Living In The Philippines

How Do I Start?… How It’s like, Living In The Philippines?

 

Well, Let’s start by saying that after LIVING (and working a little bit) here for almost 10 years, it’s been an interesting experience, and I will try to give you MY Opinion as honestly as possible, and what it’s been like to live here since I am almost “gone”.

 

UPDATE:

As of May 01.2019, I have left the Philippines for good. If I return is a very big question, but very unlikely, not impossible, since the idea of a RETIREMENT HOME for “Young elderly” is still a FAB IDEA and now I truly know, where to build one!

 

 

How about by explaining, why I moved here in the first place? I was living and working in Germany when I met someone, who just come back, and to make this short, we decided to fly to the Philippines, not only for fun, but also to explore the possibility to build and open a retirement home for anybody who would want to get old, but in a warm climate, the Philippines.

I also never went to Asia before, so I was interested in this country, where I only knew that many nurses and seamen who worked all around the world were from the Philippines. So several months later, we landed in Manila.

 

 

 

 

 

The project “Retirement Home “, even though it was a fabulous idea, never took off, since corruption was and still is just too high, and all my other friends/partners, when it came to money, did not really have any when it came to paying!

So we stopped, BUT I met my now wife in one of the meetings with the Major D.Plaza of the city, and since my wife was working for him, we had dinner one night, and after 3 visits to the Philippines, I decided to move permanently to this country, since I was just tired of moving all the time, and it seemed a nice and affordable place to retire.

So I moved, and after almost 10 years living here, I am moving again. WHY? Let’s talk about that in another place or post, since the Reasons are many!

Let’s start with these FACTS about the Philippines:

 

The Philippines are a 3rd world country.

What makes a country a 3rd world country anyway?

Well, I have worked and lived in another so-called 3rd world country, the Dominican Republic.

Usually, a third-world country has BAD Infrastructure. Roads, Schools, and Hospitals are usually dilapidated. (Unless you have a lot of money and you can choose a really expensive hospital) Electricity, the water supply and also internet service are also bad, or basically not working that well, or not at all at times.

Customer service also does not exist, unless you are at a very expensive Hotel, Restaurant, or car dealer. In the Philippines, we not only have the most expensive internet but also the slowest down and upload speeds.

 

 

 

The Philippines are also or still one of the most corrupt countries in the ASIAN community.

The corruption before the new President Mr.Duterte took office was so bad, that it was totally NORMAL for pretty much all Government officials to take advantage of their position and/or rank and steel.

Mr.Duterte is trying his best, but a system of ‘Total Corruption” that has been established for decades can not be changed in a few years. Elections for City Mayors or the Presidency are so corrupt that ONLY the rich can be candidates.

You need serious cash to BUY people’s votes. Nobody will vote for you because you have good intentions, ( pretty much all Politicians are good at LYING ) they will only vote for you, if you pay! Simple but effective VOTE MANIPULATION.

In the last election for City Mayor, the person running AGAINST the Major, spend approx. 1 Billion Pesos  ( approx. US $= 20 Million! ) to WIN. He did. A salary of a City Major in a small City is about 50,000-70,000 Pesos since the President’s SALARY is 130,000 Pesos per month ($ 2500.-). So HOW does a City Mayor whose official salary per month is around $1000-1500, have a return on his investment of $ 20 Million in 3 years???!!! Well, by now you should have an idea.

 

 

• • The Philippines is about 85% Roman Catholic, which is the ONLY Christian nation in Asia

    

    The Churches also control pretty much the outcome of any election. People are extremely religious and go to Church every week, if not several times during the week.

  • Some churches automatically get 10% of their CHEEPS salaries. Others just ASK for a donation after the mass, and everybody gives something. The majority of the Priests are above the law and have basically a free pass to do anything and everything they please.
  • The Philippines is the ONLY country that does not allow or have Divorce, for any reason! After Malta which introduced divorce in 2011, only the VATICAN is left. One might ask: So nobody ever separates and all Filipinos are happily married until they die? The answer is NO WAY!
  • Many get an ANNULMENT, which is a separation of the married couple, but NOT a divorce, it just costs a LOT more than a divorce and takes 1-5 years! ( Lawyers do make a small fortune ) IF you can pay the lawyer any extra of the usual average fee of around $2000, let us say another $1000-2000, your annulment might only take only 4-6 months!
  • So with money, you are the absolute King of the world!

 

 

Please read about the PAJERO TRIAL in another blog.

This will explain just HOW powerful the Catholic Church really is. To summon this up, it is MY Opinion that people believe that GOD and the CATHOLIC Church are the same! It is NOT.

I am not against God or the Church, but you have to SEE what is going here, and then, only then you understand how powerful the church is. They even have a Religious leader in Davao which proclaimed himself,  “The Appointed Son Of God”. I would love to ask him:

WHO appointed YOU the Son Of God? Anyway, everybody is entitled to FREEDOM of SPEECH and Freedom of Religion.

There are 3 things Filipinos never talk about IN PUBLIC:  1.) Politics  2.) Sex  3.) Religion. They still don’t really talk about Sex and Religion, and Corruption. People are arrested and caught pretty much every week, but they still continue to steal. The ones who are caught are almost always the little fish.

The BIG FISH is still out there, and that is why NOTHING is changing!

 

Population growth is absolutely insane!

 

Well compared to WHERE or WHO?

Here basically ONLY the poor multiply like rabbits, the pope said that on his last visit. The poor had and still have between 5 and 15 kids per family.

Many of them with different fathers. There is NO LAW that prohibits Filipino men to have kids with as many girls as they please. And the kicker is that they do not have to acknowledge their fatherhood, meaning, they do NOT have to pay any child support to the mother, EVER.

Only if they wish to do so. -STOP- This just in today, on Oct.22.2018. Fathers now HAVE TO PAY Child support! Its now Republic Act 193 to 222 of the family Code!

Good luck implementing jet another Law in the 7100+ Islands. By the end of 2018, the population in the Philippines will exceed 107 Million!

Most of them will never have any kind of EDUCATION, even though public schools are free, and will end up with minimum wage jobs, like drivers of motorcycles, rice workers, construction workers, and or maids in private homes, IF they are lucky.

• • Many others will deal with or DO drugs, girls will be forced into prostitution. Salaries for most of them hardly exceed $100 per month. The National Capital Region (NCR) has an estimated 30,000 children on the streets, while nationwide, some 250-300,000 street children are believed to be playing in the streets of major urban centers.

 

The worst ones for ME personally are the Security Guards!

They never ever do anything other than STAND around and do basically NOTHING. Hey, hold on, they do something.

They harass people & check at entrances at malls. Check for what? Well, that is the question to be asked. The scanners DO NOT detect metal, weapons, or explosives.

They just COUNT the people. Ever seen a guard RUN? Or chase a chief? Well, I have never seen that in 10 years!!!

• There was a bomb explosion in Cagayan de Oro, a few years back, and even with all those guards, it still happened, so basically the guards are there to fill JOBS. These Jobs are NO BRAINER Jobs, They do get taxed, and have their salary to feed their families. And to make you feel safer! Really?
• With all the CCTV cameras people still steal all kinds of merchandise and the guards, IF they catch the thief, will receive $$$ (Pesos that is…) from the thief, and let him/her go. And that is REALITY here with most guards! YES, I have seen a few that actually are nice and do more than just stand around and wait, a few!
• By the way, ever wonder why the security guards in a Bank never body check you? Weird is it not? That’s where all the money is. When I was in Bangkok, there are a few places they do have them, but they don’t body-check you, nor do they act like they have real authority like in the Philippines, where a BADGE and a UNIFORM transforms them into paid police. Here a FUNNY Video about Security guards in Manila.

 

The list basically goes on and on, but I want to get to the GOOD STUFF now – Ready?

 

Living in the Philippines is a totally different matter than coming as a TOURIST.

As a tourist you just see everything with PINK sunglasses, it’s all so NEW and Different, especially ALL the girls are staring/looking at you most of the time…(Not in Manila).

If you just went thru a divorce, or have separated from your wife/girlfriend, and the girls/women in your city are NOT really interested in you, being in the Philippines, it’s like being Brad Pitt walking the streets in a small town in the midwest.

In Metro Manila it is NOT like that…please read another post and if you are over 40 or 50 then good luck finding another girlfriend in your hometown or country! Sounds a bit like from a Sci-Fi movie? I can assure you, it is very real.

 

Living & WORKING here is another matter or at least a challenge.

Can one even WORK in the Philippines, where wages are really really low?

Well, the answer is yes and no. Just don’t expect similar working conditions and definitely not the same weekly or monthly salaries as in your home country.

So who gets a good salary or a Good Job? These are some:  Foreign Governments, like Embassies and large Foreign Corporations.

Let’s NOT forget that most Filipinos ( well basically ALL..) WANT to leave this country for ONE reason only, to make good money abroad! By the way, nobody, as far as I know, comes to the Philippines to find a high-paying JOB or even a GOOD Job!

No Nurse who works in any other country comes to the Philippines to WORK and makes between $100-400 a month! IF YOU do know someone, let me know…PLEASE!

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• Amazon offered me, because of my German language skills, and I knew this from someone who already worked in Manila with Amazon, a JOB.
• His monthly salary was approx. 90,000 Pesos monthly, which is about $ 1600-1700.00 US, but that’s GROSS, so after taxes, you end up with about 63,000 Pesos or $1100-1200.00 US.
• That sounds like a lot compared to an RN who makes an average of $100 to 400 a month, right? Well, it’s not that much.
• If you live in Manila and LIVE and EAT like back home it is really expensive.
• Everything is IMPORTED and the only Export the Philippines actively engages in is the Export of PEOPLE, called OFW’s. The few items they Export to China and some other Asian countries are not really contributing to the GDP.

 

The 10-15 Million OFW’s on the other hand ARE the GDP !!! The 3-5 Billion US Dollars these people send on a MONTHLY basis back home, so their families can have a better LIFE, are the real reason the RICH get SUPER RICH!

These OFWs send real money to the Philippines, and the Banks and places that will pay out, are paying out PHILIPPINE PESO, which is completely worthless OUTSIDE the Philippines and can ONLY be spent in the country itself, and they LOVE to spend that money on CARS, CELL PHONES and other gadgets…! So the people who OWN the huge MALLS etc. are getting richer because of those OFW’s.

The majority of Pino workers make around $ 100 a month, so how could they afford anything, other than just buying the basics like rice, to survive. SURVIVAL is the keyword in the Philippines…a DAILY survival for food.

So what kind of work could you possibly do here? You would have to start your own business.

I did. I opened a Diner, invested around $12,000, and called Z-Thom’s. At the time there was and still is NO real good restaurant here, especially no good burgers in the city where I live.

So we opened a really nice and cozy diner with comfort food, only to find that most people in these small cities are not into Good/Quality food.

The only thing that’s important is, it has to be CHEAP and FAST, and our dinner was not cheap ( our 100% Beef quarter pounder with cheese and fries was 210 pesos=$ 4.-)  and certainly not fast, so we closed after 15 months.

My 1st electricity bill was HIGHER than my monthly rent! I was in shock but found a way around that. Still, we could not compete with places like JOLLY BEE and Mac Donald’s, and CLOSED by the end of 2011!

Maybe this will HELP to make up your mind, IF you are thinking about opening a business in the Philippines: IF YOU WANT TO MAKE MILLIONS, THAN BRING BILLIONS!!!  Because you just might lose it all. True for many, not all.

 

There is NO JUSTICE System in place that works, for YOU the Foreigner!  The TRUTH, who cares?

HONESTY, who cares? If you think that you will WIN a case in a courtroom against a Filipino, PLEASE think again.

There might be a very small chance that you do, but your Attorney will of course ASSURE you, that YOU will WIN, right? And you will of course believe him since you paid him to represent you. GOOD LUCK! The only winner here is and always will be the LAWYERS!!! They always get paid!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Filipinos are way too BRAND-oriented, meaning that they are not really into trying things they do not know.
• In Manila, on the other hand, you will find all kinds of expensive, but also cheap and yummy restaurants.
• The cost for a nice dinner for two? Well about $50-100! The average monthly salary in Manila is about $250.-! Some less, and some more.
• A CALL CENTER agent works at night and makes about 15-25,000 Pesos, which are about $300-500. A lot right?
• Well considering they work at night, and many end up on drugs and alcohol, NO it is not a lot.

Starting your own business is extremely complicated and you need a Filipino Citizen to do it.  To TRUST someone that you do not know well, would be almost like Suicide. As a Foreigner you can not do a lot here, unless you go thru a insane amount of paperwork.

The RED TAPE is enormous. It’s actually THE most difficult Country on this planet to start your own business! It is so complex and difficult, that many just don’t even try it. To the ones who did and succeeded, my Congrats!

 

Actually, the most difficult place to start a business and KEEP it up and running for many years is probably Miami, specifically Dade county.

We did several businesses over the years, but when the BBB shut down because it was corrupt,  you ask yourself a few questions!

I remember the headline in the Miami Herald: Better Business Bureau OUT of business! More about Miami, Miami Beach, NYC, and the US in another post.

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In Manila, also called the GATES OF HELL you can BUY (and maybe Cebu)  almost anything and everything.

IF you have money, unlike most other cities in the Philippines, where you will hear on a somewhat regular basis: OUT OF STOCK, or WE DON’T HAVE, OR NOT AVAILABLE! There is so much wealth in Metro Manila that in certain parts of Manila you totally forget that you are in a 3rd world country.

These are called; Rockwell, Makati, BGC, and parts of Quezon City. One has to really wonder HOW did this country end up in the way it did.

• The easy answer would be 100% Corruption. The RICH gets super-rich…you know the rest. There is also NO Middle Class. If it does exist, then only the OFW’s who come to visit every 2-3 years represents that middle class. And when you should be here on these “special holidays” it’s in or around May, the ATMs are near empty, and the money changers run out of Pesos for a few hours!

 

Over 50 Million people live in absolute poverty! It is a daily survival for most of them.
Living conditions are as in most 3rd world countries, BAD to unbelievable BAD!

No clean or running water, no electricity, garbage everywhere, rats are a common pet for these areas, and kids with their moms living on the street of the Metro. The Government does not SEE that anymore, since the people who could change this, never absolutely NEVER go, walk or drive to or thru these areas.

Every SENATOR has its own helicopter at its disposal, several NEW Government vehicles and of course, DRIVERS that drive them anywhere, anytime. Poverty is accepted, tolerated by most, and even though the poor are almost everywhere, most Filipinos do not SEE them anymore.

 

The RICH are really RICH, and the poor are astronomically poor!

 

Well, IF you ever decide to live here, you need to understand that the Philippines are pretty much

WESTERNIZED, unlike other Asian countries, here we have all fast food places like in the Western world.

There is the western medicine that took over, where medication is expensive and bad, but going to the DOCTOR if you are sick, is a MUST for almost all, but depending on how rich or poor you are, you will get First Class or No Class treatment.

Alternative medicine is not really around, nor allowed and welcomed…JET!

And jet, we have some of the BIGGEST SHOPPING MALLS in the world.

 

• A person who stayed with me, or to be more precise, stayed in my Guesthouse for 3 weeks, flew in from the US, since her 12 other siblings still live here, and her port of entry was the city of Cebu. In 2017, SM SEASIDE MALL was built in Cebu.
• It is bigger than the one in Manila, called MOA, near the airport.
• It is so big, that you need several days to discover half the stores. So my guest asked me: WHO shops there and BUYS all that stuff, if everybody is so rich, I thought they are all poor!
• This is from someone who grew up here but left the country over 2o years ago.
  

• Well, the answer to that is, or are the OFWs! They are responsible for a huge amount of the GDP in the Philippines. Every month, yes EVERY MONTH, approximately 3-5 Billion Dollars are sent here in various ways to the Philippines!
• This is a huge amount of money for the Government, which then exchanges it for the Filipino Peso, which is basically worthless outside the Philippines, but OK to spend for stuff here. And Pinos LOVE to spend money and live way beyond their means.
• Many Americans and Europeans also. Since the invention of Credit Cards, national DEBT has spiraled out of control and many people have huge debts.

 

So what is LIFE in the Philippines like, or how is it really to live here?

 

• Well to summon it up, I would say, Life is VERY Different in every which way, IF you come from a 1st world country where the LAW and RULES apply to everybody, no matter if you are rich or poor, small or tall, yellow, black or a white guy, then you will have issues most of the time since you believe the LAW is there for everybody, but it’s not.
• An NBI official, which is sort of like an FBI guy, said to me back then in my restaurant:
• Tom, Rules can be bent, not broken!

  

  Most LAWS and Regulations only serve the RICH. One example is Boracay. It had to be SHUT DOWN by the president himself since garbage was everywhere and owners of the large Hotels did not use SEPTIC TANKS and raw sewage just went into the ocean. Officials were just bribed to look the other way when it came to health and sanitary inspections. Now, it’s back and beautiful again.

 

• A person that I met here where I live, but was from Manila, said to me, that THIS IS MARLBORO COUNTRY!
• Some of you might remember the Marlboro commercial. The guy on a horse, and then he lights a Marlboro…well it’s still like that here, if you live in the province.
• A HUMAN Life is worth nothing, or to put it into perspective, about $100 to $300. A rooster or fighting cock is worth more than a human life since it MAKES MONEY.
• Well IF you have never been here, it would be really hard to believe, but visit any poor or third-world country and you will believe me.
• Here the slogan, THE STRONGEST will SURVIVE still applies, or you might also say THE ONE WITH THE MOST MONEY!

 

 

 

On my first visit to the Embassy, the Ambassador asked me one question, which was: Tom, do you know how much it costs to kill a Filipino and how much to kill a foreigner? Yep, I was surprised, and NO it was not the American Embassy, but it is a true story, I assure you.

I did reply, YES I do. Why? Because my wife was a police officer before I met her. Then he asked me, do you know HOW they do it? Well I said, I have an idea….and the Ambassador replied: They get them out of jail, give them a gun and when it’s done, he comes back! WOW, I thought this guy really knows the Philippines.

• The Ambassador left the Philippines because his 4-year term was done. He was asked if he wants to stay another year, but declined, for pretty much the same reasons, we all leave eventually. On many different posts of foreigners talking about this country, many say, that MOST foreigners leave after about 3 years. I stayed longer, but I was lucky with the ONE Person that can make your life either WONDERFUL for you or make it a living hell for you. To be fair… this happens in all kinds of countries, not only in the Philippines.

Unfortunately, RULES and Regulations are only implemented if it suits the RICH.

They have the STRICTEST TRAFFIC LAWS in the world…one official said in an interview on TV, but…and then he said: BUT we don’t implement them! So WHY even have all these laws and regulations if nobody gives a crap?

Well, Let’s just say that this Government is in place with its countless and USELESS other Government offices, only to SERVE THEMSELVES.

So a Government that was established only to serve itself? Absolutely! Don’t believe me? Well, it’s the TRUTH and the truth is something that nobody wants to hear, here in the Philippines.

• Even with President Duterte as President, a man you can NOT bribe, a President FOR the People,

  

  BY the People, is not achieving as much as he thought when he took office. This is only 2 years ago. Miracles do take longer Mr. President. Why? Because he was the only person in the last Election running for office, who did NOT give money to the people if they voted for him!

• Because for 30 years the people have been lied to, they just decided to vote for him, just because nothing has changed in the last 30 years with all other Presidents, so they voted for him, but only because they did receive a lot of money from other candidates, who were running for other public offices like the office of Mayor.

Living in the Philippines is very different for most of us foreigners since our culture is so very different. You can get used to a lot of things, or ADAPT to them, but in the end, it is not for everybody.

I would suggest that you come for an extended period to LIVE here. Depending on what country you are from and if you have lived most of your life in a big city or in the country, you should CHOOSE your island, province, or city VERY carefully.

Your INCOME or money you have at your disposal is also important. Do TRY different cities or Islands. Do NOT just settle for the City or place where you met THE GIRL on a CHAT room/website !!

 

Most of the guys I met here over time did. Well I did, because I just didn’t know that life can be so very very different in the cities, than in the provincial areas.

The 2 cities where life is “similar” to that of many 1st world countries, are Cebu and Manila. But TRAFFIC in these cities is absolutely brutal! The remaining cities, like Davao with its 3 Million do not offer most of the amenities that Cebu and Manila offer if you need them. Many do, and others do not.

 

• If you are now asking me, what the “big/huge” differences between them are, and life in the rest of the country, please read my post named: Which Island / Province Should I Choose? There I will go into more detail.

• All in all, it really depends on different factors, which will decide IF the Philippines is the place for YOU or not, but so far The Most Important Factor, as far as I can tell is this:

 

• DO YOU, OR CAN YOU FIND THAT PARTNER OR GIRLFRIEND (maybe, just maybe future wife) HERE that you can TRUST, have a meaningful conversation, TALK to about your problems and issues, and be your lover and sex partner?
• Because 90% of men who visit, just fall in love with some girl they just met, hardly know, and end up living in that city or province only to be the ATM for the family of that girl. BUT without a FILIPINO girlfriend, you will not be able to do many things, that you were accustomed to doing back home. Like what? This is another post.

• I was extremely LUCKY, you can say, to have met my now wife and mother of my child! But it

  

  took me 45 years, and several flights halfway around the world to find her. Some are even luckier, they find that special someone in their hometown, but IF you get to a certain age, let’s say over 40, and your heart has been ripped and torn out, you had a divorce, you were married to your work and not her, or you just lived yourself apart…HOW /WHERE do you find a NEW girlfriend or partner???

 

 

• Most men who visit the Philippines or Thailand especially, come here ALONE because they got

  

  divorced, or their wife passed away. Only In The Philippines, your age will NOT matter to most of these girls! 35 or 95, who cares as long as YOU can provide for the girl and many times also for the family? The saying goes: When you marry a Filipino, you marry the whole family! True in most cases. Me?

• I was lucky, and the MOST important factor when trying to find that special someone is? I will write about that in my post called: Filipino Girls/Women. So please look for it in a few weeks… Thanks!

 

 

 

• Sufficient funds are probably the 2nd or for some, the most important factor, since there is NO Government support for foreigners, if you get sick, or need money, etc. of any kind! Even your Embassy ( I know personally of 2 people) will not help you, well NOT really! So having access to funds, or having a decent pension is a must! And the bigger the city the more expensive it gets, IF you want to keep your LIFESTYLE, which you had for the last 20 to 50 years.

• When I met the Mayor’s wife, she asked me: Tom are you ready for the SIMPLE LIFE?
• And I really thought I was, since I grew up in Vancouver island, in a city with a population of approx.12,000 people, but I did not know what she really meant!
• Now I do, even though the city of Butuan City has now many more “Things” that were not here when I moved here.
• Now CHEESE can be found, FRESH Milk is still not available, and the list goes on.
• Especially real BREAD is still not to be found. Other items that you can easily get in Manila, like an electric racer, or aftershave balm, are not available throughout this entire island. Well, I did not know THAT! At least now YOU do!

 

So, for some of you, the Questions remain. CAN I LIVE HERE? Yes and NO.

As I said, these are my thoughts and I experienced this country in my way, which might not be the same for you.

We are all different, so IF you have any doubts or any questions, please ASK me, or just come for a visit, do not BUY or build anything, just rent, and after 6 -18 months YOU will also know if  YOU can live here, and only then!

 

• For many years I flew between Miami and Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic. Every 4-5 weeks, I took a flight from Miami to POP and then back.
• That was really great, and it was business, but eventually, all those flights, endless delays, etc. are tiring and you have enough.
• I did and I stopped it, only to be faced with a situation not too long ago, called being a FATHER and having the responsibility to my daughter to give her the best EDUCATION possible, so I decided to move again. And that’s My Life. It’s still a suitcase!!

 

Just in case you do need a GOOD and HONEST Attorney, this is one you can trust. Please do mention my name and Attorney Maria Flora A. Falcon and her staff will help and assist you with your needs. Her office is of course in 1227 Makati City. Unit 1608, 88 Corporate Center, Sedano corner Valero Street. Her website can be found here.

 

HOPE you enjoyed reading this!

 

And please DO leave us a comment or contact me, thru my email: mylifeisasuitcase@gmail.com. IF you have a specific question please just Ask.

Thank you!