Best Posts in Forum: Dumaguete City

I wonder how many are like me and didn’t know a thing about Dumaguete when I came here to go diving, met my fiance, found it was much cheaper rent than where I lived in Global City so we moved here 9 years ago.

 

That is quite the statement. I am sure my wife would love to discuss it with you. My wife is Thai. Educated, a career woman that is now retired. (early retirement). Never worked in a bar. We were both in our 30's when we got married. Been married 29 years. We met in the U.S. where she attended Dean College, Massachusetts.

 

I would tend to agree, particularly as China would, in effect, be building the project for themselves. As soon as Dumaguete default on the loan it becomes wholly owned by the Chinese, as proven in many places, particularly Africa.

Regarding the manpower - China has what they call "bureau" which are pools of manpower that they call upon to provide the labour for particular infrastructure projects. These bureau are labelled by number (1 to 20) and each number represents a particular area of China that the bureau is located. e.g. The 14th bureau is based in Yunnan and their manpower is taken from that area. The Chinese will ship these bureau personnel anywhere in the world that they're required to build a particular project. This process works out cheaper for the Chinese as they pay these workers a minimal wage and, as most have families, it gets sent back to China anyway. They live in "camps" which provide food and accommodation, so very little input into the local economy.

The skill level of the personnel is highly suspicious. The bureau claim their personnel are skilled etc but I know, and have direct experience of, personnel who were picking rice in their locality but, on joining the bureau were told they were now electricians and sent to a project where there was a shortage of electricians. These people were directly responsible for dangerous shortcomings in the project and a liability for the project owners. Due to the low skill levels and corruption there have been many occurrences of failure causing loss of life (e.g. the use of sub-standard rebar causing a building to collapse).

The whole set-up, being state owned, only benefits the Chinese in both the short and longer terms. This does not bode well for Dumaguete city, only those that get to line their pockets at the city's expense.

 

It is not about leaving land to your SO; it is about her having her own place, which is very important to her as well as a place to live the rest of her life and pass on to the kid. It should not be seen as an investment, I know I went into building a house with full knowledge I would never get my money back but again have no plan to ever be in a position that we would need to sell it and I paid cash for everything, we owe no money to anyone.

Not everyone has the "American dream", there are Filipinas that are quite happy living in their home country. We picked Tanjay to be close to her family, which goes against most things expats say but her family's support is worth it and yes, we do deal with folks needing "help" with things but my wife is sharp enough to prioritize what she decides to do. I personally have not lived in the US in over 20 years and foresee no reason I would move back. The thing to "leave behind" is a business/income source, money in the bank and a place to live.

The decision to build/buy a house in the PI is a difficult one, dropping 6 figures on a house in a 3rd world country does not sit well. You could rent a "decent" place for 30+ years in what you spent on a home. Plus upkeep... Then again you have a place that is to your specifications, my background is construction so I know I have a solid house. Everyone is different on their thoughts, I have no regrets we built.

As mentioned in an earlier post many folks are not comfortable spending money on something that will not be in their name. The way I see it, if you had a house in the US and got divorced most likely she'd get it so what is really the difference?

I look at things realistically and do not wear the rose colored glasses many folks seem to have; living in another country takes a lot of forethought and if you decide to spend your life with someone you need to have the right person that is truly a partner. The horror stories are there and I personally know folks that got royally screwed over. But there are success stories and happy folks, usually the ones that live a bit under the radar.

Just my opinion/experience so take it for what it is.

Shawn

 

Shouldn't this be in the Humor section of the forum?

 

Why do they drive like that? How many times have you been asked or asked yourself? I recently came upon a secret manual that answers this question. Please pay attention.

Basic rules of driving in the Philippines.

1. Drive as if you’re the only person on the road (because you are).

2. Drive as if you own the road (which you do).

3. Drive however fast or slow you want any time, anywhere.

4. Park wherever you feel like parking, preferably as close to the middle of the road as possible. You may use your emergency flashing lights to show others that you’re blocking traffic, but don’t worry if you don’t have them or don’t want to use them.

5. Don’t use lights when driving at night. They waste electricity.

6. Pass anyone any time you wish. If you’re barreling down the road in the opposite lane, you may wish to flash your headlights to warn others to get out of your way.

7. If you have mirrors, especially on bikes, remove them before someone steals them. They’re worthless anyway. Who wants to see what’s coming up behind or beside you?

8. Driving is a good time to get caught up on text messages or facebook.

9. Don’t bother licensing yourself or your vehicle. Make a simple u-turn if you see a check point.

10. Don’t waste money servicing your vehicle. It will service itself.

 

I agree 100% with your complaints, pollution is really bad here but do you ask what you can do to change it in the right direction? I see a change in attitudes, special among young Filipinos, here in Bacong where I live a group of young guys has made some actions to clean the area, special the beach and put signs up, clean after yourself. They go to the barangay hall and get support to their ideas and now there are a fine 1000 pesos if you throw your waste on the beach. it's funny to see peoples reaction when the read the sign, they look around, anyone watches me, any cameras, it works. Progress is slow but I'm happy to see the change in attitude among these young guys

 

What is intelligence?

To me, it's the ability to survive. Stupid is catastrophic failure. Anything beyond the ability to survive is just virtue signalling. It's boasting about how great you are. The sad truth is that a feeling of greatness is why a lot of foreigners are here. A crap pension in the U.S. with no love can become a dramatic boost in the Philippines. Your Philippines starter kit when you arrive is an upgrade in economic status and a girlfriend. Foreigners may not feel as privileged in Dumaguete as they once did, but they're still in a sort of alternate status reality where they aren't subject to the same rules. You get a hat tip and an exception from being dog**** as is typical of immigrants. If you came to the Philippines to get more bang for your buck, then why rub it in? Just chill and enjoy your blessings.

Stupid is the brilliant mathematicians, coders and wall street traders who blew up the economy in 2008. Smart is the Filipino polymath who can survive under the roughest conditions. Throw a super computer into the woods and it will immediately die. A stupid wild animal with no frontal lobes is an expert in survival.

Philippines society serves the Philippines just fine. The businesses which operate here serve to the locals. Foreigners do bring in money, but mostly to a tourist industry. The Philippines will change as the people here demand it. Foreigners won't move the needle on this. So then, we just b*tch and make foreigners look bad.