Philippines NOT a retirement heaven?

Hindi naman ito nakapag tataka na hindi napasama ang pinas! bakit kamo eh baka mamatay ka ng mabilisan kesa makapag relax ka satin eh. kung bakit kau nalang ang sumagot! hehehehe

"Walang basagan ng trip!"

... is safety. Kidnapping to get money, extremist groups which control huge areas... just not appealing at all to expatriates (non-Philippino nationals).

It would actually be nice to keep this topic in English as I would like to be able to understand peoples' opinions on this subject. Thanks :)

... as you are a national :) For us it is different, people seem to look at foreigners in the Philippines and see money signs on our heads. I lived in the Philippines for 2 years and I do know how corrupt it is. If you wave money in front of a doctors nose, then an x-ray machine which didn't work suddenly works and the technician materializes out of thin air. Don't need a drivers license - the police man will be at the main road waiting for his daily pocket money. I could go on and on and on... but what for? Sad though, as I do love the place and would LOVE to consider having a retirement business there. But what for? I would pay 10 times more (at least) then any local person for anything, so no point to do so.

I still love it there despite many negative points :)

I am pure FILIPINO ... I really appreciate the comment...
I just hope that Filipino people will be awakened especially THOSE WHO ARE IN THE POSITION....

To fellow "Kabayans" - kindly do not tag me as "Persona Non-Grata".... (did i use the correct term...?)

GISING NA BAYAN KO!!!!

... I have met many pure philippino people whilst living in Pangasinan (Alaminos) and I can say I LOVED living there. I would get on a trike every morning and buy fresh vegetables and fruit, go to the fishmarket and chose my fish for the day, play Tong-it, sing karaoke, eat balun-balunan (spelling?) and adidas... I could just go on and on about it. I have made friends for life.

I hope your fellow kabayans understand what you meant - because I sure did and you made me smile :)

in the Phillipines. There is no place like home.

well, matagal ng hindi retirement heaven ang pilipinas.. its not just about the place, kung malinis ba, may magagandang tanawin, blah blah blah, its also about the people.. maraming mga taong mapagsamantala kasi..

sa taas ng mga bilihin.

"Masunod nawa ang iyong kalooban!" 

:)))

Retirement living is more than nice beaches and/or a bustling city. Retirees have different needs. Most of them are drawing very little income from their pensions and most of the time, don't have insurance benefits. Health care I believe is their top priority. Notice the article mentioned inexpensive health care cost and proximity to such. Case in point, my retiree in laws, who are very well off by Philippine standard, moved back to the Philippines. They refused to "live"; instead choosing to save their money in the event they will need medical attention.

I saw an article years before where it mentioned Philippines being one of the costliest places to get hospitalized (is this a word?) in Asia. More than, Singapore, more than South Korea. Both developed countries.

Violence, graft and corruption, lack of good publicity, very weak tourism industry, poverty all contributes to us not getting into this list.