If you hear the news – no need to worry about me

News has broken today – 4 foreigners (2 male, 2 female) have been kidnapped in Pikit, North Cotabato.  It is a place that I have been to on a few occasions.  I have already been contacted by people wondering if I was one of those who was abducted.

For anybody who reads this blog, or other blogs of mine and has a concern – you can rest comfortably.  I was not one of those abducted or involved in the case at all.

I do pray that the situation will be resolved quickly and that those who were taken will remain safe and healthy.

Group dinner

Last night, Feyma and I were invited to an evening social with a group that I am a member of called “Friends of Mindanao.” I think I have posted here before about the group, and I know I have on my Mindanao Blog. The group is a small group of foreigners who all care about Mindanao, and the people of Mindanao. We are all Davao based, and we get together normally twice per month. Last night was not a normal meeting, but rather a Dinner where members could bring their wives along, and we all enjoyed good food and good conversation too. I can’t decide which was better – the food or the conversation!

The head of the group is a New Zealander named Ian Fredricks. Ian is a great guy, very gung ho about anything that he gets into. I always enjoy talking with Ian, because of the fact that he always has a new angle about any topic we discuss. Talking with Ian tends to open up my mind, and helps me get outside my box! Another member of the group that I have become fast friends with is John. John is from the UK, and just a super nice guy. Lately, John has been spending a fair amount of time at my place, I am teaching him a little about blogging and basic Internet things. Last night, John brought a friend along, Steve, who is also a Brit, and I enjoyed meeting him too.

Over the past few weeks, when John and I have gotten together, one thing that we have both mentioned to each other is that it’s nice to get together because of the intelligent conversation that we share whenever we are together. I believe that having a friend that you can share intelligent conversation with is very important when living away from your home. Now, don’t take me wrong, I am not saying that Filipinos are not intelligent. What I am saying is that I have a hard time sharing intelligent conversation with many Filipinos because we come from different experiences and backgrounds. Let’s look at one of our frequent guests here on the LiP Blog, Julius. Not trying to single you out, Julius. But, you see, I can share intelligent conversation with Julius, who is Filipino, because he lived in the USA for some time, and has some common experiences to mine. I have lived in the Philippines, his home country, so I have some experiences that are common to some of his. All around, we have things that we can both intelligently discuss, because our backgrounds overlap. It can be hard to find people like that who have experiences similar to your own, and whom you can sit down and talk with.

When John and I get together and talk, time just goes out the window. I have noticed that if either of us has something that we need to do, often we just blow it off and keep our conversation going. This, I believe, is because we share some common values, and experiences. I also enjoy talking with John, because we are able to compare notes about each other’s countries. I have learned more about the UK from John than I ever knew before. He has also asked me some questions about America that when I answered left him a little surprised, I think!

Anyway, getting back to the dinner last night, there were about 20 people there, I guess. We had people there from the USA, Britain, Syria, Germany, New Zealand and probably a few other places that I’ve forgotten about. The conversation was very stimulating, and interesting. The food was great too, with a buffet of different items available ranging from soup to salad, pasta to a beef dish that was great!

A special thanks to Ian for putting this together, and for inviting me to join in!

How about a little fun?

Lately, we’ve been talking about some rather heavy topics here on the LiP Blog, right? Well, least we forget, for most of us, moving to the Philippines is something we want to do because we can enjoy a fun life here, enjoy the tropics, and generally enjoy our lives! So, let’s sit back and rest a little bit today, and even just imagine we are on a tropical beach in the sunshine! Forget about work, forget about that rain falling outside and that cold winter that you just went through. Kick back and enjoy!

Over the weekend, I took my family to a beach in Santa Maria, Davao del Sur. The beach is called “Little Boracay,” and it’s quite beautiful. I got a kick when everybody was getting ready. I’ve been to the beach many times here, but it never ceases to amaze me at the things that the people here bring to the beach. For just a few hours at the beach, it seems like you need to bring the whole house along!

I got a kick out of it when my wife had a big plastic bucket full of dishes and such – salt – pepper – all the amenities of the kitchen! For a quick trip to the beach! Back in the States we don’t bring all that kind of stuff along for a trip to the beach. What is it like where you live?

We did have a great time at the beach, though. The kids built sand castles. Feyma and I kind of kicked back and took in the scenery. A nice day was has by all!

It’s true! In the Philippines there are 13 months in a year!

If you read the title of this post, you are probably saying to yourself that “Bob must be drunk!” or something along those lines.  But, I promise, I have not been drinking, and it really is true.  In the Philippines, a year consists of 13 months, not 12.  At least it is true if you are an employer.

You see, here in the Philippines, if you employ people, it is mandatory under the labor laws that you pay them 13 months pay per year.  The “13th Month Pay” as it is called, is basically a bonus that you are required to pay to your employees every December.  So, in effect, even though they work only 12 months, they are paid for 13.

Personally, I don’t like this arrangement.  Don’t take me wrong, I like to take good care of my employees, and pay them what they deserve, but I don’t like the government dictating to me the amount of what I should give.  For some employees, if it were left up to me to decide, I would give them much more than the equivalent of one month’s pay as a Christmas Bonus.  Then again, for others, if they have not earned it, I would give less when it comes to a bonus.   But, the government dictates that I am to give them their “13th month” pay, so that is what I do.

I believe that government mandates when it comes to pay and such are actually counterproductive for employees.  You see, if the government mandates that you give one month pay for a bonus, that is what employers give (I am a prime example).  If the government did not mandate the amount, then you have an open and competitive marketplace.  If you have a really good employee and offer her or low bonus, you run the risk of her leaving your company and going to your competitor.  But, since the government mandates the amount, then there is no incentive to go to a different employer, the bonus is the same there anyway.  I feel that it is better for the employee to be rewarded based on their performance, not just be given a mandated amount!

This 13th month thing always kind of bugs me.  What do you think?

Labor costs

One thing that I get a lot of questions about is the cost of employing different types of workers in the Philippines. Well, any time that you talk about labor, salaries and such, there is always a range of costs involved. Not everybody pays the same wage for the same job.

I live in Davao, and I am going to base what I say on Davao. Wages can vary quite a bit depending on where in the Philippines you are talking about. Especially in Manila, you will find that labor costs are maybe up to 50% higher than in Davao. Some places are cheaper than Davao too. But, my knowledge is about Davao, and it is kind of a middle ground anyway, so it makes a good base for comparison.

First, since we’ve been talking a lot about maids lately, let’s look at the cost of employing a maid. I would estimate that most people here in this area pay their maid around P1,300 to P1,500 per month. I have known people, though, who pay their maids as little as P800 per month, and up to P4,000 per month. So, the price varies widely, but at P1,300 to P1,500 per month you will be on target and paying a wage that is expected. Less than P1,300 and you will probably be thought of as cheap. More than P1,500 you will be thought of as generous.

I am also asked about tradesmen – carpenters, handymen and such, and how much people like this cost. Generally, jobs like this are paid on a “per job” basis instead of a set salary per day, week or month. This is because generally speaking, if you need something repaired around the house, it might take just an hour or a few hours. If a job takes up to half a day or so, the cost would generally be around P300 or so, maybe as high as P500. The cost of P500 might be if the guy sees me and knows that he is working for a foreigner! Of course, the charge to a foreigner is a bit higher in most instances! But, that is to be expected, I guess. Other jobs that are larger in nature would need to be negotiated. I have had carpenters work here for a week or so for about P2,000 or so. Painters would be about the same.

Another employee that a lot of foreigners employ is a driver. Personally, I prefer to drive for myself, so I don’t have a driver. But, I have been told by others that a driver is usually about P7,000 to P10,000 per month. This is strictly second hand information, since I have never employed a driver, so if somebody knows differently, please correct me. I won’t mind that, I’ll even appreciate it!

We also like to employ a “boy”. A boy is a young guy who works around the house doing things like yard work and such. Any kind of “man” jobs that need to be done is what he would do. He also opens the gate if I am driving in. I just pull up to the gate, give a honk, and he runs up to open the gate for me. Ha ha… it’s a hard life here, I’ll tell you! Expect to pay a boy like this about the same as what you would pay a maid.

Keep in mind that the actual Peso payment is only one part of the cost for employing people. For a maid, you will also be responsible for offering her room and board. You will cover all of her meals and such. I find these kind of expenses to be minor, though, because if you are cooking for a family, having food for one extra mouth is generally no problem. In addition, for a maid, we also pay for all of her personal needs – things like toothpaste, deodorant and other hygiene products. Many employers make the maid pay for her own items like this out of her salary, I just feel it is a little added perk, and I can also assure that she is well groomed if I provide the products. She is, after all, handling my kids! In addition, for other types of laborers that we have around the house on an irregular basis, if they are here during lunch time or snack time, we will generally offer them food when the rest of us eat. This is not really something you must do, I just think it is common courtesy.

Remember, all these prices are just based on my experience. Also, if you have a staff of employees like this, you need to adjust based on the parameters in your house. For example, if your maid goes above the call of duty, or if she has been employed a long time and is reliable to you, give her a little extra. Just use this as a guide, then make adjustments based on your situation.

On demand hot water

Anybody who has visited the Philippines probably knows about “on demand” hot water, but perhaps you haven’t thought about it much.  In these days when people are trying to conserve energy, and a lot of people are going “green” it would seem to me that “on demand” hot water makes sense in many ways.

I don’t know about the rest of the world, but in the States people don’t use the “on demand” type of system for hot water.  In the USA they have what they call “hot water heaters” which are basically big tanks that hold maybe 100 or more gallons of water.  The water is heated and stored in the tank.  So, whether you are using hot water or not, even if you are out of town for a week, the water is heated and kept hot in the tank.  Now, to conserve electricity, people wrap these tanks with fiberglass insulation and do other things to save money and power.  But, when I think about it, this is just so inefficient compared to the systems they use here in the Philippines.  Also, if you have a big house, it can take some time for the hot water to flow from the tank (usually stored in the garage, basement, etc.) all the way to where your shower is located.  And, when you finish the shower, all that water in the hot water pipe is basically going to waste and will turn cool before it is used again.  Quite inefficient.  Maybe other parts of the world don’t use those kind of water heater systems like they do in the States, but I don’t know for sure.  Can anybody let me know what is used in your country?

Now, let’s look at what is used in the Philippines.  First. let’s see a photo of a typical hot water “on demand” heater that would be used here in the Philippines.

So, as you see in the photo, this unit is a small and rather compact unit that is placed on the wall of your shower.  Cold water enters the unit, and it heats the water and sprays it from the shower head.  The cool thing about this is that only the water you actually use is heated!  So, no waste of electricity or gas to heat water and keep it hot for days on end.  I often wonder why we didn’t use units like this back in the States?  The water heater is very easy to use – you just turn it on, and then you set the knob to the desired temperature that you want for the water.

So, what do you think of this system for heating water for showers and such uses?  Is this the same type of system used in your country?  Or, will this be new for you when you move to the Philippines?  Let me know, I’m interested in learning more!

It’s nice to have our son home again

Almost a week ago now Bob posted about our son’s coming home from a clinic here in Davao. He stayed in that clinic for two months. It was really hard for me, Bob and the 3 kids because we are not allowed to see him. I cried for a few days. The doctor told us that we will have a report on his progress once a week, that the nurse will call us with the report. That’s the part I didn’t follow though I tried to call the clinic and talked to the head nurse at least every three days and I told her it’s really hard for me not knowing what’s Chris has been doing. The head nurse told me that she understands how I felt and she would be happy to talk to me on what has been going on with Chris that week. It was nice to talk to them and learn about his progress.

Now that he is with us for almost a week, we’re really happy with the progress he made in staying in that clinic. He knows a lot now of household chores that I never thought he would do. He is helping his cousin working in our yard and taking care of our pets too. I’m really amazed of how much he learned from the clinic in just two months. We are trying our best in helping him to continue what he has learned from the clinic.

Soon he is going to my parent’s farm in General Santos and will stay there with my sister and her family.  Before, Chris would stay there for two weeks at a time. He likes to go there because my sister has lots of animals like carabao, pigs, dogs chickens, ducks, horses and others. He likes to feed them, also he likes to hear when the animals makes lots of noises. So now Bob and I decided that he will go to the farm regularly so that he won’t get bored here in our house. He likes to travel in the bus from here in Davao to General Santos. We will just keep him busy.

This week Bob is taking him somewhere for an adventure. He likes to go for a ride, and he wants to go hiking too. I am sure he will have fun with Dad with the place they are going to go. So it’s DAD & SON’s day. I am proud to say that Bob is really a good father to our kids. He really makes the time and effort to be with us. That’s why we love him so much.

Now that I have found a maid, how do I keep her?

Ok, on Friday I posted my thoughts about how to find a maid.  I said in that article that while it was hard to find a good maid, it was even harder to keep her.  I really believe that this is true.  Now, Julius did post a comment there saying that he is paying his maid somewhere on the order of P4,000 per month for his maid, which is quite high in my experience, and he has been able to keep his maid.  Perhaps that is one solution to keeping a maid around.  Let’s look at my experience on this matter, and I’ll make some recommendations.

Now, first, let me say…. a lot of what you read here will seem like it is the opposite of what you would expect.  I agree, it does seem that way.  But, what I will say is true, in my opinion and experience.

Rule number one is that you should not be overly generous with your maid.  I know this flies in the face of what Julius said, and it also doesn’t seem logical, right?  I mean, the more generous you are, the more the maid will stay so that she can reap the rewards.  Doesn’t it seem that way?  In practice, it doesn’t work that way.  What I have observed many times is that some of these girls from the Provinces that you hire are not used to having very much.  If you give them too much money, or some kind of nice gift, they will soon start feeling that they have everything they could possibly need, and will soon quit to go home to their families in the Province and share their good fortune.  I remember one time when my Mother came here to visit.  We had a boy working for us, doing yard work and other jobs around the house.  My Mom took a liking to this kid, who had been with us for around 5 years.  My Mom started showering him with gifts – a new watch, clothes and other such items.  Soon after my Mom left, he told us he was quitting.  We asked why – he had been with us for so long and was like part of the family.  He told us that he had already gotten so much stuff, he didn’t need to work anymore!  This is very typical, in my experience.  We have had similar happenings with various maids.  In our experience, pay the maid a decent salary (the amount varies depending on what part of the Philippines you live in), and don’t give much in the way of extras.  They will stay longer that way.

Of course, you should treat your maid kindly.  Don’t yell at her, don’t be mean.  Treat her the way that you would want your employer to treat you.  But, don’t go overboard.  It is good to remember that she is not a part of the family.  We got into that whole thing for a time, making our maids as a part of the family.  It leads to misunderstanding, and problems in the long run.  Just treat them as an employee, but you must be kind to them.  If you do that, they will stay longer.  If you treat them like they are family, they will come to feel entitled to things, and feel that whether they work or just become lazy, they are entitled to the job.  They are family after all!  Well, I am sorry, but they are not family, and they should realize that.

Give them the time off that they deserve.  In our case, our maids work 7 days per week.  That is what they want.  But, when they want to go home to the Province and spend some time with the family, we allow them to do so, and are generous with them in that regard.  So, while they don’t have a regular day off during the week, we give them ample time off to go spend time at home when they want.

Make sure that your kids are treating the maid properly.  For a while we had a problem with our kids in this manner.  Our kids attend a fairly exclusive school, and at school, they picked up the attitude from their friends that “she’s only a maid, after all.”  Well, I am sorry, but that is not how the maid should be treated.  The maid is our kid’s elder and should be treated with respect.  If there is a problem with the maid, the kid should come to Feyma or myself and tell us.  If we feel it is a problem, we will deal with the maid.  The kids, however, are not allowed to disrespect the maid.  Period!

I am sure that maids get treated a little differently in every household.  I am only posting what has worked for us.  Your mileage may vary!

Getting off to a great Saturday

It’s rare for me to make a Saturday post on this blog!  I normally try to post new articles on Mondays through Fridays, then take the weekend off to spend more time with my family.  But, I wanted to make a short post today about an experience I had this morning, and to spread a little “link love” because of that experience.  I even have a list of topics that I want to post about on my desk here, but this topic is fresh, and also something that any ex-pat living here in the Philippines will be interested in, so I wanted to post about it while it’s still fresh in my mind.

When I woke up this morning and fired up my PC, I started downloading my e-mails, as normal.  I had a number of e-mails from Pete, who is a regular participant here.   It seems that Pete had been infected by the “VOIP bug” and was really getting into using VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) with his new cellular phone.  He had been e-mailing me information on how to call him on his VOIP connections (Skype, Fring, Truphone, etc).  Well, I have been using VOIP for years over my Vonage phone service.  However, just 3 weeks ago, I purchased a new cellular phone, a shiny new Nokia N95.  It seemed the perfect opportunity to put the WiFi capability of the N95 to use.

I already had Fring installed on my N95, since I was trying it out the other day.  It works great for calling people on Google Talk (and other services).  I had been using G-Talk for some time, so the Fring made sense for that.  One e-mail that I got from Pete made it obvious that he was very excited about a new service called TruPhone.  They had support for my phone, so I downloaded it and installed it on my phone.  I had a few little glitches (I couldn’t quite figure out the interface at first), but soon I was on the phone, making internet calls all over the world!  Now, when I am making a call on my cellphone, after dialing the number, or selecting it from my contacts list, it asks me if I want to make a GSM call on the cellular network, or an Internet Call through TruPhone.  Wow, such flexibility!  And, I can call any other TruPhone user and talk as long as I wish for FREE!  In addition, I can call any number, anywhere in the world, even if they are not on TruPhone for a small cost.

Great thing is that just last night I bought Feyma a gift – a new Nokia E65 cellphone, which is also WiFi capable, and is compatible with TruPhone.  Now, we can talk to each other for free through our cellphones, on the WiFi!

Do yourself a favor, go over to Pete’s blog and read his latest article about ExPats using VOIP services to stay in touch on a low budget!  Pete has been really involved in this, and he knows what he is talking about!  I talked to Pete this morning for probably about 20 minutes or so over the TruPhone network!  It was great to speak with you, Pete!  Catch you again soon on the VOIP!

Finding a good maid

Regular LiP Blog participant, Pete e-mailed me this morning and asked me if I could write a little about how to find a good maid.  Well, I am happy to oblige, Pete.  I am not sure how much I can write about this, but I’ll do my best.  You see, finding a good maid is extremely difficult.  Keeping her makes the job of finding her feel like it was easy!

I have lived in the Philippines for more than 7 years now (just a little more!), and Feyma and I have been through many maids in that time.   It always seems like when you find one, they last for a few months and then leave.  Actually, the maid we have now has probably been here as long as any maid we’ve ever had.  I guess she has been here more than a year now, although only Feyma could really say for sure.  I don’t really keep track of such things.

We have used a number of methods of finding a maid.  Firstly, it seems like most girls who want the job of being a maid come from out in the Province, not really from in the City.  Girls in the City generally would be looking for a better job than being a maid, in most cases.  A lot of girls out in the Province are less educated, and being a maid is something that they feel would be a good job for them.  The best method of finding a maid is by word of mouth, I’d say.  You ask friends if they know somebody, and go by the referral system.  They might know somebody from back home in the province where they came from.  Ask a lot of people, and you will soon start getting texts or calls from people who know somebody looking for a job as a maid.

Let me tell a little story about one time when I got tagged with the job of finding a maid. Normally finding a maid is a job that Feyma handles.  Once she finds somebody, I generally get to talk to her and give the word if I will want to give her a try or not.  But, the job of the search goes to Feyma.  However, about 3 years or so ago, I got into a situation where I had to search for somebody.  You see, we had these two sisters who worked for us as maids.  They were young – teenagers.  After a while I got so fed up with their poor work that I kind of had it out with them.  I confronted them about the fact that they were doing a poor job – the house was always dirty, and when I went downstairs they would be watching TV!  I just had too much of that, and I let loose.  They just looked at me silently.  Finally, in a moment where I didn’t know what else to do, I asked if they would rather clean up the house or leave.  They said they would prefer to leave, so I said – Goodbye, then!  They were gone in 15 minutes or so.  Feyma looked at me and said “what are we going to do now?  You fired our maids!”  I told her she needed to find somebody new, and she informed me that since I fired the maids without even telling her that I would, it was going to be up to me to replace them!  Oops!

Well, I had a friend who was a teacher at a local University.  She was quite a nice lady and had helped me in the past in learning to speak some Bisaya.  Her name is Au.  Au was from a small town in Compostela Valley Province.  I called Au and asked if there was anybody from her hometown that might be interested.  She called home to her Sister and they started searching.  Within just a day or two, they had a couple of people who were interested.  We took a drive out to their place, about 2 hours away, and met the two girls.  They seemed good, and we hired both of them, and they rode back to town with us, as I recall.  Maybe they came on a bus the next day, I have forgotten.  But, as it worked out, they were pretty good maids, for as long as they stayed.

So, basically, as I say, word of mouth seems to be the best way to find a maid.  You can’t really put an ad in the paper or online, because the kind of people who are interested in doing this kind of job don’t normally read newspapers or go online.  So, the methods of searching for a person are limited.  Use your personal contacts in the community, you will find that somebody will come through for you!

In my next article, I’ll write about how to keep a maid once you’ve found one.  That is not an easy task!