⌛ owning land and property as a foreigner

A Filipino in the U.S. can buy property. I don't see why an American who has moved to the Philippines shouldn't be allowed to buy a place to live. I can understand laws to keep foreigners from buying up large parcels and building malls or selling the land back to Filipinos for huge profits, but simply to buy a piece of land to build a home in which to live and be a part of the community should be the right of any citizen of the world.

 

By Philippine law, natural-born Filipinos who have lost their Philippine citizenship are allowed to own up to 1000 square meters of urban land, or 1 hectare of rural land.

This right should be extended to foreigners who hold a valid Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV). The land could not be used for any purpose but their personal residence. If the foreigner decided to sell the land, they would be required to sell it to a Filipino or another SRRV holder.

Land ownership laws pertaining to business/commerce would remain unchanged.

This would encourage foreign retirees to live in the Philippines, where they would be spending money and hiring maids, drivers etc. Which would be very beneficial to the economy, while keeping the foreign land speculators out.

 

It's my understanding that Special Resident Retiree Visa holders with pensions, are only required to put up ten grand now. Those without pensions have to put up twenty.

 

ey, tone down the racist rhetoric ha?

Ey Yabs,
Tone down the racist remarks; better yet, keep them to yourself.
I dont know what nationality or ethnic group you belong to, but it would not be fair for me to label your entire fellow citizens or ethnic group "racists" simply based on your comments, would it?
Sure there are bad apples--like the loud mouthed, inconsiderate korean or japanese group tourists that you have encountered. But so do most other nationalities when they are in groups on vacation (really, you have never seen a group of western nationalities having a grand ol time with brews in their hands in bars, oblivious to their environs? I have, because i am probably one of them)... But have you seen a small group of 2 or 3 koreans or japanese that are irritatingly loud? Didnt think so.
So let's be nice. And by the way, you should remember that it is those group tourists from asia that is helping to prop up the struggling tourism business in the phil. Can you imagine Koreans and japanese shunning philippines because of terrorism fears? Probably most of the resorts (most notably in boracay!)would have to shut down in no time, which would leave the rest of us for the worse.
The next time these groups irritate you, why dont you just politely tell those groups to quiet down a bit (or if they are stepping on corals, inform the appropriate dive shop), instead of keeping it inside and exploding on an open forum like this one? I am sure they will offer you polite apology and maybe even send you a brew on them. Try it. Its obvious you are open to other cultures because you are living in philippines. So don't make yourself a racist...
p.s. Its kinda bad to start with a negative message on my first post on this site, but i was bit shocked and annoyed when i read your post...

 

No worries, jss, it wasn't too negative, and you brought up some good points. Welcome to the forum! :D

 

jss,

Just wait until Yabs really gets rolling about some ethnic group he does not like. It's so funny. He won't change his mind about his feelings for his favorite groups, Koreans, Japanese, etc. Stick around when the hate starts overflowing concerning Americans. True blue, through and through, racist. Seen a lot of them in the States.

Chi Town

 

Raging Caribou

Really? I will look forward to it.
Maybe he just hates EVERYBODY, regardless of their background. That, technically, does not make him a racist...just a raging caribou ...

 

More t*ts for tats in this thread...I never knew there are some children here ,lol.

 

Doesn't make a difference. Take Boracay - it already is full of Koreans, whether you can own land or not.

 

I totally agree. I believe it should be regulated though, as to how much land can be owned, and measures put in place to prevent people building hideously ugly structures in areas of natural beauty (Koreans take note!).