9th How about living in Philippines?
This is a story from when I was in junior high school. I happened to watch a late-night documentary program around New Year's Eve that featured boys and girls living near a huge pile of garbage in a certain part of the Philippines. That sparked my interest in the Philippines. Looking back, I think that scene must have been from the Tondo district, but I'm not entirely sure. After watching the program, I decided that one day I would like to visit the Philippines—and I finally made that trip at the end of 2012. It’s already been more than 10 years. If it weren’t for that TV program, I probably would never have become interested in the Philippines, nor chosen it as a travel destination. Life truly is full of mysteries, I often think.
In recent years, Japan’s economic decline has been striking, and now, from the perspective of major countries around the world, prices in Japan seem relatively low. During the bubble economy, I recall that Japan was perceived as having high prices, but that’s not something you hear anymore. The Philippines has long been said to have low prices, and this time I took a closer look at that reality. Below are the results of my investigation during Golden Week 2025. The conversion was done using the exchange rate on May 4, 2025 (1 peso = 2.6 yen).
Supermarket Prices
Vegetable kit for one meal: 77 pesos → 200 yen
2 eggplants: 61 pesos → 158 yen
Chinese cabbage: 120 pesos → 312 yen
6 garlic bulbs: 49 pesos → 127 yen
10 small onions: 27 pesos → 70 yen
Small cabbage: 148 pesos → 384 yen
1 carrot: 49 pesos → 127 yen
Market Prices
3 carrots: 50 pesos → 130 yen
8 potatoes: 50 pesos → 130 yen
8 green peppers: 30 pesos → 78 yen
3 long cucumbers: 50 pesos → 130 yen
1 head of lettuce: 50 pesos → 130 yen
10 small potatoes: 47 pesos → 122 yen
Beef sisig (stir-fried beef and rice, a light breakfast for small eaters): 89 pesos → 231 yen
Cheap gin, 700ml: 145 pesos → 377 yen
Laundry service (including drying) for about 1–3kg: 250 pesos → 650 yen
Jollibee spaghetti and fried chicken (light lunch): 135 pesos → 351 yen
One slice of pizza: 45 pesos → 117 yen
Mang Inasal whole grilled chicken and rice: 132 pesos → 343 yen
20-minute ride on a tricycle: 200 pesos → 520 yen
60km bus ride: 106 pesos → 275 yen
T-shirt: 250 pesos → 650 yen
Jeepney ride: 13 pesos → 34 yen
Underwear: 50 pesos → 130 yen
Tonkatsu bento box: 240 pesos → 624 yen
While some items are priced similarly to Japan, it’s definitely cheaper to buy vegetables at the market rather than at the supermarket.
Lastly, a recommendation for moving to the Philippines. After visiting the country many times, I can't help but feel that the trajectory of the Philippines’ development resembles Japan’s path about 20 years ago. Around 2012, hotel internet connections were still inadequate. Even when you could connect, the speeds were extremely slow—and in many cases, you couldn’t connect at all. Even if you did manage to connect, upload/download speeds were around 3Mbps. Only luxury hotels offered stable connections, and I remember getting about 30Mbps up/down there. This time, I tested the speed and found it to be around 100Mbps in both directions, as shown in the chart.
Back in 2012, it was common to see homeless families sleeping on the streets at night, and you could often spot them while driving, sometimes even approaching cars asking for money. During the presidency of former President Duterte, there was a policy aimed at reducing the number of homeless people as much as possible. Compared to those times, the number of homeless people in the Manila area has significantly decreased. Even back then, I didn’t think the safety in the Manila area was as bad as some Japanese people imagine it to be.
If you are considering permanent residence in the Philippines, the following procedures are required. Please use this as a reference:
◆ SRRV: 3 million yen or more for those aged 50 and above
◆ Quota Immigrant Visa: 7.5 million yen or more for those aged 21 and above
◆ APRV: No age restriction, 4.5 million yen or more
◆ Marrying a Filipino citizen
All things considered, I think SRRV is the most realistic option. Just for your reference.
