amendoza

Hi! I noticed lots of discussions as to how liveable the Philippines is.This is in response to much negativism the Philippines is getting, sad to say. Its time to put a balance. The Philippines has so much to offer just like its neighboring countries.

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Forget not as well that nature has blessed this land with lovely mountains, beaches and lots of sun to enjoy! Life is good....

Cheers,

Hannah

baguio_gold100

I agree. It comes in for a lot of negative press, but having visited the place a couple of times, a lot of the negativity is overdone.

I would be very interested in living in a country like this one but need to retrain in order to have any chance of doing this and earning western pay rates at the same time.

Any suggestions on skills that are in demand and which I would have some chance of snagging a job on completion of a certain level of training??

tropicofcancer

Well said Hannah, it's a fantastic place to be that's for sure, the warm friendly people, so hospitable just like the climate. I like looking out to see the coconut palms, the blue waters of the Pacific. Every day is warm and sunny, well almost anyway. I have many Filipino friends (that's how I met my wife many years ago) and countless relatives. People are happy here, they don't need much to be so. They count their blessings, and are religious, the churches on Sundays are packed out, standing room only if you're a bit late, and the churches almost without exception are huge buildings.
I have retired here and it's a great place to be, Asia's best kept secret!

amendoza

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If you want to work in the Philippines as an employee, you might have a struggle with the salary esp if you're used to work in a western lifestyle. But that is just part of the adjustment. Low wages, low cost of living...
Oops! BTW, for now, the Philippines is in boom on the "call center" business. The pay is quite good and quite easy as many filipinos are good in English. I think its fad now there. All they need from you is a diploma and a good English grammar to start with.
Just a personal opinion, the way to do it is to be an entrepreneur. Go on business. The food industry is always a hit, big or small. Or you may try your hand on agribusiness or aquabusiness. In fact, my hubby and I are starting into agribusiness and aquabusiness - if interested, you may visit our website - www.acmbusiness.com
Many foreigners I know who chose to settle in the Philippines are happy owning a resort, restaurant, and/or a whatever business they fancy. Start with what you have and love and good luck. BTW, if you need real estate inquiry, feel free to PM me. I'd be glad to help you out.

Ciao! and cheers!
Hannah

Robertbob

Hannah

I totally agree with you having lived in the Philiipines for 4 years. As an oversea contract worker presently in Almaty Kazakhstan I am looking forward in returning to Philippines next week. I plabn to have 3 days in Borocay to unwind then travel all the way to Iloc sur to visit my wifes family in Vigan. I feel so relaxed there really.

Mabuhay

Bob

David_LivingInCebu

Hannah,

The Title of your post is "Make Philippines Your Home".

That is exactly what I have done and enjoying every minute of it.

People can say what the like about the Philippines because in reality it does not really affect me and my life here. The weather is beatiful, and so is the countryside and the sea and beaches. The people are warm and friendly - always smiling inspite being poor. If you could 'bottle' that and export it to countries and sell it to people who are gloomey and unhappy, despite having extreme wealth in comparison; the Philippines would get richer for sure!

How come if there is so much supposedly so many 'negative' things about the Philippines, how come the Peso is now down to about Php51 (up at 56 a few months back) to US$1 and Php90 to £1 (up at 104 a few months back) then!

What the Philippines is not very good at is Sales and Marketing and promoting the Philippines as a great holiday destination. Malasia is so much better at this than the Philippines.

Do a 'Google' on "Malaysia Tourist Destination" and see what comes up:-
1) http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/
2) http://www.malaysiatrulyasia.co.uk/
3) http://www.tourism-asia.net/
4) http://www.malaysiamydestination.com/
5) http://www.asiamarketresearch.com/co...m-branding.htm
6) http://www.tourism.gov.my/corporate/about_us.asp

Do the same with "Philippines Tourist Destination" and a rather different result:-
1) http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldgui...a/philippines/
2) http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/p...nformation.htm
3) http://www.itravelphilippines.net/ph...-destinations/
4) http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/tourism.php
5) http://sino.net/philippines-tourist-...tractions.html
6) http://www.philsite.net/

So what do we notice from these 'searches?

The Malaysian Government is fully behind promoting Malaysia as a Tourist Destination, whereas there is not one Goverment site in search for Philippines as a Tourist destination in the top 6 search results.

Instead it is left to commersial guides and tour agencies to promote the Philippines as a Tourist Destination (as far as these search engine results show).

39) http://www.wowphilippines.com.ph/dot/inv_cebu.asp
39th in the search results list before we find Wow Philippines! The official website of the Philippines Department Of Tourism. Guess they need to learn how to get their 'rankings' improved in the search engines, or perhaps just do a much better job of Marketing and Promoting?

When it comes to 'promoting' the Philippines as an excellent place to Retire, this is left to the PLRA http://www.plra.gov.ph/main/
Out of all the foreigners I personally know who have retired here in Cebu, Philippines, only one of them availed of the PLRA's SSRV.

The Special Resident Retiree’s Visa (SRRVisa) is a special non-immigrant resident visa that provides its holders with multiple-entry and indefinite stay status in the Philippines.

I think the need to deposit US$50,000 for 6 months, before limited investment thereafter (as well as % payment), as a lot to do with the lack of uptake of SSRV?

If you would like to read how I managed to Retire in Paradise (Cebu, Philippines) at age 50, ust download my Word document “Retirement in Paradise"(revised), using the following URL:-

http://tinyurl.com/n65zs

Homes are certainly cheaper here than in the UK.

We had a 1-4 sq m 3 storey 'extension' built onto our small 2 bedroom bungalow of just 30 sq m on the 120 sq m lot. The original house/lot cost Php630K and all the work of building the additional 3 storey cost Php1.28M (about £14K).

Check out the photographs of the finished result if you are interested:-

http://www.cebuliving.com/david/hse_...s/Our_Home.htm

Not sure if this will be my final retirement home as rather fancy a place on a beach somewhere. Perhaps that might have to wait until I am 60 and get the balance of my Private Pensions?

Cheers,

David & Sha-Sha

Tortuga

Hi David & Sha-Sha

Are there any schools in Cebu using the British curriculum?

David_LivingInCebu

Not sure if any offer full British curriculum (e.g. the CIS prefers the International Baccalaureate (IB)). Mind you going on what I heart about lowering standards in the UK, the IB, may be better?

Some of my British friends send their half-British kids to Cebu International School. (CIS)

Check out the websites for more information:-

http://english-schools.org/philippin...nal-school.htm

Cebu International School
Address
PO Box 735, Pit-os, Cebu City, 6000, Philippines
Tel: (+63) 32 417 6390
Fax: (+63) 32 417 6394
www.iscebu.org

School Summary:
National, IB, curricula.
325 students, 3-18 yrs


Cebu International School in 1973. It is a co-educational day school, non-profit, non-sectarian institution, governed by a ten-member Board of Trustees. The school provides a broad-based educational experience, which focuses on creating well-rounded individuals. The curriculum is internationally based. CIS offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme in Grades 11 and 12 and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).


http://www.cis.edu.ph/main.htm

Other 'International Schools' also dont stick to just British curriculum:-

http://www.learn4good.com/great_scho...al_schools.htm


http://www.hcsinternational.org/
It is an International School as it uses an International Curriculum for its core subjects such as Language Arts, Science, Math, etc. This means your child will be trained in accordance with international standards in which the curriculum is built on the concept of Mastery Learning utilizing a Spiral Design of instruction.



Not Cebu, but Manila is http://www.britishschoolmanila.org/



Hope this limited info helps - want to learn more join some of the specialised Philippines Groups whose members have children attending such schools.

My asawa's daughter, Ana Katrina (21), has graduated from San Carlos University.

Best regards

David & Sha-Sha

Tortuga

Thanks for the information. I checked up on the British school in Manila some time ago after reading a newspaper article about the students achieving some very impressive academic results.

uktruckie

Hello David,

your not David Sadler are you?