I've known about this for a long time. This also can root in a post colonized society where "white" is a sign of beauty. Funny that they mention Phillipines too, another country that has a fixation with light skin tones(due to Spanish Rule), and where actors with lighter skin get jobs quicker. Women, men, everyone should be happy with the skin color they were born with. No need lightening it up(okay, maybe arsehole, that's a whole nother story)
About the bleaching thing though, it's not only that "area" some people are bleaching. Some women in Jamaica are actually trying to bleach their faces, but not with this safe bleach the article is talking about, but ACTUAL bleach. Sad.