http://www.LivingInthePhilippines.comis theORIGINAL, firstPhilippines Expat site on the Net, since 1989. This is not one of many knock-offs, copycats, imitations. Some have permutations of the names,misspellings and "in" and "the" or "ing." left off to deceive you. This is the original, by: Don A. Herrington
I can tell you about living in the
Bicol Region now.
By way of background I live with my wife in Naga
City. I took an early retirement and moved here
about a year after the embassy refused to interview
my wife and denied her a visa. Prior to my move I
made a number of trips, usually every four months or
so to visit. I have traveled from Manila by plane,
air-conditioned bus both during the day and at night
and on one occasion took the bus that most locals
use with wood and metal seats, no a/c, animals etc.
(I'm not sure I would do that again but would not
have missed the experience either.) Currently most
of my travel to and from Naga
is by a/c bus since I believe the cost of airline
tickets are to high.
I have been living here now for 15 months and built
a house. There are a few expats living in Naga but
for the most part they keep to themselves. I know of
one Army retiree that has lived here for 25 years.
Another teaches at Ateneo University and coaches the
girls basketball team. Another travels between
Manila, Naga and the states and at present averages
about two weeks a year here although he built a
large house. There is another guy that lives
with his fiancée in Pili and has been on vacation
here for about three months, drives a motorcycle,
and goes out at night by himself to nightclubs etc.
and there are some others. My in-laws live in San
Fernando, a small town about 15 KM outside Naga. My
father-in-law tells me there are NPA living in his
subdivision but tells me it is safe for me to travel
there. Of course I am known in his area and I help
out some of the kids in the neighborhood. We own a
car and drive to most places around Bicol. We
recently drove to Sorsogon and stayed overnight in
Donsol. We go to the beach in Pasacao and spend the
night as we have done in Ragay.
We have also
gone to Tigaon and Sagnay on the Pacific coast to
the beach and spent the night. During all of these
trips we have never had a problem and my family
doesn't feel I am in any danger. The only caution I
have gotten was that it was unwise to travel into
the mountains where you may find NPA. We routinely
make trips to Legazpi where we meet with a large
group of expats. I belong to one of the local Rotary clubs and have made a
number of local friends. I drive all over Naga by
myself, both during the day and at night. I go to my
Rotary meetings at night. I go downtown, even at
night, to purchase items and to the malls by myself
and it is not uncommon for me to come across
Filipinos I know. I routinely take my daughter to
school and pick her up while my wife stays at home.
Bottom line, if you feel safe in Washington D.C.
then you should feel safe here. Also if you were
comfortable in Manila
you should have no problems in Naga. We routinely
use the MRT and LRT to travel around Manila.
Naga and Legazpi are the largest cities in Bicol
with my preference being Naga. I find it cleaner and
less congested for starters. Lots of the guys in
Legazpi travel to Naga to shop so I guess the
shopping is better here. There are no "retirement
communities" anywhere in Bicol that I am aware of. I
don't believe there are two expats living next door
to each other either. Each of us finds the place
that will work for us and integrates into the community. There are houses for rent but plan on
taking a few months to find the right one. The same
goes for buying a house. In fact we decided to build
after we weren't able to find exactly what we
wanted. There are a large number of subdivisions in
Naga with varying prices and lot sizes. Some are
gated while others are not. Our subdivision is gated
and includes a large swimming pool, tennis and
basketball courts as well as a community center. I
like the pool because I can swim laps for exercise
and not have to worry about keeping it clean etc.
and it is only about one minute away from the house
by car, five walking.
I would not recommend investing money in the
Philippines. I know a couple of Filipinos in Rotary
that started out with little and have made good
money but they work ten to twelve hours a day seven
days a week and it is cutthroat.
--------------------------------------- Jim Naga City, Bicol
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