I visited the Philippines in February 2003, spending time on Cebu, Palewan, Luzon, and Leyte. I intended to visit Mindanao, but the insurgency and instability there forced me to change plans. I completed a volunteer photography project visiting and documenting two of three leprosy missions.
With 7,000 islands and a tropical climate, it is among the most beautiful nations I’ve seen and home to some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. The ethnically diverse country, however, is plagued by corruption and uneven development that is leaving the vast majority of ordinary Filipinos economically behind their southeast Asian neighbors.
I had countless conversations that gave me insights into life on that island nation. My encounters included teachers running an underfunded school, a rural police officer who loved the United States, ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese businessmen who had tremendous hustle, and even Filipino-American expats who moved there for retirement.
Keywords: Philippines Photographs, Philippines Pictures, Manila, Luzon, Banaue, Philippines Travel, Hilongos