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 Paul M Edwards |
-Where were you born?
Born Cardiff, Wales in the UK
-In which country and city are you living now?
Damilag, Bukidnon, near Cagayan de Oro, Philippines
-Are you living alone or with your family?
I live with my Wife of four years, Cherry Ann and our son, Joshua Tegwyn, who is one-and-a-half years old.
-How long have you been living in the Philippines?
This house for one year, but overall we have been living in CdO for three years.
-What is your age?
Born in 1947 and that makes me coming up to 60 this year.
-When did you come up with the idea of living in the Philippines?
Cherry Ann and I met five years ago while working on board a cruise ship and we were not sure where we wanted to settle as I had left the UK some fifteen years earlier. Anyhow before we were due to get married in the UK I went to the Philippines with Cherry Ann to meet her parents. They live in the middle of the Del Monte Pineapple Plantations in Damilag, Bukidnon, and I was so happy with the place they lived that I bought the land (we built our home on) just up the road from them.
Another reason we decided that it was best to settle in Philippines was that the costs of setting up a home and the cost of living were very reasonable, basically economic reasons (have you seen the cost of living in the UK?). It came down to the situation and economics. We are 2,000 feet up in the mountains and in the evenings it gets quite cool.
-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
So far I have only stayed at home for up to seven weeks each time I go home but when I need to get a permanent residence I need only apply but there may well be economic reasons that it is best to only stay for the shorter periods, e.g., tax.
-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?
My medical is covered by the company I work for. My wife and son have a private medical insurance set up.
-How do you make your living in the Philippines? Do you have any type of income generated?
I am still working on board and we are just coming to the situation of starting to set up some income-generating businesses. Several ideas are showing up, mainly small businesses, but we will see how our research goes over the coming months and years.
-Do you speak the local language and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
Unfortunately I am not home long enough to get into the learning of Visaya (the language spoken in this area of Philippines). Yes, I do think it is important that we try to speak the local dialect if we can learn it but these things do take time and effort. When I do eventually finish working away from home I will make the efforts to assimilate more. Mind you it is very difficult at my age especially when all around me want to practice their English on me!
-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
My home and family are now where I live in Damilag, and yes, I do miss both of them like crazy when I am on board. Your question was aimed at the place I am from, the UK. The answer to that is that I do not miss the UK one tiny bit, except for my sisters who still live there.
-Do you have other plans for the future?
My plans for the coming years are to set up some income-generating business in the Philippines. Perhaps we can earn just enough to live a reasonable life.
-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
We bought land and built our home to what we wanted. We have a large piece of land and grow a lot of fruit & vegetables ourselves. Hopefully over the coming years we can set it up so we are self-sufficient from that aspect.
-What is the cost of living in the Philippines?
Cost of living is very reasonable. We can live very comfortably here whereas to settle in the UK would cost us four to five times as much.
-What do you think about the Filipinos?
The Filipino people are very hospitable and generally very pleasant people but there are bad people wherever you go in this world. My personal experience is that I am treated very well by everyone I meet but I did have one experience where someone made a derogatory comment about my wife and I. My reaction shocked the person who made it and the people I was with. Needless to say the young man was very apologetic after and shows the correct respect when we meet him now.
-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in the Philippines?
Positive aspects are the lovely climate, the lovely countryside, very low cost of living and above all the people.
Negative aspects are the difficulty of finding some items, e.g., groceries, luxury items.
-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in the Philippines?
Generally the best advice is, do not take anyone’s word for anything. If you want to set up a home be very careful about the builders, etc. Generally the standards of work for “Tradesmen” are very poor, and you need to watch everyone who does a job for you. Mind you that goes for anywhere in the world (including the UK).
hi
Hi Paul,
Interested to read your page as i am visiting the Phils in Sept for 7 months to see whether I would like to live there. I have read lots of sites for information, I see that you live very near to your wife's family, most sites suggest that you should try and live at least 2/3 hours apart because you won't get any privacy from the family... is that your experience ?
Regards
Gerry (London)
Living Close to the Family
Hi Gerry (London)
My experience is very different to a lot of people I know who live in the Philippines. While I was working on board I met the most wonderful woman in the world and she eventually (after a lot of soul searching on both parts) became my wife, Cherry Ann. We met on board the Ships I still work on. She was on board with me for a number of years and the only reason she is not on board with me now is that she is bringing up our son, Joshua. We made the decision that he should not be brought up by the extended family which is something that many Philippine people will do (especially if they are working outside the country). He still has as many family around as we can have to help with all the things that need to be done.
As it happens, Cherry Ann’s mother and father are two of the most wonderful people I have ever met and they are very caring and protective of the whole family. Her brothers, sisters, Aunts and Uncles are all good people who I am very privileged to be able to call them “my family”. If anyone is as lucky as me then I am happy for them because they are happy. As always in these matters - It depends upon the people involved and the situation. I am very lucky (thank God) but I have known some people who have ended up with nightmare in-laws and family. Be careful as there are sharks out there posing as human being. I have known of some people who have invested all they have and had it all taken by the crooks of this world. No I am not painting a black picture, these people exist here as they do anywhere else in the world (including the UK).
On the other hand I know a lot more people who have found, like me, their own paradise in the Philippines. Generally you must remember that with the British attitude to family, where the family is regarded as the wife, husband and children with Grandparents and aunts and uncles coming second if at all. How close or how far you live from you spouses family will depend upon so many factors that it is silly to try to explain them, it is no different here than anywhere else in the world. In the Philippines, Family is everything and will always include the extended family and you may well have (as some of my friends have found) they all want to move into you home. Generally the extended family is very important in the Philippines and it will all depend on you and the people you meet and get to know. There is good and bad wherever you go in this world and Philippines is no different to the UK for its unsavory characters.
Generally I would say that I wish everyone can find the happiness and contentment I have found here. To me the family being around is wonderfull and I get quite lonely when there are only a few people in the house but then that depends upon what you want out of life. If I want privacy then I have it but there is nothing better than being sat on the porch of an evening with the family having a glass of wine and watching the sun go down. Another point here must be where I live - well away from Manila. Too crowded and too much traffic. The area we call home is much like the UK on a hot sunny afternoon (all year) even when it rains. Damilag is just 35 minutes from Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao and it is lovely, no bad weather and NO Typhoons. Remember that the Philippines is a lot bigger and diverse than most people believe or think they know.
Regards,
Paul Edwards
philippines
hi paul,
i am british and my wife comes from batangas and we have a 7 year old son we are thinking of moving to the phil could you please give us some information about the cost of living and how much would we need to live on.
regards,
graham.
I had thought about moving
I had thought about moving and was so dead set on the idea and not really thought it out with my wife that she got so mad and it messed our relationship up I asked myself all the time how to save my marriage and really it was just communications and in the end not moving at all.