What is it like to live in Manila?

 

Zain Hoda

AlphaHat.com

In some ways this is a very difficult question to answer because your experience will differ drastically depending on how much money you have. I'll give you my experience with the caveat that it is by no means representative of most people who live there. Although if you're a foreigner who's coming to live in Manila, this probably is representative.

I was born in Manila in 1984 and lived there until I left for college. However, I am not Filipino. My family is Pakistani and I inherited their citizenship since the Philippines does not grant citizenship based on birth in their territory.

My father worked for the Asian Development Bank, which is headquartered in Manila.

These are some of my thoughts from living there. Some of these are not necessarily specific to Manila but the Philippines in general.

• Filipinos are some of the friendliest people in the world.
• Almost everyone speaks English, though to varying degrees. I lived there for 18 years and I only learned Filipino by watching local television (I still remember watching Noli De Castro saying "Magandang Gabi.... Bayan"). However, when we got cable TV in 1992, I stopped watching local channels and my knowledge of the language has steadily declined since. Talking to taxi drivers or going to local shops does not require knowledge of Filipino.
• The traffic is terrible. Home to school was only 12 km but it took 30-45 minutes by car. If there was heavy rain? Forget about it. It would sometimes take hours if there was flooding.
• There are various methods of transportation available. Taxis are quite common in the business districts. Buses are everywhere. There are also Jeepneys, which operate fixed routes like buses and usually have very cheap fares. There is a light rail system but it's not comprehensive. It only goes down a few of the main roads. You can rent a car and generally rental cars come with drivers. If you buy a car, be aware that to reduce traffic, based on your license plate number, you cannot drive on certain days of the week during rush hour. If you're renting a car, the rental car company will send you a car that has the correct license plate for that day.
• Malls are everywhere. Every few years it would seem that a gigantic new mall was built that would rival the last gigantic mall.
• These days electricity is very reliable. In the mid 90s brownouts were very common but these days brownouts are very rare.
• Compared to the US, the wealth disparity is very extreme. However, there is a much more robust middle class than what I saw in Pakistan.
• Poverty, however, is very visible and heartbreaking. If you drive around you will generally see street children begging or selling items on the road.
• If you have access to housing, generally you will either live in a "village" or a condominium. A "village" is perhaps most analogous to a "gated community" in the US. However, depending on which village you live in, there may be extremely heavy security. In order to get in to any of the villages, you need to have a sticker on your car that shows that you live in that village. If you don't, you have to stop at the gate and you have to tell the guard where you're going and leave your license at the gate. The exception is that if you live in one of the Makati villages that are part of the Makati Village Association, your sticker is interoperable with any other Makati Village.
• Foreigners cannot buy property in the Philippines. However, you can buy a condominium unit so long as Filipinos own at least 50% of the condominium units in the building.
• Armed security guards are everywhere. You'll find them at villages, offices, malls, and yes, at corner 7-11s. Most of this security is just a deterrent. You don't typically hear about security guards actually discharging their weapons. In fact, I'm pretty sure that many of the weapons aren't even loaded.
• Labor in the Philippines is relatively cheap so you'll see a lot of jobs done by people that would be mechanized elsewhere.
• If you live in a house in a village, generally you're going to have domestic helpers. In the first house we lived in, we had 3 maids, a driver, and a gardener. Our neighbors had 10 (10!) maids.
• When you go to a big department store like SM, the sales staff are friendly but not particularly useful. I'm not sure if there are perpetual supply chain issues or if this is just a cultural tendency but 90% of the responses I've gotten from sales staff are "Out of stock, sir."
• Expect to be called "Sir" if you're a man or "Ma'am" if you're a woman.
• Basketball is huge
• There is a lot of good food and good restaurants
• There's a ton of stuff to do at various price ranges so you can never really be bored.
• I loved the weather, about mid-80 degrees all year round. Not everyone finds this comfortable.
• Government services more or less work. If you need to get a driver's license or have some other interaction with the government it's possible to do so without having to pay any bribes. This is unlike a lot of other countries where it's necessary to pay bribes.
• Pretty much everything that is available in the US is available in the Philippines.
• BEWARE OF THE VOLTAGE! The Philippines plug system is very deceptive. Every outlet will have two types of plug points. It will have one flat plug point (that is 220 V) and it will have one round plug (that is 110 V). Beware of this because US appliances are 110 V and have the flat plug, so if you stick that into an outlet that fits in the Philippines, that appliance is going to go bust.
• Mosquitos are very common. All windows usually have screens on them so that you can open the window without letting bugs in.
• If you look like you're of Chinese origin, you have to be careful about kidnap-for-ransom. Just be sensible.
• I went to International School Manila, which is the main international school. The curriculum is American until high school and then you can pretty much choose to be on an AP track or an IB track. From what I've seen of US schools, ISM beats most of them.

MEDICINE FOR HEART AND SOUL

My column in Mindanao Daily News

OPINION

By KLAUS DÖRING

 September 21, 2021

---

SHARE

Like

Tweet

In Pandemic times , music helps me to overcome many daily hurdles. I learned from a psychological  friend that music, because of its deep connections with the brain, is intrinsically meaningful to humanity as a race. We thrive off it. It drives our actions and emotions, and its influence on our brains creates a sense of unity with music that few other art forms can provide.

 

We are beginning to understand our own love of music not only as a cognitive reflex, but as a true art form. Because of being too busy in the past, I neglected this special love. And the relation between religion and music too. 

 

The relationship between religion and music can be coined as the “spirit” of the “sound.” Both provide a means of transcending human existence.

 

Music has the ability to deepen the meaning of words that accompany it, both in a religious context or even on your local pop radio station you listen to on the way to work. As described by St. Augustine in Weiss and Taruskin’s Music of the Western World, St. Augustine reflects on his baptism, “The tears flowed from me when I heard your hymns and canticles, for the sweet singing of your church moved me deeply…The music surged in my ears, truth seeped into my heart, and my feelings of devotion overflowed…

 

Yes, music has a way of filling in the gaps in thought, feeling, and emotion that words cannot do justice, which can be incredibly powerful when accompanied by a spiritual belief. Using music for religious reasons also gave early humans the ability to experience and explore the tantalizing effects of music without committing a sin. In the present day, music is used much more widely and for purposes other than worship, which has allowed religious music to grow and expand into many types of praise that have a wider impact on many people. Music is a nearly universal part of religion because it appeals to and heightens human senses in a pleasurable way which, in turn, allows humans to praise through a medium that makes worship more enjoyable.

 

A life without music? I wouldn't survive!

When misunderstood and hated

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

 

         THAT gospel episode where Herod the tetrarch was perplexed

about Christ and was more disturbed than simply curious about him,

(cfr. Lk 9,7-9) reminds us that if we are to be like Christ, we should

be ready to be misunderstood and even hated.

          Like Christ, we can be a sign of contradiction to some

people. We should therefore learn how to handle that condition the way

Christ handled his. It’s going to be an unavoidable feature in our

life, especially nowadays when there are many powerful and influential

people straying away from God’s will and ways.

          In this life, in this world, we just have to be ready to get

dirty without compromising what is truly essential in our spiritual

life. Evil is unavoidable in this world, and we just have to know how

to deal with it, always focused on going toward our eternal destiny

with God in heaven.

          We should not worry too much about the misunderstanding and

even hatred against us that we can provoke in others, because we have

been given all the assurances that if we are with God, everything

would just turn our right. The challenge now is how to handle the many

evil things that will always get mixed up with the essential good of

this life and of this world that all come from God.

          Evil does not have the last word, unless we let it. It is

the good that will have the last word. And so we just have to learn

how to go through such things even to the extent of cooperating with

evil materially, not formally, if only to change things for the

better.

          In this, we should look at Christ not only as the model but

also and most especially as the power to enable us to derive good from

evil regardless of all the dirt involved in the process.

          St. Paul has something relevant to say in this regard. “God

made him who had no sin to be sin for us,” he said, “so that in him we

might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5,21)

          That is why Christ allowed himself to take on all the

suffering so unjustly inflicted on him and ultimately to offer his

life on the cross to bear all the evil of our sins in order to conquer

sin and death itself with his resurrection.

          We have to understand then that our life here on earth, if

patterned after that of Christ, cannot but get involved with the dirt

of evil. It would be naïve on our part if we think that Christian life

is pure clean living pursued in a sterilized environment as if in some

controlled laboratory.

          In this, we have been amply warned by Christ himself. “In

this world,” he said, “you will have trouble. But take heart! I have

overcome the world.” (Jn 16,33) More graphically, he said:

          “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off

and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or

crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal

fire.” (Mt 18,8)

          We just have to learn how to suffer, how to let go even of

some legitimate things if only to get what is truly essential. In

other words, we have to learn how to get dirty and how to suffer with

Christ.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Residents in Barangay Casoon benefit new multi-purpose hall

  

Davao de Oro --- The residents of Barangay Casoon in Monkayo town benefited the newly completed multi-purpose hall worth P2.6 million funded from the 20% Development Fund of PLGU-Davao de Oro on September 15, 2021.

Governor Jayvee Tyron L. Uy lead the ceremonial turn-over of key to the recipients and emphasized the importance of new building as part of the government's efforts to provide much needed infrastructure to the barangays and key sector.

The ceremony was also witnessed by Congressman Manuel E. Zamora, PEO PG Department Head, Engr. Roderick Digamon, LTC Aswani P Muti, Battalion Commander of 25th IB, PLT Richard V Mara, RPSB Team Leader Cluster 4, and other provincial and barangay officials.

Barangay Captain, Anastacio Esguerra thanked the governor for his unending support and programs to their barangay due to it's geographic location from the economic center.

 

"Kung kaniadto gihandom lang natu kini, apan karun ania na jud sa atuang lugar, mapasalamaton ug malipayon kami labina sa atuang gobernador nga gi priority niya ang atuang barangay nga mahatagan ug development programs sama niining bag-ong multi-purpose hall nga amoa gayung paga-ampingan ug gamiton sa saktong purpose niini", Esguerra said.

Meanwhile, the PHP20 million Level III Potable Water System is soon to rise in the said barangay under the Local Government Support Fund-Barangay Development Program of the NTF-ELCAC which will provide the entire village of sufficient water supply. (Rheafe Hortizano - Provincial Information Office, Photos by Ronel Alvarez)

TESDA, DTI conduct skills training to residents in Barangay Manurigao

Davao de Oro --- The Provincial office of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) conducted skills training on "Squash Delight and Pickle Production" and "Packaging and Labeling of Products" to over 50 Mandaya scholars on September 16, 2021 at Sitio Macopa, Barangay Manurigao, New Bataan, Davao de Oro.

The program is a joint effort of the two agency with the end goal of helping the residents to generate income amid the pandemic and enable them to participate in local economic development activities.

TESDA Regional Director Engr. Lorenzo G. Macapili thanked the participants for expressing their eagerness to learn on how to make foods from vegetables and emphasized the role of both agencies in uplifting communities especially those identified as conflict-affected barangays.

"This activity is part of the poverty reduction programs of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) which aims to empower the residents of far-flung communities through various skills training", Macapili said.

In a statement, DTI Provincial Director Atty. Lucky Seigfred M. Balleque explained the importance of packaging and labelling of products in promoting their unique and quality of products in the market. At the end of the activity, each participant received food packs and training kits.

Present during the activity were TESDA Provincial Director Jasmin J. Neri, DNAS Administrator Nobernia O. Magpatoc, DTI Division Chief Patrick Kim D. Evangelio, TESDA-DdO EO Focal Person Mafel Joan N. Gamale, Barangay Captain Marcos Lino, and personnel from Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines. (Rheafe Hortizano - Provincial Information Office of Davao de Oro)

Christ wants us to be apostles

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

THERE is no doubt we are all meant to be apostles of Christ, to be his ambassadors. That’s simply because we are meant to be like Christ, to be ‘another Christ,’ and so we also share in his redemptive mission which is a continuing affair as long as we are still in this world.

No wonder then that Christ would just choose his apostles seemingly at random. He would just pass by a certain place, and upon seeing someone, he would just say, “Come, follow me.” And wonder of wonders also, the person called would just follow him without question. In fact, it is said that the person called would leave everything behind (“relictis omnibus”).

We are all meant to be apostles of Christ with the lifelong concern for doing apostolate, taking advantage of all the occasions and situations in life. Vatican II spells it out very clearly. “The Christian vocation is by its very nature a vocation to the apostolate.” (Apostolicam actuositatem, 2) So, anyone who wants to be truly consistent to his Christian identity and calling should realize ever deeply that he is called to help others get closer to God. This is what apostolate is all about.

This duty actually springs first of all from our nature. We are not only individual people. We are also social beings. Our sociability is not an optional feature. It is part of our essence, violating which would be equivalent to violating our very own nature.

We can never live alone. We need to be with others. And more, we need to care for one another. We have to be responsible for one another. And while this caring and loving starts with the most immediate material human needs like food, clothing, etc., it has to go all the way to the spiritual and most important and ultimate need of ours.

That’s why we need to practice affection, compassion, understanding, patience and mercy on everyone. We have to understand though that all these can only take place if they spring and tend towards God, “the source of all good things” for us.

We need to be familiar with this Christian duty. We have to do apostolate, and we need to see to it that the zeal for it is always nourished, stoked and fanned to its most intense degree.

We have to understand though that in doing apostolate, we should rely only on Christ’s power. Thus, Christ in commissioning his apostles, told them  to “take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money…” (cfr. Lk 9,1-6) He will provide for everything that we need.

On our part, we should just be as generous as we can be in carrying out that responsibility. “Without cost you have received. Without cost you are to give.” (Mt 10,8) For sure, with these words of Christ, we are strongly reminded to be generous, to give ourselves completely to God and to others, sparing and keeping nothing for ourselves, because God has been generous with us. 

We need to develop a keen sense of generosity and self-giving that is also a result of detachment. Let’s never forget that whatever we have comes from God who wants us to work for the common good. Thus, we hear St. Paul saying, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Cor 4,7)

 * Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Typical Filipino (XXX) - Typisch Philippinisch (XXX): "Compadrazco" - Die Patenschaft

 

The Compadre System, or the “Extended Family” is the basis of Filipino social structure. It is a kinship system which extends one’s relationships beyond one’s immediate family to include up to about 400 people.

Als Verwandte zählen natürlich auch die entferntesten Vettern und Cousinen. Darüber hinaus vergrößert sich die Verwandschaftsgruppe und wächst u.a. durch Heirat über die Blutverwandten hinaus. Die christliche Sitte der Taufpatenschaft schafft eine feste Verbindung zwischen Patenkind und Patenteltern.

Nach der strengen Tradition gelten Patenonkel und Patentante als die zweiten Eltern des Kindes. Man erwartet von ihnen, daß sie sich um das Kind kümmern, wenn ihnen etwas passiert. 

Das Patenkind nennt seinen Patenonkel NINONG und seine Patentante NINANG. Es selbst heißt INAANAK, was wörtlich übersetzt "geschaffener Bruder/Schwester" bedeutet, also ein durch ein Ritual erworbener Bruder oder Schwester zu den eigenen Kindern.

Ausländer genießen auf den Philippinen ein hohes Ansehen und werden deshalb oft gefragt, als Pate für eine Taufe oder auch Hochzeit aufzutreten. Da dies als Auszeichnung gilt, ist es nicht leicht, eine derartige Bitte abzulehnen. Man sagt am besten zu. Wenn Sie nicht in die komplizierten Verwandschaftsbeziehungen eindringen wollen, so wird bereits Ihre Teilnahme an der Zeremonie  als  ausreichende Ehre verstanden.

Of course, even the  most distant cousins count as relatives. In addition, the kinship group expands and through marriage, i.e., grows beyond the blood relatives. The Christian custom of sponsorship creates a solid bond between the sponsored child and the sponsored parents.

According to the strict tradition, godfather and godmother are considered the second parents of the child.You are expected to take care of the child if something happens to them. The godchild names his godfather NINONG and his godmother NINANG. It itself is called INAANAK, which literally translated means "created brother or sister" - in other words, a brother or sister to one's own children acquired through a ritual.

Foreigners enjoy a high reputation in the Philippines and are therefore often asked to become a sponsor of a baptismal or wedding. Since this is considered an award, it is not easy to refuse such a request. It's best to say yes. If you do not want to intrude into the complicated family relationships, your participation in the ceremony is already understood as a sufficient honor.

What can you say about the Philippines?

By: Jonathan Sayles

Married to a Cebuana for 11 years with 2 great kids

Until 11 or 12 years ago I didn’t even know where the Philippines existed on the planet. I had no intent to find out either. I was quite happy just knowing about the big players. Countries where you feel safe going on holiday to.

I first found out about the country from someone I met online. We used to chat on the internet and before Facebook existed as it does today we used to webcam through Yahoo Messenger.

I ended up marrying that person and now all I think about is the Philippines. It was quite an eye opener. The first time I visited Cebu, I was surprised to see electric cables hanging down to maybe 1 meter off the floor on most of the streets. Great big holes in the pavements. Floods on a regular basis. Mosquitoes that had me as a 3 course meal.

I’ve experienced the chaos of elections, the calm of thai massages and traditional Nipa huts at relatives of my wife.

I see a people that work hard for little pay, and others that work little, earn a lot and pay no taxes. It is a country of diversification and yet at the heart it is such a close community of people who have great pride in Filipino’s that do well overseas.

My dream is to emmigrate there. To try to get back to a life that western countries used to have. I’m tired of people in the UK moaning about how hard their lives are when they earn £20000-£40000 a year. Filipino’s survive on far less and seem happier.

Save me a place! I’ll be there as quick as I can!

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS AND UNFULFILLED DREAMS

My column in Mindanao Daily News and BusinessWeek Mindanao

OPINION

By KLAUS DÖRING

---

SHARE

Like

Tweet

Very often - sometimes too often! - the thought is back! If we wake up in the morning (or even many times in the middle of the night), the thought is back. Sometimes, the thought will not let us sleep. The "act of thinking". the "reflection", the "opinion" or the "serious consideration", no matter how we describe it - our memory and conscience is always with us as a permanent companion.

 

Especially in times of this pandemic, some people struggle to get to sleep no matter how tired they are. Others wake up in the middle of the night and lie awake for hours, anxiously watching the clock.

 

Yes, we brood over unsettled problems. Sometimes we bear unfair treatments, arrogance, ignorance, incompetent know-it-all-betters, and unbearable oddballs, who inexorable love to make our life a hell while living themselves a disorderly life.

We would not like to be distracted, but we're toying with some good ideas how we could throw overboard all that "human garbage". What will come next is a matter of conjecture.

Of course, we've got my ideas, but we're not mind readers. Too many trains of thought make us thoughtless and absent-minded especially in difficult and important daily life situations.

Does waiting and/or sleeping solve our problems? Or is it just again in time? Our life's central idea should not be that while waiting, time solves all our problems. Thoughts should intensify, condense and deepen plans followed by actions.

It's good and helpful to carry thoughts in us all the time. Incomprehensible, or better unfinished and un-matured thoughts, no matter whether positive or negative, should be slept on, before tiredness outstrips us with supersonic speed.

Sometimes we feel that our thoughts and ideas can't be fulfilled with life. Where the heart is willing, it will find a thousand ways; but where the heart is weak, it will find a thousand excuses. If doubts begin to take roots, we should rouse from pink-tinted idealism or wear down and annihilate nightmares and erase and wipe out such thoughts and ideas.

If our thoughts are good and have the chance to be fulfilled in action, especially if "the other side" is prepared and willing to step on to such a bridge of life, we might get support and words of encouragement.

And, if not? No action? Maybe it is God's will to keep and protect us from a careless, rash, disadvantageous and uneasy action. Every new day gives us new inexhaustible possibilities to survive, to bear trials and to start a new beginning. We overlook and fail to notice many chances to lie through our sluggishness and laziness while thinking and dreaming of unequaled and unfulfilled ideas.

Long time ago,Pope John XXIII said, " Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do".

God can call us in a surprise

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

THAT’S true! God can call us in a surprise. But that’s not because of God who wants to surprise us. Rather, it is because of us. To be sure, everyone is called by God because we are supposed to be like him and to be with him, sharing in his life and in his work.

Insofar as God is concerned, our calling or vocation has already been made from all eternity. But insofar as we are concerned, yes, our vocation can come as a surprise, because we have been ignoring this basic aspect of our life and may have been living a rather colorful life until God’s irrepressible intervention jolts us.

We all need to remind ourselves of this basic truth. All of us have a vocation. We have to sharpen that sense and make it the directing and shaping principle of our life.

Vocation is not only for a few, and for some special part of our life. It is for all of us, since as creatures and children of God, our relation with him is never broken. Our life will always be a life with him, whether we are aware of it or not.

God continues to be with us, and while respecting our freedom always, he calls us to him, for it is him, more than us, who directs and shapes our life. This is the essence of vocation—God calling us to share his life and activity with us, since we are his image and likeness.

Let’s always remember that God created us for a purpose. He did not create us just to leave us on our own. He created us to participate in his life and in his love which is the essence of God.

God can manifest this vocation to us in some dramatic way, often involving drastic changes in the recipients. God can enter into our lives and make his will more felt by us in some special way. Though we cannot help it, we should try our best not to be surprised by these possibilities.

Consider St. Paul, St. Augustine, the apostles themselves, and the patriarchs and prophets like Abraham, Moses, Jonas, Jeremiah, etc. Consider St. Edith Stein, and our very own St. Lorenzo Ruiz and St. Pedro Calungsod. 

Their stories are full of drama and suspense. St. Paul received his vocation while on a mad campaign to arrest the early Christians. St. Augustine, though gifted intellectually, had a colourful past. The apostles were mainly simple people, mostly fishermen. 

St. Edith was an intelligent Jewish agnostic before her conversion. And our own Filipino saints were catechists doing some domestic work for some priests. All had their defects, and sins, and yet they became and are great saints.

Nothing is impossible with God, and with our trust and faith in him, we can also do what is impossible with God.

We have to feel at home with the idea, nay, the truth that all of us have a vocation. Let’s not play blind and deaf. God’s call is actually quite loud enough. And when we are given a special vocation, let’s not be afraid, but rather go for it at full throttle.

Ok, we may hesitate at first, we can have doubts, but if we are honest, we will soon see there’s nothing to be afraid about. God takes care of everything. All he needs is that we trust him, that we have faith in him, and that we try our best to cooperate.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com