Michael Palin’s latest adventure is an epic 2,500-mile journey across the islands of the Philippines. Known as an idyllic tropical travel hotspot, Michael also delves deeper to reveal a surprising, darker side. The legacy of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos’ spending, not just the shoes of legend but billions spent on monumental architecture, still haunts the country forty years on. Their son, Bongbong Marcos, is now President, and forty percent of the urban population lives in poverty, thirty thousand people have been lawlessly killed by vigilante anti-drug ‘death squads’, and a third of the country is on the UK Foreign Office ‘do not travel list’. But despite all of this, Michael also experiences the Philippines as, ironically, one of the happiest and certainly the most beautiful countries he has ever visited.

Season 1, Episode 01
Michael starts his journey in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, at a political protest march marking the 40th anniversary of the day when President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda were kicked out of power after 21 years of dictatorial rule and financial excess. Singer and activist Leah Navarro reveals how the Marcos family has tried to reinvent themselves in recent years.

Season 1, Episode 02
Michael starts the second part of his Philippines journey on the tiny island of Palawan, exploring the magical Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, the longest navigable underground river in the world. The whole island is a UNESCO biosphere reserve, but when Michael visits the town of Brooke’s Point, he sees that its natural environment is under serious threat from a huge nearby nickel mine, which is suspected of poisoning the area.

Season 1, Episode 03
Michael begins the final leg via an island on the Foreign Office’s ‘do not travel list’.

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http://www.rarefile.net/xap4au8a6com/MichaelPalin.Philippines.S01E01.mp4
http://www.rarefile.net/w2vycbvilssn/MichaelPalin.Philippines.S01E02.mp4
http://www.rarefile.net/0nqua6mtdi98/MichaelPalin.Philippines.S01E03.mp4
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