My Move to the Philippines |

On our last visit to the Philipines in February of 2008 we decided to have the house blessing at our new house in Laguna. For those of you who have not experienced a house blessing it is one of the most interesting filipino and Catholic traditions. It consists of a priest walking throughout the house blessing everything in sight including the furnitiure. He also blesses an offering of coins, flower petals, and candy which is strewn from room to room by the owner. Invited guests, especially the children then retrieve the candy and coins to keep. There is usually a roasted pig involved (lechon) and plenty of other food as is the case in all filipino celebrations. Click the link below to see some pictures of our house blessing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan1658/?saved=1

One of the items on my checklist for the move is notifying banks and credit card companies that I will be overseas. This article covers some of the credit card companies and how they handle things and some stories of what people have done. Please comment here and tell any experiences or recommendations you have. Here is the link:  http://www.elliott.org/blog/warning-before-traveling-overseas-call-your-credit-card-company/

Number 2 on my checklist of preparations for my move to the Philippines is banking and how will I get money from the states. From talking with the experts I believe this is the way I’ll do my banking.

I will be receiving two pensions while living there and will be receiving numerous amounts from investments which will be put into my US account. This will enable me to pay bills online and keep me in a checking account. One other reason I want to have this money in a US bank is the FDIC insurance that protects up to $100,000.

We will also open a Philippine dollar account and a Philippine peso account. In the dollar account we will write a check from the US bank and deposit for our living expenses. There is a time lag for the funds to clear and we will have to compensate for that by having an amount in the peso account. Also when we are short on pesos we can transfer from the dollar account to peso account. Once I get this procedure started it will flow smoothly and the financial part of the move will be finished.

I’m going to get a little off topic in this post but it is something I think readers of this blog are interested in. I have been following the story of Arnel Pineda and his fantastic Journey. Arnel was a singer in a bar band called The Zoo, in Manila doing cover tunes of bands such as Led Zepplin, AC/DC, Journey, and more.

Some videos of the band made it onto YouTube and it happened that Neil Schon, lead guitarist of Journey was searching on the internet for people to audition for the new lead singer. He came across Arnel performing a Journey song. Neil was so impressed on how Arnel sounded like former lead singer Steve Perry that he offered Arnel a chance to audition. Arnel was hired and is now touring as the new lead singer of the band.

The part about Arnel being discovered on the internet and winning the job with the band is exciting but that isn’t “The Rest of the Story.” Please go to http://www.youtube.com and type Arnel Pineda and Journey into the search and find the CBS morning news story about Arnel. The story is a real inspiration in that it covers where he came from and what he went through. It covers things such as his close relationship to his mother and how he went from a homeless teen on the streets of Manila to become the lead singer of one of the best rock bands in the world. It is inspirational and will bring tears to your eyes. I will try to link to the video later but I’m having problems right now with the plugin.

I was reading an article on another blog, which I will give the link to at the end of my post, concerning the authors Top 10 reasons for dating a filipina girl. This list included things such as the beauty of filipinas, their great diposition, their committment to being  good homemakers and more. Please take time to read this article and leave a comment on what you think.

Although the things the author listed are true, he forgot what I think is one of the most important things, the filipino family. Even though I lived in the Philippines for almost 10 years it was brought home to me recently while talkng with a friend who had just returned from the Philippines. This was the first time this gentleman had been to the Philippines as he had met his wife in the states. The first thing he mentioned about his trip was how he was accepted by the family from day one. He felt comfortable with all of her family and was welcomed with open arms. In fact from a person who was scared about going over there he admitted that he couldn’t wait to return to the Philippines.

It’s the same with my wife’s family. They accepted me as one of their own right away even though they had never met me before and had only spoken limited times on the phone with me. I was now “Uncle” to more nieces and nephews than I could ever imagine. And you know what? I loved it! I was not close to any of the kids on my side of the family. It wasn’t that I didn’t like them it was just that they had their own lives and I had mine. They ran to dance lessons, ball practice, and whatever else was going on in their lives. But my nieces and nephews and brother in laws and sister in laws in the Philipppines seemed to want to be around me and do things involving me. I can remember my first week after meeting my new family I had the honor of pinning on a merit badge for my great niece as a Philippine scout. This was done in a school ceremony and I felt honored that she chose me. I hadn’t done something like this since my own children were that age.

There is a saying among Americans that are married to filipinas that when you marry a filipina you marry her whole family. Some imply that it’s a bad thing but I can tell these men have never visited the Philippines and met with their wife’s family. The man who has been there and met his new family and experienced the filipino family life knows that he is truely blessed to have “married her whole family.” 

Referenced article: http://www.visitphilippineislands.com/32/philippine-women/#comment-30

Visas for visiting and living in the Philippines are one of the first things I researched. Legal talk and government regulations are generally hard to read so I researched many of the ex-pat sites especially www.liveinthephilippines.com. I have settled on going with the tourist visa which will permit me to stay in the Philippines for two years at a time if renewed. I don’t plan on staying two years without leaving the country until possibly I get too old to travel. I plan on visiting Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand every so often and of course we will visit the states to see our family. But in my later years I will not travel out of the country as often so then it will be a concern.

My second option would be to take advantage of the balikbayan visa which lets former citizens and their spouses stay for one year with a renewal option of one more year. It is not a guarantee that it would be granted to me but from what I read nobody has been turned down.

I have been doing much research since and before I decided to make a move to the Philippines. I have been Googling keywords related to moving to the Philippines and international moves. Of all the suggestions I’ve received the most helpful one is to make a list, a checklist actually of things needed to be done before I make the move. Of course different people have different ideas on what should be on such a list but I think I’ve narrowed it down to the most important. As I go through the months ahead I will share the progress on this checklist but for now I’ll just give you an idea how it looks.

1. Passports and visas what will I need and what type visa will I obtain.
2. Banking needs and access to my money.
3. How will I get my mail from the states.
4. Disposition of my personal property in the States.
5. Notifying banks and credit card companies that I’ll be in the Philippines.
6. Deciding what to bring with me and what to leave behind.
7. Health insurance and medical care in the Philippines.
8. Any other concerns.

What I really need at this point would be input from ex-pats who have made the move and suggestions on any of the above items. Thanks in advance for your help.

As the island of Luzon disappeared from my sight on the aircraft carrier bridge that day in 1985, I remembered the words of Lt Gen Douglas MacArthur as he left the Philippines on March 11, 1942. As did the General, I promised “I shall return.” I would return to a place where I grew up, arriving as a fresh faced teenager in 1977 and now leaving as a man. A place where I met my wife and my first child was born and a place I would always hold dearly as my second home. I WOULD RETURN 

But after a failed marriage and a long stint as a single father of three it seemed that I would never make it back. Fortunately, I was blessed to meet and marry a wonderful filipina who was as excited to return to live in the Philippines as I was. The kids are now on their own, I’ve retired from the Navy, and I’ve built a nice pension with the company I worked for the last couple of years. Our planning towards the goal is finally becoming a reality and we have built a house in a beautiful subdivision in Binan Laguna. 

This blog will be somewhat of a diary of the final year and a half until we make that move. It will contain information on how we got to where we are as well as my plans to have an online business much like my internet friend, Mindanao Bob Martin from Davao. I will try to share information for others who are planning a move to the Philippines. Please feel free to comment and share any advice you can.