THE PHILIPPINES’ FORUM FOR INTERNATIONAL READERS SINCE 1981
January 29-February 11, 2017 Vol. XXXV No. 5
STILL IN STORES
www.expatphilippines.ph
Newspaper
Two kids display how interactions used to be—without the use of screens—at the entrance of a souvenir shop beside the Banawe Rice Terraces in the province of Ifugao. Removed from the cacophony of the world below them, they have the luxury of a simpler life. Photo by C. Jude Defensor
Battling for the truth in the post-fact world
Phl to bolster medical tourism efforts By RICHARD RAMOS
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By TIMOTHY JAY IBAY
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iving in this country, it doesn’t take too long to realize that the Philippines is the most Americanized nation in Asia. Signages are in English, as are broadsheets; pop culture remains heavily influenced by the west, and as a lasting testament to the American influence, a country with an average male height of 5’7” is deeply, emotionally invested with the sport of basketball. But these days, the Philippines has managed to turn the tables. We got here first… well at least half a year ahead. The US has alternative truths, while we have hyperboles and jokes. US President Donald Trump wants to make America great
again by threatening corporations with punitive tariffs and forcing them to make consumer goods exponentially more expensive by manufacturing them in the US, while President Rodrigo Duterte wants to rescue his nation from the drug menace by purging the poor. Trump, from the outside looking in, and with his and his cabinet’s conflicts of interest, appear to have self-profit as the bottom line; while the Duterte administration, and this war on drugs, well… no one’s quite sure what the end game is. The parallels have been well documented as early as last year when Duterte took his seat as the President of the Philippines,
while Trump was spewing alternate reality pronouncements as the Republican party’s unlikely nominee. But one similarity that could eventually rear with it an understated relevance is the two populist leaders’ relationship with the media, and ultimately, the truth. Trump has a very public beef going on with the media, while in much the same way, the Duterte administration has not taken too kindly to the media reporting what the President says. Sowing seeds of distrust The media has had a long history of having a hand in
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hile the profile of a typical tourist spends more or less a predictable amount of money in the industry, the average medical tourist spends far more due to the need for medicines, medical equipment, services of medical experts, aside from the usual board and lodging requirements—thus making medical tourism a lucrative venture for the Philippines to explore further. More than the financial benefits, the Philippines also possesses the ideal qualities for a fitting medical destination by way of its large pool of qualified medical teams, many of which were trained in the US and other countries. What’s more, around half of all foreign nurses in the US are Filipino due to their natural caring nature, their patience, and English speaking skills that have endeared themselves to their foreign patients. page 3