You Ask, I Answer. Find Your Answers Here.
I haven’t had a lot of time for writing and updates. But this news from the embassy today indicates things are going to retun to a state of “new-normal” soon.
All offices of the Philippine Bureau of Immigration have seen closed to the public since the start of the COVID 19 Quarantine. Now those offices in the area under General Community Quarantine will be accepting clients b appointment to deal with the client’s Immigration needs.
20 May Update.
But the rules have been loosened a little. Most of Central Luzon has been placed into a GCQ status. General Community Quarantine. This means following pretty much normal anti-disease rules … wearing masks in public, social distance spacing between people, etc. Most cites are resuming public transportation a bit at a time, with much-reduced capacity loading. Most malls and other businesses are now open or in the process of opening.
Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine is still pretty restrictive, checkpoints, barangay quarantine passes required, etc. But yesterday on a “legal” trip to the grocery store (in our local mall, which has otherwise been closed … I saw that a number of food establishments are opening up (for take-out or delivery only) including Burger King. I immediately fell in line (maintaining my social distancing (as marked on the floor)) and order way too many Whoppers and Xtra Long Chicken sandwiches to take home for lunch.
Life might return to normal someday, yet.
These are a combination of chartered domestic flights from various cites to Manila, and then follow-on flights from Manila to several US cites.
Here’s the info for the latest round of “Sweepers”. Information on how to find out more is in the quoted message.
LAST DAY to Register Interest in Special Philippine Airlines Flights (Two Sweeper Flights Added):
U.S. Citizens in the Philippines: The deadline to register your interest in the special Philippine Airlines (PAL) flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco and/or sweeper flights is today, Monday, May 18 at 11:59 p.m. (Manila time). Click here to register NOW.
NOTE: PAL has added sweeper flights on May 26 for Legaspi and Tacloban.
May 21 from Manila to Los Angeles with two domestic sweeper flights – one from Cebu and one from Davao.
May 26 from Manila to San Francisco with ten domestic sweeper flights from Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Siargao, Tagbilaran, Legaspi and Tacloban.
All flight arrangements will be made by PAL, not the Embassy. You must submit a working phone number and include all local or international area codes. PAL will contact you to arrange payment and ticketing after you have registered for the flights, so check your contact details carefully before submitting the survey and keep your phone on and handy. Do not call the Embassy for booking or ticketing.
For the PAL sweeper flights, you MUST have proof of an onward international flight. If that flight is NOT within 24 hours, you also MUST have proof of a confirmed hotel reservation in Manila until your international flight departs. You CANNOT take a sweeper flight without an onward international flight confirmation.
U.S. Embassy in the Philippines
1201 Roxas Boulevard
+63(2) 5301-2000, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday
After-hours emergency number for U.S. citizens is +(63)(2) 5301-2000.
State Department–Consular Affairs 888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444.
State Department’s travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Advisories, Alerts, and the Philippines Country Specific Information.
Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
More as it happens.
20 May Update
Well, I’m feeling fine, PTL but I’m distinctly disappointed because I just found out that I am not going to get released from the strict lockdown rules we’re living under now in Marilo, Bulacan for a least another 15 days.
So it goes.
A lot of people have been passing all sorts of information about how hard it is to get outbound international flights, It’s not really that hard to get flights _OUT_ of Manila … here’s today’s list:
There is essentially NO public transport, domestic air, sea, or road (imagine the highways with no busses). The US embassy has partnered with Philippine Airlines to offer what they are calling “sweeper” flights. These go out to various provincial cites and fly US citizens back to Manila.
PAL then flies US citizen-only flights to LAX or SFO.
If you’re not a US citizen you’ll have to contact your own country’s embassy to find out if they have any similar programs.
But how fast domestic travel will open up isn’t something I have been informed on very well … so, wait and see.
Buses and other land transport will start to open too, but it will still be very difficult to get into Manila.
Every year before the end of May, usually, the tropical storms start. This one spent several days as a TS (Tropical Storm) and has now been upgraded to a “Tropical Cyclone” otherwise known as a Typhoon, It’s currently moving up the east (Pacific coast of the country and ought to be having its full effect on the Manila area tonight or tomorrow. Flying in or out not recommended while this is happening.
More as it happens.
There’s No Entry For Foreigners — Until Further Notice.
I keep hearing a lot of conflicting rumors and questions fly about travel into the Philippines.
The situation is fluid and may change at any time, but this is the way things are today, 12 May 2020 (Philippines Standard Time) (e don’t serve that idiotic Daylight Time nonsense here in the Philippines)
….
Allow us to clarify to everyone that only repatriating Filipinos and their immediate family members will be allowed entry in the country. (My emphasis)
Kindly note that last week, international inbound flights for OFWs and other overseas Filipinos were ordered to be temporarily suspended by the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 to ramp up the readiness of our country’s international gateway in handling arriving repatriates in so far as COVID-19 testing capability and quarantine facilities’ availability and readiness are concerned.
Let it be clear that the ban on foreign tourists and non-residents, except diplomats and heads/members of international missions, will continue to be enforced in the country, until further notice from the IATF.
Thank you. https://www.facebook.com/DOTrPH/
Foreign Nationals except for diplomats are not going to be allowed entry to the Philippines until further notice.
[Read more…] about You Can’t Come To The Philippines NowSome Answers You May Not Like.
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.
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.
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.
This article was originally published nearly 7 years ago and it is sad to see how little has changed.
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?)
[Read more…] about Basics of Working in the Philippines for Foreigners.
10 Reasons You Don’t Want A Job In The Philippines.
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.
[Read more…] about 10 Reasons You Don’t Want A Job In The Philippines
Why You Can’t Get a Job.
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 
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?
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.
Will your disability be payable in the Philippines?
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.
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:
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?
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.
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?