I had a chuckle a few nights ago while watching the news from ANC … ANC is part of The Philippine Channel, a commercial service of broadcast giant ABS-CBN in Manila which reaches something like 100 countries, either as a cable channel or as a direct broadcast satellite service … it’s available across the US, I highly recommend in if you are missing the Philippines or if you are thinking of moving here and wondering what it’s like. They have correspondents in six or eight countries, it’s kind of like a miniature CNN for the Filipino.
Their London correspondent put together a really well done feature on an English fellow (apparently a single man) who lived in a London suburb and had just qualified for his retirement pension and was packing his bags to go live in the Philippines.
The correspondent did a very professional job on the segment, much the sort of work you’d see on CNN or BBC World as far as broadcasting quality, but I couldn’t help chuckling at her inability in hiding her amazement that this man, who ha lived all his life in England would even think of packing up and moving to the Philippines. It was as if she had never heard of such a thing in her life.
Well figures on foreign retirees here in the Philippines are not easy to pin down, but I have seen some that give me a pretty good idea there are more that 250,000 retirees in one for or another drawing payments from the US federal government. Not all them are Americans, mind you, because back until a few years ago when the US military decided it would rather accept convicted felons the foreigners into service a great many non-US Filipinos served in the US military … but that aside there are still a pretty appreciable quantity of American retirees here. I know a day doesn’t pass at the mall, the doctors office or driving around town that I don’t see another “Kano”.
Now that “Kano’ may well be Australian, Kiwi, Canadian, German, Dutch, Swiss, English or a Turk …I’ve met men from all those countries and probably a few more in the first two years I have here in central Luzon, but my point is, we foreign retirees are hardly unique. If there are more than 200,000 US government pensioners, plus quite a few more living on private means, plus all the government and private retirees from all those other countries, we certainly are not just a tiny dot on the landscape.
I really don’t think the average Filipino in business or government realizes just what a potential resource they have right under their feet. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the biggest thing holding back business and development here in the Philippines is the Filipinos own inferiority complex. Anybody who can rub two pesos together wants to move somewhere else. And anyone fortunate enough to have a retirement income must certainly want to live 9and spend) elsewhere.
San Antonio, Zambales
Well, it just isn’t necessarily so. This country is not the right choice for every retiree in the world, certainly, but it’s a darn good choice for some. I’m in my third year now and I have only one regret … that I waited so long. Most readers know that I am engaged in a number of entrepreneurial activities, but that’s strictly a bonus for me. I could turn off the Internet tomorrow and live well for the rest of my days.
In the US my chief recreational activity would be hanging out at the discount coffee shop with the other ‘gray panthers’, moaning about how low the Social Security COLA was this year and how much my 401K had lost. Here I have money in the bank, places to go, cheap medical care a warm climate and a favorable tax situation. It really shouldn’t be news when a ‘Kano’ decides to retire here. It merely shows he knows how to evaluate his options with his head rather than his heart.
Patio Inn Angeles City
There are some good signs that some Filipinos and non-Filipino business men here do recognize the value of the retiree market. The Special resident retiree Visa program has been modified in several ways, including a new category that requires only a $10K USD investment which can be applied to the purchase of a condo or the rental of any style home, as long as the retiree can show a pension of $800 USD monthly.
Here’s just one example of facilities I have seen which also cater to the single retiree. This company (I believe the owner/operator is US) has been around for at least 15years now. Furnished rooms with everything included for prices in the $300 to $400 per month range, caregiver service for $6 a day, doctors and dentists on site or nearby, American food next door and … contrasted with my rant yesterday, proudly wheelchair accessible.
Maybe I should just stay quiet … if too many of us retirees make the move the place will start looking like a seniors village in Florida. if it does, I’m out of here.
I think your arrogant
and dismissive. at “maarete” your blog is one sided .
Thanks for sharing your views, Melinda. You forgot to add, I’m kalbo and fat too … but then you’re too much of a lady for that I expect.
Now what about the article you tied this comment to? Any idea why so many Filipinos don’t even seem to like their own country?
Just as a bit of an FYI, blogs, by nature and definition ARE one-sided. Where can we read your opinion?
We love “kanos!” I grew up in the PI and now live in the US. I was there in 2008 and plan to visit again in 2011. A lot of Pinoys are bitter about going back home to the PI because many are too grossed out by the poverty or that many have too many family, neighbors, or villages to support financially that they shun going back home.Whatever their reason maybe, I am not one of them. I will not have a pension when I retire in the future. I will possilbly not have social security when I retire as well. I save some of my income each month in an IRA so I will have something at least when I retire and on limited income. I guess because I have seen my parents struggle financially here in the US to support us that made me think about my own financial stabiltiy somedays. Mom and Dad are now in the PI and live a much “happier” life both mentally and physically. I am always happy to see kanos or kanas in the islands because it adds diversity to the gene pool. I work in a nursing home and I have seen some Pinoys in a nursing home…alone..lonesome..and just wanting to talk to me in tagalog. Their rooms are decorated with family pictures with their children but in the end, they are there alone…I don’t want that kind of lifestyle. I would rather go back home and be surrounded by poverty than left isolated in a room with a television set. We welcome all kanos/kanas in all shapes (thin/fat/tall/short/dwarves) and hair pieces (full hair/bald/toupeed). I like your site and the other sites you posted. You are NOT “maarte.” You speak your mind and I like that (freedom of speach). Filipinos are just emotional people and they easily get offended over nothing.They need to cancel their drama (novelas) shows because I think that exacerbates their situation. You have to excuse my fellow Pinoys because at times, I think the Philippines is like a country filled with Medicaid recipients. They like to receive money but are too lazy to work.
Hi Johns,
Thanks for yur great comment. There’s a lot in there, for he folks who chose to read it.
i was particularly struck by your comments about the elderly Filipinos in nursing homes in the US. As you know, we (Filipinos and foreigners alike) do not treat our elderly that way in the Philippines.
Getting old here, just like having babies,is a family thing. One of the primary reasons I am living here is, I know that whatever God may have in his plan for me as I age, I will NOT die in some expensive home surrounded by faint memories and strangers. It means a lot to me.
I just read your message & it’s good to hear your opinion! I had my father in a nursing home for many years here in the states & i did what i think is the best i could for him not to feel alone. If i was married & had my own family maybe i could have offered him more but i am single & visited him almost daily. I feel some connection to your comments & dying alone must be super sad to say the least. I witnessed many people here in the U.S. dying alone!!! I’m not even sure who will read this but i will say that i’m glad this site exists!!! I agree it’s not perfect but…….SALAMAT John & Dave for your open & honest approach to what i feel is as good as it gets!!!!
Thanks
Elliot G. ……… just another kano
ps….Salik please tell me the other side & share your opinion on how it really is in PI
elliot (ID 5894) » Thanks for joining in the discussion here, Elliot. Indeed, a major reason I’m here in the Philippines is old age. It’s creeping up on me, as i dos to everyone (unless they are unlucky and die young instead). Recently, an uncle (by marriage) passed away. He wasn’t a rich man, and although he had a rather prominent family name, he wasn’t active in the “movers and shakers” category.
But the church was packed, we held up traffic for miles during the walk to the cemetery, and it took two big text flies to cover all the people in the front yard drinking and eating.
When my mom dies, I sadly remember being handed the impressive little visitor sign-in book that the funeral home provided for her afternoon and evening of viewing. Know how many names were in it? Zero.
She had sisters still living, still back there in the USA … no time to come I guess. She had a number of nieces and nephews … I don’t know, too busy making money I suppose. She had neighbors that knew her in the small apartment cvokpex where she had lived …but hey, they weren’t family. Her children, and NO ONE else. What was the point of even _having_ a funeral?
It’s a big difference in the culture, that’s for sure. And It’s a big difference in the cost of living factor as well. If I had stayed back in the USA I’d be continually bombarded with insurance offers … especially “Long Term Care” plans … the new hot item for my generation.
Do you know many of those plans cost upward of $600 a month? Amazing. If I had to, I could live on %600 a month here. Why would I spend that much a month for the rest of my life to buy a policy that I might or might nt ever collect on? Whacky, indeed. The Philippines is my “Long Term Care” insurance plan … aand instead of spending it, I’m living it.
Long term care and funeral plans come in the mail monthly–I always hand them to my wife and tell her they are for her!! haha……
@ dom m.
Just don’t forget, when you go, someone has to take care of your carcass. Make sure they know your wishes and that there is some provision for money … I have seen a lot of foreigners die with no provision for their care, funeral expenses, final bills being paid and such. Kind of the ultimate “Ugly American type if you don’t provide, IMO.