Until a couple of months ago I felt I'd become much more of a philanthropist since living here.

I wondered:-
was it the famed warm, friendly and family oriented Filipino culture that caused this, or
had I always been a nice, trusting and friendly guy who always went the extra mile to help out with respect and a smile, or
was it a simple case of being taken advantage of?

Before identifying any cause for this I did some serious thinking and serious discussion with my wife. Was it a case of Filipino family values rubbing off on me, or was I just being me.

I'll just mention that my wife always knows best and invariably wins in any debate.
(BTW, I've planned it that way!)

So, did I pick up on cultural family norms about the haves sharing with the have nots? or was it a case of trying to get everyone to like me? If the latter was true I can't really think that since I believed they already liked me anyway long before becoming so philanthropic.

So we've recently reversed our strategy. Our close and trusted circle is now very significantly much smaller.
The volume of communications has shrunk accordingly and we've become happier.
I'd always previously considered the support of our family to be a key factor in our Philippine retirement. Now I realise this is simply not a given

Solely from my own experience and thinking I've concluded that such trust issues do appear to me to be cultural.

If there's an opportunity for a quick gain then most folks here in the Philippines, in my view, will look to take advantage.
Many folks in the Philippines live only in the moment without too much thought analysis to the future consequences of their actions.

I've developed a reality-based observation that you need to look very long and very hard to find someone you can really trust in the paradise islands.

No offence to anyone.
Just sharing my thinking