Comparing 5 Philippines Cities for Expats to Live in

Comparing five different cities in the philippines for expatsto consider living in. Review of 5 places in the Philippines as a digital nomad that's been searching for a new home base # # Manila A city of major contrasts. Plenty of awesome skyscrapers, but most neighborhoods suffer from poor infrastructure, heavy traffic, and the resulting air pollution. Also, be prepared for potentially upsetting situations, there are a lot of homeless people. Of course, I’ve seen homelessness before, but it hits differently when you see families with babies and lots of street kids live in the street, right in front of you. If you go off the beaten path in Manila, expect (groups of) begging kids to approach you. Some look perfectly clean and seem to be doing it for fun; others look really distressed and definitely in need of food. Expats are generally recommended to live in Makati or BGC. I visited both. I’m not sure—maybe I didn’t spend enough time in Makati, but it still felt like I wouldn’t enjoy living there. The Rockwell area might be an exception. BGC, on the other hand, impressed me. I wouldn’t mind living there. But it’ll be a hassle to find a 3–5-month lease, which will likely come with inflated pricing. The food courts there were still disappointing to me. Same story: I’ll have to start cooking again (which I will). It turns out there are about five Muay Thai gyms in the BGC area, which is a big plus for me. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to visit any of them. But given the amount of gyms, there must be good ones in there. Living in BGC likely means you won’t want to leave the bubble much, due to traffic and infrastructure issues—but I could live with that. # Siargao For the right type of person, this place must be heaven. Nice beaches, surfing, partying, and plenty of good and affordable restaurants. But I’m just not big on beaches or surfing. I enjoy my modern conveniences and prefer living in a nice condo. Given that this island was wiped out by a typhoon in 2021, it still needs time to rebuild. That unfortunately comes with higher prices if you want to rent a place that’s extra nice and comfortable. Internet is also an issue. My place had Starlink, so it was decent—but still inconsistent during bad weather. Maybe it was unreliable because I wasn’t managing the Starlink deployment myself (the host was), or it became unreliable because it’s inherent to Starlink. I don’t know. Relying on 5G hotspotting isn’t really an option unless you live next to a reliable tower (and that’s a gamble). I wasn’t affected during the week I was there, but power cuts are a known issue. Just something to keep in mind. For these reasons (and more), I don’t see myself living there. A holiday visit once in a while would be more than enough. # Cebu City Can someone tell me why this place is so hyped up? I really don’t see it. What does Cebu City offer beyond condos in IT Park or in Business Park? What’s so special about IT Park beyond Sugbo Mercado (which was extremely crowded when I went)? Beyond that, it’s mostly fast food franchises I’d avoid anyway. The rest of the city is congested and polluted. The downtown area feels like parts of Manila—like stepping back into the 1980s when glancing over the building maintenance. There are also still many homeless people. Additionally, the city doesn’t seem to have many large or pleasant parks, or any smaller festivals being held within them. Unless I missed those of course. Yet supposedly, many expats live here, if the YouTubers are to be believed. Honestly, I didn’t see that many. But there must be plenty. What am I missing? My best guess: it’s because Cebu Island itself offers a good number of tropical destinations within easy reach (which I didn’t visit). On a positive note, the clubbing I experienced in this city was on another level. The crowd was fun and the club was professionally managed. I just don’t think I would be able to sustain myself here long term. I would prefer to live in a city where there is longevity. I can’t justify living here simply because dating would be good there due to the party scene (it feels the same anywhere in PH to me, anyway). # Davao City Located on the island of Mindanao—which many embassies label a “no-go” or “avoid” due to past kidnappings and terrorist attacks (mostly in the western part of the island). Davao is governed by the controversial Duterte family, known for their hardline stance on drugs. That said, their strict policies seem to have made a real difference in the city. The cleanliness stood out immediately, cleanest city in the Philippines? Possibly. I definitely appreciated that. There are also several public parks, and coincidentally there were events happening all week in Rizal Park, where I was staying nearby. The city has multiple night markets where you can get affordable BBQ meat and a super cheap oil massage (120 PHP for 30 minutes, or double for an hour). #