Mahogany Tree Farm in the Philippines

What are the reasons why foreigners are moving to the Philippines?

1. Accessible nature spots
2. Warm climate
3. Availability of food back home
4. Low cost of living
5. English is the secondary language
6. Hospitable people

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Nomadic Fire considers the Philippines one of the best places to live abroad:

What makes the Philippines the perfect country to live abroad? Simple, try closing your eyes for a few seconds. Imagine lounging on a tropical island. Feel the sand between your toes and smell the saltwater in the air. The sun is warming your face. The chill relaxation of island life is calling your name. For expats living in the Philippines, this is your average morning.

It’s more fun in the Philippines. Did you know that sentence is the motto of the country’s tourism board? It’s no surprise that this archipelago nation made up of 7,621 islands has the #1, #2, and #5 best-ranked islands in the world.

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SkyTicket Travel Guide has this to say about the Philippines:

A vast archipelago full of islands of paradise, the Philippines is a goldmine of pristine beaches, crystal clear waters and breathtaking landscapes. With other 7,000 islands, it’s hard to decide which spot of paradise or island adventure to pick. Here are ten places you shouldn’t miss when visiting this gem of South-east Asia.

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A recent article by Gilbert Mingoy

The Philippines has been named among the “40 Most Beautiful Countries in the World” by the popular travel site Conde Nast Traveler (CNTraveler), released in June 2022 and based on the World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report’s Natural Resources section and the personal picks of CNTraveler editors.

Writer Caitlin Morton writes: “There are more than 7,000 islands in the Philippines, and they easily number among the most beautiful in the world. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Palawan encompasses mangrove forests, one of the world’s most impressive cave systems, and an underground river. The Chocolate Hills of Bohol Island consist of an estimated 1,776 grass-covered domes that are mysteriously uniform in shape. The rice terraces of both Banaue and the Philippine Cordilleras provide panoramic views of every shade of green imaginable.”

Philippine travel spots like Siargao, Palawan, Boracay, and Cebu are among the top island destination choices.
With this recognition, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wanted the Department of Tourism to be a major contribution to the country’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tourism is considered among the hardest hit sector of the Philippine economy at the height of the pandemic. The Department of Tourism’s newly designated chief, Christina Franco, would listen to the challenges faced by the regional offices and stakeholders across the country and push shared tourism governance to spur the tourism industry’s recovery.

Franco also assessed the possibility of developing more air and sea ports and additional routes to create more convenient connections for domestic and, mostly, international visitors.

The nation that is the world’s largest exporter of nurses is also considered the ‘text capital of the world.’ – a recent article by By Lauren Favre in US News & World Report.

Here is a recent article (April 10, 2019) by Ditas B Lopez in Bloomberg:

The ranks of the poor in Philippines are moderating as the nation sustains among the fastest economic growth in the region.

Filipinos living below the poverty line were estimated at 21 percent of the population in the first half of 2018 compared with 27.6 percent in the same period in 2015, the Philippines Statistics Authority said in a report on Wednesday. The poverty incidence, based on a survey conducted every three years, eased even as inflation accelerated last year.

Poverty declined as infrastructure projects created new jobs and the state expanded its cash handouts. “Thanks to sustained economic growth and critical and broad-based reforms and investments that have translated to employment-generation and social protection,” according to Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.

The Philippines is working to meet its target of reducing the poverty rate to at least 14 percent by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022, his spokesman Salvador Panelo said. To meet that goal, at least a million Filipinos must be lifted from poverty each year. The nation can become an upper middle-income country this year, ahead of its 2022 target, Pernia said.

Highlights

• The poverty threshold — the minimum amount a family of five must have to meet basic food and non-food needs — is pegged at 10,481 pesos ($201) a month in the first half of 2018. That’s 11 percent more than in the first half of 2015.
• Filipino families with incomes below the poverty line were estimated at 16.1 percent in the first half of 2018 . That’s less than 22.2 percent in 2015.
• Subsistence incidence or the ratio of Filipino families with incomes below the food threshold of 7,337 pesos a month was estimated at 6.2 percent. That compares with 9.9 percent in 2015.
• Poverty incidence was highest in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the south and lowest in Metro Manila.

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• The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the Philippines will grow 6.5 percent this year and 6.6 percent in 2020.
• Self-rated poverty rose in the third quarter of 2018 with more than half of Filipino families considering themselves poor, according to a Social Weather Stations poll.

— With assistance by Siegfrid Alegado, Claire Jiao, and Andreo Calonzo

The Philippines is now ranked as the 10th fastest-growing economy in the world – at 6.8%! This pace of growth has been going on now for some years already. Read more here. With this kind of growth, life in the Philippines keeps getting better and better.

Here’s a great video about Kabankalan City, a jewel in the heart of the Philippines, where our Mahogany Tree Farm is located.

Money Trees! While many are wishing to own a tree that grows money, a family in this town is growing thousands of trees that will not only bring them money but also help protect the environment. Read more in the Business Inquirer (August 2011)…

The Philippines’ $250 billion economy surged 7.8 percent in the first quarter of this year, outpacing China. A middle class stunted by widespread poverty, political strife and corruption is beginning to share in a prosperity captured for decades by a clannish business and political elite. Read more in Arab News (July 2013)…