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Philippines struggles to draw tourists as it lags regional peers in arrivals
(www.straitstimes.com)
this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2026
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I am a foreigner who has been living in the Philippines for the past few years. I am also married to a Filipina.
I just wanted to share my perspective on this.
The Bad
Metro Manila is one of the worst cities I have ever been to. The traffic is terrible, getting a ride share during rush hour can take hours to even get a rider to accept your ride and then take hours to transit small distances.
I never learned the jeepney system of getting around, but I even had to wait 40-minutes for one of them once.
Additionally, there is not really anything to do in this city except go to malls or restaurants.
The airport here has 3 main terminals and they are not inter connected in anyway, so if you need to transfer terminals it means getting a ride share or potentially haggling with a taxi who may try to rip you off.
The food, this is mainly a matter of opinion, but Filipino food, is good, but nothing special to write about. My wife, who is Filipina, would agree that there are just a few good dishes but most dishes are not that great compared to other countries.
The Good
Filipinos are the friendliest and nicest people you will ever meet. They are also extremely accepting of basically everyone. Most are outgoing and willing to go out of their way to help you.
It’s really safe, worst case scenario, you may get pick pocketed, it happened to me once. Even in “dangerous” areas I never had a problem.
Connectivity has never really been an issue for me in the city and my mother-in-laws house, has good cellular and a fast fiber connection for the past 3 years or so and she is outside of the city.
The Philippines has the most beautiful nature I have ever seen. I’ve been to 11 different countries and the Philippines easily wins in my opinion.
Getting to those places can be difficult though. The only one that’s pretty easy is Boracay, but that is easily one of my favorite places and recommend it.
Send me a message if you have any questions 😁
Same boat and I completely agree. Staying near the LRT/MRT is the only way to survive Manila, a lot of the city's issues stem from poor transit. Places like Eastwood are nice but essentially inaccessible if you aren't prepared for a grueling commute. Between the traffic and the 'obstacle course' along imaginary sidewalks, getting around is a constant struggle.
Even BGC which the place to be nowadays has 0 LRT/MRT stations, there is a planned MRT-9 stop but for 2032 and that’s if they finish on time.
I remain hopeful the city can and will improve but it will take time.
How common are good vegan and vegetarian options at restaurants? Especially at those restaurants that don't specifically cater to tourists?
Not good, there was a pretty good vegetarian restaurant m, but all their locations closed in the past year.
I never had that diet so I can speak to home cooking, but it’s not very common in the restaurants I go to.