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During my recent visits to Manila. I have observed women are far more free and safer than most other places I have visited or the news stories I read about.

Whenever I go out to meet a date, they have no issue travelling at night or day anytime. Even 2 AM feel safe for women. Being from India, women here in big cities are not safe even during day time, I have sometimes asked them...is it ok for them to travel alone at night etc, due to my work in US hours, I'm free mostly after 2 AM PH time and they are intrigued by my questions. They are used to travelling at night. I have met dates way past mid night, saw many women travelling alone at night in bus along EDSA.

Sure, there are car napping, jeepney holdupers, mobile - bag snacthers etc...however, compare to the crime ratio, women feel far more safe in Philippines. I have even seen some Indian girls working in call center in Manila late out at night in BGC.

I searched this observation a bit more online as the freedom I sensed from Filipina women is far higher than any other place.

Philippines better than US, UK in gender equality

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/10/25/ ... r-equality

The Philippines is among top nations in the world with the best equality between genders, a new World Economic Forum (WEF) study said.

The country, the highest-ranked in Asia, moved up 3 notches from its ranking in 2012

PH best in gender equality in Asia-Pacific

http://business.inquirer.net/149083/ph- ... uality-wef

“The Philippines remains the most advanced country in the [Asia-Pacific] region in terms of gender equality, ranking fifth in the global index. It improved as a result of advances in economic participation and opportunity, a subindex of the report, as well as by having a strong score in terms of political participation,” the WEF said in a statement on Friday.

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That has to be it. Infact after Scandinavian countries. Philippines is the place. It is number 1 place for women in Asia. Women are everywhere in Philippines. Credit also goes to Filipino men for not holding the women down. From receptionist to bus ticket collector to doctors to nurses to businesswomen to security guards at mall. They are everywhere. People from west many not notice this change, since I'm from one of the most repressed places for women, when I go to Ph, I can observe the drastic contract between two places.

Its not only related to dating. Philippines is overall a safe place for women. I love the freedom Philippines offers for women. It makes the life of men easier too.

It depends what you consider as gender equality. In Philippines gender equality is highly advanced which means that men and women are equally poor.

Interesting, many of these Filipina women, even those women who had a higher education and are in good position - working in a bank or accounting office in the Philippines - are lining up at the Japanese embassy for a visa to work in a country as a room cleaner or kitchen helper. Japan and South Korea too received lowest ratings regarding gender equality.

Interesting also to notice that Japan compared to Philippines is much safer day and night for everybody.
In Japan in front of any shopping mall there is neither a guardman nor a guardwoman to keep away street children and beggars.
There is no narrow gate for checking visitors, just enter ....


You mentioned India, but it is well-known that India has horrible feminist-friendly laws, which are prone to abuse. Indian women are not always the victims. In case of 498A not only the husband is suffering but his mother and other relatives of the family too.
Check out about dowry fraud:
http://www.498a.org/498aexplained.htm

Yohan wrote:It depends what you consider as gender equality. In Philippines gender equality is highly advanced which means that men and women are equally poor.

LOL that's a low blow from you We know what Starchild5 was refererring to, and I believe it's true. I have never seen a society where women are so well represented from the highest echelons (2 women presidents, Cory and Macapagal Arroyo, against 0 in the US and the Thatcher in "progressive" UK) to normal functions in public institutions and private companies. And it's all the more amazing when one thinks that the strict patriarchal rule still requires these smart working women to take care of their hubbies and kids, cook and clean, etc.

Of course middle class families can usually afford a maid, still I have seen quite a few examples of formidable women who would juggle a full-time job and a large family without much help from their husbands and male family members. It's more or less the same in Colombia, if you ask me.

Yohan wrote:Interesting, many of these Filipina women, even those women who had a higher education and are in good position - working in a bank or accounting office in the Philippines - are lining up at the Japanese embassy for a visa to work in a country as a room cleaner or kitchen helper. Japan and South Korea too received lowest ratings regarding gender equality.

That should give you an idea of how prepared some of these Filipino women are, to sacrifice their right to be close to their children and husbands, to work their bottoms off while living at the fringes of their host society, just so they can make some extra money and build a better life for their family back home.

When I was living in Milan, in a company flat, the maid under contract with my employer was a Filipino woman called Angelica. She told me she had a degree in political science and worked as an accountant for PWC in Manila. When she had to go from respected professional to illegal immigrant in Italy, making a living out of brushing toilets and ironing shirts, she felt her entire world collapsing on her. At home she had left 3 young children, taken care of by her mother, and a husband who obviously started screwing around the day after she left. Her pain was only soothed as she realised her savings would go quite a long way to help her family, build a bigger house, send her children to private high schools and colleges, etc.

One has got to respect these kinds of women. They're probably as strong as a hardcore feminist's dream, without being feminist.

The OP titled this about safety and then went into issues of gender equality. BTW, I do agree that politically, socially and even in business, Filipinas have an equality that many cultures don't have.

But back to the topic of safety. First off, I don't agree that most Filipinas walk alone. Most young women walk in groups, not just for safety but because it's a communal culture. However the bottom line is that if you see Filipinas walking out and about (whether alone or in a group), even in the middle of the night, it is not because they feel safe - it is because they have to - what is the alternative.

A recent experience: my 20 year old SIL is a junior in college and works to put herself through school. She and a driver make deliveries to stores and then once a week she picks up the payments. The payments are in cash which she puts in her purse. You can probably guess the rest. Two motorbikes descended on them while they were in the car in a store parking lot. A gun appeared and the purse was demanded. Undoubtedly these guys had been casing the situation. By Philippines standards there was a large amount of cash in the purse - plenty of shabu for the two thieves.

Now in my country this method of doing business would be considered nuts. My SIL is traumatized but what else is she to do? If she gives up her job her chances of graduating college are poor. So she continues to work and is terrified.

Fortunately though, my wife called the business owners (at 4:00 AM ) and insisted they find a better way and they agreed. The husband picked up the phone and then handed it to his wife saying, "it's xxx's sister." Another example of gender equality I suppose. My wife let her have it and they promised to find a better way. We will see.

Filipinos/as do lots of things that no one in their right minds would do in the West. It aint because they feel safe - it's just the way life is in the Philippines.

BTW, I'm trying to figure out how to get my SIL some mace/pepper spray, hoping that in some way that will make her feel a bit safer.

publicduende wrote:
..... I have never seen a society where women are so well represented from the highest echelons (2 women presidents, Cory and Macapagal Arroyo, against 0 in the US and the Thatcher in "progressive" UK) to normal functions in public institutions and private companies.

..... the maid under contract with my employer was a Filipino woman called Angelica. She told me she had a degree in political science and worked as an accountant for PWC in Manila. When she had to go from respected professional to illegal immigrant in Italy, making a living out of brushing toilets and ironing shirts,

One has got to respect these kinds of women. They're probably as strong as a hardcore feminist's dream, without being feminist.

What you write here does not sound very supportive for a female leadership and gender equality in Asia.

You mention only Filipina women working abroad, but what about these Filipino men, working on ships, constructions etc. overseas doing all this dangerous and dirty and heavy work?

If you ask me to respect Filipina women working overseas for their families, I cannot help to ask you to respect Filipino men working overseas for their families too in return.

Women in Philippine politics: As far as I know, Ms. Arroyo is still under criminal investigation for missing of millions of USD. Bail refused since years. She tried to flee Philippines but was arrested on the way to the airport. Both women, Aquino and Arroyo came only in power because of their family clan and their husbands and their connection with politicians in USA.

You forgot to mention Imelda Marcos and Imee Marcos, who are still in political power, claiming that Philippines was never so chaotic, corrupt, poor and unsafe with late Ferdinand Marcos Sen. as it is now - and they are not so wrong to say that...

Same situation in other Asian countries:
Women in other Asian countries did not perform well and were not very successful too: Pakistan (got a parcel with explosives), India (shot by her bodyguard), Bangladesh and Indonesia (were asked to leave as soon as possible), Thailand (removed by military coup) and finally we have South Korea, the daughter of a former dictator.

About USA and a female president, the situation is different from Asia - all what is required is only to be elected by voting - but despite USA has more female than male voters and plenty of aggressive feminists, the majority decided NOT to vote for a female candidate. The situation in USA cannot be compared with Asian governments.

I send also parcels with materials not used in Japan anymore to Philippines frequently. I also paid a lot for medical help as Philippines has no health services for abandoned children - pay cash or die early. I send - since many years - 1000s of Euro to the Philippines to help my Filipina fosterdaughter to help her until she can support herself.

I do not expect any thanks for that, but to claim that it is only the Filipina woman who is working overseas to support her family in Philippines - your so-called 'hardcore feminist dream' - and to disregard all the Filipino men and these many foreigners who help the poor in Philippines is hard to accept.

davewe wrote:The OP titled this about safety and then went into issues of gender equality. BTW, I do agree that politically, socially and even in business, Filipinas have an equality that many cultures don't have.

But back to the topic of safety.

Might be that Filipinas have equality, but this does not help them, the living standard did not improve because of gender equality - more the opposite, as Philippines is one of the poor countries in Asia, no question about it. It is 3 times poorer than Thailand and China, with plenty of street children, a lot of malnutrition and missing medical care.

About safety: Compared to other countries in Asia, security is bad in Philippines. The Philippine people I know personally will all tell you long stories about burglary, robbery, rape, killings, gun-fights, violence + alcoholism etc.etc.

Walking together? My fosterdaughter and her 2 friends were robbed at gunpoint near St.Carlos University in Cebu during daytime, the daughter of the caretaker, who always takes care of her and other children was attacked in early evening but could escape before being raped. The caretaker was also a victim of robbery after selling items in the market in Mandaue. The little house I constructed was subject to burglary, even stealing the toilet bowl and the food of the carpenter working there... The Robinson Department was robbed in morning by gunmen, resulting in dead gangsters and security guards and severely injured policemen.

There is hardly any Filipino, who has never experienced any contact with criminals - A Filipino I know well working in Tokyo has robbed at knifepoint in the airport in Manila while transferring from international to domestic flight. etc. etc.

Security in Southern Philippines is worst, very dangerous - killings and kidnappings by terrorist groups are 'normal', the daily way of life...
Gender equality? I do not see a Filipina woman there in the Philippine army who tries to regulate such issues with a gun...

Yohan wrote:What you write here does not sound very supportive for a female leadership and gender equality in Asia.

You mention only Filipina women working abroad, but what about these Filipino men, working on ships, constructions etc. overseas doing all this dangerous and dirty and heavy work?

If you ask me to respect Filipina women working overseas for their families, I cannot help to ask you to respect Filipino men working overseas for their families too in return.

You have probably misunderstood me. Referring to the hard work and spirit of sacrifice shown by women does not negate the hard work of Filipino men involved in overseas jobs that are equally humble or (as it happens with men) stressful and dangerous. I respect any human being who works hard to give a better future to their loved ones, especially when that choice implies being away for months or years on end.

I was singling out the scenario, which is quite common, of women who choose to go from degree-level office jobs to scrubbing toilets and cooking in some upper middle class family home in Dubai, or Singapore. I am sure men could mute their pride and make such choices too, but judging from those I have spoken to (especially when I was Milan) the overwhelming majority of these cases involve women.

What makes the condition of female migrants in Italy even worse is that the vast majority of them are illegal, and once in the country will be able to find jobs with pay and treatment levels without a regular contract and usually far below statutory. What is excruciatingly painful, they must be prepared to live far from their families and not be back to the Philippines until they manage to get their illegal status regularised into a proper permit to stay. A process that, by Italian law, may take between 11 to 15 years!

The saving grace is that, at least in the past, the government ran semi-random amnesties every few years, and many of the luckier women were able to take advantage of them and get their visas after about a third of that time. Yet even then, can you or any family man imagine what it means for a mum to support their children financially and yet be condemned to only see them in framed pictures, mobile photos or Skype video calls, this for years?

Yohan wrote:Women in Philippine politics: As far as I know, Ms. Arroyo is still under criminal investigation for missing of millions of USD. Bail refused since years. She tried to flee Philippines but was arrested on the way to the airport. Both women, Aquino and Arroyo came only in power because of their family clan and their husbands and their connection with politicians in USA.

You forgot to mention Imelda Marcos and Imee Marcos, who are still in political power, claiming that Philippines was never so chaotic, corrupt, poor and unsafe with late Ferdinand Marcos Sen. as it is now - and they are not so wrong to say that...

Same situation in other Asian countries:
Women in other Asian countries did not perform well and were not very successful too: Pakistan (got a parcel with explosives), India (shot by her bodyguard), Bangladesh and Indonesia (were asked to leave as soon as possible), Thailand (removed by military coup) and finally we have South Korea, the daughter of a former dictator.

About USA and a female president, the situation is different from Asia - all what is required is only to be elected by voting - but despite USA has more female than male voters and plenty of aggressive feminists, the majority decided NOT to vote for a female candidate. The situation in USA cannot be compared with Asian governments.

I obviously threw the Cory Aquino and Arroyo in simply to show that female power brokers in Filipino society and economy are ubiquitous and extend to every level of society. I didn't really want to make a judgement call on their moral superiority.

Yohan wrote:I send also parcels with materials not used in Japan anymore to Philippines frequently. I also paid a lot for medical help as Philippines has no health services for abandoned children - pay cash or die early. I send - since many years - 1000s of Euro to the Philippines to help my Filipina fosterdaughter to help her until she can support herself.

I do not expect any thanks for that, but to claim that it is only the Filipina woman who is working overseas to support her family in Philippines - your so-called 'hardcore feminist dream' - and to disregard all the Filipino men and these many foreigners who help the poor in Philippines is hard to accept.

You seem to be quite hypersensitive on this. Once again, I was making a statement on women who have to give up their social and professional status to do degrading jobs abroad, often on an illegal migrant status. It might just be me, but I see that as an expression of a strong will and spirit of sacrifice. Perhaps there are as many men who do just that, but I don't happen to know any, while I know crowds of women who work hard for 10 years, paid under the table, get their visa and are then able to travel back and forth to the Philippines or bring the rest of their families back to their host countries.

It's equality I wanted to stress, not partiality or exclusivity. Your anti-feminist antennas can go back to rest

.

Hello,

Females feeling 'safe' around men all the time is very foolish!

[~} It negates the basic pleasure of being a man. Since we are dominant, why would we want females to feel safe when they are alone? It means they don't require us ~ just as a woman working means she doesn't need her husband to financially support her, thus rendering him meaningless in a big way and negating another purpose for his living {(an equally big problem is that she can divorce him ~ thus leading to her not having to be obedient and also to broken families, which are very bad and actually should be a crime against humanity)}.

If men can be thought of as trees, males in the non-American world the previous 20 years are cutting their own branches off by giving females equality and moving further and FURTHER away from the truth of how male-female interactions are supposed to be. This is entirely happening because not 1 of the 3 nations of Russia, China or India opposed feminism 20 years ago. I continue to hammer this point because of its severity and ramifications for the world and the future billions of people!! The ramifications will probably last thousands of years!!

~ The patriarchy isn't simply a system meant to dominate females based on the male's need to dominate ~ it's a LOGICAL system based on feelings that's necessary for the mental health of males.

publicduende wrote: It's equality I wanted to stress, not partiality or exclusivity. Your anti-feminist antennas can go back to rest

I am only pointing out the fact that gender equality does not mean necessarily a higher living standard for women.

Gender equality, a main argument to promote feminism does not mean a better position for women.
In Philippines men and women are 'equally jobless'.

Philippine politicians, regardless if they are male or female, are 'equally corrupt' and do not care about their country, but more about their banking accounts overseas.

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GGGR13/GGG ... s_2013.pdf

Interesting, in Asian countries which do not care much about gender equality, oppressed women are doing remarkably well, take a look and compare Tokyo and Seoul with Manila...

Japan and South Korea are far worse rated than Philippines, their rankings are even below those of Bangladesh and Vietnam, can you imagine that?

I cannot help to say that feminism & gender equality is non-productive BS-talk.

starchild5 wrote:During my recent visits to Manila. I have observed women are far more free and safer than most other places I have visited or the news stories I read about.
.....
I love the freedom Philippines offers for women. It makes the life of men easier too.

About which places are you talking?

Please can you explain which countries you visited ...

And please can you explain how gender equality makes the life of men 'easier'?

http://business.inquirer.net/149083/ph- ... uality-wef

I recommend not only to read the article, but also the follow-up comments which speak for themselves.

Hello,

In my estimation, the following occurred ~

[~} Japanese men were already obsessed with copying U.S.A. because of having the atom-bombs thrown on them. Hiroh-shimah and Naga-Saakeh made them into cultural and military-slaves because of Stockholm-Syndrome. However, they still felt the subconscious need for retribution and decided to do this economically, on their master's terms {(non-militarily because they didn't want to get into another war with U.S.A., now that their empire was destroyed. U.S.A. didn't allow Japan to build its military at any rate)}. This lead to the next situation ~

[~} Japanese men were already over-worked and prone to stress. Living in a culture with crowded conditions and working 70 hours a week to compete with a superpower thousands of kilometres away {(and one which had a much larger land-mass, population and allies, and dictated the rules of the economic competition)} takes a massive toll on a populace. It leads to a super-competitive culture and stressful and tired people. This lead to the current situation ~

[~} During the late 1990s to the 1950s, Japanese women had the reputation for being the best wives in the world. They were perfect house-wives. However, with the advent of feminism {(women's jobs, women's sports, women's education)} on a mass-scale in Japan in the late 1980s/early 1990s, the Japanese men went mad. As will always happen, a male's brain will get badly affected if females enter the labour-force and society in general and are not under control of their husbands. The Japanese men were already suffering from Stockholm-Syndrome {(coupled with a semi-cognizant desire for revenge against their master)}. This, coupled with the stress due to the factors mentioned in the previous point, led the Japanese culture to decay very quickly. By the mid-1990s, Japanese culture had become a strange cesspool with all sorts of disgusting things that I cannot even name!!!!! I have heard horror-stories of the kinds of things Japanese men read about and the kind of 'cartoons' in their comics and cartoon-serials. It is a very very very VERY VERY mentally ill nation, even more so than U.S.A.!

[~} Just as China and India and Russia have contacted U.S.A.'s culture when the latter was in serious decline, especially morally, you have misconstrued Japan and South Korea's great infrastructure and technology. These were the product of the hard-work of the patriarchal males from the 1940s-1990s. Japan and South Korea, just like U.S.A., are being carried because of momentum of being great societies the last 80 - 50 years. Their ascension wasn't because of feminism! But their suffering in quality of life for mostly the men and children will be because of feminism.

[~} China, Russia and India also made the same mistake 20 years ago ~ the IDIOTS don't realise that bringing in half the labour-force will get a much bigger monetary and economic reward temporarily ~ however, the quality of life will suffer, most for the males and then the children {(and ultimately for the females as well because they will be deprived of normal mother-hood and wife-hood)}. But the biggest lost is for the males ~ they will be deprived of their masculinity because of the intrusion of the female into the virile, and also because of the effacement of the feminine. There is an even bigger problem because divorces will happen easily ~ this leads to step-children and additional loss of quality of life. We haven't even taken into account the nursing-homes that will be necessary because females won't be there to take care of the parents. Or the evil day-cares that will sprout. Or the sub-human diet of fast-food many days of the week because the wife is not cooking for the family at home.

FEMINISM HAS SO MANY ILLS AND EVILS. THESE ARE JUST A FEW. THE AMAZING THING ISN'T THAT ONE SEES THESE PROBLEMS WITH IT. THE AMAZING THING IS THAT NO COUNTRY SEES THOSE PROBLEMS!

Yohan,

You are bringing in Economic Equations to the context which my thread was not meant for. What is your point about Gender Equality Does not bring Economic Progress...Well, We all know, Gender INEQUALITY does not bring Economic progress as well. That was the reason, I did not bring economic progress into gender equality, because on both sides. It does not matter.

Look at Saudi Arabia worse than India - PH also, but economically better.. So whats your point in that?..I can as well point to progress of Middle East and Suppression of women there...?

Economic Prosperity has nothing whatsoever to do with Freedom and liberty of women.

Also, Crime rate in PH does not co-relate to womens freedom in Philippines, because we have places in Africa which are far worse in crime and women are still not free, we have Middle Eastern places like Saudi, Qatar which is safe places for women but not free for women.

Take out Crime and Economy = Freedom of women. As we know both does not matter on either side. We have Japan and Saudi Arabia as prime example and both places does not have female representation like Philippines.

Filipino men do not pin down on Filipina women like in other countries however, Filipinas are still able to maintain their feminine nature when they are free.

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When I go on a date. The girl does not have to take "Permission" from parents to go out for them to decide. They just have to "Inform" them. That's what I love about Philippines. The women are allowed to make their own decisions. In India, Even Men are not allowed to do that

The reason, I picked the article URL was, there is no article to reference what I have noticed while dating Filipinas. The closest I could come was "Gender Equality" Articles which I posted. You are completely missing the point I think due to the articles I have posted.

The article came later, the economy, crime came later before that there has to be a situation when Men decided to let women think for themselves that is I believe the greatest strength of Philippines especially being a third world country, it commendable even more.

starchild5 wrote:Yohan,
You are bringing in Economic Equations to the context which my thread was not meant for. What is your point about Gender Equality Does not bring Economic Progress...Well, We all know, Gender INEQUALITY does not bring Economic progress as well..

Hello,
I am unsure about the purpose of your thread, which is called 'Philippines is a very safe place for women' - but offering links to the World Economic Forum - a pro-feminist organization - concerning gender equality.

I am very familiar with Philippines, especially Cebu area, because of my Filipina fosterdaughter, people next to her, and also because of Philippine staff in our office in Tokyo. I visited Philippines, Cebu many times during the last 30 years.

About safe place for women - if you talk about criminality, subversive activity etc. - Philippines is not a safe place, neither for Philippine women, nor for foreigners. Especially during nighttime, in Philippines it is getting dark early, most shops, malls etc. are closed past 9 PM. Other countries in Asia are much safer for sure. Plenty of criminals, street children, beggars ...

To claim that gender inequality does not bring economic progress... In Asia it seems that countries which don't care about gender equality are economically advanced. Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and of course Brunei despite Sharia law are for sure economically much better off than Philippines.

Freedom and liberty of women in the Philippines? It depends on the status of those women - if you are born into poverty with barely enough to survive, always hungry, without any medical care and living as a homeless in the street or as a squatter, it does not matter if you are a man or a woman, your freedom and liberty is rather worthless. What can you do with all your freedom and liberty?

Women are allowed to make their own decisions? Not really, as long as they are still minors, Philippines is not something like Europe, where parents (or single mothers) have no rights anymore. Even as young adults, many Filipina daughters are not free to do what they like, as many of them are still studying and have no regular job or home - they risk to be kicked out of the house, school fees not paid by the parents, no daily allowance, no money for shoppings, mobile phone, internet, health insurance cancelled etc. etc.

At least all these young Filipinas I know have to ask for permission in advance when going out for parties, dating etc. Alcohol, cigarettes, sex with boyfriends etc. often is a 'zero - absolute no' - My house, my rules...
This is true also for my fosterdaughter in Cebu who is now 19, but there are no problems with her, she always follows what is told to her by me or her caretaker.