Yeah completely different perspectives in the PI and it varies quite a bit island to island as well as do the people. My girl lives in Mindanao, South Cotabato. About 50% Moslem. Funny thing is in Mindanao what we call Al Queda influenced terrorist cells they properly refer to as Bandits. Pretty sure it's still under travel advisories, was my last visit anyways. Then there is the New Peoples Army and other "terrorist" organizations that don't even have weapons. It's all been a game Manilla plays with DC to suck out millions in "assistance".
Consequently folks in Luzon tend to regard folks from Mindanao as "bad people".
Some of the islands they are pretty obsessive about lightening complexion…Luzon is really hung up on it. Reason is something most Americans overlook, the PI has more actual Spanish influence then even Mexico. They were a colony of Spain well before Mexico and remained thus until around 1900 when we seized them. Like Mexico many of the powerful families bred within their own lines and don't look the least Asian. It's not uncommon to run into a gal with looks totally European but whose family has colonial roots and no, they won't ever be found as bar girls in Subic City, ect. Same families still speak Spanish as well.
The cuisine is a hodgepodge of Malay, Spanish, Chinese and American all blended together with liberal consumption of Tuba, Palm Wine
you get in very rural areas folks still eat things like Aso Adobe, a rich stew like dish made from Dog meat. Damn good eats actually but now technically illegal due to pressure from American do gooders.
It's always surprised me how the people have pushed past what should still illicit hate. After the Spanish American war you had the insurrection as the people attempted to seize their own destiny from America. As a result the US Government went on a full scale campaign of pacification. No one knows for sure how many men, women and children we murdered their, somewhere between hundreds of thousand and better than a million coupled with a vast system of Concentration Camps. It's figured we killed more civilians than the Japanese did during WWII. Funny thing is you talk to people they are like, That was old times, things are different today. No real ingrained bitterness towards America or the Japanese. My gals parents were both Guerrilla fighters against the Japanese yet had Japanese friends they introduced me to.
Another thing is America has been mostly kept in the dark about the Red Chinese laying claim to nearly all of the South China Sea all the way down to Indonesia and Brunai including a number of smaller islands that were Philippine territory
There have been actual invasions by Chinese Marines to seize a few islands, instead all Washington is concerned about are starving bandits in Mindanao. This is all slowly heating up and is a factor in why both Manilla and the Viets are courting DC to reopen our former Naval stations in their respective nations.
It really is a very neat place to visit, gal wants me to move there. She owns a fair bit of land stretched across three islands but I find the heat and humidity of Mindanao rather unbearable. Great to visit but I literally have to climb half way up the nearest volcano before I can get comfortable which about where she starts complaining it's getting "cold".
then there are the blackouts, sometimes for more than a day in rural Mindanao. Her fridge and freezer are always in a state of semi defrost. Normal to her, makes me a bit crazy.
That's not even getting into the Rats, literally the size of small cats…snared over a dozen last trip that were killing her chickens and other birds. Neighbors think I am some sort of wild man, they have forgot the use of snares and the like, just use poison for the most part.
Life in the Cities is much different but still plenty of Rats.
Did I mention I HATE Rats !
