Trades & Labor Fiance Job

I have been thinking about my fiance's situation. She's a mother of three kids from Amlan, she's living in Manila working as a Security officer, (Ladyguard if you will) for 550₱ per day, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. The kids live in Amlan with her parents, and they all miss each other of course. She sends money home for the kids, most of her paycheck, and the rest, she helps with rent and utilities with a friend whom she lives with. I asked her why she didn't bother to get a ladyguard job in Dumaguete instead so that she didn't have to pay for a separate household and she would be with her kids? She replied that the ladyguard jobs do not pay as much in Dumaguete and she said that her daily travel expenses between Dumaguete & Amlan would eat up all of her pay anyway. She also has previous experience as a domestic helper in Kuwait. I kind of get the feeling she didn't really even look at jobs in Dumaguete before. Is her idea of the pay difference between Manila and Dumaguete and the cost of living between the two accurate? Is it possible for her to find something that she can make a living in the area and still be with her kids? Just wondering, thanks.

 

In general, life is a b@#$% (tough) there for uneducated people. She is correct, the minimum wage is higher in Manila, hence the reason people leave their families. There is a movement to change the way the minimum wage is geography based. The Manila wage is not really a living wage even if she could live in Dumaguete. At least, not in the manner that people in the West call living.

Labor groups want uniform minimum wage nationwide

They said the implementation of Republic Act 6727 has set different minimum wages nationwide with the highest at P481 in the National Capital Region (NCR) and as low as P250 in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

My brother in law also works, in construction, in Manila even though his family is in the Dumaguete area. Never looked for a job in Dumaguete, but I can say that I have several unemployed relatives.

Best of luck to you.

 

Thanks for the response,
We have been discussing the possibility of her going back to an OFW job after my visit. Not sure what the timeline would be for me to get my divorce recognized in the Philippines, but if it costs as much as I've seen on here that it does, it'll take a while to save the money up and probably by the time that is said and done and getting the ball rolling on her visa, she may very well have time to put in a 2 year OFW contract. Ultimately, her family's basic needs require a better income than she's making now, and with all the hoops I have to jump through as well as her once the immigration ball gets rolling there's no guarantee that she would be able to come to the USA in a timely manner to meet her family's needs. We have a big fat mountain to climb to get to where we want to go. Persistence and patience. She says she up for it.

 

It always amazes me that when asked what is most important to a Filipino, they say "Family". So I find it ironic that so many take jobs overseas with 2 year non-return contracts which minimizes their contact with their family. So I guess that being the responsible party for financially supporting the family is the main role in the family relationship and the most important thing in their life. I just do not understand, but again I have never had to face that decision of money or family myself.

 

I thought it was unusual that with her being one of the youngest in her family, that she would be the one financially responsible for the rest. Her older sister is really harsh on her when it comes to supporting the family. She also sends money to both her sisters and their families when she was working in Kuwait. The one sister got so angry with her at how selfish she was for wanting to leave her job in Kuwait, even though she was being abused by her employer. A lot of things I find odd about the way things are done and what's expected of someone. Normally, the eldest child in the family is the one that takes the financial responsibility to help out the rest of the family or put the younger ones through school. It was a responsibility that fell on my ex as she was the eldest child. So we (I) put her younger brother through nursing school. Then he got a job in the CDO mayor's accounting office, ...so that went well. :/

 

Yes, those two things square very well. The family being the most important thing in life does not mean physical contact; it means feeding, clothing, educating etc. So a Filipino (usually Filipina I think) will sacrifice her life to be an OFW (even to countries where they are treated so badly.... even executed sometimes for dubious reasons!). What concerns me is that some other family members use that as an excuse to do nothing to earn money; sis or whoever is abroad so she can look after us! I am told that The Philippines has no benefits system ... but it does ... it is called 'other family members who bother to work'.

 

Ah......so you have been through this before?

 

I found classifying the the money as a loan and not as a gift had a magical effect, as long as you held them to the loan.

 

Yes, my ex wife and I sent a LOT of money home almost to our own detriment. Always a newer, bigger, emergency than the last. Never called to ask how things are going here, only call to ask for money. I told them not long ago that we are divorced, so no more obligation. I think that this resulted in a barang being put on me and my ex. My ex's younger sister was murdered by her boyfriend's family. They were trying to get her to ask for money from me and my ex, and when she wasn't successful, they killed her. I DO feel bad about this. She was just a little kid when I saw her in person last. She was my little shadow everywhere I went, pulling off my slippers as I entered homes & stuff. So, her death hit me hard even though my wife and I were already separated. At the time, we didn't know she had been murdered. We were told that it was internal bleeding as a result of complications of having given birth 3 days before. A year later, a neighbor of the boyfriend's family came forward with information that she was murdered. This was confirmed by the autopsy that she was beaten and suffered internal bleeding as a result of blunt force trauma and she was strangled. The forensic Dr. said that she put up a fight and it was evidenced by the defensive wounds and skin under her fingernails. This made me sick to hear it all over again. The PNP investigation and exhumation and forensics were covered in part by the mayor's office since my ex-bro-in-law works there, but they asked me for help with the rest of the money which amounted to 17K+ for the investigation and prosecution of the exbf and his family. As far as I know, they haven't been arrested yet, and they have been actively sending death threats to my ex's family. Really a strange situation, and very surreal to witness so called "Justice" in the PI. Although, I don't feel responsible to them, and they could be a real pain in my arse sometimes, I still care about what happens to them and I don't wish anyone ill will.