Ian, although you make some valid points, I personally think living in the right location can be a deal breaker when retiring in the Philippines. For example Manila, Angeles, Dumaguete wouldn’t be on my list of places to retire. On the other hand some people enjoy these places because of the high number of expats.

Let’s put the first part of your post in perspective. Saying that we wouldn’t consider retiring there is a bit like saying the Filipinos married to British guys or gals only live in the UK because it’s their partner’s home country. Why? Let’s be honest here, the vast majority of Filipinos growing up, who dreamed of living abroad weren’t thinking of the UK. Most probably dreamt of North America.

Yes, the levels of poverty are high compared to most western countries. If you look at the world in general 80 0r 90% of the population live below what the UK deems, as poverty. At the present time we are not retired, so we try to be careful with our income, however I will try and help the less unfortunate on occasion. If at a later stage in our lives, we happen to be fortunate and have more than we need, I would happily help on a more regular basis. I know there are better long term solutions to the problems but we can only help in our own little way and hopefully teach our kids to be more proactive in the future.

Crazy crime levels again comes down to location and the way you go about your daily life. There is no doubt that the Philippines has a higher crime rate than the UK. Spending your time drinking all night at some seedy bar or chasing some young bit of skirt around probably increases your chance of something happening tenfold. I certainly don’t spend my whole life looking over my shoulders; however I am more cautious at certain times depending on my location and the nature of my business at that time.

When it comes to food I will eat just about anything, so never been a problem for me. If Filipino food is not your thing, there are plenty of non Filipino food restaurants popping up all over the country. A quick google search usually brings one up in most towns. Not sure if you can find one that serves a piece of meat and two boiled veg though. Sorry mum I couldn’t resist!

Corruption, I agree is a major problem in the Philippines. It shouldn’t really affect Steve or any other foreigner on a regular basis and at times it might work to their advantage. Just ask any home or landowner how much yearly tax they pay!

At the end of the day, I am not going to knock anyone on their choice of place to retire. If you're happy that’s all that really counts