Many times in life we set lofty goals that some people can only laugh at. Some want to climb Mt. Everest or swim the English Channel. Although those are obtainable goals few really ever attempt let alone complete that goal. One of my goals when shared with friends and family bring the same kind of eye rolling and smirks that the future swimmers and climbers get. That goal is to move into a new house and take nothing from the old house except a few personal items. The personal items would be some books and paperwork and a few of my clothes. Since we are moving into a brand new house when we move to Laguna this goal will be accomplished. It isn’t because we are so rich that we can discard our old stuff but a matter of convenience and practicality.
I was reading an article on a website concerning Moving to the Philippines entitled “How to move to the Philippines-with a bag, suitcase, or container-with your full household or just personal belongings.” In this article the author offers a few facts to help a person decide what to take. For example, due to the weather, winter clothes will not be needed. In fact, he recommends that you bring few clothes because of the low prices on clothes, tailor made or otherwise.
The article goes on to mention the availability of musical items and sporting goods at the malls and stores so I won’t need any of that. The furniture probably wouldn’t hold up under the high humidity and most mattresses would rot away in no time. That’s great because I like rattan furniture better than the cheap stuff I have in my house now.
The cost of moving a whole household by container plus the expenses of customs fees really opened my eyes to going with everything new. And it would take awhile, possibly months, before the stuff from the states would arrive. What would I do until then?
So its just practical and cheaper for me to leave everything behind and move to the Philippines with what I can carry on the plane, just a bag and a suitcase. Anyone know where I can get some good rattan furniture?
An Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is a person of Philippine origin who works and lives outside of the Philippines. With a lack of well paying jobs at home and the knowledge of English Filipinos are welcome abroad by many countries. Many Filipinos become OFWs because they are supporting their families at home through remittances.
According to counts there are more than 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide which is equivalent to 11% of the total population of the Philippines. Each year more than a million Filipinos leave to work abroad as skilled workers and also as unskilled workers.
Money sent by OFWs back home is a major financial boon to the country’s economy. In 2005 according to Philippine banks, US$10 billion was sent through remittances to the Philippines. In 2006 that number was US$12.8 and in 2007 the number was US$14.45 which equaled 10% of the gross domestic product. These numbers don’t reflect the money sent overseas via non-banking methods such as door to door and human couriers.
My Filipino family has quite a few OFWs in various countries around the world. I have a sister in law in Israel as well as a niece. I have three nephews that work for cruise lines in the US and I have a niece that works in Canada as a domestic helper. In fact my wife was working in Israel when I met her. I can tell you for a fact that if these relatives were not working abroad and sending money home this family would be suffering. In fact because of their children working abroad my in laws are doing quite well. My concern is that my nephews and one of my nieces have spouses and children at home. The children are growing up without the influence of their fathers and mothers and it could and has led to problems.
Please comment and tell me what you think about the Overseas Filipino Workers. Do you think it hurts the Philippine economy in the long run? How many OFWs are there in your family or are you an OFW? Any stories to tell from personal experience?
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/
