I was learning a bit about old Manila and it went from being called the pearl of the orient to becoming overpopulated and filled with slums. What happened? Was it just always like this or something?
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The short answer is World War 2 fucked us up pretty bad.
And then in the 70s then President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law. He plundered the hell out of the country until the mid 80s. Literally taking private businesses and giving them to his cronies. Taking very large loans increasing our national debt while the Marcos Family kept the cash for themselves. That set in motion a culture of corruption in the national government. IIRC the loans they took out are still being paid for by the Filipino people until today.
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