I have a lot of Filipino friends and have learned a lot about the country although I’ve never been there. I would not mind visiting some day although probably won’t even though I have an open invitation to stay with friends; I hate traveling.
It’s a beautiful country. It saddened me greatly to see the damage after Pinatubo - I helped with evacuation of US dependents from Clark and Subic. 3 days of ash fall.
It was even worse after we turned over the bases and we went back for one of the first visits. Top notch facilities had been allowed to run down and a lot of scavanging (copper wires, etc) had gone on.
Almost everyone is friendly and good natured and the islands range from beautiful beaches to pristine mountain tropical forests.