Manila is in Shambles. do you agree?

Hi LK, So, now may I recommend my region to be visited by tourists---BICOL particularly my province--CAMARINES SUR! A great place to see. Better visit my place now LK and give your thoughts about my province. i could not comment much about Manila but i am proud to be a Bikolana!

Manila is way overcrowded and really not what it used to be ten or even twenty years back. It has lost its charm and even I who grew up here feel very uncomfortable having to travel its streets at night. A lot of provinces that I used to frequent have also changed. There are still a lot of places that you can go to where the beauty is still untouched but the sad thing is that most likely foreigners are the first ones to get there and by the time we know about it, it's already a sprawling beach resort.

hello LK, I have read every words written. Actually the writer has no intention to degrade Manila. He clearly write the comparison 20 years ago. Now...this is my say 20 years ago and that was during the MARCOS regime So..the writer only wanted to say that 20 yrs ago,MANILA is a better place and best place to visit all over ASEAN countries... Wanna bet other Philippine presidents?

For starters, traffic is a worldwide problem. I've seen the hotel the blogger was referring to and he could be telling the truth but I can't comment since I haven't been a patron. But like you said it was purely a subjective point of view and something that we should respect. I myself would agree to what he said, all we need to do is look around and see poverty everywhere. We may have business districts all over the metro but in its outskirts are shambles of squatters and they just keep increasing. I've been on a few airplane rides and I never enjoyed the view over Metro manila as the view from up there is more of an eye sore. Yes it's true that there are a lot of beautiful places in the Philippines but when you see how the folks live and if you're not used to the kind of lifestyle they lead just like the blogger who seems to demand to be served like a king for a penny, then we would likely get more blogs like this.

Ignore him sweetie. I actually hope he will read my comment and respond to it. I am fed-up with people posting such crap. As if our countries are better. He should come and visit S.A. That will shock the hell out of him.

yes....I agree 100% and it will continue on until something is done ASAP....forget the government,winning a multi million peso lottery is more likely to happen than expecting the government to do something about the problems Manila faces everyday.Majority of those problems are the people themselves and things that they do on a daily basis,such as throwing garbage everywhere,peeing and many other negative things too many to mention.therefore I suggest to all Manilenos to put it upon themselves to do even the simplest of things to change from being part of the problem to becoming part of the solution.......it can be achieved.....discipline people!!!!! In my observation(mine)most Filipinos take offense or being sensitive to something that's been said or written deemed negative about the country,the people and almost anything and everything in between,be it an impression,opinion,criticism,or just a mere observation. We can't fault anyone especially visitors from other countries to have a bad impression of Manila,the traffic,pollution,overcrowding,dirt to name but a few.That's not very welcoming,is it?and not a very good first impression at that. Iv'e been asked many times by people wanting to visit the Philippines,places to go and things to do.....my reply would be...anywhere but Manila,Stay away from it.....as I do whenever I'm in the Philippines. I know,I know you all must be thinking what is up with me badmouthing Manila like that..honestly,there's just nothing to like about the City I mean nothing,nada,zip.

oh things change, people buy cars, discovery suites is in the city, a business district and i would say that of course this is situated in the busy area of the manila. Even the busiest cities of other countries are not free from traffic. you want no traffic, go to the provinces and not on the city. reviewing one city and totally sending a bad message of the whole country, is not fair, in my opinion.

Yeah. That is a shame. Thanks for sharing.

LetranKnight25, I don't think an insensitive one sided blog from a Brit or at least that's what he calls himself does not have to represent Manila as a whole. After all, which Asian capital isn't facing traffic congestion, pollution and over population. I am just surprised considering that he professed having been to Bangkok and he would still condemn Manila when the problem is almost equally problematic. I say, don't take it at face value here. I am sure Manila is still trying to solve her own problems just like every other country with massive traffic congestion problems. I am sure it is not right for anyone to write-off Manila just because of some blogger.

Hmmm, what can I say? I have to agree to his post. Even I don't want to stay in Manila. It's way too crowded, trafficked, dirty, raining... I thought I didn't like staying in Zamboanga, but thinking back, I have to say my life there was more of a vacation. For example. I lived in a mountainous area. When people learn where I live they'll comment how far I live, how dangerous for me to go home at night, etc. But going to work and school only takes about 30 minutes. Now that I live in a metropolitan, there's public transportation just outside my house (and I don't have to walk a kilometer to the highway like I used to) it's taking me 2 hours just to get to work! Maybe we should do something about the situation of our country. We shouldn't just keep relying on the government when they are so "busy". I have also noticed how Filipinos don't like to refurnish/renovate their homes/buildings. Even when they already look old and dirty, people still don't do anything about it. Maybe that's why the city looks like a dump, no one's cleaning up. Another example is this boarding house I'm in. The bathroom doorknobs are already rusty and are difficult to use, admin still won't change it. The lavatory is clogged and non-functional, they still won't repair it. The kitchen sink is leaking and they just decided to put rags. How nice. That's Filipino mentality. They would postpone spending for renovations/repairs that would actually be considered an investment. The by-product then is dump.

Every person has a different point of views and opinion, What he did in the blog was looking for the mistakes and unpretty places here in our country, if that's what he think to our country then we have nothing to do about it or change his view, though the fact that what he is saying is to disgrace our nation, there is still a part of it is true. But there are still beautiful places here that he can look around or we can look and share to others so that the others who's seen his blog might think also that all this blogger saying are not all true. And also this is not only happening in the Philippines particularly in Manila, we can see also some traffics and bad services in the other country as well..

Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. He is correct though, the only problem is, he've experienced a lot decent things and most people in the Philippines haven't. Only a few know what good coffee tastes like, and even fewer can afford good ones. We have old equipment because that's all we can afford. Fault of the government, majorly yes. His hotel wasn't decent, oh well, atleast he has a bed to sleep to. It's all a matter of opinion. I agree on every point that he said. Manila is becoming more of a wasteland everyday, and every one living there is contributing to its demise. Even if I agree with him though, my eyes are opened to the real reason behind, which gives me a more understanding and compassionate heart

He has all the right to air his dismay in staying in Discovery Hotel and may this serves as an eye opening to the staff and employees of the said hotel. I think even us suffer the heavy traffic and I think Manila government must read the blog and do something about the traffic. Sometimes it takes a foreigner to get some local government get on their feet and do their job.

I agree, it's not only happening in Manila, although more on it.... whenever i watch movies especially if the setting is from other Asian countries filming in an overpopulated areas, especially those Parkour running chases between an important character versus bad soldiers where they are chasing each other on top of scrambled squatter buildings in some European Countries.... and also the important character versus syndicates chases each other in the connecting boats and connected buildings in HongKong.... but... the only negative views that i notice in Manila is when we reach Manila Port Harbour before as the Passenger Ship is about to prepare docking.... those black waters with garbage as you might see if you are standing leaning at the sides of the ship..... when you bypass Manila Break Waters.... and those Break Waters are lots of houses illegally built there.... it was way back year 1993, and i don't know it about now....