Looking at the fence
Today’s Guest Column is from Kevin Smith.
Back in 2005 I was living in Digos with my wife and daughter and my wife’s family. Digos is about an hour south of Davao. We decided to buy some property in town as I thought it would be a good investment for the future. We were leaving to come back to the states and start our new life as all the immigration papers were completed and my wife had her visa. I thought that maybe we’ll build a small house there for when I retire. We made payments every month and the land is now paid in full. We also put a fence around the property as my family there recommended we have it. The fence is made of hollow block with iron grates on top. The side fence is just a tall wall of hollow block.
As one explores the Philippines, you will notice that most everyone has a fence around their property. And on top of some of the fences is barbed wire. Some even have broken glass imbedded on the top of the fence. Boy, some fences mean business.
My wife told me that a few years ago their home was broken into and the burglar took the VCR, cell phones and some other things. I can understand the practical need for a fence, but to me, it just seems that there are too many fences. Maybe if more people had a dog, they wouldn’t need a fence.
I agree, when I retire to PI, I hope I won’t have to have a fence (or maybe just a small one), I have a big beautiful German Shepherd here in the states and intend to have one or two when I retire there. Believe me, no one bothers me here. This is where there is no language barrier….everyone understands a big dog with big sharp teeth.
Hi Kevin and Ed – I guess that I’ve lived here long enough that I am not bothered by the big walls or fences any longer. It’s just the way life is here, and it’s OK for me. As I think back, I didn’t used to like the fences either. Funny how attitude changes happen based on your environment!
Bob,
What’s the equivalent in the Phils? My husband called me than in most ways, I am being Americanized. What are you? Filipinized?
Kevin,
I have the same feeling but opposite experience when I first moved her in the US. It feels so “naked”, so open without the walls/fences. I felt that I have no privacy. But like Bob, now, it doesn’t bother me anymore. I dislike gated communities here.
How people and outlook change when you’re in a different environment!
Hi Lea – In some respects, I believe that probably am becoming Filipinized, I guess! Good catch there!
Fences are as much a part of a house as a door and window is in the Philippines. Whenever I am in Davao and tell my friends that houses in the States have no fences, they consider it quite odd.
I prefer having no fences in the States, looks better and more open. But in the Philippines, it’s safer to have a fence built.
Some affluent houses even have armed guards and yet, you hear about “akyat bahay” robberies.
Even the small huts have bamboo fences around them. Aside from offering security, they are also used as visible marker of where your property boundaries are. You’d be surprised how common “squatting” is in the country.
Hi Kevin,
Unfortunate, but true. Some gated communities in Davao don’t have fences. Let’s put it this way, I’ll sleep more soundly in the Philippines if I had a fence around my house.
Hi Kevin,
Our house in Davao had a high fence with broken glasses in addition we had nine dobbermans. Still a determined thief was able to break-in. He poisoned the dogs and placed a thick sack over the broken glasses and used a tall ladder to climb the walls.
A good fence keeps the pigs from plowing and the chicken from pecking on the beautiful gardens that most houses have in the barrios. Not to mention the neighbors’ kids who are tempted to climb on fruit trees. Our neighbors’ boys loved to climb onto my parents’ cashew tree and my parents were scared to death they’d fall. They had to chop the tree—the fence didn’t work !
Are alarms not practical or just not feasible there?
The property I am looking at buying now is in Nova Tierra, a rather nce subdiv. I don’t think the fence is big enough on it though but then there’s no squatters nearby. Glass on the walls is probably the best thing to keep fence hoppers out but if they are determined they will find a way. Barbed wire is ineffective. It’s the one sad fact of life over here… there is much poverty and just by being a foreigner you are a target because we are thought of as being so “Florendo”.
Hmm, yes, I am used to the walls around houses. Everything Jul says is true (and others!). We have a fairly low wall, compared to our neighbors, but we also have glass on top of it and thorny bouganvillas growing inside and out, and two doberman. If we did not, I am sure our place would be targeted by theives. Once we had our dog poisoned. We have never been robbed.
Wow, it seems that you folks are having a good time. I came late to your party.
I’d like to respond to this:
“it just seems that there are too many fences. Maybe if more people had a dog, they wouldn’t need a fence.”
A fence, in the Philippines, is the more practical approach to guarding property; and as Macky stated, for establishing boundaries to separate your property from that of your neighbor.
As has been stated in other threads, in the Philippines, dogs are mostly acquired and kept for protection.
If so, a fence provides a more formidable alternative.
- it can’t be poisoned; as was AmericanLola’s experience with her dog
- it’s immobile; you clearly know the extent of your “protection”
- it’s less maintenance; you put it up once and it’s there. it requires no feeding, no nurturing, no walking, etc.
This could be why you see more fences than you do dogs. Just my opinion.
A good way to scare of thieves is to set up motion sensor lights. The ones that switch on when movement is detected within your property.
The lights are available and affordable in Davao, Some houmeowners have them setup in their backlot. I’m assuming that the nervous thieves are not sophisticated enough to be familiar with motion sensor technology.
This might be a dumb question but I will ask anyway. Do cops patrol the residential areas at night? Do they drive around? Okay, probably not 24 hours a day but some hours of the night probably?
Hi Bill K. – Good question! Honestly, I have not heard of home alarms here. Not even sure if they are available.
Hi Angie – Police don’t really patrol much here, as far as I know. They don’t even really have many police cars, most police just seem to stand along the highway watching traffic and such.
Angie – If you want roving security at night then you have to choose one of the guarded and gated subdivs that hire security guards who patrol at night on bicycles. The police mostly are in stationary barangay police sheds or directing traffic. I’ve never seen a police “car” but I have seen a few police multi-cabs.
Bob – Alarm systems are available, but very expensive and geared more towards businesses. I think it’s actually cheaper to hire a personal security guard from one of the guard services in the city. We have a couple people who live on my street and have personal security guards. One is a Korean family and the other is a city councilman.
I would say that police do not patrol, but are at the station if you call. I forgot to mention that we also have motion-sensor lights, but they are usually turned off.
In California, fences (not as forbidding as here) were the norm and we felt that ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ As Angie mentioned, a good wall means we don’t have to tie up our dogs.
The one time a wall around our house was downed by a falling coconut tree because of a big storm, the T shirts were stolen from the clothes line. If your things are not protected in some way, they will be taken. That’s just the way it is. In fact, anything outside a wall is fair game, or anything that can be reached from outside the wall, such as fruit or kalamunggay.
We and our neighbors all had the brass couplings cut from the plastic pipes that supply our houses with water. In the morning, there was no water in the houses, but it was gushing into the canal by the gallon! Evidently, brass brings a nice price at the junk shops, and someone was probably wanting to buy some drugs.
Imagine Philippines without fence AND steel grill windows. Imaging all the concrete and steel that would save. Now imagine how many houses it can build for the squatters. Imagine further the new and improved cities and provinces without the squatters. Lastly, imagine the poor with houses who can now feel like working, not stealing for money.
Jae – Imagine if there were actually enough jobs over here that paid a living wage… or in the USA for that matter. Crime and poverty is everywhere you go, some people would like to better their life, some are happy the way it is and some are happy downing their sorrows in Tanduay or shabu. It is left for those of us who have means to help those who want to be helped with whatever we can spare.
Have to mention that Davao has a working 911 emergency service. I hear some good stuff about them and the website (including some video directed by someone who seems to be a Michael Bay fan) is not bad. But I can’t really say how good they are.
Ed- I used to have a German Shepherd years ago. They are the best dog.
Lea- My wife says the same thing when she came here to the states: where are all the fences?
Macky- I agree, I don’t want any squatters on the property.
Jul- Yes, my family told me that the someone was burning their trash on our property before we built the fence
Angie-For me, the fence is better as it’s too hot for a dog, unless the air is on most of the time.
Tina-True, I’ll sleep better with our fence.
Hi Kevin-Further to you question about walls and fences around property, I think it is mainly about making a statement about it’s mine keep out.
With squaters having rights in the absence of the land lord due to staying overseas etc it makes sence to have some kind of demarcation around your house or land this applies mainly in the provinces.
However in the cities its more about personel protection against kidnapping and robbery and the more elaborate the protection you can be sure the more chance of an incident occuring.
When I lived in Nigeria it was about self preservation with sofisticated security and guns to hand when going to bed. It took half an hour to extricate yourself from the bedroom in the morning in order to go downstairs for breakfast, god alone know what would have happened in the event of a serious fire in the night.
Good morning everyone!
A most wonderful (to me, at least) idea just occurred, related to fences. If I move to the Philippines, my fence will also be a medium of art and expression. So I will turn it into a mural — a collage of lively and complex and colorful depictions of the local culture. I am inspired just thinking about it!
AmericanLola, I’m just feeling naughty so please don’t get mad… I thought about your motion sensor which is mostly “off” you said. Does it mean you have a smoke alarm with a silencer?
Okay, please don’t shoot, I’m just having a good time.
-Angie
Angie, right on! Fences are fashion statement and work of art. I used to walk around my village and looked at the design of fences and window grills. Have you decided which part of the Phils you want to live ? Go for Mindanao!:wink:
Macky, I haven’t heard of 911 in Phils until now. Wow, when will GMA & congress make this a top priority ? Kudos to Davao.
The fence is a must. I want to build a house here too, and my first thought is how is my fence gonna look like?? I actually look at the property fence first before the houses here..hahahaha!!! Most of the wealthy pinoy families have their own security guard to man their houses and especially if the property itself is big. I left my house for a month and my maid was left alone and we had a “modes aprendi” happen. Its common here but to keep a long story short. Someone saw a window of opportunity and came up with an elaborate scam to convince my helper to hand them over my DVD player and ALL my DVD’s. It happens a lot here, from ref’s to jewerly and especially to the helpers so beware and let your helpers know not to fall for it. When Magellan first came to the Philippines he referred to the filipino people as really good thieves. But the people here have a belief that if someone steals then bad luck will occur not on the theif themselves but on their loved ones…..
Oh Jae, I just read your post, I’ve been down some sqatters houses before here in Cebu. Since they don’t have rent to pay they have a lot of disposable income, some of the squatters homes I’ve been into you wouldn’t believe you were in the slums and most people you see in the malls all dressed up and nice live in the slums. Some sqatters homes look nicer than your own..its amazing…you would never believe it, till you saw it. A- its like the tent in Harry Potter….hahahaha!!!!!
A friend who lived in Bacolod City had a bare electrical wire on the top of his wall surounding his house . Every 10 feet of so it had a small skull and crossbones posted to it. He said he rarely turned it on, but it was hooked up to the 220 volt line and he never had a problem with people tying to climb the wall.
Jul,
yep, there is a 911 Emergency Response Center in Davao. The only one in the country. lots of new equipment (firetrucks, ambulance) and they train their own staff. On the outside, they look pretty impressive.
they respond when you dial 911 on the phone. like the California version.
Hi everybody!
Building a solid fence is not only for privacy but mainly for security purposes. I had experienced it before in our province. We had no fence but plenty of dogs but suddenly they were all poisoned. My father bought a gun secretly, after three months he landed in jail ( illegal position of firearm) I’ve been staying in Europe for about 20 years. I heard from somebody talking or just kidding about buying a gun by the time they settle down in the Phils for security as it is allowed as long as their is a license. How true?
moving to Baguoi soon dont like fences but sede thier reason hopefully wont need one but fear i will have to put one in.
I will be going back to the PI when I retire. As of now, I am trying to look on the website to see some fence design. Ha..ha, I don’t even have a house yet but already thinking of fence design. You know why, I like a house that has a fence. You get privacy, security (if nobody climbs over the fence). I will have to put nice fence first before I build the house so that when the house construction starts, at least my materials will at least safe. Of course, I have someone watching for it. I am from Panabo, Davao and have a house with fence (I know what you talking about stealing your hinayhay esp. pants even your house has a barb wire on top of the fence, it’s terrible ha), but I will build my retirement home sweet home in Laoag north side.