Shoestring Paradise - Facts and Anecdotes for Westerners Wanting to Live in the Philippines

Shoestring Paradise

Facts and Anecdotes for Westerners Wanting to Live in the Philippines

By Mal Wright

Chapter 1 – Introduction.

So who the hell am I to give anyone advice about living in the Philippines? I’m not a Filipino, but I am married to one. I’m a British-born Kiwi (New Zealander) who got sick and tired of over-regulated, expensive, seasonal (read - bloody cold in the Winter!) Western countries, full of whining, selfish, arrogant people who have no idea of the value of family and the privileged infrastructure around them.

For the last 4 years I’ve been snowbirding (escaping the Winter) in Kidapawan, Mindanao, with my step-family, and having my eyes opened and my senses reeled in the process. I remember the first week of my first visit – I hated it! The toilets didn’t flush, there was no hot water, the house was tiny, there was no privacy, the roads were shocking and the people seemed to be shoulder-to-shoulder in every direction. They all rattled on in their own language and I felt totally lost and left out.

After several days of this misery, it slowly dawned on me that the problem wasn’t the Philippines or the Filipinos, it was me! Specifically, my attitude and expectations. So what if I had to flush the toilet with a bucket, the result was the same. So what if the shower was cold, all I had to do was heat some water to bathe in. I would change what I could to suit me, and learn to appreciate what I couldn’t change.

Once I’d had that revelation and got over myself I began to see what a paradise the place was, and what beautiful people lived there. By the end of my stay, I didn’t want to leave. On subsequent visits we built an extension to the house for my wife and I, bought a motorcycle to get around on, and made many great friends. Now I can’t wait to get back there every year. As a Filipino friend put it, I’m a Kiwoy (Kiwi Pinoy)!

The instant I reach 65, the pension age in NZ, I’m out of there and living in the Philippines permanently. There is no way I can survive on a NZ pension in NZ, and I don’t want to wait to die lonely and ill-treated in some old-age home. I want to live happy and die in paradise with my step-family caring for me every step of the way.

I realise that there are many Westerners (mostly Americans) in the Philippines, and that there is a lot of information floating around on how to get and stay there. Hopefully this book is a slightly different, more personal and more practical slant on what I and a few others have learnt, so that you can go there and know what to expect and how to conduct yourself. In some ways it’s similar to any Western country (certainly more so than the rest of Asia), but in many ways it’s very different, especially where I love to be, out in the Provinces where a white face is a novelty.

Chapter 2 – Geography and Climate

The Republic of the Philippines is a rugged 1,000 miles long archipelago in southeast Asia in the South China Sea, bounded by Malaysia to the south-west, Indonesia to the south, Vietnam to the west and Taiwan and mainland China to the north.

It is a nation of 7,100 islands and islets with a mountainous tropical climate. The Philippines climate has three seasons. From March to May it is hot and dry, the rainy season is from June to October, and from November to February the climate is more moderate. Most of the islands are of volcanic origin, the country is situated on the South Asian part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of strong volcanic activity. Most of the population live on the coastal plains of the largest islands (of the approximately 500 islands that are inhabited). These islands are divided into three major geographic groups:

1) Luzon, the largest and one of the most northern islands (where Manila is located), Mindoro, and Palawan;

2) The Visayas or central islands, which include Cebu, Negros, Leyte, Panay, Samar, Masbate, and Bohol; and

3) Mindanao, the southernmost large island, known as the fruit bowl of the Philippines.

Filipino's have developed certain stereotypic perceptions about people from these respective island groups. Ilocanos, who inhabit a barren region called Ilocos in northern Luzon, are people who have endured many hardships throughout history and are perceived as being Spartan, industrious, thrifty, and proud of their culture. Tagalogs, who live in the central plains and southern area of Luzon, are viewed as more cosmopolitan, urbane, nationalistic, and Western oriented. The people of the Visayan or the central islands have been described as being a cross between Ilocanos and Tagalogs. The people of Mindanao have been highly influenced by Islam and Muslim cultures.

Just on 100 million people (2012 est.) live in the Philippines, making it the world's 12th most populous country. With an area of 300,000 sq km, the country is about the size of Italy or New Zealand, or slightly bigger than the US state of Arizona. The capital city is Manila (population 36 million). Official spoken languages are Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English, although there are many more dialects that I will refer to later.

Luzon, and to some extent Visayas, are subject to Typhoons. Mindanao is outside the typhoon zone, and the weather is much more stable. Temperatures in Kidapawan range from 29 to 34 degrees Celsius day and 22 to 27 degrees night – year round. Afternoon or evening thunderstorms are frequent and spectacular, but short lived, and serve to make the evening temperatures decidedly pleasant.

Chapter 3 – History

In 1521, Magellan led a Spanish expedition to make the official European discovery of the archipelago that was later named the Filipinas, in honor of the Spanish prince who became Phillip II, King of Spain.

As the first western people to come to the Philippines, the Europeans imported colonialism (the idea of owning a territory thousands of miles from home, inhabited by people culturally and racially different from themselves). Spain's conquest of the Philippines was followed by 400 years of Spanish rule. The majority of native people were reduced to being landless peasant sharecroppers. The Catholic Church owned vast tracts of land and controlled the educational system.

Missionaries, government officials, and representatives of the Spanish empire