wcv56,
I tried the provincial life, but I just couldn't hack it...I still look for the hustle and noise of the city. As to safety, yup, practically all offices have security guards...most for display, really, cuz they kinda add some credibility to your office.
As to crime rate, there really are a few places that you'd definitely shouldn't venture to. But I think all places have that. Just came from a vacation to L. A., and there are definitely some places there I wouldn't go to again. In general, places like Makati, Ortigas, or Alabang are as safe as probably Hong Kong...or even safer.
Traffic in Manila definitely bad...at certain times of the day. But it's manageable. Just avoid some routes in rush hour. I live five minutes( roughly four kilometers) from my office, and the longest it's taken me was about 15 minutes.
It's true, non-citizens cannot buy land...but you can buy condominiums. There have been so many new condos being put up here, and many are being bought by koreans, mainland chinese, and europeans.
Kramer, I'm glad you like the Philippines! Yup, the locals tend to be overlygracious...to the point of being taken advantage of...usually by our politicians.
As to taxation, the RP is on the list of the tax havens of the world. Bank secrecy laws are very stringent. Also, interest that you get from time deposits or bonds are tax-free if held for more than five years. And also...you can declare what income you would want, if you catch my drift.
And yes, PDIC coverage is low(roughly US$10K per name), and so you need to break down your money to many names, just as I do, to as many banks as your money can be distributed. So far, I've got money in around 8 small banks, around 8 commercial banks, and two investment(or private) banks. I know someone who cut up around $2M into numerous names(basically his employees) to earn 20% interest a year in one bank. The bank closed up, and he got his money back in about a month.
Indeed, I tried to invest in other instruments, and I bought some structured notes from HSBC premier. These were baskets of instruments for stocks and currencies in the US, China, Europe, and Australia...all bought before 2008. All didn't make money! Luckily they were all principal-protected, and so I just need to wait until they mature to get my principal back. They were all 1.5 to 3 year tenures.