General Info

[PedroMorales]

I don't think these numbers mean crap to the average Filipinos that are starving and can't pay their rent.

(First off, hats off to all the overseas workers who keep their families going. True heroes.).

"Very true. The https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Phil...-defying-COVID cites makes terrifying reading. Some quotes. The government has repatriated over 400,000 migrant workers, including those who lost jobs in the retail, oil, tourism and other industries. Meanwhile, worker deployment from January to October plunged 60.8%, to 693, 687, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration."

Tough times for lots of middle class Pinoys so. The Tondo beauties guys here bonk still have their pak pak of course.

"The Philippines, Asia's third largest recipient of remittances after India and China, has relied on money sent home by around 10 million Filipinos who live and work overseas."

"Ang expects Filipino workers to continue seeking jobs overseas when the global economy recovers. But he said companies that have pivoted to digital might need fewer hands. "My worry," Ang said, "is that they won't be needed anymore because the companies survived without them."

Big problems ahead even though googling "Philippines remittances" in news gives all positive stories. From Pinoy sources.

[Dg8787]

Before the pandemic, remittance from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW), revenue from tourism and revenue from BPOs, each contributed approximately 10% each to the Philippine's GDP. Contrary to expectation, the remittance in 2020 did not fall catastrophically--it fell just 0. 8% to $29.9 billion and in recent months, it has been rising. BPO industry saw a phenomenal growth and brought in $27 billion because workers could work from home. Tourism took a big hit, its revenue fell by 60%.

The robust growth of BPO and now OFW remittance gives the Philippines significant cushion to weather the revenue shortfall from tourism. After the precipitous fall of 17% in Q2'2019-20, GDP contraction has not been that bad and in fact, Q2'2020-21 saw an 11.8% increase compared to the year before (this was before Delta variant started to have effect).

Punters who have been betting that the Philippines will open its border due economic pain from shrinking tourism should not hold their breath. Economy is suffering, but not as gravely as we think.

Some sources:

https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05...ues-2020-ibpap

https://www.bworldonline.com/tourism...ast-2-decades/

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Phil...-defying-COVID

https://psa.gov.ph/national-accounts

I don't think these numbers mean crap to the average Filipinos that are starving and can't pay their rent.

[Dick Milhous]

Economy is suffering, but not as gravely as we think.

For sure. Most of the big central banks seem to be pumping out currency to keep constituents content all the while maintaining low interest rates. Just in the US over 8 trillion in QE for "the pandemic" with as much as another 6 trillion on the horizon. Fourteen trillion new dollars printed up, of course not paper (we wouldn't have any trees left). For a family of 4, that's about $170,000 USD of "new" fiat money. The planet is awash in money. Keep interest rates down and the party will continue with "modern monetary practice", maybe forever or maybe not.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...t-coronavirus/

[Pinga 98]

Before the pandemic, remittance from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW), revenue from tourism and revenue from BPOs, each contributed approximately 10% each to the Philippine's GDP. Contrary to expectation, the remittance in 2020 did not fall catastrophically--it fell just 0. 8% to $29.9 billion and in recent months, it has been rising. BPO industry saw a phenomenal growth and brought in $27 billion because workers could work from home. Tourism took a big hit, its revenue fell by 60%.

The robust growth of BPO and now OFW remittance gives the Philippines significant cushion to weather the revenue shortfall from tourism. After the precipitous fall of 17% in Q2'2019-20, GDP contraction has not been that bad and in fact, Q2'2020-21 saw an 11.8% increase compared to the year before (this was before Delta variant started to have effect).

Punters who have been betting that the Philippines will open its border due economic pain from shrinking tourism should not hold their breath. Economy is suffering, but not as gravely as we think.

Some sources:

https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05...ues-2020-ibpap

https://www.bworldonline.com/tourism...ast-2-decades/

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Phil...-defying-COVID

https://psa.gov.ph/national-accounts

[Dg8787]

The State of calamity is now prolonged for one more year.

When someone is thinking about going to the PH anytime soon (this and next year).

Forget it!

And how did you arrive at your conclusion?

State of Calamity law authority is extended one more year.

[DzikaBomba]

The State of calamity is now prolonged for one more year.

When someone is thinking about going to the PH anytime soon (this and next year).

Forget it!

[PedroMorales]

Right now Delta varient is causing all the problems. There is news about some varient in the offing but not sure. Science has shown being vaccinated lessens the severity of the disease. My son is a hospital Doctor and he says almost 98 percent of people in ICU are unvaccinated. Rest 2 percent are with co morbidity although fully vaccinated.

As everyone knows this is a respiratory virus transmitted mouth to mouth. In our hobby it is impossible to avoid close contact. Vaccination might protect severity but you might become positive for exposure..

I didn't know that. I thought it also came in via the nose and even the eyes, like Conjunctivitis. I also thought, like conjunctivitis, it could be picked up by touching things. I believe that is how I picked it up.

Your son, the doctor, must be a great man. He obviously doesn't work in Israel, where most are double jabbed.

[Sammon]

Given the transmissibility of the Delta variant, and because I'm a firm believer in actual science, I've been more or less self-isolating for the past 18 months. So, my sporadic forays into hte outside worldmaybe once or twice a week to various local stores and mallsmay not provide an adequate basis for generalization. For whatever it's worth, my view is that the situation here is fairly bleak, though the supply of women remains plentiful for those who can get here and are willing to run the risk of messing about, in intimate contact, with a population that's likely unvaccinated for the most part.

GE.

Right now Delta varient is causing all the problems. There is news about some varient in the offing but not sure. Science has shown being vaccinated lessens the severity of the disease. My son is a hospital Doctor and he says almost 98 percent of people in ICU are unvaccinated. Rest 2 percent are with co morbidity although fully vaccinated.

As everyone knows this is a respiratory virus transmitted mouth to mouth. In our hobby it is impossible to avoid close contact. Vaccination might protect severity but you might become positive for exposure.

Traveling to Philippines has been postponed for me at least 3 times already. Right now rebooked for March 2022. That is a big IF. Who knows how long country is going to not allow foreign visitors.

As for economic impact most countries although suffering have learned to live with it for a long time now. So it is unlikely government is willing to to open the country solely for economic reasons. Even here in America lots of restaurants, malls, bars etc are totally closed and unlikely to open.

As girls they were freely available yesterday, today for the people already in the country and will be there tomorrow when things open for everyone.

[PedroMorales]

Given the current limbo, and based on nothing but my own inferences, I doubt seriously that the country is going to open in any meaningful way to foreigners any time soon. On the other hand, the tourism sector is on life support, and the government may just take a "screw it" attitude and start to allow entry of the fully vaccinated from "green" countries; a list which does not at the moment, include the United States.

Given the transmissibility of the Delta variant, and because I'm a firm believer in actual science, I've been more or less self-isolating for the past 18 months. So, my sporadic forays into hte outside worldmaybe once or twice a week to various local stores and mallsmay not provide an adequate basis for generalization. For whatever it's worth, my view is that the situation here is fairly bleak, though the supply of women remains plentiful for those who can get here and are willing to run the risk of messing about, in intimate contact, with a population that's likely unvaccinated for the most part..

The Pinoy government cannot go it alone. They would be hammered internationally and blamed on spreading it globally. Of more concern to those gangsters would be such things as overseas rem ittances. I am sure many overseas workers. Those armies you see at Manila airport. Have lost their jobs and remittances are down, as are chances for work overseas. That has to be hurting.

The only hope to allow in tourists would be to open corridors. As no one wants Americans, as there would be too many logistical complications with that, they, thankfully, are off the table. Much the same with us here in civilized Europe though some, like invasive weeds, are appearing. The Anzacs have already ruled themselves out by their own stringent lockdown policies. That leaves Korea and China (forget about Japan), both of whom are known to drive hard bargains and neither of whom have banging Pinay hookers as a national priority.

The end result of this Covid business will be a further weakening of the weak. It will get even less pleasant for those who had no ill gotten gains to squirrel away.

Enjoy your hibernation. I will. I will be spending a month travelling around Southern Europe. Small crowds, money in my pocket, the grape harvest in and buxom Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Greek wenches to enjoy it with.

[Beavis]

I thought about pasting a few links here to the government reports that seem to proliferate daily on various local websites, but I decided against it since doing so might add to the confusion of those trying to draw an accurate set of conclusions about the situation here. While it's difficult to present a clear, data-based picture of what's happening throughout the country it appears (should be in italics) that the situation is worsening; at best it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Davao, where I live, escaped more stringent lockdowns until a couple of days ago when more severe measures were imposed. CdO, where a good friend of mine lives, is also heavily restricted (in theory), as is most of MetroManila. Some of the more rural areas in which I also have friends, appear to be restricting movements sporadically. That said, at least here in Davao, regardless of the "official" categorization, day-to-day life doesn't seem to change much. That is, stores are still open, bars are still closed, restaurants have limited capacity and are mostly empty to sparsely populated. Virtually everyone is masked all of the time, while driving (even alone in the car), walking, in retail establishments or anywhere else out in public. Given the dearth of people I've observed in the larger malls here, the closure of restaurants (including our own), and the number of "space available" signs throughout the city, I conclude that the economy is struggling, but I've seen nothing official from the city government. The official statistics from the Department of Labor and Employment stated last month that the unemployment rates is 4. 9% I do not find this to be a credible number.

According to the national government, about 15% of the population is fully vaccinated, though whether that's a percentage of the eligible population or to total population isn't clear to me. Davao continues to create widespread distribution networks for the vaccines from various countries and manufacturers, but the numbers seem obstinately stuck at about 15%.

Given the current limbo, and based on nothing but my own inferences, I doubt seriously that the country is going to open in any meaningful way to foreigners any time soon. On the other hand, the tourism sector is on life support, and the government may just take a "screw it" attitude and start to allow entry of the fully vaccinated from "green" countries; a list which does not at the moment, include the United States.

Given the transmissibility of the Delta variant, and because I'm a firm believer in actual science, I've been more or less self-isolating for the past 18 months. So, my sporadic forays into hte outside worldmaybe once or twice a week to various local stores and mallsmay not provide an adequate basis for generalization. For whatever it's worth, my view is that the situation here is fairly bleak, though the supply of women remains plentiful for those who can get here and are willing to run the risk of messing about, in intimate contact, with a population that's likely unvaccinated for the most part.

GE.

I tend to agree with all of this except the opening of the country. I think as long as the current administration has the option to double dip into the assistance they are receiving from abroad the closures will continue. That's just opinion though as things change daily. One report that the mayor of AC was seen riding his brand new Harley around town. As for the 15% vaccinated I think this is accurate if not low. I personally know many vaccinated people and they are doing many every day at least in the cities. Not sure what the vaccination protocols are like in the province but even the smaller towns they have implemented a procedure for getting their people vaccinated. There is a rumor that Thailand will open October 1st https://www.livemint.com/news/world/...277317079.html but they have changed on several plans so far. I wouldn't recommend buying a ticket until it happens. Perhaps if this does happen it will put pressure on the PH to open. But as we all know, speculation doesn't warrant much validity in the PH.

[GoodEnough]

I thought about pasting a few links here to the government reports that seem to proliferate daily on various local websites, but I decided against it since doing so might add to the confusion of those trying to draw an accurate set of conclusions about the situation here. While it's difficult to present a clear, data-based picture of what's happening throughout the country it appears (should be in italics) that the situation is worsening; at best it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Davao, where I live, escaped more stringent lockdowns until a couple of days ago when more severe measures were imposed. CdO, where a good friend of mine lives, is also heavily restricted (in theory), as is most of MetroManila. Some of the more rural areas in which I also have friends, appear to be restricting movements sporadically. That said, at least here in Davao, regardless of the "official" categorization, day-to-day life doesn't seem to change much. That is, stores are still open, bars are still closed, restaurants have limited capacity and are mostly empty to sparsely populated. Virtually everyone is masked all of the time, while driving (even alone in the car), walking, in retail establishments or anywhere else out in public. Given the dearth of people I've observed in the larger malls here, the closure of restaurants (including our own), and the number of "space available" signs throughout the city, I conclude that the economy is struggling, but I've seen nothing official from the city government. The official statistics from the Department of Labor and Employment stated last month that the unemployment rates is 4. 9% I do not find this to be a credible number.

According to the national government, about 15% of the population is fully vaccinated, though whether that's a percentage of the eligible population or to total population isn't clear to me. Davao continues to create widespread distribution networks for the vaccines from various countries and manufacturers, but the numbers seem obstinately stuck at about 15%.

Given the current limbo, and based on nothing but my own inferences, I doubt seriously that the country is going to open in any meaningful way to foreigners any time soon. On the other hand, the tourism sector is on life support, and the government may just take a "screw it" attitude and start to allow entry of the fully vaccinated from "green" countries; a list which does not at the moment, include the United States.

Given the transmissibility of the Delta variant, and because I'm a firm believer in actual science, I've been more or less self-isolating for the past 18 months. So, my sporadic forays into hte outside world—maybe once or twice a week to various local stores and malls—may not provide an adequate basis for generalization. For whatever it's worth, my view is that the situation here is fairly bleak, though the supply of women remains plentiful for those who can get here and are willing to run the risk of messing about, in intimate contact, with a population that's likely unvaccinated for the most part.

GE.

[Sam 14]

Westy, that little rant below was rather sarcastic but it was in no way meant as a jab at you. I super appreciate the guys like you, GE, Advan and others who are on the ground reporting. It's great to hear what's actually happening, and keeping this forum alive. If I had anything more useful to add, I'the chime in. Thanks man!

[Sam 14]

Should we have a separate thread? 'Covid Info', or such?...

Yes! Suggested thread title: CDC Public Relations".

Since there's not enough of it 24/7 everywhere else, we could have hot links to the latest CDC statistics, World Health Organization PR, and stuff like that. Links to deal with the “anti vaxers” and vaccine hesitancy problem. Hell, maybe we even could sell stock options. Or how about let Pfizer run pop up ads like these Stripchat things! Maybe even mandate a digital Health app to login so we don't have Petri dishes trolling the site. Haha.

I'm on a roll. . How bout even a competing thread, call it Tin Foil Chit Chat. All the conspiracy theorists and freedom freaks worried about wrecking their immune system, stronger variants escaping the immune system due to the shots, a looming scientific dictatorship, and stuff like that can congregate and propagate their misinformation. Share links to quacks like Robert F Kennedy's Children's Health Defense and the Great Barrington Declaration! Haha. Thanks Westy, love you man. By the way, happy Day The World Began Day! (911).

[Nice Guy 99]

Should we have a separate thread? 'Covid Info', or such?

That's a good idea.

[WestCoast1]

From the Phils Bureau of Immigration FB page, regarding tourists. It mentions the red list and the green list, but the only thing of interest here to note for us is a paragraph near the very bottom:

The general travel restrictions is still in effect. Only Filipinos, balikbayans, and foreigners with valid and existing visas are allowed to enter the Philippines, said Capulong. Those holding tourists visas remain restricted from entering, he clarified.

https://www.facebook.com/officialbur...9411965864166/

11 September 2021
PRESS RELEASE

Travelers from 9 countries included in Red List to be barred entry BI
Manila, PHILIPPINES Officials of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced on Saturday, the implementation of the temporary travel ban of passengers coming from 9 countries starting September 12.

The countries include Azerbaijan, Guadeloupe, Guam, Israel, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Saint Lucia, and Switzerland.

In an advisory, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said that, following the recent directive from Malacaang, as recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), passengers coming from, or who have been in the said countries within the last 14 days prior to their arrival to the Philippines, shall temporarily be barred entry.
Morente further said that passengers already in transit from the 9 countries who will arrive before the implementation of the travel ban may be allowed to enter, subject to existing policies of the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ).

BI Port Operations Division Chief Atty. Carlos Capulong shared that Filipinos arriving from countries under the red list under government or non-government repatriation programs or bayanihan flights, may be allowed entry but shall undergo a strict 14-day facility based quarantine, and be required a Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test that will be monitored by the BOQ.

Capulong added that those who had a mere layover at the 9 countries are not covered by the travel ban.

The travel ban is set to take effect by 12:00 AM of September 12 until 11:59 PM of September 18, 2021.

Meanwhile, Capulong shared the countries under the green list as provided by the IATF. These include American Samoa, Anguilla, Australia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Gabon, Grenada, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China), Hungary, Mali, Federated States of Micronesia, Montserrat, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Saba, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Sierra Leone, Sint Eustatius, Slovakia and Taiwan.
Capulong clarified that aliens coming from the green list do not automatically qualify for entry to the Philippines.

The general travel restrictions is still in effect. Only Filipinos, balikbayans, and foreigners with valid and existing visas are allowed to enter the Philippines, said Capulong. Those holding tourists visas remain restricted from entering, he clarified.

According to the BI advisory, countries not in the red or green list are automatically included in the yellow list. Those coming from the yellow list are likewise subject to the general travel restrictions, and will be have to undergo quarantine and testing protocols, as implemented by the BOQ.

#ProtectPHBorders
#BeatCOVID19
#WeHealAsOne
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