Philippines Media
Anyone who travels through the country will meet people who are concerned in a variety of ways with organizing their (survival) life more badly than rightly.
In the highland massif of the northern Cordillera region, ethnic groups of the Igorot still live in subsistence farming based on communal land ownership. About 200 kilometers southeast of the Moloch Manila with its 14 million residents, in the province of Quezon, small tenants and farm workers gain the coveted copra (dried coconuts), among other things, an important raw material for sweaty work and meager daily wages of around one to one and a half euros the cosmetics industry.
There are large plantations on the resource-rich South Island of Mindanaoomni. In addition to citrus fruits and bananas, which the companies Dole and Del Monte have grown there on a large scale, rubber for rubber production and cotton are grown, and cattle and – in large artificially created ponds – shrimp are raised. These lands each include several thousand hectares of land that is owned by influential industrialists and / or politicians. Elsewhere, the conditions of production under which tenant farmers live still bear strong traits of feudalism. Finally, in the deep south, in the Sulu Sea, almost the entire life of the Badjao, who call themselves Sama Di Laut (People of the Sea), takes place on their houseboats – sea nomads who live in Filipino,Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.
As enchanting as the natural beauties of the island world with its numerous diving paradises are for vacation-hungry tourists, the forces of nature are as violent and destructive as the most devastating typhoon “Haiyan” (local name “Yolanda”) at the beginning of November 2013 – the archipelago visit again and again and especially hit the poorest of the poor.
Press, media landscape, information opportunities
According to eningbo, the Philippines have repeatedly been referred to as a country where, in addition to a variety of newspapers and other media, there is / is the freest climate for journalists who can literally write how they got their bills . Anyone who opens the daily newspapers today sometimes rubs their eyes in amazement at how openly, critically and harshly reports are made and how the mighty people in the country are referred to. Above all, it is the columnists – borrowed from the American media genre – who are employed by all newspapers and who enjoy great popularity and whose feathers are often feared.
But the greater the distance from the metropolis of Manila, the greater the danger of falling into the sights of power-hungry local and / or regional princes who are ultimately not afraid to “get rid of” unpopular reporters. A heinous crime in this regard occurred on November 23, 2009 (see also: Human Rights) on the island of Mindanao, when the Ampatuan clan, closely associated with the Arroyo government, was allegedly responsible for the massacre of 58 people. Six witnesses of this atrocity have so far been shot due to the fact that witness protection is not guaranteed in the country. As 32 media representatives were among those murdered in the massacre, in 2009 international journalists’ associations classified the Philippines as the most dangerous country for reporters worldwide.
Current information on the above-mentioned topics and other daily political events can be found in the Internet editions of Philippine newspapers. The Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) is well suited for this; he also publishes background reports on special topics and maintains a network of well-known columnists.
News and information geared more towards the southern regions of the Visayas and Mindanao are published by the Cebu City-based Sun Star Network and the MindaNews online portal, which is focused on Mindanao and Sulu, with access to various news sources.
Investigative journalism at its best is undoubtedly offered by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) with its numerous carefully written features and in-depth research.
The news department of ABS-CBN and GMA News also provides you with the latest information, while PhilNews provides access to a variety of other Filipino media (newspapers, radio, television).
Internet and telecommunications
Internet
Access to the Internet is basically possible in all parts of the Philippines via cellular (4G) and wifi. The only question is how reliable and how fast the available internet access is – especially in the provinces.
Apart from these restrictions, most hotels, cafes and restaurants in tourist areas and the centers of the provinces offer free Wi-Fi. Smartphone users can buy cheap local SIM cards with data tariffs (4G), which are much cheaper than comparable tariffs in Germany. For those who travel without a notebook or smartphone, there are still internet cafes in most of the larger towns and cities. Hotels and hostels also often have PCs that can be used by guests.
When using foreign mobile networks and publicly accessible computers, safety measures and a healthy data economy should be practiced. The Federal Office for Information Security provides helpful tips for IT security when traveling.
Phone
The Philippine landline network is primarily operated by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company. Local calls cost next to nothing and long distance calls are also very cheap. However, only a few households have a landline connection.
Mobile phone
handsets and smartphones are ubiquitous, and given the poor fixed network developed the means of communication in the Philippines. Philippine SIM cards enable inexpensive phone calls and surfing the Internet. Roaming with SIM cards from Germany is possible, but expensive. It is therefore advisable to purchase a local prepaid SIM card.
The providers Globe, Smart, Talk ‘N Text offer good and almost extensive network coverage and Sun Cellular.
