Lost Son…

I am writing for LIP since almost one and a half years. I am glad and honored to be able to do so. During the last months I received a lot of emails – mostly from LIP readers asking many questions about the life in the Philippines. Several readers clicked on some of my blogrolls… and so on and so on.

Some email senders told me many personal stories and asked me, if I could publish them here on my blog. Up to now I really hesitated to do so, because I thought it’s really to personal and LIP might not be the appropriate place for it.

After having lunch with Bob (and Feyma, as well as two other expat friends from Australia and Israel) in my house last Sunday, I talked with Bob about this very special case. Bob agreed immediately that I might publish the following “cry for help”:

LOST SON

Almost two weeks ago I received the first email (half in English – half in German) from a certain Mrs. Rowena Reams. She told me, that she is a Filipina national and asked me to find out more about the whereabouts of her son named JOHN RENE BUSS. John is 25 years of age now and will turn to 26 at the 3rd of March. The last known residence of him should have been somewhere near or in Iloilo.

Rowena emailed me:

“I’ll appreciate if you can help me to find him. I have been crying myself to sleep ever since I lost contact with him. I beg you to please help me. I just need to know that he is doing well and, if he needs my help – he might want to know my address.”

I really don’t know the backgrounds of this story – but it really touched my heart. I haven’t go the heart just to ignore Rowena’s emails. Well, I hope Rowena will find her lost son. I am sure, while I also hope and pray, that some one read this short story here in LIP. Kindly contact me, I will happily forward any information about Rowena’s lost son’s whereabouts to her.

Thank you very much and God bless!

POLLILIO ISLAND PART TWO

Well we survived the night in Port Real and we had boarded the little boat that was taking us to Pollilio.

It really was like a banana boat, piled high with coconuts and bottles of fizzy pop and nothing much else. We passengers were more like an after thought that the main reason of transit. But that was fine, it was all good fun and as usual everybody was really friendly, the crew, other passengers so there were no problems.

We relaxed up on deck, watching the mainland disappear from sight and then we settled back, anticipating our arrival at our Filipino friend’s family home.

It was an uneventful boat ride, although very pleasant indeed. We arrived at the port area of Pollilo approximately 3 hours later. We followed the few other passengers over the coconuts, dragging our silly suitcases with us. No one else had more than a plastic bag in their hands so we must have looked a real sight!!

The main town area was a real surprise. To us holiday makers from the West, it was like stepping back in time. There were narrow roads cris- crossing between various different buildings, hardly any vehicles at all, mostly a few peddle tricycles and push bikes. The main road seemed to stretch down from the port, housing on either side of it a couple of tiny little stores which I labelled as “the mall”, also a church, a hotel, the police building and of course the basketball court which appeared to be the centre of everything.

I must stress that all the people of Pollilo were extremely friendly and courteous and at all times we felt totally safe and secure. However we were met everywhere with stares of amazement, fascination and curiosity. It felt like being a film star. People in the street would stop in groups and point, either amazed or smiling. Others would come over to us, call out to us, shake our hands, want to speak with us, it was quite an experience. By no means was it menacing but it was like being under a microscope the entire visit that we were in Pollilo. We could not go anywhere without people following us, staring at us and coming over to us.

It was a pleasure to meet these people. There appeared to be a very simple of way life here but everyone was so happy and hospitable.

Some things took a little bit of getting used to. Mostly the fact that there was a curfew in force each night. By 10pm everybody had to be off the streets and if not you would be put in the jail, as our Filipino friend put it. Also between 6am and 2am every single day the whole supply of electricity was turned off, so there was no power or lights. Worst of all, no air-con. Oh my God, that made me suffer!!!

One of the nicest experiences there on the island was when we took a walk through the town and we visited the main school there. It was around 4pm by then and lessons had finished. The school was open, we were able to just walk in and the children were all coming out of class or playing on the field. We instantly became like the “pied piper”. This is someone in a story who played a pipe and all the children in the town followed him down the street wherever he went. This happened to us. We were swamped with eager, excited, happy young faces, all wanting to pose for our camera and video camera.

We met some of the teachers too, it was a real nice time. Once we left the school grounds nearly 100 children followed us through the town, calling, singing, chatting away with us. Such friendliness to strangers is a wonderful thing, we felt so safe and happy.

We also paid a couple of visits to our Filipino friend’s family home where his parents still lived, about 20 minutes tricycle ride away from the town through the forest. This was a beautiful trip, we rode down tracks and paths, through lush green forest and rice fields and over rivers. We finally came to their place, an amazing little shack of wood and leaves where apparently they worked the rice field and harvested coconuts, taking them into the main town once a week.

It was absolutely simple and beautiful here. Such a different way of life from anything I had ever experienced before and yet our hosts as always were hospitable and so friendly and on our arrival presented us with a platter of freshly caught seafood which looked amazing. They had no real possessions to speak of and I don’t know how they survive out there, but there were no complaints, no feelings of misery, just happiness and delight at our visit. It is always very humbling when you belong to a materialistic “throw away” society and you are treated so well by hosts who really have so little. But I have found the Filipinos gifts of friendliness, hospitality and genuine happiness to look after you is one of the best gifts anyone can receive.

We met people living in the woods and people living in the town. Everyone treated us with respect and friendliness. Pollilo is a very beautiful island too, full of lush greenery and lovely coastline. As always this is complimented by the Filipino people themselves.

Yes it was a bit of a culture shock visiting such a remote place, but I am so glad that I went. It goes to show, if you have everything or you have nothing, you can still have a happy and good way of life if you have the right attitude and frame of mind.

View the Video!

Happy Days (NOT)

The last few days have been tough days for me.  I am not going to go into detail about it, but I’ll tell you a little bit.  It all has to do with problems with plumbing in our house.  The landlord has people working on this for us, trying to get it fixed, but it is very slow going.

Honestly, I’ve been hard on Feyma about it, because I am just so mad and inconvenienced that I don’t feel well, and I guess I have nobody else to blame it on.  I don’t know for sure why Feyma puts up with me when I get annoyed like this.  I guess she loves me, that is the only reason why anybody would put up with me through this little ordeal.

The thing is, this is a typical landlord issue.  At least they are working on it, which is more than a lot of landlords do here.  It’s just way too slow!

The thing is, I have been complaining of this plumbing problem for several months now, but nobody did anything about it until it became an emergency.  At this point, we cannot use our master bathroom, which leaves Feyma and I having to use the bathroom that the kids normally use.  That means that 10 people are using one bathroom.  That doesn’t work well, and that is why I am not dealing well with the situation.

I don’t like it when I take out my frustration on Feyma, but I suppose that I do it almost every time.  It’s one of the bad sides of myself, and I know that I have to change it, because Feyma is good to me, and I should not treat her in the way that I have.  I guess part of the problem is that when I get frustrated about a situation like this, I want to talk to the landlord and let them know that I am not happy with the way they are handling it.  Feyma, on the other hand, wants to smooth everything over and not show that we are upset or frustrated.  So, she kind of holds me back from talking to the people, which makes me even more upset!

Oh well, I am hoping that we will be able to use our bathroom in the next day or so, but I don’t expect that to happen.  I think it will be at least a few more days before we can use it.  Can I make it that long?  I don’t know.  I am, though, going to try to keep my temper in check and see if I can do better.  No matter what, I am not going to be happy, I just need to not be so mad about it.  That is not an easy thing for me to do in a situation like this, but I’ll do my best.

I admit that Feyma is a lot better at keeping her feelings in check in a situation like this.  All I can do is try to do better.  Maybe if it can’t be repaired soon, I should go out of town for a short trip.  That will take my mind off of it, and also get me away from the things that frustrate me at this time!

15 Famous Filipinos Every Foreign Resident Really Should Know About

The Philippines, like every other country in the world, has had its’ share of heroes, notorious figures, and villains who changed history and determined the future course their country would take. The Philippines has a rich history, shaped by colonialism, revolution, dictatorship, and bravery that is completely unique and fascinating. Because it is a duty of foreigners to try and learn as much about the place in which they live (and it IS a duty), I have chosen the following 15 people that I feel are the most heroic, or notorious, in Philippine history who have shaped the country into what it is today. I am limiting this list to people who were born here, despite the obvious influences people like Magellan, Teddy Roosevelt, and Douglas MacArthur had on the country. I wanted to focus on heroes and those who have behaved heroically. There have been many people throughout Philippine history to whom the average Filipino can point to, with pride, and say “He was my fellow countryman”, and why just choosing 15 was tough. That is why, for instance, people like Ferdinand Marcos are not on the list, despite his very mixed legacy and obvious drastic changes he brought to the country. I also believe that history needs several generations to sort itself out, hence me not including Ninoy Aquino. I have listed them in order of birthdate, not debateable significance. Your list may be different, and I encourage all foreigners to read and learn as much about the country as possible. These are just my choices, and my opinions… nothing more.

1. Lapu Lapu: Quite simply, the first true Filipino hero. He was the tribal King of Mactan Island. When Magellan and his band of Europeans tried to convert Lapu Lapu to Christianity, and then tried to show muscle, Lapu Lapu essentially killed Magellan and much of his crew during the Battle of Mactan. What is fascinating is that Lapu Lapu was successful, and was remembered. Many other battles with the Spanish never were recorded throughout the new world, and native peoples were normally not the victors.

2. Diego Silang: Conspired with the British to overthrow Spanish rule and establish and independent Ilocano nation. Fed up with taxation and abuses by the friars, Silang helped the British capture Manila during the Seven Years War. Needless to say, the British were not particularly amenable to simply handing over the Philippines to Silang and his band of Ilocano followers. He then took up arms against the British. He was murdered by a traitor from within his ranks, egged on by the Church after peace between Britain and Spain was declared. Needless to say, though he was an opportunist in trying to benefit from a European war, his bravery in fighting his oppressors makes him a true hero.

3. Josefa Gabriela Silang: This was one tough woman, who should serve as an inspiration to every Filipina. She was Diego Silang’s wife. After his murder, rather than simply pining away and mourning, led the uprising against the Spanish, attacking Vigan with her followers. Unfortunately, she was captured and publicly hanged along with over 100 of her troops.

4. Francisco Dagohoy: Led the longest rebellion against Spanish rule, lasting over 80 years, most of the 18th century. A fierce fighter, incensed and the abuses perpetuated by the Spanish friars, Dagohoy established his own free state in Bohol, eventually having over 20,000 followers. The Spanish never did truly crush his rebellion, but, more properly, the rebellion eventually ran out of steam, with a final battle in 1829. This rebellion outlasted over 20 Spanish Governors!

5. Melchora Aquino “Tandang Sora”: An exceedingly brave woman, she was already 84 years old when the Philippine Revolution broke out, giving aid and comfort to wounded revolutionaries. Katipunan members held their meetings at her house, and she refused to give the Spanish information about Bonifacio’s whereabouts. She was arrested and exiled, returning to the Philippines, after the Americans took control, dying peacefully at age 107.

6. Father Jose Burgos, Father Jacinto Zamora, and Father Mariano Gomez: These three priests led what is known as the Cavite Mutiny, and early protest against Spanish rule and the refusal of the Church to employ more native Filipino priests. These three individuals wrote numerous pamphlets and articles heavily criticizing the Church and Spanish government, arguing for liberalization and academic freedom. This was viewed as sedition, and the priests were arrested, tried for mutiny, and executed by garrotting.

7. Dr. Jose Rizal: Perhaps the most significant individual in Philippine history, his two books, “Noli me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” inspired the revolution against Spain and helped overthrow more than three centuries of Spanish colonial rule. Ghandiesque in his way of thinking, he always advocated overthrow of the Spanish by peaceful means. He believed that education was the means that Filipinos could unite against the Spanish. Unfortunately, the Spanish viewed him as a threat, despite his peace advocacy, charging him with Sedition and making him a martyr for the cause. It is interesting to note that, because he was killed by the Spanish, unlike my next listing, his death is always referred to as martyrdom, rather than an execution.

8. Andres Bonifacio: The father of the Philippine Revolution and founder of the Katipunan resistance, Andres Bonifacio began the fight to overthrow Spanish rule after the death of Jose Rizal. Some consider him to be the first President of the Philippines, though that is often debated. Bonifacio was caught up in a struggle for power against Emilio Aguinaldo, who was leading a different revolutionary army. When Bonifacio attempted to control Aguinaldo, he was arrested and executed.

9. Emilio Aguinaldo: Generally regarded as the first President of the Philippines, Aguinaldo was the General who led the insurgency that overthrew the Spanish. At the end of the Spanish-American war, when the US gained sovereignty over the Philippines, Aguinaldo then led the fight against American rule. Finally defeated, Aguinaldo stayed in the background of Philippine politics. When the Japanese occupied the country during WWII, Aguinaldo made appeals for the US forces to surrender, fearing the utter destruction of the country. He was accused of collaboration, but given amnesty by Manuel Quezon. He later served on the Council of State and was active in politics until he died at the ripe old age of 94.

10. General Gregorio del Pilar: “The Boy General”, Gregorio del Pilar achieved fame for bravely delaying American troops so that Aguinaldo’s forces could regroup and avoid capture. Shot in the neck and killed during the Battle of Tirad Pass, US forces were so moved by his bravery that they awarded him a burial with full military honors.

11. General Mateo Noriel Luga: Was appointed by Aguinaldo to fight the Americans in Cebu, achieving significant successes and never truly being defeated during hostilities, even nearly capturing an American general. Afterwards, he was appointed to the constabulary in Cebu and became well regarded as the one individual who helped bring peace in the Visayas.

12. Manuel Quezon: The First President of the Philippine Commonwealth, and Second President of the Philippine Republic, Manuel Quezon led the Philippine government in exile during WWII. Quezon constantly badgered the US administration to grant independence, from the end of the Philippine American War all the way through the Commonwealth period. After the war, he became the first president after the Philippines was granted independence at the conclusion of the war. It is also under his influence that Filipino became the national language.

13. Jose Abad Santos: Chief Justice of the Commonwealth Supreme Court, Jose Abad Santos was given the choice to leave to the States with Manuel Quezon. He chose to stay, and he was arrested by the Japanese after the invasion. After refusing to collaborate with the occupation, he was executed after being given the opportunity to speak with his son. His words, very moving, were: “Do not cry, Pepito, show to these people that you are brave. It is an honor to die for one’s country. Not everybody has that chance.”

14. Ramon Magsaysay: President of the Philippines during the 1950’s, a staunch anti-communist during the Cold War, and true “outsider” to politics as usual, Magsaysay was one of the first politicians to become a true advocate for the poor, taking on political forces to push land reform and eliminate government waste. He was killed in a plane crash before his term ended, and before he could complete his reform program.

15. Jesus Villamor: Fighter pilot during the war, Villamor was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross twice for bravery in attacking the Japanese during the invasion. When his squadron was destroyed, he then helped coordinate and organize guerilla and resistance groups against the Japanese occupation.

Something that bothers me

I love Filipino people.  They are without a doubt some of the friendliest, most accommodating people in the world.  Sometimes they are accommodating beyond the realm of comfort, though, and this is something that often bothers me.

An example of what I am talking about is when it comes to food.  Sometimes, during the day, I might ask Feyma what is for dinner.  She will tell me something that sounds real delicious.  For example, I really enjoy Shrimp.  So, maybe Feyma will tell me that we are going to have sauteed shrimp for dinner, and I might be looking forward to that during the day, because it is something that I enjoy.  When it is dinner time, I will take a look and everybody else in the house is eating something else, but there is a beautiful plate of sauteed shrimp there in my place!

I will then ask Feyma, where is your shrimp?  She tells me that only I will have Shrimp, everybody else is eating vegetables and rice.  I will explain to her that I think everybody should have shrimp too.  I know that our kids don’t like shrimp, but I also know that it is a favorite of Feyma’s just like it is for me.  So, when I ask her why she is not having shrimp, she will say that she doesn’t feel like shrimp, she feels like vegetables and rice, or fish of some sort.  Now, sometimes I can believe that, because we all have different cravings, but I know that Feyma loves shrimp, and I wonder why she is not having it.

The reason, though, that she is not having the better dish becomes clear when you go other places.  A lot of times, when I will go visit people, they will serve me the “better” food, and their family eats something less.  Honestly, I believe it comes down that since you are a guest, and especially that you are a foreigner, you are given the “cream of the crop” and they will settle for something less.

This is only an example of what I am talking about.  It happens a lot with food, but with other things too.  I remember the first time when I came to the Philippines, in 1990.  I met Feyma in Cebu, and later we were going to fly to General Santos City to meet her family.  When we arrived there in GenSan, we went to her family house.  It was obvious that her parents were not well to do, yet they presented a big spread of food to welcome me.  I can only imagine that they must have spent several weeks, maybe a month worth of their salary as a welcome to me when I visited them.  This kind of thing makes me so uncomfortable.  I mean, what is the appropriate thing for me to do?  That time in 1990 when I visited Feyma’s family, I wanted to get some money and give them to pay for the welcome feast, but that also seems that it would be somewhat insulting to them, to give them money like that.  Even though I have lived here for a long time now, I still don’t know how to appropriately handle things like this.  It still makes me uncomfortable.

What do you think?

Tourist Visa & 16 Months

As most expats know, we can extend our tourist visa for 16 months but then we must leave.   Many refer to it as a “visa run” and that sounds like a good name for it to me.  There is some controversy about if you can leave, go to another country and come right back or if you must stay out for three days.

I read on the BI site that it was three days, or at least that’s the way I remember it.  Now I can’t find that.  Many expats say they didn’t do that, that they came straight back.  Many say they didn’t have an onward ticket too and no one asked.  Others where forced by the airline to purchase an onward ticket before they would fly them to the Philippines.  That’s the way it is suppose to work.  Some get by without purchasing that onward ticket.

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What about my citizenship?

One question that I get from people all the time has to do with Citizenship.  The question usually comes from Americans, and that is what I will address in this article, because since I am an American, I really don’t have much knowledge about Citizenship issues for Countries other than the USA and the Philippines.

The question that I hear all the times goes like this:

Questioner:  OK, so you live in the Philippines?  What do you do about your US Citizenship?

Me:  What do you mean, I don’t understand what you are talking about.

Questioner:  I mean, when was the last time you went back to the USA?

Me:  It’s been about 9 years since I’ve been there, why?

Questioner:  So, you aren’t a US Citizen any longer!

Me:  Of course I am a US Citizen, why would you say that?

Questioner:  There is no way that the USA will let you remain a Citizen if you don’t go there regularly!

No, I am sorry.  Anybody who says this is absolutely incorrect.   The fact is that even if you want to get rid of your US Citizenship, it is very difficult to do so!  Yes, this is true.  If you leave the USA, and never return, you will be a US Citizen for the rest of your life.

Under the US Immigration and Nationality Act, the citizen who wishes to relieve himself of US Citizenship must be in a foreign country, and go visit the US Embassy or Consulate.  He/she must then appear before a US Ambassador or Consular Officer.  The person will be interviewed (and dissuaded), and then must sign an oath of renunciation.  This act alone still does not relieve you of your citizenship.  A records search will take place, and if you have anything pending against you, if you have unpaid taxes, etc., you will not be allowed to renounce.  You must clear up any pending matters in the USA before you will even be allowed to renounce your citizenship.

During the interview with the consular official, you will be asked a lot of questions.  If any of your answers indicate that you have any desire at all to retain any privilege of US Citizenship, your renunciation will be denied.  If you indicate that you ever think you might re-enter the USA, and stay there for any length of time, this can (and will) be interpreted as a sign that you desire to retain a privilege of US Citizenship, and thus your wish to renounce will be denied.

The fact of the matter is that the United States will work very hard to deny your desire to renounce your citizenship.  Why? Because they want you to remain a taxpayer.  If you are no longer a citizen, you will no longer be contributing your money to the operation of the US Government.  If you live abroad, but keep your citizenship, you must continue to pay taxes, and the US Government wants you to do that!

So, in short, the answer to the question that I get many times every month is that I am indeed still a US Citizen, and I probably always will be.  Right now, I see no circumstances under which I would renounce my citizenship.  Now, I have considered obtaining Dual Citizenship, US and Philippine Citizenship, but I am still not certain that I would do so.

So, don’t worry, if you decide to become a resident of any country in the world, including the Philippines, you can, and will retain your US Citizenship, unless you work very hard to get rid of it!

Rental Thoughts Philippines

As many of you already know, my wife and I rent the home we are living in right now in the Philippines.  To many Americans, long accustomed to buying more house than they can afford because “real estate always goes up” renting instead of buying is perceived as a very bad thing … an admission that I am unsuccessful or one step ahead of personal bankruptcy or the bill collector.  Yet another “ran off to the Philippines failure” in some people’s view, I am sure.

Well opinions are just like armpits, everyone is entitled to a few, but for those that do feel that way, my own opinion is, you would be wrong.  I am heading into my retirement with zero debt.  Zero, as in “don’t owe nobody”.  My car is near-new and paid off, I have money in the bank in both countries, and the next significant money my wife and I are planning to spend is travel for pleasure … for cash, nothing on the cards.

The economics of trying to buy a home like we live in now just don’t make sense.  I know I have written about it before, but maybe not here on LiP.  Basically I can pay my current rental rate for 10 or 11 years before the investment I’ve made equals what a normal down payment for a house in this price range would be … and then I’d have to take on a loan for 15 or 20 years to pay off the balance.  Regardless of the dollars and pesos involved, I doubt I’ll be living in this house 10 years from now, so it makes no sense at all to me.

That being said, there’s a couple things you need to keep in mind if you are thinking about moving to the Philippines and renting a place to live:

Repairs and Improvements: In general Philippine landlords are not obligated to “take care” of their tenants to the degree US landlords are.  I’ve even been offered houses to rent that lacked a working toilet.  “Oh sir, once you sign the lease and make your deposit the landlord will order the repairs.”  Yep.  And I have some ocean-front property in Arizona to sell you too, if you believe that fairy tale.  Our editor here, Bob, reports he has an excellent landlord who is atop all repairs right away, whenever asked.  That’s great.  It is also not the norm.

Deposits: Ah, yes, the magical deposit.  In my area the typical lease asks for first and last month and one extra month’s rent as a damage deposit.  Allegedly this will be returned upon the satisfactory termination of the lease.  In practice, this seldom happens.  The order of normal business I am aware of is this … you will likely be allowed to just live out the last couple months for free in lieu of an actual deposit return.  If the landlord doesn’t agree to this, what is he going to do, evict you?  You were leaving anyway.  Again, like everything YMMV, but I certainly don’t expect my deposit back, even though the house is in a heck of a lot better condition now than when we first rented it.

Post Dated Checks: A very common business practice here in the Philippines, for any regular recurring debt, is to write a year or more worth of checks, in advance, dating each check for the month it is due and handing them all over to the landlord.  It’s common, and it works for some people.  I don’t like it.  I am honored, because I have relatives nearby, known to the landlord, to be able to pay my rent in cash each month and I do consider it an honor.  Especially since I don’t have a Philippine checking account and am in no hurry to get one.  Think this through before you get too far down the road on a house you may be interested in renting.

Utilities: Bob also wrote about this issue recently when he pointed up the need to always keep receipts.  It is likely your landlord may keep the utilities in his/her own name and just expect you to pay the bills for each month of use.  Very unlikely that you can change this arrangement, even if you want to.  For example, the electric company is very unlikely to even give you service as a foreigner without permanent residency status and some history of living here.

Not a big issue.  Works ok for me and many others, but there is one huge caveat.  Make sure any account you are thinking of accepting this arrangement on is current.  If, for example, the last tenant ran up big charges, guess who is going to pay the charges in order to get the service turned on?  Do you have a mirror handy?

An American friend just about went berserk on this issue a few years back.  He rented a house that had a phone line but did not get the phone turned on at the time.  A month or so later he visited the phone carrier’s office and asked for service.  The smiling clerk said, “Certainly, sir, the charge will be about  50,000 Pesos.”  After my friend picked himself up off the floor, he asked why.

Well, turns out that is what the last tenant had ran up and skipped out on.  Now to people imbued with a sense of fairness, as many of us are, this just sounds unthinkable.  My friend didn’t make those calls, why should he pay for them?  The landlord certainly didn’t make the calls, so why should he pay for them?  The phone company, though, is a public utility.  It’s their job to collect the bills owed them.  You want service on that phone line, then you pay the bill.

Eventually after a lot of harsh words, arm waving and elevated blood pressure, my friend just gave up on the idea of a land line phone.  But the exact same thing could happen with an electricity account, or water.  It’s a lot harder to live without electricity or water.  So before agreeing to take on any utility accounts, visit the utility in question … the landlord may not even know about unpaid charges … and inquire for yourself.  You can not fix a problem like this after the fact, you have to have reliable information before you sign a lease, or, just like in playing tag, you are “it”.

Neighbors and Noises: A foreigner friend  lives nearby and suffers greatly from noise.  The neighbor on one side of my friend’s home in our residential neighborhood actually runs a commercial sheet metal manufacturing business out of his house and driveway.  All day and sometimes into the night metal gets beaten into shape, welds get made (just great for the power in my friend’s house) the welds get nosily ground down, the parts get spray painted with clouds of smelly spray paint, and noisy trucks deliver and pick up often.

The is essentially no concept of zoning and conforming use laws in many towns.  And there is no one who is going to go out and enforce any that do exist in many cases.  How did my friend get into such a pickle?  Easy.

He was so afraid that the landlord would charge him a higher price because he was a foreigner, he sent his sister –in-law to look at the house and negotiate the price.  The lady did a fine job, my friend only pays PhP 1,000 more a month than I do, which is the going rate for these houses.  But to the sister-in-law, the sheet metal shop next door was nothing unusual at all … in fact some would consider it an asset, because if you had an unemployed bum or a drug dealer living next door, things could be worse, diba?

Dave’s advice? (and it’s only my opinion, of course).  Forget about this sometimes overblown fear of being ripped off with a foreigner price.  You can easily find out what things are supposed to cost without sticking your nose in first.  Then go look at any house you are going to rent yourself and make your own decision.  In particular, as part of the process, introduce yourself to the neighbors on each side and the lot on the street behind you.  It only makes good sense to me, you are the one who has to live there, and you should do your own research.

If something about the neighbor scares you or turns your stomach … or if the neighbor seems hostile toward you, wouldn’t it make sense to find out before the landlord has your deposit money and your signed lease?

Happy Philippine home renting.

What happened to my brother?

My parents had three kids.  I am the oldest, and my brother is the youngest.  My sister was 2 years younger than me, but she died at age fifteen, and I was 17 when that happened.  So, during my adult life, my only sibling has been my younger brother.

When I moved to the Philippines, my brother didn’t seem to understand very much about the place.  He asked me if I could actually live here with no running water or electricity.  I explained to him that both running water and electricity were available here, and many other conveniences as well, even modern ones!  From the way he talked, he seemed to think that I would be swinging on vines, something like you would see on a Tarzan movie!  No matter how much I explained, it seemed that he just could not accept that things were more modern here than he thought.

Well, the first couple of years that I lived here in the Philippines, I could only communicate with my family by making long distance calls, or e-mail.  At the time, my brother didn’t do e-mail, and calls were expensive, so we did not talk often.  After about 2 years of living here, though, I was able to get a Vonage IP telephone, so phone calls that I make to the States don’t cost me anything more than the $25 per month that I pay to Vonage.  My brother can even call me for free, because my US phone number is in the same town where he lives.

After getting set up with this phone system, I used to call my brother at least several times per week, sometimes even daily.  After a while, whenever I would call, my brother would not talk to me.  If I called and talked to his wife, she would say that he was not home, or he was busy.  I could tell that he just did not want to talk.  That was about 5 years ago, when this started happening, and since then, I have never spoken to my brother.  I want to talk to him, but he won’t take my calls.

I searched my memory, gazed into my conscience to figure out what I did to upset him, but I could not figure out what happened.

Over the past 5 years, I talked to somebody that is a mutual acquaintance between my brother and I.  I asked if he knew what happened, and why my brother would not speak to me.  I was kind of surprised at what I found out.

I was told that whenever I would talk to my brother, and would tell him that my life here was going well, and that I was successful, he didn’t like it.  When I told him that my businesses were doing well here, it upset him.  I guess it all boils down to jealousy.  When I was in the States, my brother was not so successful in his business life, and had problems in his personal life too.  I think that he overcame many of his personal problems, but having not spoken for 5 years, I don’t know for certain.  Our mutual acquaintance told me that my brother just could not accept that I was doing so well, and even said that I must be making this all up.

It is sad to me that my brother feels this way.  It makes me wonder, what did he expect me to do, lie to him and tell him that my life was terrible?  Would that make him feel better?  It would make me feel bad if he told me that he was in such a situation.

How about you?  If or when you move to the Philippines, will you be leaving your extended family behind?  I don’t mean that you will be moving far away, of course you will, but with modern communications, even though my brother and I live on opposide sides of the World, we could still communicate as if we were next door neighbors.  Do you think that you will have family members who will have this sort of attitude?

I doubt that my brother will ever see this, but if he does, I invite him to give me a call!  I would be so happy to hear from him.  I’d call him, but it has been made clear to me that he doesn’t want that.  I hope to hear from him soon.  Just because I live in a different part of the world doesn’t mean that I don’t love my brother and his family.  I hope they are doing well, and nothing would make me happier than seeing my brother come here for a visit sometime, so that I can show him how life is here.  You never know, he may like it.

Frugal Experimentation

In his 2003 book Value Leadership, management guru Peter S. Cohan discusses different ways companies create value and improve performance in a variety of organizational settings. In this week’s edition of the Small Business File, we look at Cohan’s advice on what it means to ‘Experiment Frugally’, especially in the context of small business in the Philippines.

According to Cohan, frugal experimentation involves creating an environment in which companies can harness ‘accidental discoveries’ that create value for both customers and partners. In essence, companies that experiment frugally are those that take on a Darwinian approach to the development of ideas and practices that benefit the organization. Small, evolutionary experiments are made with existing practices to create even more value that can benefit the company and its customers.

Experimenting frugally includes building on a firm’s strengths, and identifying new products and better processes and practices that extend naturally from what the firm already does well. Many small businesses in the Philippines are very reluctant to change their practices. The reluctant businesses are those that fail to realize that change is necessary unless you don’t mind being overtaken by your competitors. The best way to stay in business is to make continuous improvements. Of course, you should try and remedy glaring deficiencies first, but the thrust of this article is to also take the time to make small improvements on what you do well already.

I believe frugal experimentation is especially important for small businesses in the Philippines. For starters, it is often impractical to make big, wholesale changes to your business once it is up-and-running. If your business is floundering, then yes, drastic measures may need to be taken. But if your small business is doing well, large changes can be disruptive. Frugal experimentation can help grow your small business once you have earned your stripes and have developed a business reputation. In this regard, I would even go so far as to suggest that frugal experimentation helps combat complacency.

Complacency can cause your small business to lose its edge in the marketplace. Pushing your small business to continually improve is perhaps best achieved through an evolutionary approach to growth for your small business. If you notice a certain product of yours sells very well, perhaps see if you can even push sales further by placing that product in an even better if not the best location in your store. Don’t be satisfied with how the product is doing on its own — push it further! If your staff complain of a cumbersome workplace layout, ask them what would make things easier for them to do their job. If moving a few pieces of furniture around creates a more workable area, go for it! Over the course of a year you may save many hours of unproductive time. You may even prevent a workplace injury that hurts productivity, morale, or worse. A commitment to evolve whenever possible helps make sure your small business fights complacency and gives you every chance to reap benefits on a continuous basis.

Frugal experimentation is something that small business owners should institutionalize, but sometimes it can also be thrust upon you. Two weeks ago a major supplier of a key input to our business operations informed us he could not deliver our shipment we ordered. It would be delayed. This is not normally a problem, because things like this do happen from time to time. But the delay was MUCH longer than we could really afford. We always build in allowances, but the time-frame offered by our supplier far exceeded what we could withstand without a major hit in sales. We had to improvise.

Am I ever glad we were forced to improvise! In just over a day we found we were able to produce the input ourselves at half the cost we were buying the product for from our supplier. Not only that, but we also believe our newly developed product was superior in quality to what we were purchasing. I would not disagree with anyone who would say ‘we got lucky’ this time. We did. But more importantly, it made me realize we should be doing a better job of experimenting frugally! Now if we can find other inputs that we can produce in-house, we can realize even more significant cost savings. This is especially important now when the economy faces considerable uncertainty.

Small business owners of all types should try to develop ways of making frugal experimentation a cornerstone of their business practice. Improving what you do well helps you realize just how much better your small business can become if you make the effort to fight complacency and strive for continuous improvement.

Try making frugal experimentation a business policy in your small business. It just may give you an edge with your competitors and push you to grow in ways you didn’t dream were possible.