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No shipment, sorry.

Adjustment, Shopping / by

There are two or three words that spell out life in the provinces.  Two words, “no shipment.”  Or, sometimes you hear three words, “Sorry, no shipment,” or “No shipment, sorry.”  These, as I said, are regularly heard words in the Provinces of the Philippines.

Where are “the provinces,” you ask?  Well, basically any place outside of Metro Manila is considered the provinces.  Even if you are in a very large City, unless it is one of the Cities that make up Metro Manila, you are in the Provinces.  Davao City is the second largest population base in the Philippines – provinces.  Cebu City is the third largest – still, it’s the provinces.

Why does it matter what the place is called?  Well, the actual name of what they call areas outside Manila really means little.  However, in practice, being outside Metro Manila means a great deal.  You see, virtually everything in life revolves around Manila (when I say Manila, please realize I am not only referring to the City of Manila, but to all the Cities that make up Metro Manila).  Nothing can happen anywhere in the country without the approval or some kind of intervention from Manila.

You see, when you need a certain product, often times, when you go to the store you find that there is none available.  When you ask the clerk if they have any, or why there is none of the product, you hear the infamous words… “Sorry, no shipment.”  In other words, the people in Manila didn’t send any to us, so it is not available.  Even if we have none, there is nothing we can do until Manila decides that they should send us some.  Come back some other time, maybe Manila will have sent us some by then.  Then again, maybe they will not have sent any.  Everything is at the whim of Manila.

The biggest way that this affects the lifes of people in the provinces is through what products are available.  But, it affects us in other ways too.  Any kind of governmental decisions always have to pass through Manila first too, for approval.  I mean, it comes down to even very mundane things like what color of paper the traffic tickets may be printed on, it has to be approved by Manila before anything can be changed.  Well, I might be exaggerating a bit when I say the color of the paper, but I’m taking a bit of poetic license on that.  Basically, though, anything important in life depends on the approval from Manila first.

You know, no matter where in the world you live, stores will run out of products and must wait for the next shipment to show up.  The difference here is that, let’s say you want to buy some Diet Coke.  You go to the grocery store, and they have none.  “Sorry, no shipment, sir.”  Hmm… well, you go to another grocery store, they also have none.  Basically, when you are in a “no shipment” situation, no store anywhere in town will have the diet coke that you want to buy.  The only time that you might find it at some stores is if you happen to be looking just when some stores are beginning to run out.  2 or 3 days after that, no store anywhere in the region will have the item you are looking for, in this case, Diet Coke.  When will Diet Coke be back in stock?  Well, whenever Manila decides that it will be back in stock again.

The other day, LiP Author Dave Starr was visiting Davao City for a few days.  Dave and I got into a discussion about this very topic.  Dave lives in Marilao, Bulacan.  He is just a few miles outside of Metro Manila, but he tells me that his area, since it technically is outside Metro Manila is also considered the Provinces, and this “no shipment” situation is also very common in his area.  Amazing, don’t you think?  Dave also told me that when he goes over to Metro Manila for shopping he is amazed at the things he sees in the stores, items that he has never seen in his home stores in Marilao.  Can you imagine how much worse it must be here in Davao since we are a much further distance from Manila?

Many of us who visit this site probably will never live in Manila.  We choose to live in other places outside Manila.  If that is the case, and you choose to live outside of Metro Manila, can you adjust to it?  No Shipment, Sir!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. hi bob,

    I guess having 7000 island has its own disadvantages, the tranport cost is high which in turn will double the price of the products, and the shipment tend to be on scheduled basis.

    also, the phrase "no shipment" is somewhat confused with "no delivery" i.e. no delivery from the distributor and it is not an actual shipment from manila.

    and as for dave's case, although marilao bulacan is very close to manila, the potential customer of a certain product is much less, i.e. if you are a store owner would you buy a dozen of the latest nokia cellphone and display it in your store? although you knew the purchasing capability of the bulakenyos? or have a huge stock pile of diet coke and you knew very few people in your province consume this product?

    I guess it all boils down to, "who and what"
    who are the potential customers and what are the purchasing capability of the people or do they demand that particular product.

    what do you think?

  2. Bob: When I go to Abulug, I pick up Diet Coke before leaving home. Not much market up there (Everyone's skinny), and it's rarely in stock. In fact, most of the Sari Sari stores there are usually even out of bottled water… Yes, that is even shipped from Manila, via Tuguegarao!

  3. Hi Bob,
    That's one thing that always concerned me. If I were to run into a similar situation, say Cherry Coke, I would probably scream! I mean, what's a guy to do in this case? Stock up for a rainy day of Cherry Coke? I can see myself hoarding goodies in a spare room as a worse case scenario. 🙂

  4. Yep, Manila's the brain alright, the rest of the body can't do anything without orders from Manila… "Imperial Manila" is usually the term used for the predicament. A lot of the probinsyanos actually get ticked off by the situation, especially Cebuanos; they've even considered creating the Republic of Cebu to fix this mess! o.o

  5. Hi Bob – Manila even had "influence" on our moving to the provinces. Seeing, smelling, hearing, eating and sleeping in both locations definitely helped us to decide where to live! When it comes to peace, tranquility and natural wonders, all Manila outlets can say is, "Sorry, no shipment from the provinces"! 😆

  6. Henry: I hate to tell you, but I've never seen Cherry Coke in Manila… Perhaps Bob has? He gets Reese's down there!

  7. Bob, Don't worry I'll give 'my people' in Manila the go signal 😎 to ship that Diet Coke already to your 'province'. Hehehe. Seriously, I didn't know that. I would have thought that some products are more available one) because I know they have been moving (factories) manufacturing companies to the 'provinces' so they pay the 'provincial rate'; and two) Cebu and Davao are indeed big cities that I'm sure are very capable of accommodating anything Manila can.

  8. Hi dans – The phrase I hear every time is "no shipment" and sometimes they even say "no shipment from Manila, sir."

    Personally, I think that when you say that customers in Bulacan customers wouldn't want or can't afford certain products…. well, that is a very Manila attitude, in my opinion. Go out into the Provinces, there is a lot more there than you might think! There are plenty of people with plenty of money in Davao.

  9. Hi John Miele – Yeah, getting Diet Coke anywhere out in small towns and such is always a difficult thing to find. Water? Wow, I have yet to run into that being hard to find, though! 😆

  11. Henry – 😆 Cherry Coke? What's that? Ha ha… I've lived in the Philippines for 9+ years and never seen or heard of Cherry Coke here. Certainly I remember it from the USA, but it doesn't exist here. Also, forget any of the Coke specialty stuff – no caffiene free coke, etc. You get Regular Coke, Diet Coke, or you get Coke Zero. That's it. 😉

  12. Hi Jong – Not only Cebu, but Mindanao is always rumbling about Independence too. It is especially true in Mindanao because of the addition of the whole conflict here, a lot of people think that if Manila just butted out of the situation, Mindanaoans could solve the situation.

  17. Hi Bob – You mean I'll be reduced to "smuggling" Cherry Coke into the country? :-))

  18. Hi Henry – Remember when I saw you at the coffee shop a month or two ago? We talked about the fact that you were looking for some kind of business to do on the net. Maybe you just found it!

  20. Yep, so true, Manila always butts in, and they use people who have no real idea of the situation! I think I actually heard a few times, that the GRP-MILF MOA last year was unconstitutional in so many obvious ways which made me laugh, since it was concocted up supposedly by the legal experts of Manila.

    If the Philippines ever does go on with a cha-cha, they should only change the gov't from unitary republic to a federal republic. None of that republic to parliamentary mumbo jumbo… a federal state would be much better, considering the immense diversity. Those in the provinces wouldn't have to deal so much with the Manila bureaucrats 😀 Maybe then, all the businesses would follow and create regional/provincial distribution centers instead of having all the shipments at the whim of Manila (hehe, had to tie it back to the original topic, sorry for getting off track).

  21. Hi Jong – Yeah, the whole cha-cha thing is a fascinating thing, but I think it won't happen for many years to come. Too much fear of it stemming back to Marcos. People think that any kind of Charter Change may lead to martial law, etc.

  23. Hi Bob,

    I've been giving this alot of thought. At first I thought of using the body analogy…if Manila is the brain what is Mendanao?…Ok I wont go there. The short answer is "sounds like a good business opertunity".
    So if Mendanao is out of coke lite, somebody goes out and buyes a container load of coke lite and sits on it until the next out cycle. Then he makes his product availabile and makes a profit. and if he can have a big enough wharehouse to make it through for the lean times of no coke lite, he now owns a market share. I learned this in econ101 🙂 . The only fly in the ointment is Manila…maybe if your not on the privilige list, you cant buy coke lite.

  24. Hi Hudson – I like your idea, it sounds like some of the things that I do. Unfortunately, I don't think it would work out well here. The free market here isn't quite as free as it is in some other places. Probably if somebody did what you describe, Coke would come after them in the courts and win. I don't know what the law would be, but somehow coke would say that they have the exclusive rights to sell the product. Even though they were out! 😆

  27. Bob,
    It is true, a while back I had to drink instant decaf coffee because there was no ground decaf in the city. We went to every mall to find the shelves empty in any brand. Now we keep 2 extra cans in stock at home.

  28. I don't know if it was specifically Diet Coke you were after this time Bob or only using that as an example. I believe there is a Coca Cola bottling plant in Cagayan De Oro ? I have read abouut it and also saw part of it in a " Drive By " video someone from CDO had put on Youtube about a year ago.

    One thing I have found very slow compared to here is International Parcels sent through the mail. So far I have tracked the speed of small parcels to be 3 to 4 weeks from New York to Iligan City. The parcels go by Air from the USA to Manila where it is there I believe they go thru Ph Customs and then into Philpost, sorted at a postal processing plant in Manila. It then takes about 1 week from arrival in Manila to get to the Philpost sorting facility in CDO and from there I am not yet sure how many days before it show up at the Iligan post office. I know that is slightly off topic but I just thought I's mention that as I wonder if the " sorry no shipment " line works at the post offices in Mindanao too.

  29. kamusta bob
    ahhh i live on a small island off the coast of maine and i know all to well when i go to get some products here that the usual shipment day is tuesday,sometimes its milk or bread,imagine not being able to get such common things.alot of people take things for granted.
    oh and bob sometimes i do cry over spilled milk if its the last glass lol
    salamat bob

  30. Kamusta ka Bob,

    Ok…so now your telling me no Walmarts, no paying bills online, no hot showers, and NOW NO CHERRY COKE!!!…I am not moving to the Philippines..hehe…lol. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
    Henry ice tea is very good..with a little lemon..and I hear is plentiful in the Philippines. 🙂
    And good luck in your venture of being the "Import King" of Cherry Coke..
    Of course I am just joking here, but like your article yesterday Bob about Filipino time, is just another thing we will have to get use to dealing with in the Philippines…going with out our old "creature comforts" of the USA. We just need to create our own new comforts in the Philippines, with what is available.

    Salamat kaayo,
    Danny 🙂

  31. Cherry Coke can be found fairly easily in Manila–Rustan's, Unimart (Greenhills), and usually S&R carry it. We have most of the random sodas here–Ginger Ale, Root Beer, Cream Soda, etc.

  32. Hi Bob,
    I was just using the coke lite as an example. Fill in the blank with product X. I believe supply and demand will always work unless hampered by an outside force ie. government. 🙁

  34. Hello Bob,
    I have been reading your articles nearly every day since you have returned from Cebu but have chose not to respond because I did not have anything that I felt was important enough to say. But don't get me wrong I really enjoyed it and learned more.
    So I hear what you and the others say about the shipments to Manila and everything depends on what Manila ships to the provinces. Sounds like it depends on the quanities that Manila receives from abroad on how much they can ship out? I wonder if this if depends on supply or demand to Manila toward cost. When they say, No shipment Sir, that tells me there is not enough sales in this general area in the past to make it profitable for the middle man.
    What about Diet Dr. Pepper? I can live with Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi, I guess. But my favorite is Diet Dr. Pepper, do they have that there in the Ph.?

    Thank You Bob,
    Dale

  35. Hi roy – Ha ha.. It sure isn't a hit now, that's for sure, since there isn't any! 😆 Of course, the Philippines also has flavors of soft drinks that you don't find in the USA like Dalandan or Calamansi Soda, both of which are delicious.

  37. Hi roy – There is a coke plant in Davao. I know for sure that a number of years ago, though, the only place where diet coke was made was in Metro Manila, and it was shipped by sea freight from there. I am not sure, though, we don't have frequent diet coke shortages anymore, so maybe they make in Davao now too. That particular product was only used an an example.

  38. Hi Bob NY – Yeah, I was just using that as an example. As I said to roy in another comment, several years ago, coke products were indeed made in Davao and CdO, but not diet coke. Diet coke was only manufactured in Metro Manila. We have not been having diet coke shortages recently, so maybe they are making it here now.

  39. Hi RonW – Ha ha.. that's a good line, Ron. Imagine, though, Mindanao is not a small island, more than 20 million people live here! And, even in Dave Starr's place, he is just a few miles away from Metro Manila.

  40. Hi kikas_head – We regularly get root beer (I love diet A&W Root Beer) here in Davao and Cream Soda. I have never seen Cherry Coke, though! Interesting that you have it up north!

  41. Hi Hudson – I studied Economics at LSU, and I am a firm believer in the law of supply and demand. Honestly, though, and I don't know why… the law seems to not work here in the Philippines. I don't think it's the government either.

  42. Hi Tommy – Well… not sure if you are just joking or being serious. I would say that for Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental and the Compostella Valley, most of the products come out of Davao City, since it is the commercial center of the region.

  43. Hi Dale – No problem, just commenting when you feel you have something to say is certainly reasonable! 😀

    Oh, there is plenty of demand for products. As a matter of fact, if something has been out of stock for a while, when it gets back in stock again there will be a huge run on it to restock, leaving it out of stock again! It's a normal cycle. I don't know why it's that way, it just is.

    I'm not talking about imported products, either, just products produced up in the Metro.

    Yes, Diet Dr. Pepper is here, but it is imported, and thus expensive (like US .60 per can).

  44. hi bob,

    dont get me wrong, I had a business in batangas and it is way way farther than bulacan, I introduced certain products and services there, the place has a lot of wealthy people so i thought my product could have a good potential market, I was wrong. I ended up lossing a lot of money because people there do not want my product despite that they have money and can afford it, I am not looking down at the provinces. it is simply a matter of "who and what" kind of customer you might have. diet coke might have a good market in manila regardless of who buys it (rich or poor) but not in provinces.

    also bob, the phrase "no shipment or no delivery" is commonly used by small and medium business owner to cover their lack of supply but the reality is, they don't want to stockpile product that has little or no demand for it. believe me, I've done it too, customer walked into my store looking for a product that is not in demand, I would say to them "no shipment or no delivery" but I will take their order and if they can wait until the "shipment" arrives. that phrase is used to buy us sometime to get it.

  46. I was making a joke Bob and i do agree that Davao being the commerce source for Mindanao however i really must say that the shipping port here in Tagum conveys quite a large quanity of retail and commercial goods

  47. Hi Henry, have you tasted fresh buko juice and/or mango shake? If you have not, try it and you will forget your cherry coke in a heartbeat! I guarantee it! 🙂

  48. Hi Gerry,
    I never tried buko juice and/or mango shake. Will definitely put that on my things-to-do-list on my next visit to Davao. Come to think of it, maybe I can find those drinks here in Chicago.

  49. heck dale…i even comment when i don't have anything inteligent to add…which is most times….but Bobs gratious enough to tollerate me !!!!(uhg ..my spelling…dang pubwick skools!!)

  50. Hi dans – I hear you. I just find it kind of crazy to think that a few bottles of diet coke can't be sold in Davao City, with a population of nearly 2 million.

  56. Hi Bob, yow know why that law n(law of supply & demand) doesn't work there? It's because it's been repealed by the Erap administration. 🙂

  58. No shipment? I can honestly say, I haven't heard that phrase here in Pagadian City area. It's usually "no stock" or "sorry, out of stock". It may be because there isn't a port here that has cargo ships show up. It seems that most of the procucts here come thru CDO, Ozamis city or Zamboango City.

    No diet coke here….never seen it here and, there is a very large Coke warehouse here which is supplied from Zamboanga City. One thing I can't find and, have yet to see here is ground coffee. Nothng but instant. Even the new Giasno here doesn't carry ground coffee (or diet coke). I kind of thnk that after I'm here as long as some, I'll get over trying to find America in the stores here. I think I'm pretty close to that point now.

  59. You know one thing I really enjoyed there Bob, was soft drinks in " Real " bottles like we used to have here years ago. The reusable glass bottles can withold more pressure than the throw away bottles and cans, more pressuer = more carbonation = Great Taste.

    When I was a teenger " Real " bottles were still prevalent here I worked in a local supermarket then and part of my job was to sort and rack up bottles in their appropriate ( by brand ) wooden " flats " to be picked up by the appropriate bottler on the next delivery.

    This is one of many simple pleasures I enjoyed in my visits to The Philippines and I look forward to them again. Simple Pleasures, as simple as a soft drink in a " real " bottle.

  62. Hi Francisco – "No shipment" is something we hear every day in Davao. I suppose "out of stock" is a pretty similar thing, though. Regional difference, I suppose.

    Hmm… I don't ever recall saying that I was "looking for America in the store…" As a matter of fact, I said quite the opposite. I said that I was not talking about imported goods, but local products. For example, there is a certain brand of longganisa that I enjoy eating for breakfast (as a matter of fact, I just had some), and it is often out of stock because no shipment has arrived. Hmm… longganisa? That's not American, right?

  63. Hi Bob NY – I often hear from foreign visitors that coke is one of the things they enjoy here. Mostly they say it is because of the fact that real sugar is used in the coke here instead of the "high fructose corn syrup" that is used in the USA.

  64. Hi Bob,
    My wife is from Dagupan City. She says she had never had the problem of not being able to get something. I don't know if being on Luzon has anything to do with it. It's considered a provence but they don't have much problem with not being able to accuire what they are looking for.

  65. Bob,

    I wasn't making a statement directed at anyone in particular with the comment about "…looking for American in the stores". I have read so many times and, heard from several Americans here about how difficult it is to find some American products here. How many times have you talked to an American when they Start a sentence with, " In America….", as though it's a big surprise that what they had or, could get, in America, was not here?

    I was only saying that I have all but given up on finding a lot of American products in the stores and, have resiegned my self to the fact that I am not in America anymore. I do have longganisa for breakfast here also. Matter of fact, our new helper(formerly working in Cebu for an Amverican) thinks that all Americans eat sausage and eggs for breakfast and, nothing else. Had to cnvince her that I would eat the fish and rice also. A lot of the people that I talk to here, usually show surprise when they ask if I eat Philippine foods and, I answer, Of course….no choice.

    Sorry if you felt my statement was directed at you.

  66. Hi Francisco – Ah, OK, I did think you meant that I was looking for "America in the stores." I do certainly agree with you. I gave up on that a long, long time ago. I do admit, if I am in a store and happen to see an item that I miss from the States, I will generally buy it and enjoy it, but that is something that only happens every now and then. Last week, a reader of this site sent me some black licorice, something which I really like, but haven't had in years. His wife was in Davao and brought it as a gift to me. I really enjoyed it. But, it's gone now, and I am OK about that. Maybe another time I'll get some again, which will be nice, but I'm not going to go search the store shelves for it! 😆

    You are right, though, I get so tired of hearing "In America…" from people! It gets old. But, I also understand that I was like that at one time.

  67. Hi Bob! It could be. I have a friend who declared war on high fructose sugar. Even if she explains it to me, I still don't get it.

  69. Thank you Bob,I understand what you are saying about that is just the way it is here in the Ph. More and more to learn about the different culture! I appreciate it!

  70. No shipment is not only in the provinces. Once I went to a Thai restaurant in Manila and tried to place an order only to be told the item I wanted was not available. So I tried to choose something else and was told no Thai food was available. I asked why and they said no stock. I never will forget that. Going to a Thai restaurant and no Thai food available. Only in the Philippines 🙂

  71. Hi roy – I don't care much about the state… but the lobsters fascinate me! I'd like to have a nice Maine lobster about right now. 😀

  72. Thanks Brian – That comment made me feel a little better. Yeah, if intelligence played a big role with Bob he would have kicked me out along time ago. I can remember a couple of times when he scratched his head on comments or questions I've had for him and I'd have to write him back to explain myself better. ( Culture from an old cowboy in Texas is very different from culture in northern U.S.! Can you imagine how much different it must be in the Ph.?)

  73. Hi Ray – A couple of years ago, I went to McDonald's one time and ordered a Quarter Pounder. Sorry, sir, no stock. How about a cheeseburger? Sorry. Hamburger? Sorry. Do you want chicken sir? No, what kind of burger do you have? None. Chicken sir?

  74. well i like san miguel so there really isnt a shortage of that in the philippines especialy if you live near mandaue city where the factory is! and i like lechon baboy and theres no shortage of pigs so as long as they have those 2 things i can deal with anything else!

  75. Hi Roy,

    Amen Kabayan. I tried cherry coke once; don’t really care for the taste… 🙂

  76. Hi Bob,
    I'm from Manila. Just wanted to share this. When I go to the provinces, esp. Laguna, I take home with me cases of Coca-Cola. I find the taste better. I was told that it's because they use spring water instead of the tap water kind they use in the city. I've been tasting and comparing the "city and country" cokes and when I think about it (think really really hard) they do have a slight difference.

  78. Hi Bob again i am reading an old topic, lol…

    So what about 3 years after, do you still miss stuff overthere?

    Maybe you are able to be far from your country but i think you are not able to get this country out of you..Maybe you do now.

    When i went to Ph. only 3 times, i never look for canadian stuff upthere but i really enjoy all the news stuffs that i never seen before, I don’t remember wich grocery store i went once in Manila but i never see a big one like this one, but i can tell you at the hotel where i was staying one morning i ordered a breakfast with toast and coffe….they didn’t what was the toast i have to explain to the guy so he run with some bread and come back like 5 minutes after with the burn bread lol and my plate has only 2 eyes nothing else in the plate…for sure i pay but next time i will make sure i have a toaster overthere and i cook for myself.. No matter what happened to me overthere i always feel like to go back? Am i sick or what?

    be bless and never stop this forum even if some are negative of what i read about..

    Thanks