Thanks for the article because I was beginning to feel lonely.

I moved to the Philippines from Silicon Valley in 2003 (during dotcom bust) to check out high-tech scene back in my homeland.

Was supposed to stay only for a couple of years but turns out there are more than a few dreamy-eyed hackers (which I hooked up with) turning their backs on Microsoft, HP and the BPO industry. The bureaucracy is numbing and the corruption sucks but generally happens to businesses that don't want to pay taxes (personal, corp, custom, etc.).

I have since setup operations for Friendster and am working on my startup.

The PH gov has setup a special economic zone (5 year corp tax holiday) if your product serves a mostly (50%+) foreign customer (great for startups).

With so much local talent, a modified YC model would contribute greatly to innovation and more startups. If you're interested, ping me.