Filipinos in UAE positive about change in Philippines

Filipino expats in UAE are optimistic that the quality of life and investment environment back home are seeing good improvements, according to a recent survey conducted by New Perspective Media (NPM), organisers of the annual Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition (PPIE). 
The survey revealed a "whopping 98 per cent of Filipinos in the UAE believe true positive change is coming to the Philippines with 93 per cent confirming that the investment environment in their home country is already improving." 
A staff from NPM told Khaleej Times the results were culled from around 1,000 respondents and the questions were: 1) Do you believe that true positive change is coming to the Philippines? 2) Do you expect an improvement in the quality of life in the Philippines? 3) Is the investment environment in the Philippines improving, deteriorating, or not changing? 4) Is now the best time to invest in Philippine property? 
According to NPM, "90 per cent believe 'now' is the best time to invest in Philippine property. Property topped the list of preferred investments with 80 per cent of the respondents choosing real estate while 20 per cent opting stock market, business start-ups, mutual fund, bonds and other investments." 
Moreover, 97 per cent of the respondents said they expect the quality of life in the Philippines to improve; 93 per cent said the business environment is improving while two per cent said it is deteriorating and five per cent said they did not see any change, NPM said in a statement. 
"A vast majority of the Filipinos in the UAE are confident in the improving investment scenario in the Philippines," said NPM managing director Karen Remo  "Our survey supports the increasing appetite of the Filipinos and the international community to invest in real estate." 
NPM are the organisers of Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition (PPIE), an annual property exhibition taking place on September 23 and 24 in Dubai and PPIE is sponsored by some of the biggest real estate companies in the Philippines. 
Some Filipino expats interviewed by Khaleej Times, however, were not too keen on investing in the Philippine real estate. 
"The political situation in the Philippines is not yet stable," said Marlon Nogar, who works as a service crew in a restaurant. "Before I invest my hard-earned money I want to make sure that it is safe." 
Mike Gracilla, an architect in Dubai for 12 years, expressed his doubts on the results of the survey saying: "It's very high and I think that 98 per cent is untrue. To be honest, we've put our future investment plans on hold because of the madness happening right now (citing the spate of extrajudicial killings). Stocks are down and the value of the Philippine peso against the US dollar is still very low." 
"I've just dumped my shares of stocks in some Philippine companies and my wife and I will just finish our current real estate investments, then we will stop and have a wait-and-see attitude." 
Abu Dhabi resident Jennifer Padua commented: "I have invested some of my money back home regardless of who's our president but I'm apprehensive about surveys and I find them as mind-conditioning. The problem is, people tend to make their investment decisions based on what's trending. Investments should be a matter of personal choice and not based on surveys." 
"I think it's too early to confirm political stability back home given that the current administration has not even reached its 100 days in office," Padua added. 
Photojournalist Jung Francisco has the same sentiments and told Khaleej Times: "The over-all situation in the Philippines is still shaky. I will consider investing possibly after two years, when things will begin to stabilise." 
But for Gemmy Lontoc, UAE Exchange-Southeast Asia corridor marketing head: "The best time to invest is now. This is because the real estate sector has managed to consistently grow in value over time in spite of socio-economic and political changes. The latest data from the Philippine Central Bank reveals that real estate prices have increased to almost 10 percent during the early part of this year. In real estate, the early bird catches the proverbial early worm - whether in terms of capital appreciation or rental income." 
angel@khaleejtimes.com

• Philippines

Angel Tesorero

angel@khaleejtimes.com