This is addressed to those who have not been to the Philippines but are looking for an affordable tropical retirement location. It is not applicable to those who want to vacation at one of the many beautiful Philippine resorts for a few days or weeks.
The Philippines is not a budget version of Hawaii or Key West or Mallorca. It is an impoverished developing nation with about the same land area as the State of Arizona, but with more than 90 million residents. In cities, poverty, pollution and environmental degradation are everywhere. Open sewers and the smell of sewerage are frequent companions. Trash is strewn everywhere. There are hardly any parks. Power blackouts are frequent. The creatures of the land and sea have mostly been devoured by a hungry population. Vehicles belch black diesel fumes along main roads. Mangy dogs wander the streets. The raucous beat of karaoke shatters the night and ever-present roosters wake you at four in the morning. You’ll need walls and bars on the windows of your house to prevent break-ins.
If you’re careful, decent routine medical and dental care can be found in the larger cities, but questionable care is a real possibility. Dengue fever, malaria and other tropical diseases are risks as are hepatitis and tuberculosis. If you can’t pay up front for medical care, you will not receive any. Emergency medicine usually involves taking a taxi to the nearest hospital.
It can be inexpensive to live in the Philippines, but the biggest savings come when you can adapt to living more like Filipinos; buying chicken and pork rather than Australian steaks, skipping Cheerios and other imported products, eating eggplant and other fruits and vegetables that grow in the Philippines rather than imported broccoli and apples, using a fan rather than air conditioning, riding the jeepney rather than maintaining an SUV. Those who insist on trying to live a Western lifestyle, may not find the savings so great, especially when you consider you must pay all health care expenses.
Some rural places in the Philippines can be quite inexpensive and really are paradisaical, but you’ll be hours or days from medical care, Internet, books and so forth. Shopping will be restricted to fish, local vegetables and a few canned goods. If you’re healthy and self-sufficent and your material needs are simple, this might well be your paradise. We have found a good compromise, living 20km outside of a city in a quiet rural place, but with relatively easy access to the city.
For my wife and me the Philippines is a paradise, but it’s the people who make it so. Filipinos, especially in the provinces, treat foreigners with great kindness and respect. In turn, I respect them for who they are and the way they live their lives. Every day I see them face their often very difficult lives with inspiring dignity and good humor. They are truly a special people and I feel privileged to live among them.
December 21, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Hi Bob & Carol,
Dan here, on Negros (about 60 kM S of Bacolod). Just found your site and really appreciate the resources presented! My wife, of 8 years is native Negrense, but lived in Oregon for 20+ years prior to moving “home”. We’ve lived here nearly 2 years now. It was my idea to move here, not exactly her idea of retirement. I tried to do the research, made several trips here (4-6 weeks each), talked with others that made the transition, but it obviously wasn’t enough to truly absorb the reality of actually living here. With my naivety waning I now believe I understand the basis of my wife’s apprehension. She had completely assimilated to US culture (in a small coastal community) and was happy living there. Bringing her and our 10-year-old daughter here has been nothing short of an adventure: extremely rewarding at times but often very frustrating.
In an effort o appease my wife & daughter, we did build a small (1,800 sq ft) western style house. That endeavor caused a great amount of stress, as we had to instruct ALL involved, from the engineer to the laborers, on how to perform their tasks. All “engineers” that we spoke with were completely clueless on construction methods outside of the “basic”, including normal home amenities. The plumber had never heard of a hot water system or “venting”, and was lost on mixing type valves, solar water heaters, and a pressurized supply. The electrician new nothing of phase-to-phase 240/120v systems, generator auto transfer switches, or circuit load calculations. Fortunately, we have built a few houses in the US (as a “paper contractor”) so with great patience, we were able to get beyond the absence of skill and especially lack of common sense (constantly “babysitting” at all phases of project) and turned out a very nice product. Pros: We made many friends – officials, tradesmen, laborers, suppliers. We are still contacted by them for “advice”. We just had a wonderful Christmas party for all involved. Also, even though much went into this project, it was still 40% less than the cost to build in Oregon. Cons: No Home Depot or Lowes – materials were procured from dozens of suppliers. It took an inordinate amount of time (and fuel) to network and locate these businesses. Citi Hardware is a good Philippine effort but far from adequate. Several fixtures and appliances had to be imported from the US.
Similar frustrations are also experienced in interacting with nearly all government and business entities. Incredibly inefficient and lacking in common sense. We must constantly educate those representing these entities. Example: go to a “hardware store” and ask for six 1 ½” 8 x 32 machine screws! We’ve ran into many problems with the school system and Dept of Ed. Until very recently (next year) the schools have only 10 grade levels – turning out children instead of young adults. We will be forced to take our daughter back to the US to attend high school or she will be greatly handicapped when engaging the SAT. Now, what about the complete disregard of traffic rules AND enforcement (i.e. “No tricycles or trisikads allowed on National Highways”)? I cannot stress enough the value of reading your suggested book “In Our Image – America’s Empire in the Philippines”. It fully explains why the RP is so extremely dysfunctional today. The blame lies solely upon mismanagement by the US.
Honestly, I didn’t begin this writing with intent to rail against the RP. I still feel this is a wonderful place to retire. And you CAN live a fairly western lifestyle on a low budget, but it does take time to “learn the system”. For example, we have over 400 TV channels & DVR from Comcast in Oregon through “Slingbox” (16 hours difference of course) – forget local satellite, the Rose Bowl is coming up! Go Ducks!! “Bob’s” in Bacolod has real micro-brewed beer. S&R in Cebu is just like walking out of the RP and into the US. But most importantly, as espoused by many others contributing to your “Comments”, the Philippine people are incredibly gracious and genuinely good at heart. They sincerely mean well!
We’ll be leaving in 3 years, but will return permanently to our home here 4 years later, after we see our daughter through high school in Oregon. Merry Christmas ! ! !
December 23, 2011 at 8:35 am
Dan,
Many thanks for your excellent comments. My theory is that it’s possible to float on the surface of Philippine life, enjoying the smiles and sunshine while knowing that there’s lots of dark, dangerous and unpleasant currents below. However, when you build a house you are really forced to confront stuff you can normally avoid. Now that your house is done (as is ours) maybe you can just enjoy the good parts of life here — and there are many!
Best wishes with your plans and for the holiday season.
Bob and Carol
December 20, 2011 at 5:34 pm
I’m really glad to see that someone told it like it is. I love living here in the Philippines, but it’s definitely not a “pristine paradise”, without a few caveats.
When i lived in Panama, I remember that all the real estate web sites and tourist sites talked about Panama as though it was also a “Paradise” for retirement. Panama is actually a dirty, dangerous place with generally unfriendly people who don’t like foreigners.
The Philippines is, in my honest opinion, a far better place to live. Even with the many drawbacks, the people are almost universally friendly and the weather and environment can be very beautiful. As you say, outside the larger cities, anyway.
Thanks for the article! I’ve bookmarked your site and will be coming back often.
September 20, 2011 at 8:13 am
Your site is a refreshing change from other blogs where expats ‘living in Cebu’ seem to spend all their time complaining about the Phils.
I’ve been to Cebu five times since 1992 and have not found anywhere that I feel more relaxed and at ease. My wife is from Mindanao and we’ve been married eighteen years. I’ve also traveled around the country a bit, Baguio, Lake Taal, Cavite. Very beautiful sights, but the people are the best thing there. They are very kind to foreigners as you pointed out. I am eligible to retire in two years (I’ll be 54) and already own some properties in Cebu so I’m planning to do as you did and build a house. Thanks for your site.
September 21, 2011 at 11:16 am
Thanks for the very appreciated feedback. As Milton says in Paradise Lost, “The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n.”
September 9, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Hi there Bob and
Carol, i just read your article (Reality Check), which i agree with 100%. It is honest, accurate, factual and unbiased. It is, above all, “How it is”.
The expression, `when in rome——–` comes to my mind. Some romans lead fulfilled, happy, interesting lives: good very fresh local food/wine, friendly neighbors, beautiful surroundings, clean air and equable climate, amongst many other positive attributes. Others, even though wealthy, lived miserable lives, forever in the rat-race of commerce and politics often in the great cities, or cloistered in ornate villas cut off from the real people and their surroundings–much like living in a gated community.
I live in a nice house, (well, we like it and that`s what really matters) right on the edge of a large and fairly poor Pinatubo resettlement complex. There seem to be millions of kids, polite and very clean, but definitely not suffering from obesity, who, with big smiles, are happy to chat to a total stranger. Many cockerels, yes; about the same number as karaoke machines!!!! There are also ducks and pugos, with their delicious little eggs, very very fresh. And the balut sellers (yuk!), fresh fruit and veg, etc etc etc. all parading past my door every day. In fact, if i wanted to, i need never go beyond my gate in order to purchase all my alimentary needs.
When i do go out, which is often, i am met with smiling faces, especially from the women: even if i am with my partner. Back in the U.K. i think women have developed an extra gene, which makes them walk along with their necks bent over to face the ground in order never to have to make eye-contact with a stranger. Why?
I am actually writing this in Cornwall, in England, back on business,sitting looking out through my window over the grey sea, at the grey clouds: it is, of course, raining. I think the temperature today is about 15C, malamig!
But it is not the weather that makes me homesick for the Philippines, it is the people that live there.
July 27, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Thank you for asking. Sure you can use that “tropical paradise” post. We’d appreciate credit. Best wishes.
Bob and Carol Hammerslag
December 15, 2010 at 9:53 am
We’ve lived here in the Philippines for 7 years and experienced homes in Subdivisions and local barangis.
The contrast is enormous, from one extreme to another. The quietness and respectability of the Subdivision to the noise and low standards of the local environment. I realised that that we could not live amongst the working class people and accept their way of living. My background is middle class and I wrongly thought that living locally would be okay. The upmarket subdivision on the other hand can present a sterile environment and its necessary to make friends or you will be isolated. Many wives of expats are from impoverished backgrounds and making friends with well heeled Filipinos is not easy since they will have staff on the same level and of course not socialise. Choosing a place to live takes some time and I would advise to rent close by for at least a year before making a decision. It is also very easy to design a new home but we tend to do it from our old ways of living and not from living in the Philippines. A period of living in this environment before designing a home is recommended. Easy to buy here but not to sell!!!
December 7, 2010 at 8:05 am
I lived in the Philippines 27 years ago for a year in Cebu City.
I married a local girl and brought her back to the US where she has become on of the most well known and popular people in our small town. Recently I went back to the country
to look for a place to retire. I tried Cagayan de Oro and it reminded me of Cebu City way back when. Has everything you need and a good economy. We will be moving in about 6 months as soon as our house is complete. Everyone I met there was very friendly and helpful and seemed glad we were going to be around in the future. I have been following the local paper on line and crime there is about the same as in our local “big city” which has one third the population. Looking forward to the move, but will have a security fence even in my guard gated secure neighborhood. And my dog.
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February 25, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Hi Bob. i’m happy to read your unbiased description of Philippine (RP) cities with various socio-economic-infrastructure problems. Most cities are getting worse in terms of traffic congestion, thousands of tricycles, jeepneys, taxis, and motorcycles, graft and corruption, etc. So, when my wife and i take to the streets, i tend to say, “Let’s get out and live in a peaceful country.” Yet, you are right. There are also many good reasons why living/retiring here is good. i know of a British couple, 70 yrs, who moved residence from England to Palmas Del Mar Subdivision, Bacolod City. We just have to discern though the hidden character of people. We cannot afford to be too trusting. Bad eggs are so many as there are good ones. God’s gracious providence be with you and Carol always.
February 19, 2010 at 1:39 pm
i have been to the philippines 2 times in the past 16 months and will return in this march to get married.i will spend 50 days there and in that time i am supposed to buy a lot,build a small house,get married,buy a new television and bed frame.i will then return here to the u.sa and continue to work at my pathetic $1,200 per month job while paying $600.00 per month in child support.meanwhile my new filipina bride will continue to live in our new home while i send her a cool 5,000 pesos each month so she and her daughter can eat.after approx 12 months have passed i will return there and stay again for another 30-50 days depending on wether or not my job will allow this.i am 54 years old and so 7 years away from s.s.ive been through a divorce so my life savings upon my return from my 50 day stay will be aprox $28,000 usd and shrinking fast.am i setting myself up for certain failure or what???
February 13, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Hi i have just read your article and i have found it very comendable , you are right about a philipinos life being hard it is , my wife came from a very poor family but her and her sisters all went through university and two are now teachers there in mindanoe , when i was there i found that although they may hve there own problems far greater than mine they were always polite and courtious , there children even in the back streets there clothes were impecably clean the words insipiring dignity just about some it up, when i married my wife i told her you are never to walk behind me always along side of me and you will always keep your head up you are the equal of anybody else no mattter who they are.
chris
November 14, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Hi Pablo,
Thanks for your excellent, but pointed comment. Ouch! You know life in the Philippines. Having lived here over three years, I am learning. However, would-be expats DO dream of the Philippines as being a less expensive Hawaii or Tahiti. Let’s face it, it’s not. It may be better than those places for those that can appreciate the genuine virtues of the Philippines, but it can be a disappointment for those who can’t.
We both love it here and we’re not going home — as you suggest. I feel privileged to live amongst Filipinos. I wrote this post because there was at least one foreigner from the U.K. who came here in large part because of my blog posts which are, in general, very positive. This particular individual (and I am sure there are others) felt mislead by me and by others. After six months, he and his wife went back to the U.K. never wanting to see the Philippines again. This “tropical paradise” post was my effort at “full disclosure”. Maybe you’re right that I went a bit overboard, but other posts make it clear how much we like living here.
Previously, we lived in Upstate New York, not far from Montreal. I just adore Montreal as my favorite North American City. I took my mother-in-law there and she hated it. It was, in her eyes, big and dirty and noisy and scary. It’s the same with the Philippines. Some will find it to be a paradise. Others can’t imagine living in such a place. Fortunately, I’m the former, but don’t imagine that many don’t agree.
Bob
November 14, 2009 at 12:01 am
Hi Bob,
Nice posting, but a bit coloured. Yes, you could like on an island 48 hours away by boat, no medical care, no power, only satellite phone and no shopping mall. You could indeed also elect to live in a Philippine city, have to cope with the dirty air, congested roads, potential ciminality and all that. But let’s face it, in the city in a western country where I currently live (25 million people), it took me 90 minutes to get to a hospital 3 kilometers away, I have been robbed in a “safe” country and stuck in a European airports for nights. So, why complain when I got sick and it took me 90 minutes to get from my place in Philippines to a hospital 75 kilometers away? Why complain when I don’t have to lock my door in my little place in a small village in Philippines? Like you said, the local population has (almost) fished the sea empty, Very bad boys! But wait a minute… With all our clever Western systems, controls and politicians, we have managed to eat all the cod from the NorthSea, the herring is so rare we pay in gold for it and we are just out of the “Acid Rain” period. So who are we to call the kettle black? I think it is a challenge to use our experience, training and connections to try to get some minor changes done locally in Philippines. And: Like in our home countries, where we are still not listening to the warnings on global warming, we aparently have to learn the hard way. So why would the Filipino people listen to our experience?? So, if they do, we can only congratulate them on their insight and willigness to learn. That makes the place a lot more fun. Even if the improvements are small and far between. It’s more than I have achieved in many other places in this world.
And buying your stuff at the local market instead of a huge SuperMall? Ofcourse, if you can’t live without McDonalds or your Starbucks, then you should not live in a small town. But if you can manage to enjoy the coffee from your own plantation, fresh fish, a duck from your pond and a good cigar with a glass of Tanduay, why worry about this greasy hamburger?
However, there is an issue which you need to consider before settling down: When you have finished building your house, when you have build your pool, modelled the garden, what are you going to do? Can you have fun sitting down with the local population and have a laugh about the latest TV series or the village politics? Or do you have to go to the expat community an keep complaining about the bad roads and the latest crime??? If you are not sure what you are going to do, maybe you should consider again if this is the real thing for you… If you cannot handle the local frustrations and keep smiling politely, maybe you better stay in a western country.
Philippines can be heaven if you know how to appreciate it. It also has proven hell for many who left frustrated (or worse)…. Think well before you decide, and try it out for a while….
July 28, 2009 at 7:47 pm
very interesting reading. i am retired and livve for a large part of the year on mindoro island. my bride is from manila, but was born on mindoro, so when we were looking to purchase some land we ended up there. we have a hectare of beachfront and it is truly a paradise. i fully concur with your opinion of provincial folks. they are truly the salt of the earth and i too have absolute respect for their ability and cheerful good nature, even in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds. i have made more true friends on the island in one year there than i ever have made in my home country in a lifetime. if you want to retire there, go for it, but treat others with the respect you yourself expect. just don’t act like a smart-arse “wealthy” foreigner and you’ll do o.k. regards, steve.
June 14, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I accidentally found your website when I was searching Nogas Island in Antique. Thanks for the great words about Filipinos and for choosing Philippines as your second home. Not to mention that I am originally from Tigbauan.
April 11, 2009 at 3:49 pm
hi bob and carol,
thanks for your informative blog, Im from estancia iloiloand my wife is from igbaras.I love philippines, i always go home every year and do medical mission. my last medical mission was in bayombong nueva viscaya.people there are so nice. im planning to retire in the philippines someday.
March 19, 2009 at 11:32 am
Hello Bob and Carol,
This is the first time I have read your blog. It is very interesting and informative. I have been doing a lot of research on living in the Philippines. My wife is from Toril, Davao City. I have been there from California 4 times. The longest I have lived there is six weeks continuous. I am looking at a five year plan here in the States before moving to Lubugan, Toril. I love it there. Reminds me a little of my youth in northern Illinois and when we lived in central Louisiana. I will retire in about 4 years and I am giving myself about a year before leaving here.
In my research I find new things to consider and the ones I am looking at seem to open new questions. Insurance seems to be a big one. Maybe the biggest. I want to build my home to my specifications and that opens up a lot of questions that I am sure I would have here as well. Quality, cost, workmenship….all that stuff. Leaving my family (children, grand children, brother, sisters and my mom if she is still alive by then. She is 83 years young now) is a big concern as well.
We all know that retirement doesn’t mean sitting, eating and watching TV all the time. That just adds up to death very quickly. Not to mention boredom. So, my wife and I have big dreams of opening a very small Christian school, small bakery and maybe even a small bed and breakfast for visiting foreigners. All on a very small scale. We have one very large lot and a small one near by. My wife has a number of family members that are college educated but as you know there are very few jobs to go around. I would love to employ some of them to make these dreams happen, if not just a way to provide money for family without just giving hand outs.
I would be very interested to hear your thoughts and suggestions.
October 18, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Thanks Kenneth. We have traveled to Estancia a few times to buy fish at the pier and the fish market. Much of the seafood sold in Iloilo City comes from Estancia. I’m intrigued by the beautiful islands you can see from Estancia. Pumpboats leave from Estancia to some of these islands. We hope to visit them sometime.
We try to be realistic in our comments but our retirement experiences in the Philippines and Iloilo have been great. We don’t see too many “cons”.
Bob and Carol
October 16, 2008 at 3:02 am
Hi Bob,
I read your blog with great interest! My wife is from Estancia, Iloilo and also dream about living in the Philippines. However there are many pro and cons to consider and it’s interesting to read about your experiences!