Planning my "scouting" trip

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Jim Sibbick
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Posted

Some thoughts after reading what you and others have posted.

We were wiped out by typhoon yolanda. I had to set up again with the ex fiance and am now setting up again with current girlfriend. Except for Typhoon yolanda, typhoons for me in the past have just meant party time. Party until the weather clears so you can move on. Typhoon yolanda is not hanging over my head and stopping me from setting up again in the same town.

Most definitely rent. If you are unhappy, you can move on.

You will not stand out in Cebu City. Filipinos are so used to big white foreigners that they will not really notice another big white foreigner.

Davao City was rated 4th safest city in the world under the previous mayor Duterte, who is now the Philippines president, largely because of how he managed Davao. It is still a VERY safe city. 

USD $2000 per month (P100,000) is more than I need. 

In Cebu City, P56,000 is about the minimum I need to feel comfortable. That is enough for me to live permanently in a family room at a hotel, eat out for every meal, socialise with friends every day, have a daily massage and pay for my visa extensions. P100,000 would give me a very comfortable lifestyle. 

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Tstone
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55 minutes ago, Tukaram (Tim) said:

As for sticking out - don't worry about it. You will stick out no matter what. I am only 5' 8" (172 cm) and I stick out as much as a 6 footer.  Just rely on your situational awareness and it is really no worries. :tiphat:

 

Even in the States I have this weird fear that a side mirror on a bus is going to whack me in the head because of my height, I wonder what complex I'll develop in the Philippines.  Haha.

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Jim Sibbick
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I rent in Palompon Leyte with my girlfriend.

From what you describe, it may be for you. With the bonus that it has a beach and the famous Kalanggaman island nearby

 
Here is my Palompon video

Here is a drone video of Palompon

 

 

Here are lots of other Palompon videos which includes Kalanggaman Island. Click on the button to watch it on youtube then there is a long list of other videos accesible in a list beside the video

 


I was married in Palompon in 1995 and divored 9 years later. My ex wife now owns a resort in the same town with her new husband. 

With my girlfriend, we rent a 2 storey 2 bedroom apartment for P6500 per month, plus utilities. Nothing fancy but adequate for my needs. It is in a nice quiet street which may also be described as pretty. It is a street that I have walked along a hundred times and always thought I would like to live in this street, so when my girlfriend said an apartment was available, I told her to grab it. It is 5 minutes walk to the cafes by the sea and about 25 minutes walk to the beach. This beach

 

 

One of the reasons for living in Palompon is the cost. My base expenses are about P30,000 per month. That is for visa costs, food, electric, cable, rent etc. Socialising and travel are extra. The food cost includes eating prawns (shrimp), mussels and squid on a regular if not daily basis as they are all caught locally every day.

I mentioned Kalanggaman already, Palompon also has a marine sanctuary very close to the town called Tabuk Marine Sanctuary.

It's current population is 58,000. That is not enough to support a supermarket though. The town has 2 large grocery stores. the grocery stores are just for non fresh food such as shampoo, alcohol, snacks etc. Most shopping occurs in the market area and wet market. With everything fresh caught or killed that day or fresh picked recently. The wet market has a seafood section, a pork section and a chicken section. 

The town has multiple ATM machines .

There are 2 boats most days direct to Cebu City and one boat every day to Bogo Cebu carrying the bus from Tacloban to Cebu City. It is a long day but you can do a day trip to Cebu City by travelling by van to Ormoc City, and catching an early fast ferry. Then do the trip in reverse in the evening. There are more than 10 fast ferry trips every day between Ormoc City and Cebu City.

Ormoc City is where you go for the big shopping.

Palompon has a hospital. They will treat you well but an indication of quality may be in the price. Last I checked, it is P1000 per night for a private room with private bathroom in the hospital. People with money travel to Ormoc City or Cebu City for the best medical care.

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Gary D
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Your budget sounds good at the moment but you are young  and inflation in the Philippines is 2 or 3 times of that in the west. Your budget will be tight in 10 years, in 20 years possibly inadequate.

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Rooster
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4 hours ago, Jim Sibbick said:

Some thoughts after reading what you and others have posted.

Davao City was rated 4th safest city in the world under the previous mayor Duterte, who is now the Philippines president, largely because of how he managed Davao. It is still a VERY safe city. 

 

This article: 5th safest.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/125132/davao-city-improves-to-5th-in-ranking-of-worlds-safest-cities

What they fail to report is it may be the 5th safest for locals, but not the 5th safest for foreigners.

An example of the safest cities for Foreigners is here

 

For the past few years, the majority of the kidnapping/beheadings of foreigners has been in the southern Mindanao region.

Bangsamoro Basic Law is now in close proximity to Davao, articles state there is a fear Sharia Law will follow. With over 7,000 Islands in the Philippines, why would any Foreigner would want to live in the Mindanao region unless they are Muslim. What is it that draws a Foreigner to a Majority Muslim area in the Philippines when Luzon and Visayas are an option ?

https://www.ucanews.com/news/philippine-congress-passes-bill-creating-new-muslim-region/82455

https://www.ucanews.com/news/no-sharia-for-bangsamoro-minorities-philippine-legal-experts-say/73904

 

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GeoffH
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14 hours ago, Rooster said:

With over 7,000 Islands in the Philippines, why would any Foreigner would want to live in the Mindanao region unless they are Muslim. What is it that draws a Foreigner to a Majority Muslim area in the Philippines when Luzon and Visayas are an option ?

 

Minanado isn't actually majority muslim, only about 20% of the population identifies as muslim and the percentage is lower than that in the north and north east of the island.  I like the Visayas I really do (and there are family relatives there down south from Cebu) and I wasn't really 'drawn' to Mindanao, it's just where the family are and I ended up owning property there after a while but it has it's good points.  I've seen some on here express the opinion that cities around the 600,000 mark are a good balance between too busy and too small and CDO is about that and... it's cheaper to buy here than in Manila or Cebu but still has most of the facilities *shrug*.   I don't feel less safe here than I do in the Visayas although there are parts of Mindanao I wouldn't travel to.

 

Edited by GeoffH
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Jim Sibbick
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2 hours ago, Rooster said:

This article: 5th safest.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/125132/davao-city-improves-to-5th-in-ranking-of-worlds-safest-cities

What they fail to report is it may be the 5th safest for locals, but not the 5th safest for foreigners.

An example of the safest cities for Foreigners is here

 

For the past few years, the majority of the kidnapping/beheadings of foreigners has been in the southern Mindanao region.

Bangsamoro Basic Law is now in close proximity to Davao, articles state there is a fear Sharia Law will follow. With over 7,000 Islands in the Philippines, why would any Foreigner would want to live in the Mindanao region unless they are Muslim. What is it that draws a Foreigner to a Majority Muslim area in the Philippines when Luzon and Visayas are an option ?

https://www.ucanews.com/news/philippine-congress-passes-bill-creating-new-muslim-region/82455

https://www.ucanews.com/news/no-sharia-for-bangsamoro-minorities-philippine-legal-experts-say/73904

 

Thankyou!

I am happy to believe that there are safer places for foreigners than Mindanao but I have to disagree about your religious make up of Mindanao and location of Muslims on Mindanao

There are Muslims throughout Mindanao and the Philippines but in Mindanao, I believe the majority of the Muslims are in the Muslim Autonomous regions of Mindanao which are in the west.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_Region_in_Muslim_Mindanao

Davao City is in the east.

Also from wikipedia 

Christianity is the dominant religious affiliation in Mindanao with 60.9% of the household population, majority of which are adherents of Roman Catholicism, Islam comprised 20.44%, and other religions were Evangelical (5.34%), Aglipayan (2.16%), Iglesia ni Cristo (1.66%)[4]

 

 

 

 

 

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Rooster
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1 hour ago, GeoffH said:

 

Minanado isn't actually majority muslim, only about 20% of the population identifies as muslim and the percentage is lower than that in the north and north east of the island.  I like the Visayas I really do (and there are family relatives there down south from Cebu) and I wasn't really 'drawn' to Mindano, it's just where the family are and I ended up owning property there after a while but it has it's good points.  I've seen some on here express the opinion that cities around the 600,000 mark are a good balance between too busy and too small and CDO is about that and... it's cheaper to buy here than in Manila or Cebu but still has most of the facilities *shrug*.   I don't feel less safe here than I do in the Visayas although there are parts of Mindanao I wouldn't travel to.

 

Correct. but my post (intent) is why would any foreigner want to live in Mindanao, in a "majority Muslim area" which is the southern area near Davao where the recent kidnappings and beheading of foreigners is happening?

Edited by Rooster
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Tukaram (Tim)
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It may or may not be safe... but I am always amused when people (like big D) quote the Numbeo poll saying Davao is the "safest".  Back when Dude first started quoting the poll there were under 100 respondents (85, I believe). Today there are 892 respondents.  Worldwide Numbeo has only 50,000 respondents. Hardly a scientific, reliable, poll ha ha.

That being said... last year, here in Iloilo, we had a police station raided by "terrorists", for guns and a patrol vehicle.  Most really aren't terrorists per se, more like mountain bandits.  Staying close to any large city should be safe enough.

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Rooster
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Posted (edited)
45 minutes ago, Jim Sibbick said:

Thankyou!

I am happy to believe that there are safer places for foreigners than Mindanao but I have to disagree about your religious make up of Mindanao and location of Muslims on Mindanao

There are Muslims throughout Mindanao and the Philippines but in Mindanao, I believe the majority of the Muslims are in the Muslim Autonomous regions of Mindanao which are in the west.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_Region_in_Muslim_Mindanao

Davao City is in the east.

Also from wikipedia 

Christianity is the dominant religious affiliation in Mindanao with 60.9% of the household population, majority of which are adherents of Roman Catholicism, Islam comprised 20.44%, and other religions were Evangelical (5.34%), Aglipayan (2.16%), Iglesia ni Cristo (1.66%)[4]

 

 

 

 

 

Ok,.  I'm curious, what is it that attracts foreigners to the Davao area compared to other areas in the PI where there are far less kidnapping and beheadings of foreigners?

Edited by Rooster
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