Is there opportunity in the Philippines?

Again, today I am sharing with LiP readers my weekly column from SunStar Davao, the biggest local Davao newspaper, where I write every week.  I hope you enjoy the article.

One thing that I really see a lot of here in the Philippines, which makes me feel bad, is the huge rush of Filipinos who want to go abroad.  The crowd of those who want to leave is so huge, it almost seems like everybody you know is on a quest to leave the country.

When you look into this and try to figure out why everybody wants to leave, the reason is almost universally that the people want to find work.  They need jobs that they feel are not available here in the Philippines.  They want to improve their lives, make more money, support their family, etc.  You can’t blame a person who wants to improve their standing in life.

It’s true that when you look around the country, it would seem that there are not a lot of promising jobs to be found.  For somebody without much training, they might get lucky and land a job at a fast food chain, or in a department store as a clerk.  But, how much of a future is there in those kind of jobs?  Well, unfortunately, it seems like most of those jobs are only temporary contract jobs that last for 5 or 6 months.  After that short time passes, the employee is let go, and a whole new staff seems to start working.  I suppose that I also would have a hard time getting excited about only being able to find such a temporary job like that.

However, is it true that there is no opportunity in the Philippines?  In my opinion, that simply is not the case!  I see so many opportunities available and just waiting for the right person to fill the slot.

I am from the United States of America, and I always hear a lot of Filipinos tell me that they want to go to the USA so they can find work and help support their family here in the Philippines.  However, what these people don’t realize is that life is tough in the USA.  The pace of life is fast, and there is little time to rest.  In the States, if you aren’t staying busy, you are losing ground.  Often you won’t have time for your family, you only have time to work!  Believe me, it’s not an enjoyable way to live your life when you have to work all the time like that!

If you want to start up any kind of business in the States you need a few things:

1. Lots of money.  Starting any kind of business in the States takes a ton of money!  If you don’t have that cash, you might as well give up on the goal too.
2. Plenty of time.  If you go into business for yourself, you are signing up for a lot of hours at the job!  No time to do anything but work, it seems!  Especially for those just starting a business, because they often can’t afford to hire an employee or two to assist in carrying the load.  So, the owner of the business must do everything himself!  It’s not an easy life, and it can take years to build your business to the point where you can start sharing the burden with a few employees.
3. Lots of patience.  You have to be patient long enough to make the business successful.  Patient with not having much money too!  You will have to reinvest much of your earnings to make the business grow, and make it a success.

However, here in the Philippines, it is still possible to start your own business on a low budget!  Hiring employees is inexpensive too.  Families here are close knit, so you can get some of your family to help out too!  Nieces, Nephews and such are always looking for work, and would be happy to help you get your business up and running!

The other great thing in the Philippines is that there are a lot of business niches that are still unfilled.  In the USA, it seems like no matter what kind of business you want to get into, there are many others already doing it here!  No so here in the Philippines, though!  If you can “think outside the box” or be creative in your thinking, you an still find plenty of opportunities here in the Philippines.

Another great thing about finding a business niche here in the Philippines is that if you stay here you can still enjoy your family here, the Philippines foods, culture and such!  If you leave the country you will soon find that you are missing these very basic things in life, and you will long for these things for many years!

So, next time you think that you want to go abroad, try to spend a little time thinking about what your best option is!  I firmly believe that there is plenty of opportunity to be had right here in the Philippines!  If you keep an open mind, and do some creative thinking, I think you will find that I’m right too!

Live Like a King in the Philippines!

OK, you look at the title of this article, and you think “What is this guy selling?” or “What is he smoking?” Truth is, at age 57, I never expected to live like a king. No offense to my peeps back home (and I have no idea what a peep is, except that is the sound these little chicks following their mother hen make around here) back in the States, there is no way I would be living like a king back in America unless I was Bill Gates or one of the Wal-Mart heirs. It just would not be happening. I would still be at my mind-numbing job at the phone company bored to death and watching the clock. But here I am in the Philippines just over a scant three months, and I am already living like a king.

Dave, or Bonehead (take your pick, they are interchangeable in my case), you may ask, how can you make such a bold statement? How can one live like a king in the Philippines? Well, let me first make one distinction. I don’t call myself a king although my Sainted Patient Wife told me last week that I was a KING! Now you guys out there married to a beautiful Filipina like I am, have probably already heard that from your asawa countless times. And you guys reading this living in America married to a wonderful American lady (as I once was during my brief nine and ½ month first marriage over 20 years ago) have NEVER heard it. No offense to you terrific American ladies, and please note I am 7000 miles away living in a python-infested jungle filled with thousands of huge spiders big enough to stop a Mack truck. And with huge bugs swarming around that will knock you out in a heartbeat if one smacks you in the face. And don’t forget the lizards. Don’t get me started on the lizards!

So I stopped to think what my asawa said, which in itself was rare because I usually don’t remember what she tells me unless it pertains to breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or snacks, or she needs some pesos to buy something. I do live like a king here. We support eight people in our household on around 500 USD a month, and we live pretty comfortable. We have a laundry lady we pay 1000 pesos a month, and a maid which we overpay at 2500 pesos a month (but she is my sister-in-law.) The house and property we live on is bought and paid for years ago by my wife when she worked overseas for years in Singapore and Taiwan as an OCW (old school term for Overseas Contract Worker) and now is called OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker.)  Everyone waits on me hand and foot here. I don’t ask for it, they just do it. Even my mother-in-law, The Feared Giant Lizard Killer with the big bolo, likes me. I’ve got it made, and I know it.

Could you live like a king somewhere else? Probably, but let me see, I am surrounded by beautiful tropical beaches and beautiful Filipinas (that I do not stare at when my wife is with me, but you cannot help but notice them), warm temperatures year round, no snow to shovel, no job to go to, friendly people (including my wife), and a lot less stress. Back home in the States I had to help with the laundry, clean my own bathroom, cook my own meals half the time, and go to work. Let me see, United States or the Philippines? Work, or here we go again, live like a king in the Philippines. But wait a minute, my Sainted Patient Wife just walked by, and I told her what I was writing about. She laughs and says to me: “I said you act like a king around here; I didn’t say you are a king.” Shoot! Had her living in America too long! I’ve just been dethroned!

Good Banking News for American Expats

I’m traveling in the States this week, and I had to go to the bank yesterday in order to wire Rebecca some money for bills at the house and the fish ponds. I had a most pleasant surprise when I got to the Bank of America office in Miami. In fact, this was the only pleasant surprise I have ever had at any bank!

On LiP, there have been numerous articles about accessing your money from the Philippines, and even more inquiries from those hoping to move to the RP in the near future. Everyone has to make a living and making banking arrangements before moving is one of the most important tasks you have to finish before moving.

In my case, Rebecca holds a Philippine account, and I have accounts in the States and in Abu Dhabi. Previously, I transferred cash between accounts primarily by using ATMs. This normally worked OK, but I ran into problems with daily withdrawal limits and it could be quite cumbersome if I needed more than 20,000 pesos at a time or the machine ate my ATM card (This happened at an HSBC machine and it took them over 2 months to get me a replacement card… They are now on my permanent list.)

The money laundering and tax evasion reporting laws made ordering wire transfers between accounts in different countries from US-based accounts very difficult, requiring an order in-person at a bank branch (Impossible from the Philippines), or a pre-approved wire transfer order submitted ahead of time, and entered into the bank’s system. This year, the law changed requiring banks to perform these functions electronically, and it now becomes possible to easily request a wire transfer when you are outside the United States. In fact, the surprise at Bank of America was that they are now requiring all wire transfer requests be made online, and they can no longer be effected in person at the branch. Bank of America’s new policy is that unverified transfers can be made up to $1,000 limit with no verification online, and with no limit after a simple online verification that is completed online at the time of the first transfer and takes about 1/2 a day to complete!  The cost of each transfer, no maximum limit, is $30. Needless to say, this new procedure makes my life much, much easier. It now means that all my financial transactions can be done online, shifting sufficient funds between the States, the Middle East, and the Philippines to pay all my bills, no longer needing to use repeated ATM transactions (At least $30 in fees for over $1,000) or visits to Western Union, and so on.

The branch manager stated that Bank of America was the first to offer this service, but she expected that most US banks would soon be following suit in the near future. I personally liked Bank of America’s online banking system, since it was easy to use and quite comprehensive. In fact, I was able to set up the accounts online, simply submitting a signature card when I was back in the States to get everything started. Before I found this out this week, things had gotten to the point that I was seriously considering opening an offshore account in the Bahamas or Macau, simply because of the hassle of transferring money from US banks.

So, for those moving here in the near future, or for those who are already here (set it up next visit back), this option for managing your money in two separate countries now appears to be the easiest, cheapest, and most efficient method of managing your money.

Ready for an eye-opener?

Over the last year or more, I have written a lot of times on this site how prices in the Philippines have been going up quickly, how the Philippines is so much less affordable than it used to be.  Feyma has said it too.  Other writers on this site have echoed the thought that the Philippines is becoming more expensive to live in as the days go by.

It happened that a few days ago, I was doing some work on this site.  As part of what I was doing, I was reviewing some articles from the past archives, and I happened upon an article that itemized a number of items, and what they cost to purchase.  The article was entitled “How much is it to buy _____” and was originally published on February 7, 2007, about 2 1/2 years ago.  The title kind of intrigued me, so I decided to go back and refresh my memory, and it was an article listing a number of items, and how much the purchase price was at that time.

Out of curiosity, I started wondering what the difference in price was now, compared to 2 1/2 years ago.  I knew that prices were up, but just wanted to verify how much.  So, I made a list of the items in the article, and I sent one of my nieces out to find out what the prices were today.  Below, you will find a chart listing the items, their 2007 price, their 2009 price, and the percentage change in the past 2+ years.  Are you ready for the results?

Everyday Philippine Price Comparison

Item	2007 Price	2009 Price	% Change
Cabbage	P25/Kilo	P60/Kilo	+140%
Cucumbers	P27/Kilo	P50/Kilo	+85%
White Onions	P50/Kilo	P80/Kilo	+60%
Whole Garlic	P55/kilo	P100/Kilo	+82%
Carrots	P45/Kilo	P60/Kilo	+33%
Frozen French Fries	P109/2 Kg Bag	P180/2 Kg Bag	+65%
Pork Roast	P125/Kilo	P205/Kilo	+64%
Sliced Chicken (Pieces)	P100/Kilo	P134/Kilo	+34%
Ground Pork	P115/Kilo	P160/Kilo	+39%
Pork Chops	P95/Kilo	P160/Kilo	+68%
Beef Roast	P145/Kilo	P320/Kilo	+145%
Tilapia Fish	P90/Kilo	P170/Kilo	+89%
Bed Pillow	P119/2 Pillows	P299/1 Pillow	+502%
Clothes Iron	P299 w/free Ironing Board	P579 no free Ironing Board	+93%
Toilet Paper 2 Ply	P420/48 rolls	P580/48 rolls	+38%
Emperador Brandy 750ml	P60	P67	+12%
Carton of Winston Cigarettes (10 Pks.)	P185	P207	+12%

What do you think about this?  I’ll be honest, even though I knew how prices had gone way up, I was rather surprised at how much they have gone up!  And, these are all common household items that are used every day, or at least regularly.

OK, the only items that have not had significant inflation are the two “vice” items, cigarettes and Brandy.  Not counting those two, the lowest price increase has been 33% in 2+ years, all the way up to a whopping 500% increase!  A number of items are in the +100% range.  Again, this is in about 2 1/2 years.

What do you think?  Is the Philippines still “the cheap place” to retire?  A month or two ago, I had put a Poll on the site, asking why people were interested in living here.  By far, the number one response was because of the low cost of living!  If prices have gone up 33 to 500% in 2.5 years, what will the prices be like 5 years from now?  How about in 10 years?

Will a nice life still be possible in the Philippines a decade from now?  The only way it will still be possible is if something changes.  What will change?

Now, I know for sure, the first thing people will think, and possibly say in the comments is that “prices have gone up here too!”  Well, yes, prices go up everywhere in the world over time.  However, prices have not increased at this rate in the USA, or other developed parts of the world.  In fact, in the past year, much of the developed world has experienced deflation, or prices going lower!

On top of this, in this time of economic decline in much of the world, many of us are earning less money than we did a year or two ago.  If this trend continues, will you still be able to afford the “cheap living” in the Philippines?

What do you think?  Does this information make you think twice, or does it alter your retirement plans?  Me?  I’m here to stay.  I also know, though, that this is something to be watched, and plans must be made.  Business must be altered in some way to earn more income instead of less.  It’s the only intelligent thing to do.

Bust and Bang

Like the rest of the world I have been feeling the effects of the recession this year and now its gone from hurting to bleeding from a gaping wound.

House prices in the UK falling to 30 percent below last year, and that’s assuming you can sell anyway. Shares dropping through the Earth’s crust and the exchange rate for me this year ran at a 40 percent shortfall.  OUCH. That alone was a death nail.

I have been cutting costs this year but the cuts are not helping, and as the income I had from various sources is depleting the situation like many others in the world is not BAD. Dont get me wrong I am in no way comparing myself to some of the people I see daily here in the Philippines, who exist on a fraction of what I have and they manage to get through a day at a time, and I have the cheek to moan about it.

So I even considered going back to the UK to find a job and go into survival mode, only to find that I would be in more trouble as UK unemployment is much more than being officially said. As my friend said after losing his high powered job, you cannot even work as a sweeper in a supermarket now as 200 people will do the work for less than you can survive on. He assured me that living costs would destroy me quicker in the UK, and checking with other friends they all concur.

I have now come to the end of my rental period in my lovely house and although it destroys me to say so, I have to leave it for something like a bedsit. Back now to my student days!

So now I have decided to split my time between Manila and Davao City so if any of those fantastic LIP readers have cheap accommodation in any of those locations, or need a house sitter. (I am well trained lol), then get in touch.

This recession has bitten harder then I expected and although for monies I wanted to return to UK, I can assure you my heart only belongs in the Philippines.

Besides I have a love here too, and friends and all I need now is the luck to get on my feet again. Being 50 in UK means you are dodging the grave, in the Philippines it means you are still young and alive and when I see the smiles of the people who have nothing I know that I am with the best people.

I can assure you I am VERY happy with the way the Filipino looks after and respects the older ones and I am still youngish lol.

What a dinner!

What a great dinner it must have been!  Only the best, you know.

What?  You think I’m talking about some dinner that Feyma and I had at a local restaurant or something?  Nope!  I’m talking about Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s dinner that she had while in New York recently.

President Arroyo went to the USA recently to meet with President Obama and some other official business.  In addition to Obama, she met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and probably with some Congressmen and Senators, although I’m not sure on those.  After completing her business in Washington, DC, she and her official traveling party moved on to New York City.

While in New York City, President Arroyo caught the attention of the New York Post, and ended up on their famous (or is in infamous?) Page 6, where they print all the latest gossip.  What did President Arroyo do to get this (probably unwanted) attention?  She went out to dinner at La Cirque Restaurant in the City.  My understanding is that there were a total of around 25 or so members of her party dining that evening.  The total bill for dinner for 25 people came to… get this… around $20,000.  Yes, that is US Dollars, not Pesos.  That’s is nearly P1,000,000.  So, let’s see, that is almost $1,000 per person for dinner.

Now, let’s face it, people with that kind of money and power eat differently from you and I do.  They don’t go down to McDonald’s to get a Quarter Pounder, or go for a Whopper at Burger King.  Heck, they don’t even go to places like Bryan’s Grill, the place that I love so much here in Davao.  Feyma and I can eat a gourmet meal at Bryan’s for P1,200 or so.  That’s like $25 for the two of us.  No, people with big money and power don’t eat that way.  But, come on… $1,000 per head?  Isn’t that a bit much?

Now, as a guest in the Philippines, I don’t get into Politics.  I don’t argue over policy or elections or that kind of thing.  But, let’s just look at this for what it is… a meal – dinner for the President.

How many people in the Philippines are starving?  I don’t just mean that they are a bit hungry after dinner, I literally mean starving, because they lack enough food to sustain themselves.  How many kids go to school with no breakfast?  Do you remember some months ago when I wrote about kids at school eating rice and soy sauce as their lunch?  I wonder how much that meal cost them?  Probably less than $1,000 per head, don’t you think?

Well, as of now, it is not known who paid for that meal.  Maybe it was paid with public funds.  Maybe President Arroyo paid out of her own pocket.  I can’t be sure, nor does the media seem to know.  As far as I know, there was no wealthy benefactor there treating the President and her entourage to dinner on the town.

What do you think about this?  Personally, I feel that with such a large number of Filipinos going hungry, or only being able to afford meager amounts of food, and of questionable nutritional value, spending P1M for dinner is pretty insensitive of the President.  There are so many things that the money could have been better spent on.

Doesn’t it seem that the President would be embarrassed over something like this?  To date, though, I have heard of no explanation from President Arroyo, or from her staff.

Banking at the ATM

How to get your hands on your money is always a topic that draws a lot of discussion on this site and other Philippine related websites.   If you are keeping your bank in the USA, or whatever your country of origin is (something that I recommend as a good idea), then you need to figure out how to get those funds into your hands when you are living in the Philippines.

One way of doing it is by using ATM machines.  That is what Feyma and I do.  Money that we earn through our various enterprises is deposited into our US bank account each week.  Then, when we need funds, we use ATM machines to get that money for our needs.

Recently, I had a little e-mail exchange with a friend who was asking for details on how to do it, since he may be coming to Davao in the near future, and is trying to decide now how he will handle his funds when he is staying in Davao.

Let me share a little bit of our exchange:

My friend:

Here where I currently live, we normally just withdraw cash from bank ATMs. It’s quick & easy & just pay a small fee every visit. But absolutely no hassle.

I remember you writing about ATM issues there. I’m hoping to just do it the same way there in Davao as here (ATM withdrawals), but is that something you recommend?

My response:

Really, the ATMs are pretty good here these days. For basically all of our money we make, it goes into our US account, then we use ATM to get access to it. I don’t think you will have any problem.

In the past, there have been some ATM problems here, but I think they have all been cleared up now.

My friend replied:

By any chance, would you know how much max withdrawal I can make a day? I can imagine that I might need a good chunk of cash for things there.

Again, my reply:

How much you can withdraw per day is determined by your bank. Whatever your card’s daily limit is can be withdrawn here.

The only thing is that the maximum withdrawal per transaction is limited. So, as an example, my US ATM card has a maximum withdrawal per day of $1,000. I can withdraw, roughly P48,000 per day (depends on the exchange rate that day). But, the bank we use has a maximum withdrawal limit of P20,000 per transaction. So, basically, we would have to withdraw P20,000 twice, then withdraw P8,000 to reach our daily limit. Some banks have lower “per transaction” withdrawal limits, some as low as P4,000. If I went to that bank, I would have to then do 12 different transactions of P4,000 each to reach my daily limit.

Now, for me, it isn’t a biggie, because on my US bank account, they do not charge me for ATM transactions (it’s an old account on a special deal that is not available any longer, but I am grandfathered in), so no matter how many transactions I do, it doesn’t cost me anything. However, let’s say you are paying a $2 fee for withdrawing from a foreign ATM (it could be higher, $5 or more – the cost is determined by your home bank). If you did it at the bank that has a P20,000 transaction limit, it would cost you $6 in fees to withdraw the equivalent of $1,000. If you did it at the bank that has a P4,000 per transaction limit, then it would cost you $24 in fees to get that same $1,000. So, this is something to seriously consider.

Here in Davao, here are per transaction limits on ATM machines for the banks that I know:

HSBC – P20,000
BPI (only some of their machines – the NCR brand machines) – P20,000
BPI (older machines) – P10,000
BDO – P10,000
UCPB – P4,000

I hope this also is helpful to some of you LiP readers, it is a question that I am asked very frequently.

Banking question

Yesterday in my e-mail, I got a question from a regular LiP reader.  His question was on the topic of banking.  I won’t share his name, but that is not important anyway.

Let’s look at his question and my answer to him, as that may be beneficial for other readers as well.

Bob, hoping you can give me some insight if you have time. I have several corporate checks mailed to me in my business name and am wondering if I have the mail forwarding service  use I to forward my mail to the Philippines, will the banks there process (deposit funds upon clearing) these checks  which  are from the USA if i deposit them in my Philippine account? Have you done this? Is this an issue being made payable to my business? How long does it take the checks to clear?

Any insight would be helpful. Thanks.

I have some experience with this, actually, except one aspect.  Back from about 2002 until 2007 or so, I ran an eBay business from here.  As part of the business, I would accept Paypal, or I would accept personal checks.  I had (and actually still have) an address in the USA where mail could be sent, then that mail would be FedExed to me once per week.  So, every week I would get a pile of checks, even though most people payed via Paypal.  Each week, I would deposit those checks into my Philippine Dollar Account.

When I deposited the checks, they would take normally about 45 days to clear.  I believe it was 30 banking days, which usually meant about 45 real days (lots of holidays here!).  The system worked pretty good for me, with only one real problem.  If a check bounced, there was not a whole lot I could do.  I mean, if it was a serious amount of money, I could have hired a collection agency, but if you are talking $50 or less, even $100, it isn’t worth messing with.  Other than that, no problems.   And, not that many checks bounce anyway, so no biggie.

Now, the problem for you is the business name.  To be honest, I don’t know the answer.  Perhaps you could get an account here in your US business name, I am not sure.  But, I suspect this is a problem.

Here is one other possible solution too…  Before I started depositing those checks into my Philippine account, what I used to do was that that pile of Checks would come to me via FedEx weekly.  Then about once every two weeks, I would FedEx them to my bank in the USA for deposit.  That worked great.  Only downside is that holding the check that long before deposit will lead to more bounces, and also there is additional cost in sending them back and forth via FedEx.

Hope this helps.

And, I hope this helped some other readers too.

US Dollar strengthening against Peso

The US Dollar has been strengthening against the Philippine Peso over the past few days.  Recently we have seen Dollar rates as low as P46.xx, but this week the dollar has been gaining strength.

Today, the US Dollar closed at $1:P48.50

So, we are starting to near the $1:P50 mark again.  It’s been a number of years since we have closed about P50 to the Dollar, something that a lot of expats (including myself) have been hoping to see again.  A few years ago the US Dollar was as high as P56.xx to $1, but in the interim it went as low as P40:$1.  In the past few months the dollar has regained strength from that P40 level and has been the P46 to P49 level, but now we are reaching the top of that level again after a time of fairly steady exchange.

Some predictions from banks and investment firms recently have said that the exchange rate will be seeing the P53 level sometime this year.  However, you just never know where the rate will reallly end up.

Philippine financial matters

Over the weekend, I read an interesting article from Dave Starr on his site entitled “Philippine Family Matters.”  I was so happy that I decided to take the time to read the article because of several reasons.  Firstly, it drove home something that I have written about myself a number of times.  Secondly, it made me think about how Dave’s Philippine family and mine are so very similar, which reinforced in me that this is really how the culture is, not just some freak occurance.  And, thirdly, it made me think of something new.  To be honest, I don’t think it taught me anything I didn’t already know, but what it did was make me put a few different things together and that made me think about something in a new way.

Dave told a story about his niece, Gia, who has moved in with Dave and his wife and is now attending school.  I could tell from reading the article that Dave has an obvious affection for his niece.  I really value my relationships with several of my nieces, it is a special tie.  Dave told about how since Gia is now living in his household, he and his wife have taken on the role of parenting.  Much like Dave, I have had the same experience.  For 7 or 8 years now, I have had various nieces and nephews living with me off an on.  Some of them up to 4 or 5 years at a time, even longer, I suppose.  And, indeed, you become a parent to them.  You don’t call up or text their parents when a decision needs to be made.  You are the parent now, and you make the decision.  You do what is best for the young lady or man.  It’s a special responsibility, and to be honest, it is one that I have enjoyed.  It has brought richness to my life.  Instead of having 3 or 4 kids, I have lots of kids now that I also have some parenting responsibility for other family members too.

Dave told about how Philippine families “pay it forward.”  I loved it.  I’ve heard the term “pay it forward” but had never thought of it in the terms Dave used.  Dave told about how one family member (or a combination of family members) will pay for a youngster to go to school.  Let’s say that “Uncle Dave” pays for Gia to go to college (I don’t know the financial arrangements that Dave has with Gia, so this is only an example).  OK, when Gia finishes up college, she does not necessarily pay Dave back the money that he spent on her education.  Instead, she might use her education to earn money to pay for her younger brother, or her young cousin or nephew to go to college.  She pays it forward, not back.  So, Dave might pay for one person to go to school, then it starts a seemingly never-ending chain of people getting educated from those original funds.  In other words, unless somebody breaks that chain, Dave’s investment keeps getting paid forward to somebody else, and that original investment enables a LOT of people to go to college over the years.  This is how it generally works in my Philippine family too, and I find it refreshing.

Now, all of this kicked off some other thinking in my mind.  Over the years, I have heard a lot of foreigners say that Filipinos are dishonest.  I’ve heard a lot of people say that money loaned is never repaid.  Some foreigners tell me that if a family member asks to borrow money you should just give it as a gift instead of a loan, because it won’t be repaid anyway.  Well, maybe, just maybe, these two things are tied together.  Maybe they are not going to pay it back.  Maybe they intend to pay it forward.  Maybe not… but maybe so too.

Maybe the best thing we can do for a family member who is in need is not to give a gift of  money to them.  Maybe we should tell them that they don’t have to pay it back, but rather, they have to pay it forward within the family.  Maybe we need to tell the family member that by accepting the P5,000 from us, they are taking on a responsibilitiy to pay the money forward to another family member who is in need in the future.  I think that if we do so, we should also tell the borrower that when they do pay it forward, they need to let us know that they already fulfilled their responsibility.

If we, as foreigners, handle family financial requests this way, we can make ourselves feel better.  Firstly, we are not getting all upset waiting for the loan to be repaid.  Secondly, we can feel happiness about helping somebody with a genuine financial need.  Thirdly, we get to experience the joy all over again a few years down the road when a second person gets assistance when they are in need.

I am not talking about somebody wanting some money to buy a new cellphone, or to go out drinking.  I’m talking about a genuine financial need.

You know, we don’t know all the answers.  We can learn from the way that Filipinos do things.  Yeah, they can learn from us too, but that’s not the point.  If we loan P1,000 to a brother in law and he doesn’t pay it back, how much stress should we go through over it?  How much damage to our health should be endure from the stress?  Instead, maybe we need to loosen up a bit, enjoy the help that we have given to somebody’s life, and look forward to how that assistance will continue to move forward in the family.

That’s the thought that Dave struck in my mind.  What do you think?

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