Dave Starr

Some Answers You May Not Like

2020-05-06 by Dave Starr Leave a Comment

Some Answers You May Not Like.

Living in the ECQ in the Philipines, May 6, 2020

What the heck is an ECQ? Enhanced Community Quarantine is the official name. Many of us just call it the “Lockdown”.

Many will notice I haven’t been posting much here on PhilFAQS. I haven’t had to say after more than a month of literal lockdown. (Those under 21 or over 60 are not allowed to leave the house), and only one 21 though 60 yo may leave at a time. We have a paper “hall pass” thingy (much like the hall passes you might have had in high school), and there are plenty of checkpoints, plus security guards at banks and supermarkets and drug stores who can and do check. The pass is only good on alternate days … our house gets Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, other neighbors have Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and no one is allowed out after 5 pm.

No going out on Sundays for anyone. But I’m not complaining. I am 75, with a breathing disorder and was scared as Hell over this virus that it was going to “get me”. It still might, but things are a lot more hopeful now.

I Believe I Am Much Better Off in the Philippines

A great many expats felt they had to leave the Philippines when it became apparent this virus was a very serious thing.

I have watched carefully the pretty much lackadaisical approach to any sort of quarantine in the USA.

The armed terrorists storming state capitals and spitting in people’s faces.
the president who won’t even wear a mask and
the continual political sniping in the face of more than 6o,00 deaths

So I made the decision that I would be a lot safer just staying here in a country where there is the rule of law and people take precautions seriously.

But if I did decide to leave, would I be allowed to?

Basics of Working in the Philippines for Foreigners.

2020-04-22 by Dave Starr Leave a Comment

Basics of Working in the Philippines for Foreigners.

(Last updated 22 April 2020)

This article was originally published nearly 7 years ago and it is sad to see how little has changed.

Jobs Are Dead, People

Even though the future for conventional jobs as we used to know them gets worse every year, the vast majority of people just want to sit in their bar stool and bitch about how they can’t find a job. Wake up and smell the coffee guys and gals.

Today (April 2020) with the COVID 19 issues facing the entire world, thousands and thousands of jobs that are shut down because of pandemic issues are just NOT going to return after the virus situation resolves itself.

Even here in our beloved little backwater of the world, the Philippines, where “work at home jobs” were never even mentioned in polite business circles, thousands and thousands of Call Center/Business Process Outsourcing jobs are working as usual, ’round the clock by the same agents who were working in huge, expensive, centrally located centers before the quarantines took effect.

(Please do me the favor of at least READING this article before you send me the inevitable “I want a job in the Philippines” query. My prose may be far from entertaining and YOU MAY NOT GET the ANSWER YOU WANT … but I write from reality, not a dream world. You want answers about the Philippines, then you should be dealing from reality as well. If you, as an foreigner, want a job in the Philippines, what are your own answers to the questions and concerns the visa process poses?)

Fair enough?

10 Reasons You Don’t Want A Job In The Philippines

2020-04-21 by Dave Starr 3 Comments

10 Reasons You Don’t Want A Job In The Philippines.

(Last Updated 21 April 2020)

I’m posting this as a sort of “reading test”. I tend to write too long and too complicated, so let’s keep this simple.

I get emails every week about finding jobs in the Philippines, even though in the more than 17 years I’ve been publishing this blog I have consistently advised people that they DO NOT WANT A JOB here in the Philippines.

Let’s see how long it takes before some bright spark reads this article and writes back saying “I read what you wrote but I still need your help finding a job in the Philippines”.

My own guess is about one day, but hey, I could be wrong.

You can write to me for help if you wish to, but I can tell you right now, I’m not going to help you.

You could ask me for help in finding cocaine or Shabu, I won’t help you there, either.

You Don’t Want a Job In The Philippines

Why You Can’t Get a Job

2020-04-21 by Dave Starr 2 Comments

Why You Can’t Get a Job.

(Updated 21 April 2020)

From time to time here on PhilFAQS, the destination site for information about living in the Philippines, I actually try to give useful advice.

One query I get often, both in personal contact and via searches that lead people to this site via Google and other search engines is: Finding a job in the Philippines.

Another top topic here and among a large percentage of Filipinos I know who are looking for work is resumes and job qualifications.

So this post series is going to apply pretty much equally to foreigners wanting to find a job in the Philippines and Filipinos wanting to find a job … in the Philippines or. well, anywhere I guess

Finding a Job in the Philippines

Or finding a job anywhere else on earth. It’s a broad and complex subject. More than I can possibly cover adequately in a thousand words or so here.

Both of these issues center around one fact of business life … you are typically one of many applicants and a lot of the initial screening process is done via resumes.
[Read more…] about Why You Can’t Get a Job

Is PhilHealth Worth It?

2020-03-05 by Dave Starr 6 Comments

Is PhilHealth Worth It?

(Updated 5 March 2020)

I have probably had this question, “Is PhilHealth Worth It?” repeatedly asked more than a hundred times since I moved to the Philippines, full-time, in 2006.

My answer is almost always a resounding yes, but a great many ex-pats will tend to disagree with me. This opinion generally seems from the attitude of most North Americans (at least those who actually even bother to HAVE health insurance) that to be worth anything. health insurance has to cover all expenses. PhilHealth does NOT cover all costs involved with every sickness or surgery, but it is one hell of a lot better than having no health insurance at all … and when you get sick (not IF, but WHEN) you’ll be damn glad to have it.

Can I Collect My Social Security Disability in the Philippines

2020-02-27 by Dave Starr 2 Comments

Will your disability be payable in the Philippines?

(Updated 27 February 2020)

The answer to this frequent question is a definite yes, no or maybe. I hate to sound flippant but this is one of those questions that can only be answered with another question.

What do you mean by Social Security Disability?

I get a lot of questions on this subject because while Social Security Disability payments are quite common, and they are supposed to cover the expenses of folks who are permanently disabled, they are very, very hard to live on in the USA.

The average disability monthly payment will support most people who live in the Philippines. But there are some major factors to consider:

Will your disability be payable in the Philippines?

There are typically two categories of disability payments from the SSA (Social Security Administration) — Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).

SSDI _IS_ payable in the Philippines.

SSI is _NOT_ payable in the Philippines.

So before you make your plans to move to the Philippines and live off your disability payments, you better check very closely to make sure your payments will continue should you move here.

Be very careful about this because there are many folks on SSDI who also receive a monthly SSI supplement. If you leave the USA for more than 30 days, your SSI supplementary payments will stop, and they can’t ever be restarted until you have been back in the USA for 30 days or more.

So your SSDI payments can continue if you move to the Philippines, but if you also have an SSI component to your payment, it’s going to stop 30 days after you leave the USA.

So you may well wind up with a greatly reduced payment.

Can you then actually receive that payment?

Yes You Can, With Some Annoying Restrictions

The Social Security Administration contracts with several commercial banks to send overseas payments to overseas recipients.

But don’t think you are going to receive a check in your mailbox.

Americans receiving government pensions may have those pensions direct deposited to their Philippine bank accounts. Participating banks include the following followed by the fees each charges per direct deposit to a U.S. dollar account in the Philippines.

Allied Banking Corporation – $3.00
Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) – $3.00
Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) – $5.00
Land Bank of the Philippines – $5.00
Maybank – $3.00
Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) – $3.00
China Bank – $3.00
RCBC – $3.00 to $5.00
Bank of Commerce (BOC) – $5.00 to $7.00
Manila Bank – $1.00
Security Bank – $5.00
United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) – $4.00 to $6.00
Metrobank – $3.00
Philippine National Bank – $7.00

The banks with variable fees charge more for larger direct deposits.

How Do You Start Direct Deposit of your Benefits?

If you’d like to sign up for direct deposit in the Philippines go to the bank you have chosen, open a US Dollar account and ask for the direct deposit enrollment form.

The bank will help you fill it out and the bank will submit the form to Social Security representatives in Manila.

The account into which the funds are paid must be an individual account. For example, you can not deposit into a joint account with your wife or a child or caregiver.

A Social Security concern is that benefits may continue to be paid and spent long after the pensioner has expired.

So you CAN receive your benefits by direct deposit in the Philippines, but it is not necessarily easy.

For an authoritative Reading On Receiving benefits overseas, you may find this

Payments Outside the United States tool useful

So Now You Know More About Will your disability be payable in the Philippines?

How Long Does My Round-Trip Ticket Have To Be To Go To The Philippines

2020-02-25 by Dave Starr Leave a Comment

How long does my round-trip ticket have to be to go to the Philippines?

(Updated 25 February 2020)

The answer to this question can be very simple. You get 30 days of stay in the Philippines, free, upon arrival at an airport in the Philippines.

But who said you need a round trip ticket? That’s the complicated part.

The Law of the Philippines and the Rule Airlines Follow Is:

You must have onward travel out of the Philippines within 30 days of your arrival. If you don’t have this onward travel, the airlines normally will not let you board your flight from the US to the Philippines. But nowhere does any law say you must have a round trip ticket back to the USA. That’s the first issue that complicates the answer to the question.

But I WANT A Round Trip Ticket

OK, then, that’s fine. Many people do. Perhaps you only have so many days off from work, or you have other reasons you have to be back in the USA by a certain date.

No problem then, a round trip ticket from any USA cu=ity is normally quite a bit cheaper than two one-way tickets. Here’s a real-world example with prices quoted today, 25 February 2020.

Kansas City to Manila and return: Depart 9ak March 12th,

and the return on April 12th:

Not bad connections and not bad arrival and departure times.

But Is a One-Way Just Half Of That Price

And the answer is no, it’s almost always way more than one half. Let me try to see what a one way, same date and time would cost.

And a return on the 12th of April?

So we can see here, same dates, basically, the same airlines (cheapest) have a round trip cost of $1377.22

And the equivalent two single tickets (one-way) tickets add up to $1747.46 More than $370 “surcharge” for buying the same travel in two parts.

Or you could also say that buying the round trip airfare saves you more than $370 to spend on hotels. food.local travel and such.

Thanks, A Lot, I know I Want A Round Trip … But How Many Days Is What I Asked?

Yes, you did. And the answer, which I already gave in the first paragraphs is 30 days. But this may pose another question. How do you determine what 30 days means to the BIR (Bureau of Immigration) in the Philippines?

Here are the rules that apply.

1, The day your flight arrives is the first day of your stay in the Philippines. Because of the day the BIR “counts”, you may want to think twice about your planned arrival time in the Philippines. For example, if your flight arrives here leat at night, as many do, then most of your “first day in the Philippines” may be consumed in your final cramped hours in an airline seat.

On the other hand if you pick a fight that arrives here very early in the morning, you essentially get a “free day” in the Philippines.

Not a huge consideration, buy-t never-the-less something to think about.

2. The day your outbound airplane departs is _NOT_ a Day Of Stay in the Philippines. So technically, if the last day of your 30-day stay is on a Wednesday, and your outbound flight leaves the following day, Thursday, you should be “golden” according to the BIR rules.

Let’s look at the example flights I priced up at the beginning of the article here.

Depart MCI (Kansas City) on 12 March ay 9:15 am. You arrive in Manila, after less than 24 hours of total travel time, at 9:45 on the night of (not the 12th but the 13th … you have to cross the International Date Line, so you are always going to lose a day going to the Philippines.)

So if your plane arrives on schedule, your “30 days of stay” clock starts with the 13th of March, So on 31 March, the last day of the month, you will have used up 19 of your 30 days. 11 days to go. From 1 April to 11 April is (count them up, surprise, 11 days) so with our outbound flight scheduled on Sunday, the 12th, isn’t there a problem? The 12th is the 31st day, after all.

Nope, no problem at all. Remember the second rule I explained above? The day your flight leaves is _NOT_ a “Day of Stay”, so the immigration officer will be all smiles as you get your passport stamped for departure prior to boarding your flight home. 30 days of stay allowed, 30 days of stay used up … maximum bang for your buck.

(remember that id your stay extends of[ver the end of a 30 day, or a 28 or 29 day month, to count properly … if you are staying over a 3o day month, you can arrive on the 12 and schedule your departure on the 13th of the following month.)

(Also, note … that day you “lost” coming here? Well, you get it back on your trip home … you leave the Philippines and you’ll be back in the USA on the same day you left here, almost no matter how many hours your flight consumes.

OK, I Understand Now, But What If I Don’t Know When I want To Go Back?

Well, there is an easy work-around for that. It’s normally called a “show” ticket or a “throwaway ticket”.

Simply purchase a one-way ticket from your home to the Philippines,

Then also purchase a ticket outbound from the Philippines at any time within your initial 30 days, bound for anywhere. The date and time nor destination don’t matter much, just make sure it’s cheap because you are never going to actually use that ticket.

It is just for “show” to satisfy the airlines’s requirements (and possibly the BIR officer’s requirement) when you arrive in the Philippines. Once you are “in”, you’re in.

If you want to stay longer than the original 30 days, you can extend your stay, 30 or 60 days at a time, at any of the Bureau of Immigration offices located all over the Philippines. They never ask for any onward travel and you can extend, 1 or 2 months at a time for up to three years in the Philipines … then leave once, come back and start the clock all over again.

That original “show” ticket? Well, you just throw it away (or if it is an e-ticket, just hit delete.

Where To Get a Throwaway Ticket?

Simple. Just type Philippine Throw Away Ticket into Google … there will be dozens of places shown. Or you can do what I would do. Go to Cebu Pacific Airlines and check flight to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia from Manila. Right now you can buy a ticket to Kota Kinabalu on the 29th of March for 2055 Philippine Pesos, or about $41 USD. Buy it (ir will come as an e-ticket and hang on to it (showing it as needed) until you are safely through immigration in Manila, then delet it … it has served you well.

Two Questions For The Price Of One Answered Here

How can I fly to the Philippines on a one-way ticket and how How long does my round-trip ticket have to be to go to the Philippines?

What else would you like to know? You ask, I answer,

Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — No Website Required

2020-01-19 by Dave Starr Leave a Comment

Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — No Website Required

Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines.

(updated 19 January 2020)

I’m reposting this article by popular demand.

A lot of people I talk to make comments like, ”The people making money online are so clannish, they won’t tell anyone their “secrets” unless they pay them money for something”.

Well, I’m making money online and you certainly haven’t paid me anything … and I don’t want you to pay me anything, either.

But I am asking you to do me (and you) one simple favor ….

</Rant Mode On>

READ THE FRICKIN ARTICLE

Don’t add on a comment or send me a personal email that asks me to “teach me how to do this”. Anyone with normal English reading skills can read these words, follow the links I have provided, TAKE ACTION, and earn money online … with zero investment and without even having their own website.

BUT IT WILL NOT WORK if you don’t follow my suggestions and most importantly, DO SOMETHING

</Rant Mode Off>

What Got Me Started On This

A long-time friend of mine from a North American country recently retired from her “real job” here in the Philippines. You know how famous I am for saying foreigners can’t find work in the Philippines.

(and mostly, I’m right … but there are exceptions to every rule).

My dear wife and I went to a very enjoyable lunch with this reader (at one of my fav places on Subic, the Casablanca).

One of the things my friend discussed was a desire to earn a bit of extra money … without entering back into the quagmire of a real J*O*B, and without the (perceived) hassles of becoming an actual “Online Entrepreneur”.

In other words, she didn’t want a blog or website.

Let me add something important here .. everything I am writing about in this article applies 100% to my valued Filipino readers too … this is absolutely not some “just for Foreigners” secret I am sharing here.

She Asked If I Had Any Ideas?

Yep, you bet I did, and it occurred to me also that I have been quite remiss in sharing some of them with the rest of my readers. I’ll correct that error right now.

Online Freelance Writing

One of the almost certain things I know about every one of you reading these words is that you have:

A working knowledge of English
Access to a computer and the Internet
Ability to follow simple menus and click on links
An interest in making honest money online (or you would have clicked away by now)

Can Anyone Actually Make Money With Freelance Writing?

Earning an Income in the Philippines — Without a JOB

2020-01-03 by Dave Starr Leave a Comment

(Updated 2 January 2020)

Earning an Income in the Philippines.

Dave, You Keep Saying Don’t Get a Job in the Philippines, But I Need an Income to Live

Yes, indeed that’s true unless you have a fat pension you most certainly need to know about earning an income in the Philippines. But …

So Many Can’t Get Their Head Around This — You Don’t Need a Job to Earn Income!

How can the average person possibly earn a living without a job?

Well, there are many ways, I’ve written a lot about some of them already, ask me and I’ll be happy to write more.

But I Have a Lot of Education, Dave, Surely That’s Worth Something?

You Want To Work For These MONTHLY Wages?

Well even though I have little formal education myself, I’m not anti-education.

But there’s a lot more to education than what degrees one holds.

The real key is what you have learned in your educational efforts that makes money, for yourself, or someone else.

Here’s a comment I have received word for word several times.

It seems to be all about this reader’s education and what he feels he’s “owed” because he has that education.

But it doesn’t seem to mean much here in the Philippines. Reader’s comments in blue:

It’s Just Not Fair!

It does not matter how much education you have, or experience, the jobs in the Philippines do not pay well. You can make more working at Walmart here in the USA than medical doctors and dentists make in the Philippines….

Quite true.

For more than 10 years now I’m been preaching to those who will bother to listen, Don’t Come To The Philippines For a JOB. You can easily make more at a mundane, lowest common denominator job in the USA.

But I maintain that education, either formal as in college degrees or practical such as years and years of living, earning a living, raising a family, etc. is not ONLY to use for working for someone else in a salaried job.

Maybe you should be putting that education to work to benefit yourself and not some fat-cat who pays you 1/3 or so of what you are worth.

I have six college degrees, including a Masters of Science, and I made about the equivalent of one American dollar per hour teaching the 8th, 9th, and 10th grade of school in the Philippines.

As my TI at Lackland AFB used to say, many years ago, when a young trainee did something dumb, “Well, aw no shit, troop”. What Did You Expect?

I imagine this salary issue is totally true.

In fact, the Philippines is replete with college graduates holding teaching degrees.

Many are lucky to be able to drive a tricycle or work midnight shift in a call center.

So how much more should a western college degree “earn” a teacher, just because his nationality and degree are from another country?

I really sense some “white supremacy” going on here. Sad to say it is a rather common American obstacle to happiness in the Philippines. Many Americans complain and “stew” about this all the time.

You are NOT “superior” to Filipinos. You may feel very smart, but being white does not “earn” you anything here.

Learn to recognize that, or don’t come to the Philippines.

Even the American Embassy pays Philippine wages.

This is true in one sense and totally wrong in another.

Career Department of State employees of the US Embassy are in the competitive civil service, just as I was (with the DoD) for more than 28 years.

Their pay is the same as any other federal foreign service employee of equivalent grade and experience step.

In fact, being stationed in Manila each US employee makes substantially MORE than he or she would make if stationed, say, in Washington DC.

In Manila, regular competitive civil service makes about 20% above their regular pay scale and a tax-exempt housing allowance of about $34,00 a year. Not bad work if you can get it. (and with 6 college degrees, why couldn’t you? Why are you trying to win “run of the mill” jobs away from Filipino job candidates?)

For sure, these jobs are not hired off the street.

They are competitive foreign service positions and one starts competing for one of them by starting at the beginning with the Foreign Service Exam. One little detail for those in a big rush to apply … you don’t start at the top.

Now what I believe this reader is referring to are what are known as “Local Hire” jobs at the Embassy.

Local Hire Positions

Most branches of the US government who have installations overseas are authorized these type positions.

They are what are known as “non-competitive” civil service positions. They have:

No guaranteed career progression path,
No tenure (may be terminated at will),
No Federal retirement programs, etc.

They are generally technical, non-professional administrative support type positions, designed to be filled by qualified local nationals (Filipinos, in most cases).

Why on earth would the Embassy pay anything except Filipino-level wages for these jobs? Do you think Filipinos can’t operate a copy machine or type a letter?

Isn’t the government supposed to operate as economically and efficiently as possible? And why on earth would they want to hire someone with six college degrees to answer phones or file papers?

Commercial Sector US Citizen Jobs

You might be lucky enough to hook up with some American company to do work there otherwise you will have to have some kind of livable income before you go there.

You can live on $1,500 per month there but you often can’t make that much working there.

Luck or Skill?

Well, I have a number of readers either working now for American companies here in the Philippines (or other foreign nation corporations) or those who have worked such jobs in the past.

I can assure you “luck” had literally little or nothing to do with them getting those jobs.

Preparation is the key and in virtually no cases would an American company with operations here in the Philippines be hiring Americans “off the street” to fill “American” jobs here.

Think about it for a minute with the logical side of your brain, rather than the emotional.

If you wanted to hire Filipinos to fill jobs you felt were the “best fit” for Filipinos, where would you recruit them? Kansas City or Omaha?

You’d be looking in Manila, right?

Why on earth would you be looking to hire Americans here in the Philippines?

As my hero, Mr. Spock was heard to often say, “Does Not Compute, Jim.”

In the vast majority of cases, these highly prized “American” jobs are filled by Americans already working for the company in the USA who want to transfer to the Philippines.

An American company coming here to the Philippines to find a US salaried employee is totally illogical to me.

But I do give you sources to search here from time to time, just in case you insist.

In Conclusion — Think More of Yourself

I get really disappointed when I get a message from readers saying, “I’ll take any job, I don’t care how much it pays.”

I get lots of messages like that. This article sets out a lot of my thoughts on this:

Business Advice For Anyone: Whatever You’re Thinking, Think Bigger

If (for just one example) you wanted to set yourself up teaching English in the Philippines, that’s great, go for it, I’ve written a lot about just that very subject.

But set up a business (online) for yourself where you target Chinese and Japanese students, perhaps.

Avoid like the plague these ads you see online from Philippine companies (often illegal, by the way) who offer “as much as” the equivalent of $4 USD per hour.

If you offer conversational English tutoring and coaching to Japanese students, for example, you should be easily able to command $20 or $25 an hour .. which is what the fly by night “language schools” will charge the student and then pay you $4 an hour if you are lucky.

You Could Even Tutor US Students From Here In The Philippines

For goodness sakes you could tutor US students on-line in almost any subject and command more than $4 an hour … and “tutoring” does not require a degree, unlike professional teaching positions.

Parents these days hire tutors for children in grades all the way from elementary level to college.

Seldom does the tutor have to have a degree … s/he just has to know the subject better than the (failing) student and have patience and an interest in helping.

Bottom Line

Think more of yourself, don’t rant about the abysmal wages in the Philippines.

(I tried to tell you about that you don’t want a job here before you ever came),

but make yourself a better situation by thinking bigger.

You are so much more.

And that’s the end of today’s installment on Earning an Income in the Philippines.

How To Retire in the Philippines With No Money — Part 2

2020-01-01 by Dave Starr Leave a Comment

How To Retire in the Philippines With No Money. Part 2

(Updated 1 January 2020)

Shameless “clickbait” title? Well maybe it is to some people, but read on and you’ll see why I chose it.

You might just find what you have been looking for … a way to retire (or semi-retire) now, to stop “working for the man” … wasting your life away from an hour or more every day commuting … and even to live in a “tropical paradise” … if you want to.

I published another article on this subject recently:

How To Retire in the Philippines With No Money

If you haven’t read it, you should, so we are both on the same page.

Go Ahead, I’ll wait for you right here.

Now Once You Have Read That Article You’ll Know You Really Must Have Some Source of Income

So that’s what we are going to start exploring in this series.