Businesspeople from North America and Western Europe routinely stop in Hong Kong and Singapore when they visit Southeast Asia. I would like more of them to add Manila to their itineraries.

International arrival figures show that Ninoy Aquino International Airport (or NAIA in local usage) lags not only Hong Kong and Singapore badly, but others in the region as well. It is so very easy to dive down into local, angry arguments about why this is so-a history of corrupt government, a government-owned airline that's not fond of competition, investment limitations hardwired into the Philippine constitution, the legacy of Spanish and American colonialism, and on and on.

But as an American who's been visiting here temporarily, I don't care about all that. What I do care about-and love about this country-is I can criticize the government and chew gum at the same time without fear of arrest. Not so in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Ratings and Perceptions
To be sure, the Philippines does not rate well on the Press Freedom Index, compiled annually by Reporters Without Frontiers. But this is not due to direct government control. Rather, it stems from a few horrific politically-driven incidents and a tradition of powerful individuals silencing their critics by use of armed assassins on motorcycles.

Current President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III has pledged to attack this sub-culture of violence, which claimed his famous father and has continued through the presidency of his mother and three others since then. I would urge him to be more active in this area, and to remember that the Philippines is not the only country in the world with this problem; American print and radio journalists have also been assassinated simply because someone didn't like what they said and wrote.

Filipinos can show a thin skin when it comes to outside criticism; this is especially true of asinine criticism (google Chip Tsao or Adam Carolla) that is best laughed at and discarded instead of taken seriously. The country's culture is seasoned with a delicately balanced mix of Western stridency and Asian face-saving that can get volatile in a hurry.

A Sharp Contrast
I see this as a strength, because in Singapore and Hong Kong, government criticism is, in essence, forbidden.

Other parts of Southeast Asia are little better. Vietnam's still in the hands of the Communists. In Thailand, a slur against the king, unwitting or not, will be met with swift, severe consequences. Malaysia and Indonesia are showing increasing signs of Taliban-style censorship. Long-time observers also know that even in open, democratic South Korea and Japan, "confusion" and other "unfortunate" views are not welcome.

But in the Philippines, the government does not interfere. Sure, President Aquino urged the media to "be careful" after some reporting of a bus-hostage crisis may have exacerbated the incident. But in this case, all the media reports I read shared his concern, and the President is hardly universally popular on the whole.

A Flawed Democracy? Sure!
The Philippines is described by Goldman Sachs, in its report on the "Next 11" potential 21st-century economic powers, as a "flawed democracy." This strikes me as a bit condescending and severe. What democracy is not flawed?

There are many things not to like about the Philippines' democracy-a centralized structure in which all power flows from Manila, vast wealth disparities that continue to put enormous power into the hands of a few families, a Senate that simply elects the most popular vote-getters nationwide, a "party-list" system for some representatives that is woefully prone to corruption, a balance of powers that tips regularly, serious questions about the influence of the Catholic church, and an ongoing unease about whether the current constitution and Presidential system should be junked altogether.

But all of this is open to discussion, and is discussed-profusely, loudly, and endlessly. The climate might be, on its best days, more akin to the early Federalist Papers era of the US Founding Fathers. The trouble is, only its worst days penetrate the global consciousness. But I've not yet heard a politician here say that he or she believes that humans shared the earth with dinosaurs.

We should remember that this developing nation-with a per capita income that's about 3% of the US-saw a voter turnout of more than 80% in the 2009 election, with Aquino among the millions of people who stoically stood in the very hot sun for hours to cast their vote. Such a scene is simply unimaginable in today's attenuated, complacent United States. And there were no hanging chads.

Why Visit?
Meanwhile, I've talked to a few people-Americans, Australians, and Europeans-who have put their stakes in the ground here, not only a local office, but a regional office or headquarters.

Metro Manila already has a GDP that's two-thirds the size of the Singaporean nation, and is larger than Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, or Hanoi and Saigon. On a world level, its economy two-thirds the size of Sydney's, and is similar in size to that of Denver, Montreal, or Rome.

Office rents are a fraction of those in Hong Kong, Singapore, and other world-class cities. The well-known Makati central business district is now complemented by similar, modern high-rise areas throughout Metro Manila. The traffic is not good, but no worse than anywhere else in Asia, and not nearly the horror show of most of India. Random street crime, like that of the US, is not part of life here. Don't be stupid and you'll have no problems.

Generally speaking, your money goes three times as far here as in the US, and professional labor costs remain at about 10% of US prices.

Plus, Filipinos throw the greatest holiday celebrations and birthday parties ever. Totally.

I also can't imagine a special police force kicking down my door in the Philippines should I come into possession of an iPhone prototype, something that we now know happens in the US. Somewhere, Joe Stalin is smiling.

Aquino in Action
Aquino campaigned on a slogan of "no corruption, no poverty," a simplistic notion but an honorable one. He has shown a bit of obtuse cluelessness about the lives of the majority of his people, whether allowing fire hoses to be used against protesting tricycle drivers who make $5 a day, while recently buying himself a new Porsche.

But credit his administration for balancing the country's relations with China and Taiwan as deftly as might be possible, and give him big kudos for fast, decisive efforts to remove Filipino workers out of harm's way in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, and Japan, even at great expense. The Philippines possesses one of the world's strongest family-centric cultures, and in these crises Noynoy has been taking care of his extended family-the Filipino people.

Climates
The investment limitation I mentioned above (in which foreigners can own only 40% of most types of business) is routinely invoked as a dealbreaker for attracting more investment to the country. I'll leave this debate alone for now, only noting that both China and Vietnam attract serious foreign investment despite being run by totalitarian governments.

The Philippine government is hardly totalitarian. Walk freely, say what you want to say, and don't worry about being caned or stoned to death. And when it's relaxed its investment criteria-for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as an example--the country has emerged as the world leader, with $12 billion in current revenue, hundreds of thousands of jobs created, and projections for continued strong growth.

The government is also creating special economic zones in several cities-not only the greater Manila area but in its "second city" of Cebu and many other small cities that scream "tropical paradise" in many ways.

The Philippines is perfect as a country as most people are perfect as individuals. I love the place, and urge people to visit. It offers a great central location for all of Eastern Asia, is a two-hour flight from Hong Kong, and a three-hour flight from Singapore.

Consider adding it to your itinerary now, and as a primary Southeast Asian location in the future.

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