Philippines Country Information - What to Expect

Philippines President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Now enjoying her second presidential term.
You will see her name on social projects throughout the Islands as the Philippines makes progress.

The Philippines
The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands.
The sea is blue and clear around beautiful, remote tropical islands and legendary scuba diving spots.

The archipelago's best resource is the friendliness and laid-back attitude of the people.

The Philippines has some superb luxury resorts. The country is good value, the food is delicious, and English is widely spoken. Tourism has yet to expand to the level of Thailand and other countries, so the Philippines is not yet featured in many of the main brochures, it therefore has not suffered from over development.

Climate
The Philippines is always warm with temperatures in the high eighties all year round. It enjoys a humid tropical climate cooled by sea breezes. The rainy season is between June and September and the dry season is between October and May. There is only a slight risk of typhoons in the rainy season in the south and central regions.

Philippine Standard Time
8 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. 8 hours behind Pacific time in the USA & Canada.

Festivals
Each town in the Philippines holds their own festival. Many are ancient rituals and a colourful and exciting spectacle.

Business Hours
Banks 9am to 3pm. Mon. to Fri. Most Department stores are open on Sundays and Holidays.

Ethnic Origin, Language & People
Cultural descendants of many Asian & European countries, including Polynesia, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Portugal & Spain. The Philippine language is Tagalog and the Cebuanos have their own dialect. English is the language of business.
They have great respect for foreigners, which is apparent by their friendliness, you will greeted by a smile wherever you go in the Philippines.

Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic & Muslim in Mindanao.

Getting There
Manila is 14 hours flying time from the UK. An increasing number of people are discovering the charm of the Philippines & now more than a dozen different airlines are serving the 3 main International gateways into the country.

Communications
The international access code for the Philippines is +0063. The code for Cebu is 32. Manila is 2.

The major towns and cities are covered by the mobile networks of Smart & Globe and therfore probably compatible with Vodaphone & Orange. Check with your service provider.
Broadband and Wi-Fi is available in the cities.

Getting Around
Excursions and transfers are often difficult if you don’t know your way around.
Taxis are cheap and plentiful.

The jeepney is the common form of transport. These are leftover jeeps from WW2 that have been modified and personalised.

Sadly now disappearing as the drivers and customers prefer the new Japanese air con ‘vans’ painted to look like old style jeepneys.

Internet cafes
These are freely available in large towns and some of the beach resorts. Broadband is available in many Hotel rooms in Manila & Cebu City.

Dress
Smart casual when out and about. You only have a 20 kgs baggage allowance, so you can travel light & let the Hotels take care of your laundry at very reasonable prices.

Shopping
Manila has plenty for shoppers with all the variety and quality of International names at a fraction of UK and USA prices.

'Must' visits are to the Air Conditioned Ayala Shopping Mall adjacent to the Marriott Hotel in Cebu City, Robinsons and many other Malls in Manila.

Huge savings compared to European shops can be made here. Designer Label clothes with familiar names include, Marks and Spencer, Levis, Giordano, Human, Guess, Rolex, Tag Heuer and others.

Numerous boutique shops in abundance with Ralph Lauren, Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Yves St.Laurent, Calvin Klein labels at various locations.

Other bargains include walk-in dental treatment and prescription spectacles.

Eating Out
Generally excellent, there are plenty of restaurants at value for money prices making this one of the cheapest countries in the world for dining out.

The Philippine cuisine is similar to Chinese style with a lot of meat and rice dishes.

American style fast food restaurants abound.

An abundance of Lobster, shrimps, crab, white fish and others are freely available at unbelievable prices.

If you would like to find out things to do and local attractions, click here

Visas & Passports
Make sure you have 6 months unexpired on your passport.You can stay 21 days in the Philippines without a visa. Extensions are freely available from the Immigration Dept. for a small fee.

Airport Tax. You will need to pay 550 Pesos in cash (About £6 $10) when you leave the country. You will need to pay 200 Pesos in cash (£2 $4) departure tax for Domestic flights.

Money & Currency
The Philippine Peso is the local currency, the currency is strongly linked to the USD$.
Credit cards are widely accepted. You can obtain cash from ATM Machines in Cebu, Manila & most large cities.

Electricity
220 volts, UK appliances work ok.

Health & Safety
It is a tropical country with all the usual diseases and we recommend that you seek advice from your GP. No vaccination certificates are required by travellers entering the Philippines unless arriving within six days from an area infected with yellow fever, typhus, small pox, plague or cholera.

For more details, please visit the The Philippines Department of Health.

A visit to one of the many Spa or massage shops and beauty parlours is essential.
Massage is part of everyday life there, the quality and price is unmatched in Europe or the USA. Our Tour Director can arrange a beauty and massage package at a superb salon for you at excellent rates.

Cock fighting
If you think the idea of two animals deciding who will be lunch is unusual, consider how animal lovers cringe at this spectacle.

Fortunately, the enlightened authorities have seen fit to outlaw the sport, nevertheless, cock fighting continues.

The spectacle is not as important to afficionados as the betting. While the public are gambling their money away in 100 peso bets, the owner of the winning bird gets a bonus on top of his 100 pesos winnings because, he gets to take home the loser for lunch!

The losing owner loses his 100 pesos and his chicken then goes home and has no lunch.
Sometimes however, the magnanimous winner will invite the losing owner to lunch, this invitation is usually declined by the distraught, miserable losing owner who at that point is filled with remorse at the thought of eating the family pet.

Crime & Poverty
Crime & Poverty usually go hand in hand and the usual precautions against pick-pockets and petty crime should be observed.

Please visit the Philippine National Police website if you require further information on safety issues.

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Features information, travel tips and advise on Philippines flights, Philippines tours plus listing of Philippines resort hotels and Philippines beach resorts.