2nd and 3rd Tier cities in Philippines

[firahs75]

Firahs75, have you ever been to the Philippines? Your generalizations are so off kilter I don't know where to start. If you want upwardly mobile females stay where you are. No country..BAR NONE... embraces western culture like the Philippines. "Filipinas of any stripe don't like foreigners"???? Yeah you are absolutely right!!! They hate foreigners, don't come. All they need is more over inflated wankers who couldn't hack it where they came from to pollute their country.

Dude, who shit in your cheerios? Relax...did you read the post? Did you even read my original post? I have not been to Phil...I was just quoting what someone else posted on another forum (that i am not a member of) that many other posters agreed with...i just wanted to get Taco's viewpoint...anyways, thanks Taco for your input.

I'm guessing that the other posters who agreed with the aforementioned statement probably had bad experiences...

[Zambales]

Truth is, Filipinas of any stripe don’t really like foreigners–-they vastly prefer their own kind. The lower-class ones go with us only out of necessity, which is why they also have the Pinoys-–losers though they may be–on the side, for true romance. The middle- and upper-class ones don’t need our money and despise us because to them we are all ‘mongers’. So great is the social stigma that they are ashamed to even be seen talking to us lest they be branded a ‘prostitute’. That is why one gets the ‘b*tch shields’ and cold-shoulders treatment from them. So we have two factors working against us–-the stigmatization, and the fact that most aren’t interested in us to begin with, stereotypes or not.

Whoever wrote this is talking crap. It's widely known that Pinoys don't make good husbands, hence the reason to why the women like Westerners as they see them to be more faithful. Obviously some are attracted in a financial sense but to tar every Filipina with the same brush is ludicrous. This is probably written by some bitter ageing dude who threw his money around like confetti and got scammed.

[firahs75]

CDO looks really appealing too with all the nearby attractions. Is CDO relatively safe for foreigners?

[Zambales]

I know someone online who either lives in CDO or goes there regularly and he thinks it's great. Don't think there's an abundance of attractions there though. I think people tend to go CDO for the white water rafting and maybe a few historical churches.

[firahs75]

I know someone online who either lives in CDO or goes there regularly and he thinks it's great. Don't think there's an abundance of attractions there though. I think people tend to go CDO for the white water rafting and maybe a few historical churches.

As far as attractions nearby, I was thinking of Iligan (waterfalls), the rafting, the ziplining and easy access to Camiguin and Bohol. There also seems to be decent (though not spectacular) beaches nearby. Plus it seems the nightlife is pretty good and your foreigner value would be pretty high since it doesnt get as many expats as Cebu or Dumaguete.

Hopefully, between the internet where I will be staying and a pocket LTE wifi, i can get good enough internet to do my work so i can stay longer. If not, I only have two weeks before I gotta go back. With such a short amount of time I prefer to stick to one place as a base. I narrowed it down to Cebu and CDO and I think both would be great, but I like the fact that CDO is not as heavily touristed. Too bad much of Mindanao is considered no go---it really looks fantastic!

[OutWest]

I know someone online who either lives in CDO or goes there regularly and he thinks it's great. Don't think there's an abundance of attractions there though. I think people tend to go CDO for the white water rafting and maybe a few historical churches.

As far as attractions nearby, I was thinking of Iligan (waterfalls), the rafting, the ziplining and easy access to Camiguin and Bohol. There also seems to be decent (though not spectacular) beaches nearby. Plus it seems the nightlife is pretty good and your foreigner value would be pretty high since it doesnt get as many expats as Cebu or Dumaguete.

Hopefully, between the internet where I will be staying and a pocket LTE wifi, i can get good enough internet to do my work so i can stay longer. If not, I only have two weeks before I gotta go back. With such a short amount of time I prefer to stick to one place as a base. I narrowed it down to Cebu and CDO and I think both would be great, but I like the fact that CDO is not as heavily touristed. Too bad much of Mindanao is considered no go---it really looks fantastic!

CDO is relatively safe with reasonable cautions. It is much cleaner and nicer than most of Cebu, and generally, the taxis are much more honest.
It is not spectacular- its just solid and stable. It is a good jump off point for a number of other locations.

[Zambales]

I know someone online who either lives in CDO or goes there regularly and he thinks it's great. Don't think there's an abundance of attractions there though. I think people tend to go CDO for the white water rafting and maybe a few historical churches.

As far as attractions nearby, I was thinking of Iligan (waterfalls), the rafting, the ziplining and easy access to Camiguin and Bohol. There also seems to be decent (though not spectacular) beaches nearby. Plus it seems the nightlife is pretty good and your foreigner value would be pretty high since it doesnt get as many expats as Cebu or Dumaguete.

Hopefully, between the internet where I will be staying and a pocket LTE wifi, i can get good enough internet to do my work so i can stay longer. If not, I only have two weeks before I gotta go back. With such a short amount of time I prefer to stick to one place as a base. I narrowed it down to Cebu and CDO and I think both would be great, but I like the fact that CDO is not as heavily touristed. Too bad much of Mindanao is considered no go---it really looks fantastic!

I've heard mixed reports about Iligan. Just recently I read of a foreigner being stalked while visiting the malls. I've also heard you need to be wary when visiting the waterfalls and it's advisable to not go there alone.

As for Bacolod, from what I saw of it, it looks a clean city.