Snowy79

I'll certainly be having a few words with her boss once I have the visa in my hand. Even my partner now sees how poorly run so many government offices are here.

I used one from the Makati office, met her in person once for a one hour interview and she seamed quite professional. Once I was out of the office the calls, text, emails were ignored. I managed to get a hold of her last week by accident when I called the PRA swithboard and they said they'd transfer me to a marketeer and as luck would have it she picked up. She was just a bit embarrassed when I asked her why she was ignoring my messages.

You may chuckle about taking care of their women, there's a Facebook page where couples post photos of themselves and write a few lines explaining the government is keeping them apart and breaking relationships, pleading for the borders to be opened back up. Lets just say I recognise a few of the girls and have seen how loyal some are.

In theory they guide you through the whole process by phone, email or in person free of charge. It's pretty straightforward if your marketer has an IQ above 50 and replies to messages. The majority of the information is on the Philippines Retirement Authority website. One major thing missing is at no time do they tell you there are two payments to make and the application can only be paid into the Landbank, the deposit can go to one of a few banks they list. I read the web site thoroughly and messaged back and forwards what my intentions were and if it was easiest just to send the full payments online to the Development Bank as it's simple, requiring no letter of introduction. Sure Sir that is OK. I then confirmed I'm paying everything into the Development Bank and will send proof of payment. Another thank you message was received. I paid the money sent the proof then got asked why I paid everything into the Development Bank. I pointed out that twice they said it was OK so that's why, they then informed me I have to deposit $1.4k into the Landbank. I told them just take the surplus out and transfer it on my behalf. It took over one week for then to tell me I had to withdraw it. I asked how I could withdraw it if it's in their name, no answer for another week then a promise the finance department will message me. They never messaged but I got a hold of the village idiot again who old me just pay another $1.4k. I refused as they already have my money. Next they are telling me I can ithdraw the surplus and transfer the money once I'm a member. You guessed it I can only become a member once I've paid $1.4 deposit into the Landbank and gone through my membership application.

I watch it on my laptop and it's pretty clear, if the talking is too fast just pause the video as it has the script in the box. As for the travel ban I think they'll look for a reason to keep entry numbers into the Philippines until hospitalisation rates are well within manageable numbers. A quick Google will show some hospitals are currently at full capacity now.

I'm a bit of a spotter and follow a few immunologists and virologists. Like most things there's a lot of fake news out there and the anti vaxers tend to shout the loudest. Pretty much everyone I follow breaks it down to the vaccine was designed for the Alpha variant and was very good with that, proved pretty good for the Delta variant and getting by for Omicron. It's certainly still very good at reducing hospital admissions ratio wise. Anti vaxers make it sound worse by quoting total numbers instead of per 100k of each category. This scientist is good at explaining a lot of the news out there and links where the data comes from instead of using anecdotal evidence. https://www.tiktok.com/@distilledscience/video/7051650455167913262?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id7029641576688567813

I'm currently going through my SRRV at the moment and can safely say that so far they are right up there with other Government official.

I'm sure if the first person to carry the mutation for Delta was quarantined until they had been completely cured there would have been zero spread. I can see a few wealthy people self medicating on some of these drugs and nipping out for the odd social event before getting the all clear and spreading the love.

Remember Delta also escaped.

Going to be fun if that drug gets into the general public. It apparently makes mutation of the virus more active which so far has been shown to weaken the virus leading to it dying off but the mutations need to be contained in a strict clinical environment to prevent escape.

More fun news. Starting on Feb 16th if you are a foreigner entering the country you are required to be vaccinated with a couple of exceptions. MANILA — Starting February, the Philippines will now require foreign nationals entering the country to show proof of their COVID-19 vaccination. "Beginning Feb.16, 2022, proof of full vaccination shall be made a requirement for entry of all foreign nationals allowed to enter the Philippines," said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, acting spokesman for Malacañang. Proof of inoculation should be presented "prior to boarding flights to any points in the Philippines," said Nograles. Only the following travelers are exempted from this rule: Children below 18 years old People medically unable to receive the vaccine, as certified by competent public health region in the country of origin Foreign diplomats and their qualified dependents or 9(e) visa holders. https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/14/22/ph-to-require-covid-vax-proof-from-foreign-travelers?fbclid=IwAR3cqPahSgJIwdEv93BbSrELnL2plV5_TRAqlx8bZDPo35ExG5o3sjoggrQ

I can safely say the never had them when I was circumcised here. I was operated on in Manila and after 14 days still had stitches still in and the skin was growing over them. The doctor wanted me to return to get them removed but I opted to try to remove them myself with tweezers, a stick between my teeth and betadine as I was on Mindoro. I got most out bar 7 which were barely sticking through the skin so had no option but to go to the local doctor hoping for some local anesthetic. She said you can't use local there so just lay back. I can hand on heart say her tweezers were like pliers, a good 40 mins on my back with sweat pouring off me before she gave me the all clear. She told me keep it clean and use betadine. First thing I did when I got home was to take a shower and I felt what was like stubble on my crown asset. Turns out she spent 40 minutes just taking the top off the stitches and the knots were under the skin. I paid just under 3k for the pleasure and ended up gritting my teeth and using a disinfected needle to dig them out myself. Oh how I laughed.

I wonder if I could have got my marriage cancelled on dodgy grounds, might have saved myself a fortune. When I went to do my banns I never realised the wating time and my wedding was only a couple of weeks away. Luckily the woman in the office took pity on me and sorted it out. I wish she hadn't

I wouldn't hold your breath. I think it's still got to go infront of the plenary for final tweaking and the church has a lot of sway.

Sitting on the shoulder of the Devils advocate all I can say is my anti vax mates they are adamant they won't get vaccinated and refuse to wear a face mask ( in the UK you can get away with it on medical grounds and no one is allowed to challenge you. ) They also don't care about social distancing and keep breaking the rules and going to demonstrations etc. One who did shock me is a friend who is a Paramedic, he was telling me today that he's dealing with Omicron cases daily and doesn't wear a mask or even disinfect his hands anymore. He was antivax but had to get them for his job or he wouldn't have git them. Another who only posts antivax on his Facebook and swears by his immune system is now on his second dose of covid and this time it's knocked him for six, he's still adamant no restrictions will hold him back. I'm afraid these are the type of people we are up against when it comes to restrictions.