a continuation...
After figuring out that we would have to live on Mindanao we ended up, at my suggestion, discussing whether we might build an addition onto the family home. Lovely was immediately enthusiastic about the idea and broached the idea with her parents. Unlike the West, the Philippines does not look down upon grown children living with their parents. Indeed, such a living arrangement is idealised by all the many ethnicities that collectively form the Filipino People.
Not suprisingly.Lovely's parents were very pleased with the suggestion and offered us the side of the house adjacent to the bay upon which to build our addition. We quickly decided on a "sala," or living room that would branch off from the family kitchen. Our very large sala will then segue into our large bedroom, which will be seperated from the sala by french doors. A third of the bedroom will hold a large CR, aka "Comfort Room," which is Fil-English for the loo. Between the CR and the bedroom wall will be a decently sized walk in closet. One wall will face the bay, and will hold a 3 meter long picture window, 1.5 meter high, offering an expancive view of the palmrtree lined bay. The other wall, facing the front yard- actually a walled compound as is the custom with people of means on Mindanao, albeit much smaller than Rizza's family compound- and the front of the family home. At Lovely's father's suggestion, a portico will run the entire length of that wall, segueing into an extant portico that runs along part of the facade of the family home. For natural light, that wall will have a 2 meter high section of glass masonary block. Running almost the entire length of that wall, minus the length fronting the walk in closet, each row of glass block will be a different colour, with 8 different rows, offering a gentle stained glass-like interior lighting that will bathe the sala. In addition, we will have three large clear skylights in the ceiling, two in the sala, and a single, significantly larger one in the bedriom ceiling, under which our bed will lay, offering us starlight at night.
I was suprised when Lovely's father handed me the estimated cost. I had been pegging it at less than P60,000 ($1,300). The estimate came in at nearly that for labour alone, with P55,000. Materiel was pigeonholed at P77,000, for a grand total od P132,000 ($2,800), and this doesnt include plumbing, electrical, fixtures, and tile. In the estimate Lovely's father was meticulous, breaking it down to boxes of nails. Still, running businesses gives me a very good idea about both materiel AND labour. Lovely saw that I was shocked and got very, very defencive.
While discussing labour costs, Lovely scoffed at my questioning the projected daily pay of each labourer to be employed, whichin her father's estimation would be P500 ($10.35) each day. Seeing as how I, along with Rizza's parents, carry more than 200 labourers (in addition to employees in other capacities) in our mills and on our farms, I naturally believed I knew a bit about local wages. We pay all our labourers not working on a piece work basis, from P200 to P350 ($4.20 to $7.35) per day, and in doing so are one of the best paying employers in Caraga (our "Region" consisting of five provinces). To be fair I looked at construction wages. This is not so simple endeavour as one might imavine, seeing as how most on Mindanao live in "nipas," the bamboo framed and nipa palmtree frond shacks that litter the Mindanowan countryside. More substantial dwellings of the "haves" are usually built for landowners who-like us- utilise their own labour pool without adjusting the wage structure so as to make labourers' wages more commensurate to the job at hand. In other words, when I need an outbuilding constructed, I simply assign fifteen of my labouters under one of our supervisors and those unlucky fiftren will then make the same pay as someone shoveling goat shit or replanting tice seedlings in one of our paddies.
There is actually a Minimum Wage here, or, rather, scores of Minimum Wages. Each "Region," and each profession is nailed to a specific Minimum Wage. Mindanao is the least expencive part pf the Philippines, and of Mindanowan "Regions," mine, Caraga (aka Region 13), is the second least expencive. Lovely's municipality, Nasipit, is also located in Caraga, albeit more than 100km to the north, directly on the coast and therefore-with or without a higher Minimum Wage, wages are substantially higher.
Finally agreeing on overall cost, I began to tie up my affairs in San Franz, my current home in Rizza's family's compound. A bigger concern perhaps, certainly in terms of my personal safety and my local profile, is my involvement with BULIF, the local paramilitary. Over the last year and a half I have branched out into a rather profitable sideline, assault rifle sales. My role in the paramilitary offers me an umbrella for End User Certificates, something that would be impossible without my close association.
I could still turn a pretty peso by having weaponry delivered to official consignees like the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and the PNP (Philippine National Police) but my margin would be much narrower, and all other sales would have to stop.
In terms of my safety, having nearly 300 well armed men at my beck and call does wonders for one's peace of mind. Because BULIF's primary raison d'etre is to carry the AFP's Force Multuplication efforts directly into the Hilltribes' domains, versus the Maoist NPA (New People's Army), disassociating myself from the paramilitary could cost me my life. Nasipit, the municipality I will soon call home, is almost entirely free of NPA influence- let alone NPA control. The last NPA-related incident of note was a botched assasination attempt against former President Gloria M.Arroyo in 2010, that failed miserably as the AFP rallied its forces and pushed the NPA back into the bush after it briefly occupied Butuan-Iligan National Hiway.
The NPA element with OpCon over Nasipit is Front 4A, of the NCMRC (Northcentral Mindanao Regional Command). Although NCMRC has, over the last year, enjoyed a considerable resurgence that brought it full force from the brink of extinction, Front 4A remains the weakest of the six Fronts in that Regional Command. Likewise, the bulk of BULIF's interaction with the NPA has been with the NEMRC (Northeast Mindanao Regional Command) the NPA has urban assasination teams called SPARU (Special Armed Red Partisan Units), almost always mis-transliterated by laymen as "SPARROW," as in the bird. SPARU work in three to five man teams and use automatic handguns in daylight killings in heavily populated areas. I already have a Bounty on my head, a paltry sum by Israeli and Western standards but this is an island where $70.00 gets you a daylight killing by two men teans riding tandem on a single motorcycle. Ergo, I reckon I should not be too depressed that my Bounty is pegged at $1,300.00.
With all these considerations it is a given that I will retain my position with BULIF, at least for the forseeable future. I will commute, though most of my interaction will be via one of two designated proxies I have had in place for much of the last year.
Rizza's family and I are still untangling the deeply entwined business, property, and financial assets that we have fully co-mingled for near on fifteen years. I have long had two personal attorneys on retainer here, above and beyod the attorneys we jointly retain for our business and property-related endeavours.
to be continued...
