The Risk / Reward Balance
Per WC's recent post, it's a mistake to look for any sort of consistency in Covid response here, as the situation on the ground varies so dramatically both from city to city and, within cities, from barangay to barangay. Here in Davao, for example, which is (I think) now under the loosest form of quarantine, nothing much has changed since it was under the strictest designation. It appears that, over time, individual Filipinos have made their own decisions about risk vs reward and that most have opted for economic survival over isolation, albeit masking and social distancing appear to have become part of this city's social DNA. So, malls are open; small shops are open; traffic congestion has returned to pre-pandemic levels, and folks are evidently doing what they need to do to survive. At this point, approximately 15% of Davao's total population is vaccinated—with any one of several different vaccines—and the local government is doing a reasonable job the dispensing the vaccines it receives.
I think that the risk / reward calculation carries over into mongering decisions as well. In my case, I had plans to meet some old friends in Makati and then Angeles / Subic earlier this month. We're all of reasonably advanced ages and decided, in our collective case, that the risk / reward ratio remained too heavily skewed toward the "risk" element of the equation, despite the fact that we're all fully vaccinated, and despite the fact that the list of adorable young women awaiting our arrival was extensive. We simply made the decision that the anticipated pleasures were not worth the potential cost. Other, presumably younger, fitter guys may have made a different decision. The point is that the supply remains ample and, for those of us already here, the decision as to whether or not to take advantage of that fact is an individual one, as travel between cities does not represent much of a hassle.
My take is that, with the Delta variant now sounding a cautionary note throughout the country, the situation here will not change in the immediate future. I've seen nothing on any of the government websites indicating that the country is reconsidering opening its doors to foreign tourists anytime soon, but that could change overnight given that there's no basis here for predictability.
GE.
Wait what? Divorce in the Philippines?
Did any one see this? Is this real? Or are they going to find some way to squash this?
"The bill states that the other grounds for divorce include: separation in fact for at least five years at the time the petition for absolute divorce is filed; when one of the spouses undergoes a gender reassignment surgery or transitions from one sex to another; irreconcilable marital differences as defined in the bill; other forms of domestic or marital abuse which are also defined in the bill; valid foreign divorce secured by either the alien or Filipino spouse; and a marriage nullified by a recognized religious tribunal. ".
"House panel approves absolute divorce bill".
[URL]https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1150751[/URL]
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More cold water / OPINION
[QUOTE=GoodEnough;2595182]My take is that, with the Delta variant now sounding a cautionary note throughout the country, the situation here will not change in the immediate future. I've seen nothing on any of the government websites indicating that the country is reconsidering opening its doors to foreign tourists anytime soon, but that could change overnight given that there's no basis here for predictability.[/QUOTE]GE and I continue with the same dreaded thoughts:
1) Re-opening to foreigners is too hard to call (we all mis-guessed it initially when we said late 2020, then early 2021, then middle 2021. . .).
2) It could happen tomorrow, or in 2025. Check this:
[URL]https://www.cbsnews.com/news/apple-return-to-office-january-2022-date-large-corporations/[/URL]
From today's news (on several sites), Apple, Lyft, Google, Amazon, Doordash, Overstock and others are postponing US employees from returning to the office until at least next year. Big companies have also mis-guessed the situation, saying they would bring back workers early this year, then mid-year, or October, now looking at next year. From the article:
[I]According to Bloomberg, Apple employees will be alerted one month before they must return to the office. They will be required to work at the office at least three days a week, with the option to work remotely on Wednesdays and Fridays, Bloomberg said. Apple did not immediately reply to CBS MoneyWatch's request for comment.[/I]
SNIP.
[I]Lyft, which had been planning to bring workers back to its San Francisco headquarters next month, is now putting off their return "until we're in the clear," citing the uncertainty caused by the latest coronavirus wave. The ridesharing company does not expect its nearly 5,000 corporate workers to return to their offices until February 2, 2022, at the earliest.
"We anticipate the COVID situation will remain fluid for the upcoming months, making it difficult for us to land a clear return date without a possibility of moving it again," Lyft CEO and cofounder Logan Green said in a message to employees.[/I]
SNIP.
[I]"I think we all thought six months ago that September was going to look good, but 'Miss Delta' was like, 'Yeah, I don't think so. You better check yourself,'" said Danielle Ompad, a professor of epidemiology at New York University.
To that end, Overstock, the online furniture retailer based in Midvale, Utah, close to Salt Lake City, has announced it won't bring workers back to the office any earlier than January 2022. Overstock had initially targeted Memorial Day in May as a return date for the company's more than 1,500 employees in customer service, marketing, merchandising, financial and technology roles.[/I]
3) When considering future visits to phils, one must consider the wild inaccurate guesses from US companies and our own Phils return inaccuracies. Several things will be happening at the same time. From my reading of posts here and also in PM, I get the impression that the gents think that the allowing in of foreigners for tourism will somehow coincide with the return of the previous way of life, things we took for granted -- gogo bars, street girls, dating site girls, live band / nightlife, alcohol on demand, providers, lunch or drinks at a bar with your mates (ie, Cheers / Burgos or other), and the biggie: A hotel / condo that will allow you to bring in girl after girl (existed before, but not so much now).
My unfortunate point is this. What is happening now, when GE / Beavis / Mdeade or other gives a current sit-rep. You should pay attention to those things. While its possible the (fickle) government will allow in tourists, those current cyclical anti-Covid restrictions will continue on. If the US can't get to herd immunity, how do we expect a superstitious country to do so? While the government here is doing an admirable job acquiring jabs and getting them into arms, we still have a large percentage of the population that is not wanting one (for any number of reasons). Its quite possible that the current state of affairs will still go on after allowing vaxxed foreigners into the country. Only the very serious, vaxxed, and dedicated mongers will come, quarantine, and live for a week or three in a hotel that allows him only 1 girl, using ST places for his excess girls.
Is this what you want to come to when it opens up? I would like to be wrong about this.
Overseas Workers v Overseas Wankers
Here is what Pinoy overseas workers remit: [URL]https://www.statista.com/statistics/1242763/remittance-overseas-filipino-workers-by-country/[/URL].
Here is the GDP of the Philippines: [URL]https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/philippines/gross-national-product[/URL].
Although I suspect the former figure is skewed by the normal US / Utah fixations, it is a fact that the Philippines, like Bangladesh etc, is heavily dependent upon Pinoys sending money home. A few stiffs in cargo are irrelevant.
The government of the Philippines must keep that large constituency of HK maids, Saudi shtt cleaners, Dubai hair dressers, Texan teachers, Norwegian nurses happy, or cash flows and job agencies will suffer. They are even on record time and again as saying that.
Self centred American mongers are not even an after thought in the bigger scheme of things.
Major international airlines are being kept afoat by governments buying bonds etc. Again, the Philippines is an after thought there.
Australia and NZ: anyone farts and it is an extended lock down.
The only hope is if some large country throws open the doors. Parts of the USA have done that but who in their right minds would want to go there?
Perhaps Africa is an option. Time to watch the Maltese Falcon again and look for new bolt holes.
[QUOTE=MontanaMonger;2595185]One of the main reasons why FilAms go back to the Philippines or go for the first time is a death in the family (most of them have a line in their wills that they need to take them back to the Philippines plot as a condition in the will) and seeing as there has been a back log of FilAms either not being allowed entry and "fear" that the Philippines is just not safe. The FilAm community that I am keyed into here in the US are all making plans to go to phils around December of 2022. It is kind of eerie when you think about how many dead bodies are in the cargo hold of a FilAm heavy flight to phils. Given covid and 3 years of back logged funerals I think we see a giant surge in travel to phils due to this wave. FilAms are what you call arte they usually stay in the best hotels sometimes coincide with the hotels we stay in so I'm betting on some of these hotels being fully booked for the funeral wave.[/QUOTE]
The 4 categories of quarantine in the Philippines
[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2594818]Careful what you wish for. NCR (and I think Laguna) will have the last day of ECQ today, and move to MECQ tomorrow for Aug 21-31. Supposedly the Modified ECQ is a less-strict form of ECQ. Other gents here, do I have that right?[/QUOTE]There are 4 categories of quarantine in the Philippines, ECQ, MECQ, GCQ and MGCQ with ECQ being the most severe and MGCQ being the least restrictive. I believe that a 'modified' ECQ is a less strict form of ECQ.
Cebu City is currently under MECQ and has been since the beginning of this month. Prior to that it had been on MGCQ since September of last year.
All the malls are open, taxis, motorbike taxis, busses and jeeps are running, but there is an overnight curfew from 10 pm.
Restaurants are open for take out, dine-in is allowed if they have outdoor seating (many at the malls do have outdoor seating), but dine-in inside the restaurant is strictly not allowed.
Bars and pubs are not allowed to sell liquor, most if not all have closed, and last Monday they reintroduced the liquor ban at supermarkets and convenience shops. Fortunately for me a local convenience shop is still willing to sell me beer (I bought some this afternoon) but they have to be very discrete for obvious reasons.
Quarantine passes have not been used here for many months, I forget exactly when they were no longer required.
When MECQ was imposed at the beginning of this month the management at my condo building were obliged to reintroduce a ban on residents bringing visitors into the building, the s/t hotel near Robinsons Galleria that I occasionally use has closed but there is another one nearby that as of 9 August was still open.
