Best Posts in Forum: Expat Section

Hahahahaha yes that is the worst shithole I have ever lived in. Lot of crime. Drugs, murders, lots of stealing and liars like you wouldn't believe. and the people just throw their trash out no matter where they are. I lived there because my wifes family is there and she didn't want to go away from her mother. We came close to separating once because of it. I finally put my foot down and said "We either leave here now or consider me gone" I will never know what would have happened if she had wanted to stay. Now we are very happy and both love it here in Dumaguete.

 

It is highly doubtful he will save anything. Every contract I havce looked at, if you pay it off early you still pay the full interest on the entier term of the loan.

 

Sir, I can absolutely see someone “flying of the handle” over this if, for example, they planned a typical 6 week visit to the states in January 2020 with a return flight scheduled for March. If I had been that person (I almost was but missed it by a week), I would still be stranded in the states and unable to return to my Philippine home, now in September. Where would I be staying over there? A hotel, still renting a car; who would be watching my place over here? It has been 6 months since I wouldn’t be allowed to come back home. This is not just some made-up “what if” situation, it is very real and many people are stranded abroad due to this arbitrary ban on a visa that is marketed as offering permanent residency in much the same way as a 13a.

Yes, the PRA yo trying hard to fix it; they have been trying since March 2020 but apparently not hard enough or BI us purposely trying to kill the program. They are doing a good job. PRA is a part of the Department of Tourism but BI makes the calls and BI apparently has no sympathy for PRA or its clients. One gets the impression that BI doesn’t really care much for the SRRV program and certainly does not work for its success.

So the travel ban in SRRV exposes it for what it really is, an extended “tourist” visa and not a “resident” visa per se. Anytime there is a ban on tourism, such as a reinstatement of the pandemic ban, after it gets lifted in the future due to future outbreaks that PRA clients cannot predict, you could expect to find yourself stuck outside the country as THOUSANDS are right now.

Go to the PRA Facebook page and see comment after comment after comment from people who cannot return home (if PRA has not pulled that down).

I think I would be justified in “flying off the handle” in your words if I was arbitrarily banned from returning home for an unknown indefinite amount of time when my entire home was relocated to thus country, in my case by a whole house full of goods moved by container, at the encouragement office the program who exempted import taxes in my behalf! We are so lucky that we missed that by just a few days.

For the future, there is a remedy. My wife will need to swear in as a dual and I get a 13a which is a true “permanent resident” more visa unlikely to be banned. And we will get our deposit back.

I would not recommend SRRV to mist people, not if they are making a permanent relocation and moving everything here. You will be here as a tourist and cannot reliably plan to leave and return home again. PRA is obviously embarrassed by this and trying to put it in its best light but it is what it is. Those people who are currently stranded have no idea when they can return home again on their Special Retirement “Tourist” Visas.


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I lived in Dumaguete 3 years and moved to Tagaytay. For me Tagaytay is much better, so much so that I have bought a house here. Like all places there are pros and cons. I actually live in Alfonso just down the road from Tagaytay near twin lakes.

The weather here is much cooler at 2000 feet, only use the aircon a couple of months a year in the day time. Seems like days top out at about 26-28 c most of the year. Traffic is bad on the weekend with day trippers from Manila clogging the roads but even then it is less stressful than Duma. They come for the scenery and rows of restaurants, during the week traffic is much better. Not one tenth the tricycles or jeepnys here.

There is just a lot more here, very upscale shopping in Nuvalli with an S&R 45 minutes away and Makati and BGC 2 1/2 hours away, longer at rush hour.

Although there are plenty of expats here, nothing like the density in Duma, also lots of excellent restaurants although they are not as expat oriented. Surrounded by golf courses.

Overall it is more expensive than Dumaguete for real estate, but also in the couple of years I have been here no scheduled brownouts, only out for a few hours with storms and was shut down during the Taal eruption as a precaution for ash for a few days. Stateside quality service with utilities and fast internet available.

Prices are rising, the CALEX expressway will be completed soon which will cut the travel time to Manila considerably and another freeway has been proposed and expected to be approved this year to go from Silang in Cavite to Nasugbu in Batangas. This will cut the travel time to Manila to less than an hour, so demand should pick up.

I enjoyed Dumaguete and understand how it suits many expats but if you are not satisfied there Tagaytay is worth a look.

 

I have no doubt you are truthful in what your expectations are for yourself living the "Western" life in the Philippines. I just plainly disagree with your comments that I quoted previously. You generalized and made assumptions with a conclusion that all 3K a day would get you a life of just pickling your liver. If you think my intent was to "shame" you I suggest you re-read your post and how it could be interpreted.

There are folks with vastly different ideas to what their expectations are for a life in the Philippines and how much they plan to spend; pretty much their own business. I know how much we spend when I'm home and when I'm not; but that is my business.

We are in complete agreement that the Philippines is not as cheap as many assume. It can also be fairly inexpensive depending on your lifestyle.

Shawn

 

That is the reason you should save every receipt from the BI. When I applies for my 13a in Manila they wanted to see my latest receipt for my tourist visa as it had been renewed in Dumaguete. I always kep a copy of my most recent Annual Report in the back of my passport.

Don't trust the LTO either. Last year my wife went to renew here drivers license and found out she paid at the LTO and was given a new license but the money was not remitted to head office so she had been driving around on an invalid license. Keep yur receipts.

 

Nothing can be done without major bloodshed at this point and I'm not encouraging that. Those in power and with the wealth know that sharing it and raising standards for the lower class leads to their eventual loss of power. The more wealth the bottom 50% have the less they will think about today and the more they will think about tomorrow which means a likely political uprising. So keep them poor but not hopeless of living and they will be controllable. Only way to really do anything is taking all that wealth and property and sharing to some extent except the wealthy have full government control with no real way to challenge them. Thus what I said only some sort of civil war with blood which I also don't want to see.

We foreigners really have no role. We are pretty powerless to do anything and can't even really be good examples because an example requires someone to look at them when its good but we're completely ignored unless its bad. There are of course some bad foreigners and they stand out but as foreigners we try and push and teach things like good customer service, safe driving, respect for those being respectful, and being generous as many of us are far more generous then the locals. But do you think anything we do good even in the slightest rubs off? Of course not.

 

I would like to share some few points on the side of the pinays, It is part of our BS culture that we sometimes requires chaperone during our first date or any kind of date.. whether its for a local or expat, some independent girls with dating experienced might go out on a date alone. But, a young girl of less than 30 years old from a small village needs a chaperone because they tend to be shy of what others would think about her…

About BS culture, Filipinos way of welcoming or gathering is not all conversations we share by food at home or dining outside, that’s also the reason why we have an endless yearly fiesta and etc… And, also 99% of the Filipino working abroad when they come home they spend their 1 month salary for dining outside or having a grand meal at home and shared with everyone.

Spending a few dollars in one time for food and drinks with the girl & her chaperone is not a turn off point, but if she has done it several times and with a battalion of friends then that’s another story.

For all of you young and old longnose guys you have to educate your GF, that your penny is a hard earned and its only enough for both of you not for the whole village!

I remember, I sent my super longnose bana in north Mindanao before getting my first kiss(even if I wasn’t a virgin anymore)… I told him to see my family and of course cousins of cousins and the whole village as well..but, I guess he understood about our shitty culture that I never told..the only thing I told him that I hate my country.

One of the cousin from a Class B (i'm class C) family asked him to bring some ice cream, so what he did is he bought a dirty ice cream from the street vendor which is 3peso per cone.. So my cousin phoned me(there was no facebook yet) of what happened and they have a doubt if my bana can afford me! And also they noticed that for 2 weeks he has only 2 or 3 pairs of clothes! My poor husband was on trial by cousin’s publicity…(of course he has loads of branded clothes and can afford me but he did not show it to me! and to the family and to the whole village.)

After 2 weeks of waiting in my shitty town frustrated… he told me(while I was still abroad) that he’s still willing to get to know me…he said he likes the mango..he likes the sea…and me! So I came! I gave up my job I let him pay my ticket and the rest was history.