Retire In The Philippines Now

The Philippines is a country located in Southeast Asia comprised of 7,107 islands located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the 12th most populated country in the world with a population of around 90 million people. There are more than 11 million or about 11% of the total population of the Philippines working overseas. Each year more than a million Filipinos known as Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) leave to work abroad as skilled and unskilled workers. These OFWs send approximately $14.5 billion US back to the Philippines equaling 10% of the GNP per year.
History of the Philippines
Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to reach what is now the Philippines in March of 1521. Prior to that, the Philippines was a trading partner with Arab and other Asian countries. The Philippines became a Spanish colony in the 16th century and in 1896 in a revolution led by the Katipunan the country won independence from Spain.
The Philippines was under American occupation during the Spanish-American War and this led to the Philippine-American War. The country gained independence from the United States on July 4, 1946 near the end of the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War.
In 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial law leading to a strong insurgence by the New Peoples Army and the Moro National Liberation Front. The August 21, 1983 assassination of Ninoy Aquino who opposed Marco’s rule led to the People Power Revolution of 1986. This revolution led by Aquino’s widow Corazon Aquino and Jaime Cardinal Sin brought the country back to free elections and democracy.
Philippines Culture
Filipino culture is a fusion of Southeast Asian, Hispanic, American, and Chinese influences as well as Arab and Indian cultures. Hispanic influences, due to the three centuries of Spanish rule include literature, folk music, language, and religion. Many Filipinos have Spanish surnames even though they are not of Spanish ancestry. The greatest influence is in religion where a majority of Filipinos are Roman Catholic (81%) other religions include followers of Islam (5%) and other Christians (11%). The Filipinos hold fiestas in their provinces or Barrios to commemorate their patron saints. It is a sort of homecoming for the balikbayans or people from overseas to come back for visits with family and celebrations.
Although Tagalog is the first language of the Philippines, English is spoken almost everywhere especially in govenrment and business adding to the American influence on the culture. Another is in sports where basketball and billiards are the most played sports. Filipinos love fast food and many fast food giants such as McDonalds, Burger King, and Pizza Hut have numerous properties in the Philippines. Local fast food chains such as Jollibee and Chowking mirror American chains except that they serve a Filipino type menu. Other influences are American music and movies which are extremely popular, although OPM or Original Pilipino Music and Philippine movies are also very popular.