Only Miles from Downtown Manila, where the tourists come, the wealthy shop and the businesses take hold, there is an entirely different world.
Despite being exhausted after a 13 hour plane ride from Amsterdam, the moment I got off I filled with excitement. It took a total of 10 minutes on the ground to pick up the feel of the Philippines and the hospitable people who call this their home. ‘Good day Ma'am, Mabuhay!', ‘welcome' in Tagalog, the national language yet just one of many Filipino dialects. An absolute feeling of comfort rushed over me, the people are just genuinely friendly and one can see happiness shining through their faces. Filipinos have a very positive and motivational outlook on life, despite whatever their personal positions. What is beneath this land of paradise? What are their lives like?
Heading into the city, we drove through what is known as ‘Metro Manila', an area so full of activity! People were crossing the busy 8 lane roads anywhere and everywhere. Jeepneys pulled over wherever they got the chance, to drop off and pick up anyone (jeepneys are the unofficial public transportation and the vehicles are modeled on the originals from the 1940's-- former US military vans). People were on bikes carrying just about anything, items of twice their size. The city was bustling with everybody in a hurry to get where they're going. We were stuck in much traffic, something virtually impossible not to get stuck in with a city population of 12 million. At the moment that the car pulled to a halt, swarms of young children ages 5-12 walked up to the car trying to sell flowers, rags and any other small objects they could find.
In every direction I looked there was so much going on, that of a typical chaotic Asian City. We began to enter the center of Manila called ‘Makati' (The Wall Street of the Philippines), driving towards Glorietta Mall, a mall owned by the Ayala Family, a family who owns many large corporation buildings, malls and Ayala Alabang village. They're the second richest family in the Philippines. Glorietta mall is massive with major corporations, hotels and restaurants in its surroundings. As we pulled around I noticed a very clear separation between the bustling streets of Manila and which surrounds and is within the mall.
‘Gucci', ‘Louis Vuitton', ‘Prada', being names of some stores we passed in our attempt to find a parking place. This is the part of Manila where all the major multinational corporation offices are, where the expats spend their days and this is where the tourists stay. ‘The Peninsula', ‘the Shangri-la', ‘the Intercontinental' and ‘The Hilton' were the top end hotels I noticed in passing. Glorietta is not considered one of the biggest malls, yet in comparison to every mall I've entered before in many countries around the world, it is absolutely massive and very crowded.
I walked into numerous shops, noting down the difference of how people were in general. They were as helpful as possible, quickly running off to get you a better size clothing item if what's being tried on didn't fit.
My father decided a good way to see the wealthy side of Manila before seeing the poverty stricken side would be to go with him to the club; I took this opportunity to explore it. ‘Manila Golf' is world famous and the most prestigious golf club of the Philippines. It is recognized as the most exclusive country club in Asia, and, oh yes, can you tell. I was quickly urged to swap my flip-flops for my elegant sandals and changed my t-shirt for a polo shirt. Every member of Manila Golf is well known, very wealthy and has some form of power in the Philippines. There are only 500 members and even buying a share before one could become a member would cost 250, 000 pounds, along with further annual fees. Not just ‘anyone' can gain access to a membership; this is the exclusive of all exclusives. As I walked around I noticed that the golfers had employees holding umbrellas over them to block the sun and handheld fans to keep the golfers from getting too hot. As I'm getting ready to leave and meet up with my father, he points out a man that he had been talking to only minutes before, "That man is the 3rd richest man in the Philippines, the 10th in Asia. He is a billionaire and not the only one who comes to this club". I was shocked.
It was overwhelming to see such a foundation of wealthy people, shops and organizations that were clearly not standing for the entire population of the Philippines, this is not how most Filipinos actually live. From my first drive in Manila to its high end lifestyle, I had not seen much of how Filipinos lived. Overall, more than 1 in 3 lives in destitute poverty, under $1/day. I had to see the ‘exclusive' side of Manila just too truly see how ill-distributed the country's wealth is and has been. I had to be able to see a mix of how people live and was completely astonished as to what I saw.
