Life's good in the Philippines for most foreigners, not so much for Filipinos. For me it's what you make of it, I have all I need over here. In the UK my health was getting worse, I could not do my work because of my knees and lower back so I took early retirement, been here almost 5 years. My health is good now, I can walk, run, bend down without pain, go for a swim in the sea any time of the year, go for a meal in a beach resort without paying too much. (Not like the UK were you need to take out a loan to have a meal) Weather is much better here than UK. Scenery is fantastic, the Pinoy's are friendlier than Brit's, and better looking. Have I missed anything?
Hi @bigmac sorry to hear - shocking story.. Whenever we have communication from the Philippines its usually some drama or other but your story takes that to a whole new level. Wow.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/21/british-man-killed-in-the-philippines I met my future wife in Malapascua and dived there also.
well--as of this morning my wife has sent home 3 grand towards the ( repair) bill. Just what happens when innocent victims of these crimes have no money--or OFW family members they can put the arm on? At what point do we say --no? when the pot is empty ?
What is happening in the neighbourhood? When the "My father is a policeman" incident happened neighbours wrecked the policeman's House when he had to flee, tensions were high.
£3000. --so far. This is a warning call to all of us with in-laws in the Philippines. Your settled partner here in the UK is regarded as a cash machine.
You didn't know that? We've sent thousands to the phils over the years. If you have any sense you say 'no' before you are drained dry because the demands don't ever stop. There's always a medical emergency, or a motorbike loan than needs paying or the bike will get seized, or some other drama. We are sick of it here.
my wife supports her jobless daughter (23) and 15 y.o son--a substantial sum each month. i suspect some of that filters upwards to the childs father. who appears to be retired very early. no money comes directly from me..except a loan i made to my wifes sister for " repairs" to their parents house ( where this attempted murder occurred). The loan is being repaid at a good steady pace--i treat it as a sort of pension. my wife earns a good salary, and it was clearly understood from day 1 she would support her kids. What she does with her income is entirely her business--it doesnt involve me or cost me anything.
Well actually it does cost you in the end, because any money that goes from your household to the Philippines is not available for your joint costs or joint investments or joint enjoyment. I wouldn't personally stand for my wife deciding to send most of her income to the phils if she was working and allow me to foot the bills. That's not fair. I don't think she would do that, but I surely wouldn't stand for it if it was proposed.
not a lot i can do about it. We have a working relationship that suits me. its her family--her money--her decision. We have a joint current account--in her name with me added--her salary goes in--i have full access to it. My pension goes in to my single account--from which i pay all the monthly outgoings.
When I used to work in the Middle East, I send most of my salary to the Philippines. Now that I am not working, they assumed I am just being mean. I was disowned by my mother for not supporting them, (her, my siblings and their family). She said I have no ‘utang na loob!’
It creates a dependancy culture, the immediate family, and those that feed off them by free food and Utang, ridiculous system but hey, its more fun in the PI better they educate themselves and are self reliant than wait to be fed with a monthly remmittance
My extended family are independent, wife's brothers and sisters all working, four brothers and three sisters. Only my wife's not working, apart from working in this mansion. Wife's nanay and tatay passed away a few years back, leaving a big house divided up so all the wife's brothers and their family's can live there, wife's sisters are all married and their spouse are all working They got together and bought a brand new large car. I'm stuck with an old 1990's car.
Ditto. At the same time as the few hundred quid remitted every month, we are sponsoring one of her nieces through Nursing school. Sometime it gets kind of heavy and my wife stresses about the unfairness of being the only one of the family abroad and working. My wife daughter also here in the UK is a total waste of time, she went off the rails and now she lives in Manchester with her boy friend, and young child, after being knocked up. I tried, rather, unsuccessfully to get her to see sense and save money, while she had a decent Care job, but it didn't register with her very well. To say that I don't want to see her cross my threshold again is an understatement.
