Home Sweet Marilao

As I am sure most of you have already realized, “Editor Bob” suggested all of us who contribute to the Live in the Philippines Web Magazine write an article on our ‘home city’ here where we are living in the Philippines.  Sounds like a pretty good idea to me, ‘Where should I live in the Philippines?’ is always a big topic of interest, so these articles should help.

My wife Mita (the Unofficial Cook) and I chose to make our home, at least temporarily, in the municipality of Marilao, province of Bulacan, in central Luzon, very close to the NCR (National Capital Region), commonly called Metro Manila.  You can learn a bit about Marilao and Bulacan province by visiting their web sites, unlike just a few years ago, an amazing number of communities now have web sites and the first step in learning about any place you are thinking of is to look for their official web sites. They vary greatly in quality and usefulness, but at least give you a starting point.

Our good friend Wikipedia tells us this about Marilao:

Marilao is a 1st class urban municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 160,452 inhabitants in 22,363 households. In 2007, The City of Meycauayan and the town of Marilao in Bulacan province share a slot in the list of the world’s 30 most polluted places in the developing world drawn up by a private New York-based institute. In its report, “The World’s Worst Polluted Places” for 2007, the Blacksmith Institute said: “Industrial waste is haphazardly dumped into the Meycauayan, Marilao and Obando River system, a source of drinking and agricultural water supplies for the 250,000 people living in and around” the Meycauayan-Marilao area.

I added that pull quote in first, because Marilao and neighboring Meycauayan are known around the world because of the quoted Blacksmith report.  Might as well get the bad news out of the way first.

Bulacan, in US terms, is sort of the New Jersey of the Philippines.  It’s quite industrialized and must once have been a horrible place to live back when it was the tanning center of the Philippines.  There are no tanneries left, or at least I have yet to smell one. The rivers mentioned are polluted, as indeed many rivers in the Philippines and elsewhere are. The government has an active program in place to identify pollutant sources and rehabilitate them, but in my estimation that program does little.  I don’t swim in those rivers, buy food from them or drink from them.  It’s just a fact of life and how these particular towns  earned their ratings on the report I will leave to the experts.  I mainly just mentioned it as sort of a preemptive strike before someone writes me, as many have, and says something like “OMG, how can you possibly live there?”

The answer is, we manage living here just fine … It’s nothing like, for example, living in Jersey City or Bayonne or Rahway New Jersey (or anywhere in the Los Angeles basin), for example.  It is what it is.  Marilao is much less industrialized than it once was and is now quite a “bedroom” community for Metro Manila.  A great many residents here work in the NCR and commute, either by car, 45 minutes to many points of Manila via a modern, world class toll way, or by Jeepney or private car service (FX).  We are far enough out in the province that there are no taxis or buses here, but still conveniently close to Manila.

So why did we move to Marilao, of all the many places we could have chosen in the Philippines?  I’d say the two biggest reasons are family and convenience.  First of all, Mita’s family (father mother, one sister, one brother and our two favorites nephews) are still living in the family home.  I promised Mita years ago that we would come back and spend time with her aging parents before the inevitable comes, and unlike so many expats (I feel sorry for so many of them) I get along great with my married family. To say that they treat me like a king would be an understatement.  I am really blessed, favored and have prospered in that sense.  Just one example that helped make the decision for us, when we had a date set, my father-in-law walked the streets for days until he found this house for rant, and then worked with the landlord to get several crews in here and fix the place up from roof to

yard work.  We move in to a spic and span house with a working toilet, lights turned on, a shiny new water tank, everything but the furniture.  If you’ve ever rented a house in the Philippines you know how rare that treatment is.  Landlords in the Philippines tend to do nothing at all for incoming tenants.  With treatment like that, how could we go elsewhere for our starter home?  We pay 7,000 pesos a month for rent, for a three bedroom, single bath house on it’s own lot.  Similar rentals are available most of the time for 7 to 10,000 a month.

One thing to note, a lot of people write to me and ask, where are the places in the Philippines most popular with foreigners to live?  My answer to that is, I don’t know of any in particular.  There are a lot of foreigners here. I never go to the mall without seeing other foreigners, and I see them in every place in the Philippines I have visited so far. Often far from big cities.  We who spend a lot of time in the online world tend to think we are getting the ‘big picture’ if we visit a lot of blogs and Yahoo Groups, but the truth is, in my opinion that we ‘online people’ are only the very tip of the iceberg.  I meet foreigners day in and day out who never show up online and have no interest in doing so, so when you read sites like this, you are only getting part of the overall picture.

The second reason we’re here right now is convenience.  We are walking distance from an SM City mall.  When I was in the US I hated malls. I’d go out of my way to avoid them, but when you live here, especially in a provincial location, you’ll find a mall is a real outlet to the outside world,  it’s our place for entertainment, food (both groceries and eating out), banking, bill paying, in fact most of our daily needs.

Also, adjacent to the mall is one of our main reasons for wanting to live here, a dream which is currently on hold, a planned North Rail terminal.  The Philippines once had a working rail network and a major line passed right through Marilao.  A few years ago the government received a  huge loan from China to rebuild a modern light rail service on the old right of way.  For reasons I don’t really know, that’s all on hold right now, but someday we may still be on rapid transit leading to all the major areas of Manila.

Until light rail materializes, we make do with our own car (and yes I drive, wouldn’t live here without a car), the modern NLEX toll road which goes south to Metro Manila or north to Angeles City and Subic, and Jeepneys and private car services.  Jeeps run right past the end of out block, 24 hours a day now that so many people commute to call center jobs, takes 30 or 40 minutes to their terminal at the end of the LRT, one of Manila’s existing light rail lines, and costs about 50 cents.  Or you can hop a tricycle, 40 to 60 cents to take you to one of several FX terminals and ride in a van with aircon to the city for about $1 USD.

As far as stores, restaurants, gyms, theaters, doctors offices, dentists and such, there are many, often in walking distance, but more and more we go to the mall for that too.  There is a local hospital with emergency room and basic services across the street from the mall, and larger hospitals on the way into Manila if you need a higher level of care.

There are a number of private schools in the area, some must be adequate, a neighbor’s son graduated high school last term and went right into LaSalle University in Manila.  Many people send their children to Metro Manila private schools (by private car service, though, there are no public school buses I’ve ever seen in the Philippines).  As Tommy recently pointed out it costs more for transpiration than for the school itself for some of his relatives.

I’d say that pretty much covers things, except I really should talk about the 500 pound gorilla everyone tries not to talk about, the ‘nightlife’.  If you go along any major highway, like MacArthur Highway, near out house (it’s where the mall is, actually) it will look like atypical bustling business street,  If you go there after dark you will see bars, videoke bars, ‘girly’ bars, just plain bars, and dozens of street vendors.  Many think the sex trade in the Philippines is confined to ‘sin cities’ like Angeles City or Olongapo and Subic.  Nothing is farther from the truth.  In addition to the bars, there’s a ‘short time’ hotel every mile or two.  This is a fact of life here and if it is something that gets you all upset and nervous, this is not the place for you.  In general, this is typical of every built up area I have been in in the Philippines. To me, it means little because I typically am not even out after dark, but it’s better you hear the straight truth from the beginning, in my view.

Will we stay here in Marilao long term?  Not likely.  My wife has a farming property up north in the province if Zambales, and our current plan is to build and relocate there next year.  After that, we may acquire another place or two elsewhere in the Philippines, because for me, at least, there is no one good place, there are a lot of places where I can be happy.

Hope this has been of some help, and if you have specific questions, you can always contact me through the Contact page up in the top menu bar, or preferably put your question in a comment below so that others can learn from it too.

photo credit: harry07

Positive Or Negative, Where Do You Fit?

I was pleasantly surprised at the reaction to my recent article  Why You’re Reading About the Philippines. In particular I’m glad that no one took my examples of how repetitive and cyclical our always present world and national crises are … so many things today sound the same as when I listened to the radio at my mother’s knee in 1949 or 1950 or so … my mom would have been glued to CNN 24×7 if she were around today (except when a Mets game was on).  She was a bit of a news junkie I would have to say.

Frankly, although we get the International edition of CNN here in the Philippines, which is head an shoulders above the drivel you suffer through in the US-only version, it is still a pretty horrible thing to watch for more than 15 minutes or so.

It is often said, often in a humorous or even critical sense, that Filipinos are “drama queens”, and as much as I can be an objective observer, I would have to agree.  Even what seem like small, trivial events are often blown up to tremendous proportions in the Philippine media … only to die down and disappear without a trace in the next few days.  We in the US of course share this tread to some degree, but the overwhelming impression of an outsider is, drama is certainly a ‘queen’ here in the Philippines.

But if drama be a ’queen’, what or who might be the ‘king’?  For me, that’s one of the few ‘easy’ questions left in this world … it is negativity.  Watching the nightly news is often a little game to me as I watch the ‘talking bobble heads’ try to find a negative aspect to nearly every item they report.  A few nights ago I saw an interesting report on the first quarter 2009 ASEAN countries’ economic performance.  The Philippines was up in number one in a great many of the categories.  In a number of cases the Philippines blew Singapore out of the water (for reasons I don’t yet fathom, Filipinos seem in awe of Singapore … a swampy little mud flat about the size of Metro Manila, with virtually no resources, which depends heavily on imported Filipino talent in things technical or artistic and creative, to a degree I probably won’t understand if I live here another hundred years … that’s a story for another day).

My point is, the newscaster and the Philippine government official being interviewed prefaced every statement with ‘weasel words’ like, “of course trouble may yet come to us,” “you can’t really say that the Philippines is performing that well because the other country’s GDP is artificially depressed by the global crisis’, and a lot of other almost sickening apologia for being in the lead.

But the tendency for the Philippines to always think of themselves in last place is not my main point.  As an American I see plenty of this tendency today in my fellow Americans.  Instead of showing the world what we, as a country can do, and digging in and doing for ourselves what we really are capable of, we seem to have fallen into a sullen, passive aggressive mode of being sorry for ourselves, and like our Filipino brethren, giving up on today and pinning out hopes on some nebulous time in the future when things will come right again for us.

I had this driven home to me pretty solidly a day or so ago when I read the blog of a fellow I have been reading for some time.  He’s a former computer industry tech person who changed careers to follow his dream … he always wanted to be an airline pilot.  Quit his job, mortgaged his house to finance his training and is now in the ’big time’ … or semi-big time.  He’s a first officer flying small jets for a regional US airline … working long strange hours and struggling up the ladder in the face of continual threats of layoffs (‘furloughs’ in the airline industry), and making his way, in general, in the typical American Dream path so many of us are used to reading about … at least back in better time.

What set me off on today’s essay though was a blog entry he made about packing his suitcase where he used an illustration of his pilot’s flight bag complete with a prominent ‘bumper sticker’ advocating the defeat of President Obama in the next presidential election in 2012. (Photo by permission, Geek in the Cockpit)

Now don’t get me wrong .. and don’t sharpen up your political knives.  This blog isn’t about politics and I don’t want to discuss it (for those who just have to know I didn’t vote for either Obama or McCain and I have absolutely no interest here, in 2009 who might be on the ticket in 2012).

I did, though, fell saddened and a little sick to my stomach that this otherwise positive, hardworking and ‘with it’ person would figure it was worth his time, three plus years before the next election, to put his day-to-day efforts into carrying around ‘anti’ banners this far in advance.  It’s as if we, the US, his chosen and problematic airline industry, and the unsettled world, with many people wondering where they are going to live or where their next meal is coming from, would feel that anything ‘positive’ will be advanced by wasting time campaigning against someone who can’t even run for more than three years.  I mean what are we for?  Being against someone can’t change a thing.

Recently there was a large rally in Makati (Metro Manila) against what would amount to another term of the current president.  Never mind the fact that constitutionally she can’t run again, and has given no indication she wants to, is this the most effective use of time, talent and money to advance a progressive cause?  Nonsense.  Wouldn’t it make sense to find a candidate who would really do something  for the country and boost up support for him or her?  I mean who cares who else runs in an election as long as the best candidate (in your opinion) wins?

Folks, trust me on this.  It is infinitely more powerful and efficient to be for something rather than against something, no matter what country you live in,  Not only is this something I know intuitively and from experience, but interestingly enough, in today’s troubled economic time, it turns out that negativity is a major factor in destroying efficiency (and thus leads to lost jobs).

You might want to read this article  “Negativity: The Number One Productivity Problem“.  I’ll highlight just a couple of facts from the article:

Fact #1  It may not be healthy to be negative but it’s natural. Human beings think over 60,000 thoughts per day and 85% of those thoughts are negative. Think about the little voice in your head cursing traffic or saying things like, “I dread going to work,” or “I can’t stand my co-workers.”

Fact #2  What you focus on expands. Cognitive scientists and neuron-psychologists know that the brain actually changes as a result of where a person focuses his thinking. Negative habits create more negativity and positive thoughts create happier feelings which lead to health.

Fact #3  Feeling good is good for your health. The American Heart Association reports that feelings of appreciation increases circulation and smooth cardiovascular rhythms. Also, recalling an angry experience can negatively affect the immune system for as much as six hours?  …

Fact #4  Relationships are either a source of renewal or a source of drama. It’s a fact, the number one reason an employee leaves a company is due to poor relationships with his direct supervisors. It is a fact that over 90 percent of workplace problems are people related. The Gallup organization found that no single factor more clearly predicts the productivity of an employee than the relationship with his direct supervisor.  Drama in the workplace hampers productivity and the number one problem in most workplaces is negativity and stress.

If I had to characterize the comments and feelings of the vast majority of folks I deal with every day, foreigners or Filipinos, “Negativity” would have to be right up there at the top of the list.

Many foreigners who aren’t yet living in the Philippines have trouble holding a conversation without the “I hate my job” or “I can’t stand American women” feelings gushing out.

Those foreigners who live here continually bombard me with “The Filipinos are all after my money” or “The taxi drivers all cheat me” and similar thoughts.

Many Filipinos are no different.  I ask someone about a government project I have heard of and the stock answer is “Oh, that can never push through, it will all be eaten up in graft and corruption.” or “There are no opportunities for Filipinos unless they go overseas” and so on.

What do you think?  I mean, where do you focus your thoughts when you are thinking consciously?  I was particularly taken with Fact number 2, above.  Could it be that we really build and continually rebuild our own brains?  Is the ‘lucky guy’ just lucky, or is he just another sad sack who consciously worked on the problems in his life and recreated his own bran?

Something to think about, I think

Why You Can't Live In The Philippines

Boy that’s kind of a negative sounding title, isn’t it, Dave?  And besides, who died and left you in charge … where do you get off telling me what I can and can’t do?

Of course I’m not in charge and of course I can’t tell you what to do… I wouldn’t even if I was able to.  But that title just sort of came to mind this morning when I was reading some mail I had answered in the past and remembering some of the many conversations with several thousand (over the past 10 years or so) folks who had 10,000 reasons or more why they can’t make the move and live here in the Philippines.

I’m a great believer in a line that is attributed to Henry Ford… a young man who started out poorer than you and I put together and died as one of the richest men in the world in addition to the ‘minor’ accomplishment of putting the world on wheels.  Said Henry, “If you think you can or if you think you can’t, you’re right.”

Over the years I’ve talk with roughly 8 times as many people who “think they can’t” as I have with people who “think they can.”  One reason for that disparity in numbers is, many of the “think they can”… let’s just call them the ‘can’ folks, shall we … don’t need to talk near as much as the “can’t” folks, because the “cans” often just make up their mind and do it.

The “can’ts” are often trapped in that modern malady of our times, “paralysis by analysis.”

• Gotta find out the answer to every conceivable detail in excruciating detail.
• Gotta reconcile all the discrepancies, one guy pays PhP50,000 a month for rent and another pays 10,000 a month for rent … Danger, Will Robinson!
• Gotta have a “real” job within easy commuting range of my house
• Gotta live where I am sure I have coverage under Medicare, even if I am only 40 years old
• Gotta live only where my friends and family “understand” … I don’t live my life for me, I live through them.
• The list goers on, ad infinitum

The real truth is, prices vary by where you live, what terms you decide to take and what terms are even available in the first place.  Last time I was in the rental market back in the USA, things weren’t very much different at all.  There are places available nearly anywhere to fit nearly any budget, but if you haven’t enough confidence in yourself to only sign up for what fits you, I’d submit you are placing yourself well into the “can’t” camp.

In today’s world, where you earn a living has nothing to do with where you live … unless you want to keep things status quo.  Finding a conventional J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) in the Philippines can be hard … but why do you need one?  Look at the newspapers and the TV reports every night.  People even with “old line” companies have no “job security” …  job security is a myth anyway.  Earning you own living is likely the only safe “career path.”

Medicare coverage is indeed an issue, and I’m a lot closer to it than the majority of you reading this, but even so, who cares?  Are you going to live as a ward of the government, being shuffled around to suit the whim of some bureaucrat, or are you going to actually “live” your life, instead of starting your death planning in your 40’s?  Frankly, both my parents died, in part, because of the horrible way elders in the US are treated under Medicare, so I don’t spend a lot of time looking forward to that “wonderful” government benefit.  If I get caught up by some horrible illness in the future, I’ll deal with what happens when it happens.  When my dad passed away, 13 years ago, a contributing factor was being shoved out of one Medicare-assisted nursing facility into another, cheaper Medicare-approved facility.  Even all those years ago, the weekly bill for the cheaper facility was more than my wife an I spend for a month to live here in the Philippines … so am I going to live my life based on the “tender mercies” of the US Medicare program?  In the end, we’re all dead anyway, I prefer to live the time I have left with a little more pleasure and dignity, thank you very much.

So what’s my point?  What’s the answer to the question in the headline?  Why can’t you live in the Philippines, if you wish to? Here’s how to find the sure and certain answer.

Get up from your computer right now, walk to the closest mirror and ask the person staring back at you.  No one else can make the decision for you, and no one else really controls whether or not you can make the trip now, next year, in 20 years or whenever.  You aren’t “forced” to stay in your current situation by any third party, you are the deciding factor to live here or never live here.  God bless you with an informed choice, not an artificially forced one.

If you think you can or if you think you can’t, you are right.

photo credit: Zellaby

Why You're Reading About the Philippines

I’ve had this post sitting around “un-done” in my drafts folder for some time.  Today I was housecleaning (disk cleaning) and I decided to make something out of it rather than giving it the old heave ho.

It’s my thought that many of you are reading here for many different reasons, but the various reasons can often be lumped into one general category … entertainment.  Let me be quick to say there is nothing wrong at all with any of these particular sub-categories, but perhaps giving a little thought to why you are really here can help make the experience a bit better for you and even to get a little more out of the Live in the  Philippines Web Magazine and the efforts of those who make it happen.  I’m including a broad category of things in ‘entertainment’:

• Diversions - Anything that makes you forget the pain of your “little life”.  Hmm, to call most people’s like “little” sounds a bit demeaning, but then again, we all of us are pretty much just small cogs on some giant wheels.  I myself sometimes get a bit sad  with some of the interactions I have with folks who are in the “Interested in the Philippines” group because there are many out there who come across, to me at least, as being very unhappy with their lives and have somehow focused on the Philippines as being the one spark of hope that will someday make them feel happy and fulfilled.  Everyone needs to believe in something, but if this is you … something I have learned the hard way in this life we all share … if you are unhappy in country X or country Y, you are very likely to be unhappy here in the Philippines as well.  One thing you can definitely do, right now, today at a cost of absolutely nothing, is to start looking for the important things in your life.  Changing countries won’t fix what’s wrong, only changing ‘you’ inside will.  Don’t let the diversionary thought of “someday” making the move blind you from the fact that personal unhappiness usually climbs right in the box with the rest of your possessions when you move … wherever you go, there you are.
• Distractions – Anything that provides an easy-reason to not deal with what is in front of you.  This is the one I certainly identify with very strongly.  If I let myself slip into the “woulda, coulda, shoulda” mode there’s no doubt I could have made the move here way sooner in my life and been a lot more settled in already.  If you’re just dropping by to pass the time for a while, no problem, glad to have you.  But if you think for sure you want to make the move and you aren’t doing something, each and every day to make the move happen, leave now, go directly to your “to do” list (you do have one, right?) and get a couple items crossed off before you come back.  Distractions cause more delay and difficulty than any of the commonly stated problems like money, health, family and such ever do.
• Aggravation – Reading news or views that make you mad or get you jacked up (many find this a great pick-me-up in the afternoons at work, I’m told). Some of us seem totally driven by dissatisfaction.  If this is you, I can’t really say you are in the wrong place, but then again, please don’t try to drag me into it.  In general terms my life is quite satisfactory …has been for years.  I really don’t care who is in the White House, or in Malacañang Palace for that matter.

You’d be surprised how in my view, after 60 years of being aware of the news and how the world is being run, things aren’t really all that different.

I clearly remember President Truman address the nation about why we had to fight again in Korea to ‘make the world safe for democracy’ and get those rascally and aggressive North Koreans under control once and for all … good thing we accomplished that goal, eh?

I also clearly remember President Eisenhower making speeches and even radio commercials telling us that “We Auto Buy Now” to pump up a tottering auto industry which couldn’t figure out how to sell cars that Americans would buy.  Check that problem off too, we fixed it, didn’t we? … or was that our current leader I saw  other night hawking long-term auto warranties backed by the federal government?  … naw, that must have been a dream from the past.

My point is, not to discuss current politics, but to try to help you see that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  If you are really unhappy about how the world is being run today, or any of its particular countries, instead of getting yourself all wound up, just relax and take a deep breath.  Things are going to change, but in the long run, they pretty much all even out.  Regardless of how strongly you feel about politics, social injustice, religion or any other “shibboleth” you may be personally attached to, a move to the Philippines is unlikely to make and difference, pro or con.

A week or two ago I read a comment to one of Bob’s articles about stress.  The fellow making the comment was in the US and the way he worded his concerns he really made me feel quite sorry for him.  He was terribly concerned about “the horrible way the US was being run right now” and how life as we know it was probably in a death spiral … and even sadder he seemed to feel it was his personal responsibility to save us all from the impending crash.

Thank God I don’t have any immense responsibilities like that weighing me down … I’m just a little grain of sand on a gigantic beach myself … only a few other grains of sand even know I am here, and when I’m gone, very few will even know it, much less care.

OK so, that’s a few of the reasons I think some of us are reading (and perhaps writing) about the Philippines.  Did I hit any chords that resonated with you?  Or am I all wet and crazy as a mad hatter?  Anyone care to share why they are here?

photo credit: Amarand Agasi

Tourism Basics

Funny how time goes by.  I’m way behind on my article writing here, and for that I can only say, sorry ‘bout that, retirement is a lot busier than I thought it would be.  I started to write the sentence “a few days ago” and then I looked at the dates … turns out that over a month ago, friend Bob wrote an interesting article, Is the Philippines turning off tourists? | Live In The Philippines .  For those who haven’t read it, the thrust of the article is kind of a contrast between the millions and millions of Pesos spent every year on government promotion of tourism in the Philippines and the many little, often very low cost places where the Department of Tourism seems to fail in paying attention to their overall mission.

photo credit: dmkreuz

Well last Saturday afternoon, the Department of Tourism got a wake up call a little stronger than Bob’s article.  The Philippine Secretary of Tourism Joseph “Ace” Durano and his family were on a Cebu Pacific Airlines flight landing at Legazpi City airport (Legazpi City is on the island of Luzon in the Bicol region, a frequent tourist destination because of it’s proximity to Mt. Mayon, one of the Philippines’ many natural beauty treasures).

The Airbus A-320 aircraft with 80 passengers and a crew of 5 was on a regularly scheduled flight and received its clearance to land from the airport control tower.  Just as it touched down the pilot noted a Toyota van on the runway ahead of him.  Making a split-second decision the captain of the flight “poured the coal” to the engines and took off, narrowly missing what could easily have been a fiery disaster claiming many lives. (Technically this type of safety incident is termed a “runway incursion”, and it’s one of the most deadly things that can go wrong in aviation … Tenerife, for example, the deadliest accident in aviation history was also runway incursion incident).

Wow!  I’m glad the Secretary and everyone else is safe, and hats off to Captain Nowicki, who proved once again why airline pilots earn their money.  A “balked landing” like he executed is a dangerous maneuver in and off itself, but it posed less risk than a possible collision with  a one ton-plus van which could have killed the van occupants and everyone on the aircraft.

So, what happened here?  Was the certificated air traffic controller in the tower “asleep at the switch”?  Nope,  His actions appear to have been flawless.  The pilot, too, was following all proper procedures, and obviously keeping a sharp lookout.  So that kind of leaves us the van driver.

Probably some poorly educated fellow trying to earn some money to support his starving family who got confused and wandered out on the runway by mistake?  No. Perhaps some college boy who had too much to drink and wouldn’t know a runway from a swimming pool on a joyride?  Nope.  Aha, a suspected criminal making a daring attempt to escape from pursuing police?  No, wrong again.

The van driver was the son of the director of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Frisco Santo Domingo.  I mean the fact that your dad was the chief of civil aviation in the Philippines might not make you an expert on all aspects of flying, but one would imagine that at least he was aware that runways are for airplanes and roads are for cars, no?  Turns out the guy was teaching his girlfriend how to drive and apparently considers the taxpayer built and maintained property of the government his personal domain to do with as he pleases.  Talk about a misguided sense of entitlement a a total disregard for the G.M.R.C he was supposed to have studied in school.

It is particularly troubling to me to see this disregard for safety because his father was put into office less than two years ago to clean up and “fix” glaring safety and integrity issues which caused the ouster of his predecessor in the wake of a damming FAA Safety report and downgrade of the Philippine commercial aviation international safety rating.  The Palace puts a “troubleshooter” into office and he doesn’t even expect his own family to follow the rules?  Sad.

I’ve heard rumors for time to time that people in Malacañang (the Philippine “White House”) and other high places read this blog.  How true that might be I have no idea, but just in case, Secretary Durano, feel free to consider this an “open letter” from a guy who lives here in your country, cares a lot about the country and its people and supports your efforts in promoting tourism 100%.  A lot of Filipinos apparently subscribe to the “sweep the bad things under the rug” theory, even going so far as to tell foreigners, “Go to hell” if you don’t like it here.  Well this isn’t about what i like or don’t like, it’s about a very real issue that the Philippines needs to address “yesterday,” and is demonstrably failing to address in terms of action, not words.

Secretary Durano, hardly a week goes by that I don’t see you on TV or in the newspapers, spreading the tourism message for the Philippines, negotiating a multimillion dollar hotel deal with foreign investors, or some other noteworthy success.  I salute you, Sir, for your successes and your obvious desire to do your job diligently and serve your country well.  Indeed the Philippines could use some more public servants with your energy, enthusiasm and drive.

But I notice a disturbing tendency, from the outsider’s point of view, you seem to overlook the “simple” things about tourism.  Before the furniture in a tourist’s hotel room are upgraded, his or her basic safety and convenience ought to be addressed, or so I would think.  Significantly missing from the news reports of the Legazpi incident were any comments from yourself, as the senior representative of the national government present.  As a foreigner, I don’t have to make any negative comments regarding the day-to-day air safety practices in the Philippines,  Albay Provincial Governor Joey Salceda pretty much summed it up for me and I am sure many others:

“ … such violation of basic safety rules is a disgrace to our rising reputation as a tourism destination, a disservice to the riding public and temporary setback to our tourism effort,”

I’ve watched with interest to see anything on TV network news about this incident, or any official response from your office.  Perhaps I missed it in all the news of beauty pageants, nation-wide auditions for “Pinoy Big Brother” and  Doctora Vicki Belo’s San Diego traffic misfortunes, but this certainly seems an issue worth at least as much attention as new hotel complexes being built.  Or so it might appear to some.

Philippines Hood Ornament Fixation

This article isn’t really about hood ornaments (you do remember them, don’t you?), nor is it really about driving, (although I am going to talk about that a bit).  it’s really about vision.  Seeing things.  How people see things. What people do with what they see.  And (perhaps) things that can be done to make improvements, both in day to day life (as in being stuck in traffic), to the long-term future of the Philippines …  and the US for that matter.

Before I go any farther let me make an editorial comment.  I absolutely love the number of Filipino readers that this blog, and even my articles are attracting.  I rarely fail to learn something from each and every Filipino comment I receive.  The problem is, what I learn most often is, a great many Filipinos are attuned to one thing, and one thing only … a bright, shiny “hood ornament” of the country that is called “corruption.”

It is no secret that there are some problems with corruption in the Philippines.  Billions of Pesos get allocated to buy fertilizer for farmers and allegedly, most of it goes in the pocket of certain corrupt officials.  Bad thing.  The commanding general of the PNP and a number of cronies take millions and millions from the national treasury (and possibly from foreign sourced anti-terrorist funds) and spend them on a huge shopping trip to Moscow, along the way blatantly violating (by their own sworn testimony) their own countries currency and anti-money laundering rules.  Heck, some where even too busy to go themselves and sent their wives, at government expense, to spend the money of the people for overpriced watches.  Bad thing.  I could go on.  I won’t.  I could just as easily say, Google Rod Blagojevich or Ted Stevens or Randy “Duke” Cunningham, or find out why the USAF is buying Airbus rather than Boeing tankers, etc., etc., Ad nauseam.  Bad thing.

Corruption, incompetent government officials, legislators making laws in their personal interest rather than the “good of the nation” and more can be found in the day-to-day modern history of any country.

(actually, as a boy from Hudson County, New Jersey, I think the Philippines is essentially “bush league” when it comes to corruption, most Filipinos who rail on and on about corruption haven’t a clue as to what real organized government corruption is)

Pursuing them any farther is pointless.  Wrong doing is a trait of human nature which is unfortunate, but should hardly be the focal point of any country.

When most of us learned to drive we were taught at least the principles of defensive driving.  A primary point in driving defensively is to look out quite far down the road in front of your vehicle, and not to focus on the hood ornament.  In fact it’s easy to see a person driving with insufficient forward vision if you happen to get stuck behind him or her.  Frequent weaving and dodging, sudden braking, then accelerating, then braking again, getting stuck behind a stopped vehicle instead of changing lanes smoothly in advance of the obstacle … most drivers are well aware of the problem.

The point of safe driving, or the point of nation building ought to be, the “hood ornament” is not the highway.  If you focus your driving vision on your own hood ornament

(20 bonus points, by the way, for any reader who can identify the marque of the auto in the picture and an additional 20 bonus points to anyone who can correctly identify the ship)

If you care about your own country (whatever one it might be) then you need to focus on the issues farther out than the immediate issues of who took the fertilizer money back in 1996 or whenever it was, and instead, who will lead the country tomorrow … and what can I as a citizen do to help, rather than point out failures.

A couple parting thoughts about a better Philippines that might be worth a thought or two, even if they did come from a Kano.  These are examples of logic that puzzle me on a daily basis:

• Because a government official may have stolen money from the people, it makes sense to pee on the wall like a dog, right under the sign that says “Bawal Umihi Dito”.  (Actually the larger question might be, why would a ‘no peeing here’ sign even be needed, do they need one under the altar in church?)
• Because a second cousin didn’t get picked for a job since she went to the “wrong” school, you throw your cigarette butts on the sidewalk.
• Because you’re driving a cheap car and some government official has a Mercedes, you teach your children to throw their McDonald’s wrappers out the window on the highway.

These are all behaviors I see every day, all degrading behaviors that directly disrespect the country, and all that don’t cost a single centavo to correct, and in every case I’ve been told by Filipino friends, “Well what can you do, our country is hobbled by the terrible sin of corruption.”

Admittedly, I’m an outsider, so my comprehension is limited.  But I have a real problem in seeing the connection.  Feel free to help me out.

photo credit: particlem

Contest for a cause!

During my grade school days I ended up joining some money contest for a cause. At that time I didn’t even know that I was chosen to join. I was just informed by my parents that the principal and my teacher talked to them and asked them if I can join. Of course they told me that this is for the girl scouts, they wanted to raise some money for a project in school. Since I was a girl scout I was the one chosen at my classroom to represent. Each grade has to have one representative, and I was the one on fifth grade. Oh gosh, I hate to be in those kind of things To be the center of attraction.

Of course on this kind of contest you have to ask for money from the family and friends and some people that I don’t know. It’s embarrassing. I have to do it though. One time my dad told me that when ever the fish that was caught by our boat the money from that he will give it to me. A lot of my family were trying to raise money. It’s also become political, my schoolmate who was also part of the contest, her dad was getting kind of nasty about it. Later it was really them against us. Most of the people in our town supported me, even the mayor of the municipality and the next town from us. Even the richest guy in our place ask my dad if my dad wants to put a lot of money and he will give some share to the school. My dad told him that we will give what was given by the people and family and friends. He doesn’t want to really end up in debt just over this stuff. My dad said its nice to help but not to the extent that we will owe people some money. With that contest the school gets the half of the money that we put in. So my dad just wants to put the money from the people that help and from his pocket. I’m really glad that my dad didn’t go out and owe money because at the end we won anyway and no debt. Unlike our opponent they didn’t win, but they owe some money too.

Really the contest didn’t end there. The opponent wanted to have contest with another family member of mine and theirs. It’s getting personal I think if I remember. At the end my cousin won. It’s getting bad to the point that they are trying to cause a problem during coronation night. They are throwing rocks at the events. After that my family decided not to join anymore. It’s not worth it. Wow, thats almost 30 years ago. My partner on this contest, he’s a relative. Now, he is dead already. Hmm, most of you are calculating now how old I am? Well, I am 39 years old.

When I visited my place a few weeks ago. Me and my family are talking about it. Now we kind of laugh about it, and think how crazy the contest was before. Really our family is not involved in it anymore. Nowadays when they want to raise money they will just have like a disco party. The youngsters enjoy that better anyway.

And, this is how I became the 1980 “Mutya ng mga Iskaut” (Queen of the Scouts).

Any of you can share your childhood memories here?

Cheers!

Family inheritance!

I just wanted to write this story because it really is a big problem by some family here in the Philippines. Last week a cousin of mine arrived from Luzon. This is the first time in my life meeting her. She already heard of me through her brother who came here middle of last year. Their dad is the oldest child out of 7 children in my mom’s side of the family. Before my grandfather passed away in the mid 70’s I used to see my uncle almost every year. My uncle and my grandfather had a close relationship with my dad because my dad was really honest and respectful to them. My dad was the one who took care of my Lolo if he ever had problems with his land.

A few months ago my uncle died of a stroked. Before his death he always tells his kids to come to our province in Sarangani and get connected with the family and also get the share of the land that they have not even had a share for over 30 years. The kids of my uncle didn’t pay much attention at that time because my uncle and his wife were working on the land that was owned by the family of his wife, somewhere up north of Manila. Out of curiosity his youngest son really came here to Mindanao. He did come here last year and tried to claim what property belongs to them. I was happy that he did.

Well, at first he had a warm welcome from my cousins who live in Sarangani Province. Later when my cousin from Luzon wanted the share that belongs to his dad my cousins from Sarangani talked him out of it, try to forget the 30 years that they didn’t give anything. My cousin from Luzon said that he wished he could do that. It was agreed upon by his siblings before he his coming to GenSan that he will get the share that they didn’t get for 30 years. So he told my cousins from here that he wanted to get if and even if they will pay him slowly. I guess my cousins from here can’t come up with the money they just pointing fingers to each other. Some of my mom’s siblings live in Cebu City, Lanao Del Norte, Luzon, GenSan and some part of Sarangani Provice. One of the sibling in Sarangani Province should be the one taking care of the land, but the youngest sibling and her husband really got greedy and wanted all the share of the land. The husband would even scare my other aunt from Lanao when they come for a visit and wanted to get their share. When my mom was still in good health she would always say to the greedy aunt and her husband to give the share of the brothers and sisters. They just laugh and think they can get away with it. With my cousins now from Manila that come to get their share my greedy aunt and her husband were asking my sister what to do because they know they are in trouble. My sister told them to give what belongs to the sibling.

Last week when I saw my cousin she was really crying when we talked, she told the family in Sarangani that we should be hugging and loving each other instead of fighting. While my cousin was here at our house, I guess she got a call from the family from Sarangani that they have to see each other at the barangay hall to talk more with the barangay captain to resolve the issue. Well, her brother and some of my cousins and 2 of my siblings went to see the barangay captain. While my cousin from Manila was talking and telling my cousin that they will just get part of the 30 years. My cousin from Luzon were not even finished talking yet, one of my cousin from Sarangani slugged the cousin from Luzon in the face. My sister was really mad at my cousin from Sarangani. She told them that they really make themselves in more trouble now. I just could not believe what my other cousin has done just over money. Now my cousin from Manila told my sister that she is thinking of filing a case against some of my cousin from Sarangani. I told my sis I don’t blame the cousin from Luzon for that. They came here nicely, they should be treated nicely and fairly.

I wished my other aunt and uncle followed what was written in the papers that they all agreed upon a long time ago. This might not have happened. It’s really sad and disgusting. Just to be fighting to the point as if killing each other for just a small portion of the land.

Did anyone has similar problem? Any advice is really appreciated!

The maid's choice

Today I got a text from our helper that she is quiting.

She went home a few days ago to the province to visit her Dad and attend the wedding of her uncle.

Our helper was complaining how did her uncle afford to be getting married (even special wedding) that him and his wife has no job. The wife-to-be is like 5 months pregnant now. A few months back that same uncle was asking some money from our helper for her to help the wedding expenses. I told her at that time that would you really want to send the money to your uncle even your dad is needing the money for his check up? Her dad is kind of sickly with old age and overwork in the farm. She told me that she wants the money to be given to her dad. I had a feeling that the family is forcing them to help pay with the wedding. My nieces and I even told her to just send the money to her dad because the fare to go to the farm can already pay half sack of rice. Which is a big deal to her family.

She has been working with us for over 2 years now. When I hired her I told her that I don’t want for her to just stay with me for a few months and I will train her how to do some work and later on quit. Well, at least she stayed for 2 years.

When she first came to our house she really looked pretty bad, her teeth had lots of problems, her skin was so dry because of working in the farm. Really we felt sorry for her. The next day when she came I immediately brought her to the dentist for her teeth to get fixed first. The dentist did a good job and our helper was really happy with the result. At least for staying here for 2 years she really learned a lot and she looks better. Even her neighbors in the province would always comment to her that she must have been treated good with her employer because she looks great now.

She told my sister that it is hard for her to quit because we really treated her good, but just that she wants to be with her family all the time. My sister said that how could she afford the medicine and the food if she’s not working? Our helper said that it’s okay for her to work at the next town and have a smaller paycheck as long as shes near to her dad.

I think she is now helping her aunt to do laundry (labandera). Some of her cousins want her to be the nanny of their babies and kids. They even got mad at her for working with us since we are not her family. I think she’s just so tired of their whining and will just work with them to get it over with. She really despises her extended family because when her and her dad were in need of her family to help them because one of her siblings got ill, the family just turned them away and told them they had no money.

But when the uncle was getting ready to get married the family really told the dad of our helper that they have to give this amount of money and they have to give it right away. And now that our helper was working and earning a little bit to support her dad and siblings the family wants a portion of her paycheck too. Sometimes I told her to get her priority straight. To focus on her dad and her siblings instead of her relatives.

I really hope she is happy on the next job that she ventures. I hope that she will not get married soon, shes too young to have a kid too.

Surprise winner!

Last week was a search for Bb. Pilipinas (Miss Philippines) here. On this beauty pageant they will get like 3 ladies that will represent the Philippines on all the pageant abroad like Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss World. Its a bit controversial this time.

Here is a look at the eventual contest winner and how she answered the question put to her, see what you think!

Well, during the pageant and it was time for the question and answer portion for the top 10 contestants and one contestant was Janina San Miguel, and asked by this question by the judge: “What role did your family play with you as candidate for Bb. Pilipinas?” Wow, I was shocked that she didn’t really give a good answer. Or was she just too nervous? She said before the question that she didn’t feel any pressure, but when answering the question it shows that she’s really nervous, her answer was just all over the place and it didn’t make any sense. I know it’s hard to be on live TV and millions of people watching, but its really a concern now for her when it is time of the Miss World Pageant and its on live TV all over the world. How can she handle the pressure then? Like what she said she’s 17 years old and its her first time, maybe she’s not yet ready right now. Maybe in a year or 2. It really shocked me that she was chosen to win.

Maybe she still can make it. One of the contestant before that got the first runner up in Miss World ‘93 (Miss Ruffa Gutierrez) said that Miss Janina San Miguel still had 7 more months to practice and build confidence. She adds that the pageant is not just for beauty but for brain too. I really hope she will make it.

What do you guys think?

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