont know who yet, but im sure he is somewhere here 🤗

​We were so tired from shopping yesterday and didn't know where to eat in greenhills. decided to try this place out and the beef marinade is actually really good.

​Instead of spending so much on one big dish for the family, getting korean style bbq with all the free banchan here felt way more worth it for us. the meats are seasoned perfectly. just sharing in case you need a spot that can fit a big group!👍

All the blame cannot be placed on the government. Filipino pride and their toxic culture of being entitled to other peoples money, heavy gossip culture, and forget any honest work being done it seems in any deal or arrangement they haven’t won if they don’t get one over on the other party. Even if they are being treated fairly.

I mean it seems to me the friendly veneer wears off and I see the rot underneath. The country is stuck in the 1950’s because of the citizens toxic ways. You shouldn’t trust anyone here as a foreigner. Am I generalizing too much? I have seen some very dishonest things happening firsthand.

I heard that '80s song today on the internet radio and I thought, yeah, my future is bright too.

And before you think I'm too cool, I actually had eye surgery on both eyes about 25 years ago and since then I've been super sensitive to light and can't really drive at night. Actually when I was back home it was even worse with all of that snow on the ground so I'm happy to be here.

Either way, let's enjoy where we are.

Hi so PLDT is asking me to sign for 3 years, are there other better options for home service?

Foreigner on tourist visa with ACR. So after posting this query, I was encouraged by how simple it seemed to register a PH phone number. I purchased a SMART prepaid SIM from a convenience store, inserted my SIM, then went into the SIM registration link: https://simreg.smart.com.ph/

After verifying my number, I selected my nationality (which isn't PH), and selected non-tourist visa in order to get a permanent number, as someone mentioned doing in my previous query. This then only gave the option to take a photo of my passport using my phone camera (no option to upload existing photo). I tried taking a photo of my passport about 40 times but kept seeing an error saying the photo couldn't be accepted, even though the visibility was good and photo was clear! Tried taking a photo of my ACR, then got another error message saying something like 'wrong type of ID'.

To get around this, I tried changing my nationality to Philippines, which then gave me me many more different ID options including 'other ID', which I selected, after that I was able to upload an existing photo of my ACR and complete registration. Not to my surprise, after this, I received a text saying additional verification was required, and when I called Smart support, they said I had to go into a store to finish the registration. No doubt due to submitting a ACR after saying I was a Filipino.

Admin stuff is never easy in the Philippines is it? What would you recommend I do?

• Go into a Smart store with my ID, clarify what happened and change my nationality to the correct one and complete registration (Risk: they may check for my tourist visa status, and only give me a temporary number that needs to be extended manually with every visa extention I get. Not the end of the world, but a hassle if this happens, and not what I was looking for)
• Go to the airport, ask if they can set me up with a new number that doesn't need manual extension. Some have said this is possible, and I'm not far from the airport. It's more expensive but I don't mind that. (Risk: could my outstanding SIM registration with Smart trigger any additional checks or cause issues, if another SIM is attempted to be registered under my name?)
• Or should I do something else?