In a recent Youtube video, friend and fellow compatriot, Vern Dahnke gave a list of three items he felt were "must have" for expats living in Philippines. At the end of the video, he asked for his viewers to leave their own lists in the comment section.
Naturally, I couldn't resist the opportunity to put in my 2 pesos' worth, but I felt the space available in a Youtube section wasn't big enough for what I wanted to say. Hence, this blog post was born.
This is actually my second attempt at writing this post. The first attempt was nearly finished, when it was lost, due to a split second brown-out.
Starting over, I decided to approach the post differently this time around. First time, I critiqued Vern's list before putting forth my own list. With this post, I'll only give my own list without any editorial comment on Vern's list. This decision came about in part due to my present physical condition brought upon by my recent stroke.
Typing has never been my strong suit, and though my stroke was very mild, I have noticed a slight decline in hand coordination. Let's just say my typing certainly hasn't improved and I was disinclined to retype a post as long as the first one. Even in its condensed version, this second post looks to be quite lengthy. Right now, less typing the better.
So, without further ado, here comes my list of the three items an expat needs in Philippines.
There is one item on our respective lists in which Vern and I are in agreement - the need for top notch Internet service. Having different lifestyles, our reasons for putting this on the list are different. Vern relies on reliable, high speed Internet to do his online classes and to upload videos to Youtube. These are not priorities for me. I simply believe that quality Internet is a must for everyone, regardless of who you are or where you live. I may be downloading books from Project Gutenberg, chatting with friends on Facebook, or streaming videos on Netflix, but I never the less see good Internet as a must have.
Also, like Vern I see the pocket Wi Fi as a complete waste of time and money. It's true that some brands work better in some spots than others, but overall, a pocket WiFi is most definitely not the way to go.
When my family and I lived in an apartment in Sibulan we used Globe DSL. At the time, it was our only option. It wouldn't have been my first choice, but I wouldn't say the service was absolutely horrible. It wasn't the best, but we could live with it.
When we finally moved into our house in Magatas, we had two options regarding fiber optic Internet service - PLDT and Fil Products. By Philippine standards, both companies provide top notch fiber optics. In the end, we choose Fil Products over PLDT. A friend of mine has PLDT, and while he enjoys the Internet, he is dissatisfied with the television packages coming with PLDT. It was the television service that won me over.
My second item on the list actually comes as a surprise, even to myself. I wouldn't have thought so at one time, but I now view an automobile as a "must have" item here. The are negatives to driving a car here. The traffic in Dumaguete can be horrendous and most of the time locating a parking spot in the city can be a royal pain. However, when one takes safety into account, a car wins as transportation of choice. I would say that 50% of the expats I know have been involved in an accident while driving a motorcycle - one accident was especially serious.
It's quite common for motorcyclists to hit a dog ( or some other object ) on the road,and far too many motorcyclists pay no attention while driving or will completely ignore common sense rules. Usually, when an accident involves a car and a motorcycle, the car has the advantage.
In addition to the safety factor, the government has made driving a motorcycle more of a hassle. The practice of backriding on a motorcycle is almost illegal now. Unless you're a single person without wife or girlfriend, riding a motorcycle is becoming less of an option.
My third item on my list of "must have" items for the expat living here is a permanent resident card. Without the card, tourist visas must be renewed on a regular basis. This in itself can become a nuisance. Never having had a tourist visa, I don't know all the ins and outs of the renewal process, but I do know that one requirement of being a tourist is that one is required to go outside the Philippines, I believe, once every three years. This may not seem like a big deal, but during these times of the covid 19 pandemic, going in or out of Philippines has become dicey. If one is required to leave, finding a flight out of the country is extremely difficult and ones being allowed back in may not even be possible at the present time.
Of course, permanent resident cards aren't given to everyone. I suppose, in theory, you can get one if you aren't married to a Filipina, but I don't think that it's easily done. It may seem like a lot to ask, but frankly, I don't believe I'd want to stay here permanently if I didn't have wife and family here.
So, there you have it - my list of the three items an expat must have in Philippines. For Vern's list, click on this link to his Youtube video.
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