After arriving back in the Philippines I spent almost 3 weeks in Makati, at the studio I am subletting. Lately I have been looking at expat websites and am always amazed at how stupid many Westerners are. For example, this guy asked advice, "My monthly income is 1,200 US a month," will I be able to survive there?" Of course I don't expect Westerners to live like so many locals in thatched huts, etc., only that IF they manage to make their way out of their comfort zones they and their pocket book will me all the better for it.
I sublet in the Rada Regency, a luxury building popular with embassy staffers on Rada Street. It is 1 of the country's tallest buildings (it was THE tallest until quite recently), has mega armed security, rooftop pool with an amzing ciew but the one ammenity that thrills my Filipino guests more than anything is a private pedestrian bridge to the Makati Malls (4 luxury malls all on 1 tract). I don't know why THAT is such a thrilling to Filipinos. I took Joysa (my new squeeze) to the pool one sunset, "Ooooh, Aaaaah," she liked the view but when we went to the cinema later that evening it was that private footbridge that had her breathless!
Joysa was born and raised in a squatter slum in Bulucan, on the other side of Metro Msnila. Built on estusries the slum floods every high tide. In Mindanao, when homes are built near the water they are placed on stilts,actually over much of SE Asia it is the same. In Bulucan though they done bother with that, they simply build as if there are no tides. When high tide comes the result is more than a meter of water so that everyone lives on their second floor and doesn't leave the house unless it's an absolute emergency. I have only ever seen this in 1 other place, a slum in Jakarta (Indonesia).
Her dad, 3 years younger than me (she just turned 23) delivers fish meal. Owners of aquacultural ponds (fish and shellfish farms) pay him to deliver 80 kg sacks of fish meal. He has a crew of 6 men but he isn't very assertive and makes the huge mistake of being friendly with his subordinates. A heavy partier, they get drunk together quite often and the result of course is that they have no respect for him. He found out 2 weeks ago that 2 of the men had gone to the main fish pond owner and lodged major complaints.
In SE Asia "face" is an important concept. If your men do not respect you you are considered ineffectual. Nobody wants such people working for them. Then, at the end of last week he was suddenly given a 2 month layoff with little warning and of course feels he has been fired.
In the Philippines there is no Social Welfare Net to speak of. There is a government sponsored health plan (PhilHealth) that provides the most rudimentary healthcare (I wouldn't trust my livestock in a government run hospital here) but there is nothing in the way of aid for the unemployed or struggling. There is no real Middle Class to speak of though white collar professionals CAN be a weak equivalent I suppose.
Joysa lives with her parents and a brother who is 21 years old, which means their house is empty compared to neighbours who often have as much as 30 people, sleeping in shifts. When it is high tide life is confined to the second floor. They have cable. 1 person on the street opens a legitimate account and more than a dozen houses feed off of it with all of them paying a portion of the single household bill. Most hack into the electrical grid and the result is frequent fires. As for hygiene, well, your personal waste runs through pvc pipes directly into the river, that same river that is flooding your home every few days, you get the point.
Joysa is a great girl, very sweet, somewhat intelligent, not ugly (great body, biggest chest I have ever seen on a Filipina and Rizza was stacked) but those things mean little to me. What impressed me wad her work ethic. I mentioned it in earlier entries but for the same of my point wiLl repeat a bit; A maternal aunt was a "Japasuki." Japasuki or young attractive Filipinas who are offered jobs as "Entertainers" in Japan. You would be amazed how naïve and gullible Filipinas can be. Told they will "sing and dance" in nightclubs, despite not even taking a year of ballet lessons they jump into it.
Agencies charge a year's salary (with slight variation) payable in advance, and hold onto all your papers so that a naïve young Filipina feels she has no choice but to suck it up (double entendre if ever there was one). The lucky few become mistresses of much older Japanese who "buy" their freedom from the Yakuza (Japanese Organised Crime) who run this billion dollar industry.
Joysa's aunt was bought early by such a man and gave him a daughter. When the man died she was free to return home. The money she had accumulated bought her a beautiful home (even by Western standards), and supported scores of relatives. It was this aunt who paid for Joysa to attend a 2 year college for secretarial skills.
In the Philippines high school usually ends at age 16, not 18 and so at 18 Joysa entered the working world getting a job as a transcriptionist and encoder at a call centre. Usually, when Americans call a customer service number they are talking to someone in India or the Philippines. Joysa's job entailed typing out recordings of customer service calls so that trainers could use the transcripts in exercises. Encoding meant affixing a numerical code for the randomly recorded calls. Working 6 days a week she worked from 9PM until 8AM.
By Philippine standards the job was great, 2 free meals in the corporate cafeteria, and pay equalling 220 US a month, 52.50 a week. This is A LOT here.
I will continue because of the character count...
I sublet in the Rada Regency, a luxury building popular with embassy staffers on Rada Street. It is 1 of the country's tallest buildings (it was THE tallest until quite recently), has mega armed security, rooftop pool with an amzing ciew but the one ammenity that thrills my Filipino guests more than anything is a private pedestrian bridge to the Makati Malls (4 luxury malls all on 1 tract). I don't know why THAT is such a thrilling to Filipinos. I took Joysa (my new squeeze) to the pool one sunset, "Ooooh, Aaaaah," she liked the view but when we went to the cinema later that evening it was that private footbridge that had her breathless!
Joysa was born and raised in a squatter slum in Bulucan, on the other side of Metro Msnila. Built on estusries the slum floods every high tide. In Mindanao, when homes are built near the water they are placed on stilts,actually over much of SE Asia it is the same. In Bulucan though they done bother with that, they simply build as if there are no tides. When high tide comes the result is more than a meter of water so that everyone lives on their second floor and doesn't leave the house unless it's an absolute emergency. I have only ever seen this in 1 other place, a slum in Jakarta (Indonesia).
Her dad, 3 years younger than me (she just turned 23) delivers fish meal. Owners of aquacultural ponds (fish and shellfish farms) pay him to deliver 80 kg sacks of fish meal. He has a crew of 6 men but he isn't very assertive and makes the huge mistake of being friendly with his subordinates. A heavy partier, they get drunk together quite often and the result of course is that they have no respect for him. He found out 2 weeks ago that 2 of the men had gone to the main fish pond owner and lodged major complaints.
In SE Asia "face" is an important concept. If your men do not respect you you are considered ineffectual. Nobody wants such people working for them. Then, at the end of last week he was suddenly given a 2 month layoff with little warning and of course feels he has been fired.
In the Philippines there is no Social Welfare Net to speak of. There is a government sponsored health plan (PhilHealth) that provides the most rudimentary healthcare (I wouldn't trust my livestock in a government run hospital here) but there is nothing in the way of aid for the unemployed or struggling. There is no real Middle Class to speak of though white collar professionals CAN be a weak equivalent I suppose.
Joysa lives with her parents and a brother who is 21 years old, which means their house is empty compared to neighbours who often have as much as 30 people, sleeping in shifts. When it is high tide life is confined to the second floor. They have cable. 1 person on the street opens a legitimate account and more than a dozen houses feed off of it with all of them paying a portion of the single household bill. Most hack into the electrical grid and the result is frequent fires. As for hygiene, well, your personal waste runs through pvc pipes directly into the river, that same river that is flooding your home every few days, you get the point.
Joysa is a great girl, very sweet, somewhat intelligent, not ugly (great body, biggest chest I have ever seen on a Filipina and Rizza was stacked) but those things mean little to me. What impressed me wad her work ethic. I mentioned it in earlier entries but for the same of my point wiLl repeat a bit; A maternal aunt was a "Japasuki." Japasuki or young attractive Filipinas who are offered jobs as "Entertainers" in Japan. You would be amazed how naïve and gullible Filipinas can be. Told they will "sing and dance" in nightclubs, despite not even taking a year of ballet lessons they jump into it.
Agencies charge a year's salary (with slight variation) payable in advance, and hold onto all your papers so that a naïve young Filipina feels she has no choice but to suck it up (double entendre if ever there was one). The lucky few become mistresses of much older Japanese who "buy" their freedom from the Yakuza (Japanese Organised Crime) who run this billion dollar industry.
Joysa's aunt was bought early by such a man and gave him a daughter. When the man died she was free to return home. The money she had accumulated bought her a beautiful home (even by Western standards), and supported scores of relatives. It was this aunt who paid for Joysa to attend a 2 year college for secretarial skills.
In the Philippines high school usually ends at age 16, not 18 and so at 18 Joysa entered the working world getting a job as a transcriptionist and encoder at a call centre. Usually, when Americans call a customer service number they are talking to someone in India or the Philippines. Joysa's job entailed typing out recordings of customer service calls so that trainers could use the transcripts in exercises. Encoding meant affixing a numerical code for the randomly recorded calls. Working 6 days a week she worked from 9PM until 8AM.
By Philippine standards the job was great, 2 free meals in the corporate cafeteria, and pay equalling 220 US a month, 52.50 a week. This is A LOT here.
I will continue because of the character count...