Philippines internet ‘second slowest’ in Asia, ranks 110th among 139 nations

[Gandang Smile]

42 minutes ago, graham59 said:

I live near Dagupan...ie...nowhere near Subic. 

Oh OK, that's even further north.

42 minutes ago, graham59 said:

I have NEVER been asked for money by anyone around these parts, whether a relative or a stranger..apart from the odd street beggar, of course.  That is since 2014.  

This statement... 

'Not to be bitchy, but I have never found friendly Filipinos who wouldn't want something back from me (usually "emergency loans") after two days, two weeks or two months.

Metropolitan Filipinos are actually better at not asking for money, since they usually have jobs that support themselves and their families'. 

I consider to be frankly, ridiculous, but if that has been YOUR experience, fair enough. 

It certainly  has not been mine, after having lived in both Manila and the provinces for more than 30 years now.  

Not to be polemic, but your experience is a lot less believable than mine. Virtually every single foreigner I have met, online and offline, has been complaining about Filipinos being only superficially warm and friendly and dropping the "MR" ("money request") bombshell at any time during their interactions with said Filipinos.

It's certainly been my experience while I was living in Davao City, and that of everyone else whom I met in person in Davao.

Here in Metro Manila, it seems to be happening less, often because people have jobs and access to better money, or because simply tend to mind their own business. It did help that I learned to give my friendship to Filipinos very, very gradually and stop any interaction at the first "red flag".

I don't know much about your experience in Dagupan. Perhaps you married into a wealthy family and have been interacting solely with upper-class families who abhor asking other people for loans or cash handouts. If that is the case, good for you. Based on what I learned in my 6 years over here, I would consider what happened to you as the exception, rather than the rule.

Matter of fact, this is also the experience of foreigners who brought their Filipina back home (US, UK, Australia, etc.). The wife's (very) extended family is usually latched onto the couple and ask, in fact claims, monthly remittances almost as an obligation.

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Gandang Smile

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, Gandang Smile said:

Oh OK, that's even further north.

Not to be polemic, but your experience is a lot less believable than mine. Virtually every single foreigner I have met, online and offline, has been complaining about Filipinos being only superficially warm and friendly and dropping the "MR" ("money request") bombshell at any time during their interactions with said Filipinos.

It's certainly been my experience while I was living in Davao City, and that of everyone else whom I met in person in Davao.

Here in Metro Manila, it seems to be happening less, often because people have jobs and access to better money, or because simply tend to mind their own business. It did help that I learned to give my friendship to Filipinos very, very gradually and stop any interaction at the first "red flag".

I don't know much about your experience in Dagupan. Perhaps you married into a wealthy family and have been interacting solely with upper-class families who abhor asking other people for loans or cash handouts. If that is the case, good for you. Based on what I learned in my 6 years over here, I would consider what happened to you as the exception, rather than the rule.

Matter of fact, this is also the experience of foreigners who brought their Filipina back home (US, UK, Australia, etc.). The wife's (very) extended family is usually latched onto the couple and ask, in fact claims, monthly remittances almost as an obligation.

 

I lived in Cabuyao, Laguna for 6 months when I first moved here.  It was a lower middle class neighborhood where my future wife had a house.  We only had Smart or Globe internet on a stick.  Very slow.  I interacted with the neighbors quiet a bit and nobody asked me for money, although some joked around a lot about buying stuff, mainly "wine".

After I moved to Subic Bay Freeport, we had Globe over the air for a while and it was slow and unreliable.  Nobody ask me for a loan or money, but out neighborhood in the old Navy housing is off limits to outsiders.  I suppose if I lived next to locals, the chance of them asking for money would go up.  We don't even have Christmas carolers.

After we moved to our current house, PLDT Fibr became available, so I paid for 50 MBPS.  It has been great for almost 5 years.  Other neighbors have had many issues with their PLDT Fibr, but they never asked me for money.

Only twice have I been directly asked, via my wife, for money.  A BIL has asked for money twice.  The first time he paid it back.  The second time, he paid back only part of it and we wrote it off.  I know he has fallen on hard times and we have given the family small gifts a few times since.  I don't think he has internet anymore because they don't seem to be on FB anymore.

A big issue for our internet reliability is monkeys.  They walk or hang from the cables, and break them.  To date, they have not asked me for money, but they have stolen the mirrors from our cars.

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by OnMyWay

[Gandang Smile]

1 hour ago, OnMyWay said:

I lived in Cabuyao, Laguna for 6 months when I first moved here.  It was a lower middle class neighborhood where my future wife had a house.  We only had Smart or Globe internet on a stick.  Very slow.  I interacted with the neighbors quiet a bit and nobody asked me for money, although some joked around a lot about buying stuff, mainly "wine".

After I moved to Subic Bay Freeport, we had Globe over the air for a while and it was slow and unreliable.  Nobody ask me for a loan or money, but out neighborhood in the old Navy housing is off limits to outsiders.  I suppose if I lived next to locals, the chance of them asking for money would go up.  We don't even have Christmas carolers.

After we moved to our current house, PLDT Fibr became available, so I paid for 50 MBPS.  It has been great for almost 5 years.  Other neighbors have had many issues with their PLDT Fibr, but they never asked me for money.

Only twice have I been directly asked, via my wife, for money.  A BIL has asked for money twice.  The first time he paid it back.  The second time, he paid back only part of it and we wrote it off.  I know he has fallen on hard times and we have given the family small gifts a few times since.  I don't think he has internet anymore because they don't seem to be on FB anymore.

A big issue for our internet reliability is monkeys.  They walk or hang from the cables, and break them.  To date, they have not asked me for money, but they have stolen the mirrors from our cars.

Happy new year to you too!

You were probably wise enough to interact but never make friends to your next door neighbours...or to the monkeys  The only foreigners I met who never complained about Filipinos being sticky and asking for cash, are those who limited their social life to their new family and other foreigners/expats. That's pretty much what I have been doing for the past 3 years and my experience basically matches yours.

On the topic of Internet connection, I am glad that, unlike me, you were never asked for your WiFi password. I gave it away once and noticed my bandwidth went way down at any time of the day and night. It miraculously recovered to its 20 Mbit glory as soon as I changed the password.

Edited January 1, 2021 by Gandang Smile

[Shady]

15 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

 

I think you will find this in the process of reversing.  POGOS are leaving.  It is likely that the market is propped up right now by the Covid situation.  There is a shortage of normal sellers because moving during Covid is a pain, and creates a lot of uncertainty with jobs, schools, etc.  When the Chinese units and these sellers enter the market, it will become a buyers market.

I've heard that before. I've also heard the opposite; it's difficult to buy during the pandemic, especially for overseas investors:

Quote

Chinese property investors are eyeing a bigger slice of the Manila property market amid falling real estate prices triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. "The Chinese buyers are here to stay. We know there has been a lull in the market, but as soon as they can travel, they will continue to buy." - https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Property/Chinese-eye-bigger-slice-of-Manila-as-real-estate-prices-tank

 

 

[Shady]

9 hours ago, Gandang Smile said:

Here in Metro Manila, it seems to be happening less, often because people have jobs and access to better money

It's because they're familiar with foreigners, you aren't unique, thus you aren't a target. But the further away from the city you go, the more you stick out, the more you're seen as an easy source of "favors".

[hk blues]

On 12/31/2020 at 1:15 PM, jimeve said:

Same here, got Globe and Smart walang signal.

Yep...we use Globe and inside the house it's impossible to get a signal - we need to find that sweet spot outside. It's kinda funny at night to see so many people sitting/standing in the street chatting on their phones - I'm sure they'd prefer to be inside in the cool.

But, it's one and the same issue though - Globe and PLDT being unable to provide a service that matches their fees. Call costs here are shocking if you have to call another network - something like 7php a minute!

[hk blues]

As we've meandered off topic I'll throw my experience in - I do not find people here particularly friendly at all. On the other hand, I've not had the begging bowl problem much - note much. In the UK I never, ever had neighbours etc ask to borrow money but that's not the case here so...

Back to topic - Let's correct the misconception that good internet is available in only 3 cities. That simply isn't correct. In Iloilo we have 100 mbps fiber - what more do we really need? True, in my suburb it's 20mbps hybrid but that's good enough for our needs.

I may appear to be contradicting myself - my issue with internet here is the patchy service and high price rather than what I personally am getting in terms of speed.

 

[Jack Peterson]

24 minutes ago, hk blues said:

my issue with internet here is the patchy service and high price rather than what I personally am getting in terms of speed.

 I pay 1399 peso per month for PLDT Fibre contracted for 10mbs yet getting 28/30 here in Dumaguete so I have nothing bad to say at this time , 21 pounds GB seems ok with me  

[GeoffH]

37 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Back to topic - Let's correct the misconception that good internet is available in only 3 cities. That simply isn't correct. In Iloilo we have 100 mbps fiber - what more do we really need? True, in my suburb it's 20mbps hybrid but that's good enough for our needs.

Similar to Cagayan De Oro, which has 100 mbps fiber (although our suburb has 30mb hybrid).  !00 mbps fiber is supposed to be coming but it's been a couple of years and not yet. 

But honestly, I'm ok with 25/5 VDSL in Australia why would I want more than 30 mbps in the Philippines? 

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, Jack Peterson said:

 I pay 1399 peso per month for PLDT Fibre contracted for 10mbs yet getting 28/30 here in Dumaguete so I have nothing bad to say at this time , 21 pounds GB seems ok with me  

I hear you Jack. I'm paying 1899 for 20mbps. My gripe is I was paying less in Hong Kong for more, including TV. 

1500 php is 3 days pay for many here. 

Anyhow, it is what it is my friend!