The Economy In The Philippines

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Mr Lee
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We are in Florida now and signs of the poor economy are everywhere, stores are closing up, shopping malls seem to have few customes, the roads seem empty and hardly any traffic during rush hours and even dollar stores have no lookers and are raising their prices on all items to $1.10 and have taken in higher priced items to sell in order to try to stay in business. Things are very bad. Are there signs of the slowdown in the Philippines and what parts of the Philippines seems to be feeling it the worst? Check ins from all over would be appreciated.

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Jollygoodfellow
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We are in Florida now and signs of the poor economy are everywhere, stores are closing up, shopping malls seem to have few customes, the roads seem empty and hardly any traffic during rush hours and even dollar stores have no lookers and are raising their prices on all items to $1.10 and have taken in higher priced items to sell in order to try to stay in business. Things are very bad. Are there signs of the slowdown in the Philippines and what parts of the Philippines seems to be feeling it the worst? Check ins from all over would be appreciated.
Although I haven't noticed any difference here in Australia, they say that some shops are a bit quieter.Our dollar has taken a big fall and with the exchange rate we have lost about 8 peso to our dollar in the past few months. :SugarwareZ-037:
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Mike S
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I really haven't seen any difference ...... petrol has gone down again .... this is the 5 price decrease I have noticed yet the cost of the taxi and jeepney's have not decreased ....... taxi's are still 10p on top of the fare ....... cost of some fruits like pamelo have gone up from 60p per kilo to 100p per kilo .... but I'm not sure if this is out of season or not .... doesn't seem to be a lot around ....... we are still paying the same for rice in the past month and the shopping malls are still full ....... but then as you well know not everyone is there for the shopping ......... I would say all in all it doesn't seem to have slowed down as much as you say it has in the US .......

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Mr Lee
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Mike, that is really good to hear. I and others fear increases in crime as OFW stop or cut back on sending home money when they lose their jobs or do not get increases in pay while the cost of everything here keeps going up anyway. :SugarwareZ-037: The difference here is really noticeable and the melt down continues on and will for some time in the future. At least our home in Cebu City will continue to be safe IMHO. Thanks for the good news. :23_11_62[1]:

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Mr Lee
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Well, I no sooner asked and a story appeared which affirms my worst fears about the possible downturn of the Philippine economy. Lets hope they are wrong because this is scary stuff if things continue. If the OFW cut back or stop sending money totally, the whole economy of the Philippines will fall apart. IMOhttp://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20081013hed4.html Filipino expats feel initial pinch of financial crunchBy Michaela P. del Callar 10/13/2008The raging global financial storm is starting to hit home with overseas Filipino workers beginning to worry over their jobs and top government officials telling the public yesterday to prepare for the worst.

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Mike S
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Mr Lee
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More bad newshttp://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/brea...at-risk--groupsJobs of Filipinos in US at risk--groups Remittances may slide by halfBy Edson C. Tandoc Jr.Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 16:04:00 10/13/2008MANILA, Philippines -- The global financial slump is snatching away not only jobs from Filipino construction workers abroad, but also the remittances for their families back home, international labor groups warned.The male-dominated construction industry in the US, where many Filipino laborers work, has been badly hit and as the number of available jobs shrink, the number of undocumented Filipinos abroad could rise, according to Ambet Yuson, regional representative of the Building and Wood Workers' International.

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Mike S
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You mean to tell me that they are just now quoiting that the construction industry is in a slump ........ NOW ...... it is in a slump ... I can't believe that comment ..... when I left Florida 6 months ago ...... construction was at a stand still and it had occurred more than 4 months before that ....... houses were a dime a dozen and the price of houses had started to fall from $162,000 in one development near me to $141,000 and when I left it was down to $138,000 ....... these were brand new houses and a whole development of them ........... close to 350 homes ....... very few were occupied ....... Just another great example of the media playing on the panic syndrome ........ besides if some OFW workers need jobs .... Canada just released a need for 10,000 new workers ..... :SugarwareZ-015:

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Mr Lee
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Mike, of course you are correct and it is not all gloom and doom, but in all fairness, I would bet money, that there will be less remittances sent home this coming holiday season than in the past. The building industry here has come to a stop, but some smart buyers are using their cash to buy up foreclosed or bottom dollar properties because we all know that someday down the road it has to change and the best investment in the long run has always been property that people who have money, can steal. I have been looking at condos here so that later on we would still have a place to come back to stay when visiting our friends here and there are really some great deals to be had. Some of the over 55 developments have 2 bedroom units for under $50,000 and those are still not selling at those prices. I feel if we buy one for a bottom dollar price, then it would have to go up once all this is over and in the mean time, it would be a better investment than my retirement portfolio (as small as it may be, and is even smaller now :1 (72): ) has turned out to be. If only I can time the bottom correctly or at least get it close. :36_1_68[1]: Of course only time will tell when all this starts to turn around and some of what I read, it will be soon when the full effect of the after the crash and burn Lehman worth is known and I think that report is supposed to come out the 20 th or so. Guesstimates put the value at about 10% of what they were worth before they went under. :angry: Anyway, life is good here all in all and I hope it ends up even better there down the road. :( Live, love and be happy all for one never knows what tomorrow will bring. :cheers:

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Mr Lee
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and once more the news is playing it up.http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20081014hed3.htmlGlobal financial crisis will hit army of OFWs10/14/2008 There are few countries in the world where you will not find a Filipino worker. Even in tiny Iceland, one of the countries hardest hit by the financial crisis, there were 1,411 at last count. At any given time, about 10 percent of the Philippines

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