If you think about it for more than a minute you’ll note that for the most part the workers you encounter here in the Philippines are some very hardworking non-complaining people, In the states with the exception of the bartender at the Gentleman’s Club, most American workers moan and groan about how hard they have to work, how unfair their boss is and for some convoluted reason their boss expects them to accomplish so many things during the work day. What a silly notion.
Whereas here in the Philippines, I’ve noticed that whatever the conditions are, be it scorching heat, or pouring rain, if they know there is pay at the end of the day and something to eat for lunch the Pinoy will go right to it. In my first year here I made the common Kano mistake of trying to impart my vast western knowledge upon the workers. Yeah; that superior western knowledge, involving all power tools, proper safety procedures and working with all new materials, and absolutely no “make-do” policy we have in the west, if it doesn’t fit we buy a new part, as we have lost the ability to improvise.
So I quickly learned (Was Taught) to shut the hell up, listen to the guy doing the job, and unless I see something going horribly wrong, never interfere. The biting of one’s own tongue is a most valuable trait for any foreigner to learn and put into practice. If that is the way Kuya Ernie taught them, ten or twenty years ago, that is the way it will be done, do you really presume to be smarter than, “Kuya Ernie”, I don’t think so.
I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: “Open that bottle of ice cold San Miguel Beer, and chill out.” I then realized why in the beginning of our relationship, if I stuck my big Kano nose into a labor situation, my wife would dash off and return with that SMB and put it in my hand. Just like a politician will do, they’ll show you something shiny just to distract you. Hey it worked and life smoothed out quickly after that.
When I go to the motor rewinding shop, I never tell Kuya Amor how to rewind the motor, because when was the last time, a Westerner would have even known it could be rewound? I smile and say: Machine doesn’t work” that’s it, no more words than that; he’ll text me when it’s done. Now wasn’t that easy? Reward yourself with a refreshing adult beverage. The Kuya looks at me with a nod of approval and that in itself is priceless to me. I’ve learned the lesson and I’m being somewhat accepted and or tolerated.
When I’m in a store and due to prior mistakes on my part, if my wife just put eight new LED bulbs into the cart; and the young employee pulls them out and takes them for testing. Shut the hell up and let the person do their job. By the way, nod and smile after each bulb lights up. It’s the right thing to do, and it shows them that you respect them and the job they are doing. Now at Handy City four months ago I bought a power washer and did wonder if they would demonstrate that it was working to me? The manager asked me to bring it back if it failed to work. But I know, had I requested they would have found a way to show me it worked.
As a merchant seaman I have worked for and have had Filipino’s working for me. In both situations there is a flow of give and take as long as we all knew that the boss is the boss no matter what. Seaman instinctively knew this as 90% of us were in the Navy first. BTW It’s one of life’s catch 22’s to get your seaman papers from the government; you must have experience at sea. You can’t fight logic like that.
Some of these lesions I learned the hard way, foolishly trying to buck the established system, Now that I understand and respect the Filipino methods of doing things, and sometimes being utterly amazed by the talent I’ve just witnessed, I chalk it up to just simply:” Paul, you really don’t know everything.”
I couldn’t agree more.
The first months here i was so damned smart, when something was done in the house, i knew how to do it – and what smart tool should be used.
Now….There was no smart tool, but that was always some smart guys knowing how to do it, without smart tools.
I sure have learned to leave the working area and let people do their work. So far i have never had any reason to complain and i have even learned some good tricks.
Axel;
I now know that I need not spend $20.00 on a good Stanley Hack Saw when a piece of scrap rebar and a blade will work just as well. And you can drive nails with a ball pein hammer. Plus I now know that a Philips screwdriver is a “Plus Screwdriver” and a flat head screwdriver is a “Minus” screwdriver.
It is amazing what we can learn if we just keep out traps shut. (lol)
Mr. Paul T. I salute you again for another good article. I’ll bet you are well respected by the Filipinos (workers and others) in your area. There aren’t many people like you around, locals or foreigners.
Jose;
Probably more than you think, I can remember some straight out of school officer in the Navy trying to tell me how to do something I’d done while they were still in diapers. So I stay out of the real workers way.
It is surprising, though, that even if Albert Einstein were to give a Filipino advice on something that it would be rejected. Same goes for Gates or Buffet. Filipinos do not want to take advice even if it is just meant as being helpful.
Other examples: Preventive maintenance/replacing. Pretty much zip. Every once in awhile someone paints something before it is completely faded. Or replaces wood before it is rotten. Nails that stick out. Just hammer them back into place. They’ll stick out again and again. No worry.
Rusty
Rusty;
If you read about Einstein you’ll discover that even as a certified genus he was a klutz in everyday life, he could not keep track of his own finances. So in some items I’d more than likely not take his advice, unless he was talking calculus.
As for painting something before it’s faded, I never would. The exposed wood around the outside of my house was treated prior to installing, and at the end of every rainy season I have it re-varnished and 16 years without rot mainly because I can afford to, whereas my neighbor might not have that luxury.
But the one thing that drives me batty is when I came back off a ship and the roof of my house and around the entire wall around the house had small pieces of rebar sticking out of the cement. I found that the plan was to leave it like that until the end of time. I hired a guy to remove it all.
You wouldn’t interfere with the way ants get their work done. Treat them the same. Years of instinct and survival make these workers amazing. Painted on the front of truck passing through Davao “God bless our ways”
Marc;
But if I see a line of ants following that chemical trail left by the scout, I will wet my finger and break the trail and watch them mill about aimlessly. (LOL)
But with my workers, for the last 20 years I leave them to accomplish the job I hired them to do I’ve yet to be disappointed. I over the years have compiled a list of “GUYS” trusted people that can accomplish any task, because I’ve paid them the amount agreed upon on time and treated them with respect, they will always respond to my phone calls when I’m in need..
Hi Paul, I’ve had a lot of Filipino workers and I have to say most are ha
Derek;
I’m going to assume you were cut off while posting. Because “Most are ha” doesn’t sound like something you’d send?
Hi Paul, problems with the Internet I’ll try again ,I’ve had a lot of Filipino workers and I have to say
Most are hard working you treat them with respect and pay them a decent wage you’ll
Get a good job by a loyal workers , yes we’ve had a few that couldn’t do the job or were
To slow on purpose my wife soon sorts them out she’s the boss, I keep my nose out of
It she just asked me to keep an eye on them, be coming up your way in the next couple
Of weeks got wife friends from Germany staying with us hope to see you one day,
Bye the way I’m hopeless with computers,Derek in pasig.
Derek;
I knew there was more, with this rain I’ve been having trouble with internet reception, one minute I’m on line and a second later I’m kicked to the curb.
But I agree with you plan for workers, have a beer and watch. Lets do lunch when you get here.
Paul, I’ve seen things done in ways that I would have never, ever, done them. That said, the end result was fine. I kept my mouth shut, and hoped fgor the best. Left them to their work and relaxed.
If we build a house though, instead of fixing up our rentals, I might not be able to stay so calm. Lol!
We are building a house now,I am not there so can’t really supervise anything, but it is my honey’s brother who is helping oversee just a few things, like steel beams and roof trusses of the right strength to handle earthquakes. I know I would never have known that.
Marc Roffman;
The steel beams are great also in the never ending fight against termites too. I used a slab roof to fight against typhoons.
Scott;
Fixing rentals? They do deduct what you spend from the rent I sincerely hope? Do what I did when they built my house, I left the country…. (I was still sailing ships at the time and my wife supervised the building of most of the house.)
Amazing what they can do without power tools, etc. When riding in a taxi there and all of a sudden a two lane road is improvised to a 3 or 4 lane road, I just remind myself ” I am sure they know what they are doing because they do it every day. To us it may seem crazy but to them it is normal. how are you going to argue with something that is normal.
Bob NY;
You can’t…… but that is a good point, it’s not our normal but it’s their normal. I’ve never heard it put better than that.
Hi, y’all. Allow me to explain the local perspective (at least from my perspective). Filipinos are creatures of habit and can be stubborn (the Spaniards observed the same thing as early as the 1700s).
If something works for the locals, they won’t change until circumstances (which include tragedies and disasters) force them to. Decades ago, construction workers of large companies hardly wore safety gear. Accidents and deaths changed that over time.
Anyway, the local mentality is this: if it works, it works — until something happens to change the attitude.
Norman;
On the ship in the cargo hold I watched two Pinoy’s dangling off a pallet 15 feet in the air trying to stack 12 more cases on top. I had them come down and had the folk truck driver bring the top pallet down and then we added the 12 cases and returned it to the stack. Ernie told me that that was the way their last supervisor told them to do it. I smiled and asked who their supervisor was today? He grinned and said; “Paul your way was easier!” And I said; “Plus it conforms to safety procedures and now we can all keep our jobs!’
Great article Paul, it hit the nail right on the head for some of the things I’ve been thinking about for our pending relocation to the Philippines.
I’m in construction here in the States so when I see a project of course the wheels start turning as far as methods, tools and materials and all the things involved in completing the job.
I have to say your mention of the rebar hacksaw made me chuckle. On a visit about four years ago while staying at one of the Uncles house in Quezon City I observed a young man next door putting up a 2 story addition using the rebar hacksaw, a trowel and a piece of cardboard for mixing concrete.
When we visited the following year and I saw the completed addition I was impressed All of my co-workers with their expensive tools couldn’t have done a better job.
There’s a saying here, if you ask 10 different carpenters how to do the same job, you’ll get 8 different methods. That may be a good thing to remember when in the Philippines.
SteveC;
The slab roof is not common here, I was going to be home when it was to be poured and I hired a cement truck and pumper to insure the pour was continuous. My Forman was going to patch-pour over two days and I knew it would not be water proof if done that way. One of the very few times I interfered, but I remembered the Forman in Puerto Rico explained it was the only right way to do it. My workers here were amazed that they didn’t have to haul all that cement to the roof and they were happy. My Forman told me that if he ever built another slab roof he would do it that way. (16 years and no leak yet)
They teach us as much as we teach them.
Hi Paul
I’m a bit late but I’ve been to India again and didn’t have time to read and reply in the usual manner.
Anyway, I’m a great believer in your theory especially when it means I can sit back and watch with a nice cold SMB in my hand.
One of the few times I have interfered was when the brother-in-law was putting some pictures up for me. I measured everything out and put a small pen mark where each hole was to be drilled. When I came back I found 5 holes of various sizes around one of my pen marks. Trying to control the inner rage I calmly asked what was going on and the BIL said he had a problem with the drill bits keep breaking. It was then that I noticed that he was using, and breaking, all of my metal drill bits. I picked up the masonry bit and asked why he hadn’t used it, I had previously educated him on the difference, only to be told that he didn’t want to use the new ones and he was trying to do the job with the old ones. As all of the bits were bought at the same time I was puzzled by what he was saying and then I realised that the metal bits were dark steel and older looking and the masonry bits were a shiny silver colour. So, it was back to the hardware shop for some filler and paint to go along with the screws and rawl plugs that I had bought just 1 hour before hand.
The lesson I learned was to give him exactly the tools to be used for the job in future and keep a supply of filler!
Our builder friend though is a different sort of worker. He always does a beautiful job with the minimum of tools as described in your article above. I didn’t think I needed him for a few pictures though!
Cheers
AJ UK
AJ UK;
Next time you’re in India check the price of a new 500cc Royal Enfield they are selling them here now and they cost PhP 321,000.00.
I’m the boss of hanging pictures, as my wife told me so, I think she might have known what you just told us about.
I had two guys putting up to dog gates on both sides of the house, one had a I Know it All attitude and wanted to sit in the sun with cold chisel and hammer and beat a hole in the wall to receive the sliding bolt. I asked his partner “The Kuya” if he would like me to start the hole on his side with my drill. He grinned and said sure. 15 minutes later he and I were sitting in the shade having a cool one and were listening to the steady tap of hammer hitting cold steel.
I say let the person do it their way, no matter what. (Unless they are damaging your wall.) (LOL)