[Ptah]

My pleasure, Libertarian. Glad to at least show an unkown side of Manila.

Manila is largely ignored by the foreign media, and if there is any media coverage at all, only the ghetto parts are shown. This is why most people are unaware of Manila's modern side, let alone the massive highrise developments going on right now. In fact, if you have seen the recent episodes of The Amazing Race that were shot in Manila, you'd be forgiven to think the place is nothing but an enormous slum!

The rise in the number of commercial highrises is driven by demand of foreign outsourcing and offshoring companies that decided to locate in the Philippines (instead of say, India) to take advantage of the cheap, college-educated labor force with relatively good command of the English language. There are now around a million outsourcing/offshoring jobs in the Philippines, helping to create a rising number of middle class with strong appetite for consumer goods.

The rise in the number of residential highrises is driven by foreign and domestic buyers. Foreign buyers are taking advantage of bargain prices compared to their native countries. Domestic buyers are coming from many segments: the few rich locals who are becoming more confident investing locally instead of abroad; the rising middle class with more disposable income; and overseas Filipino workers who tirelessly remit billions of dollars annually.

Manila also has the ambition to become the next gambling mecca in the region, with multi-billion dollar Vegas-style casinos opening doors along the Manila Bay recently: Solaire, City of Dreams, with two more to come. This has increased the development for more internationally branded hotels in the metropolitan area.

These are some of the reasons it is now possible for one lucky bastard to dine at a Nobu restaurant, shop for some ice from Cartier, 'commission' for a new ride at the lone Rolls Royce showroom, party like a rock star at a Buddha Bar etc. These things are only possible though in the modern areas of Manila, certainly not in the slums that the media loves to show of the city.