FPO Address

[RETIREDUSARMY]

How do you receive or go about receiving an FPO address? Do I do this before I arrive in the PH or after have an established address in PH? Is there only certain neighborhoods/areas that you can have an FPO? I am seriously looking at Clark or Subic to live year round. Any suggestions on pro/cons of living in either place?

[OnMyWay]

Contact one of the RAO offices.  Subic or Angeles.  They will know what you should do.

[Jeff_G]

4 hours ago, RETIREDUSARMY said:

How do you receive or go about receiving an FPO address? Do I do this before I arrive in the PH or after have an established address in PH? Is there only certain neighborhoods/areas that you can have an FPO? I am seriously looking at Clark or Subic to live year round. Any suggestions on pro/cons of living in either place?

I live in Clark, I'd be glad to answer any questions you may have about the area.   Off the top of my head Pros:  Easy access to just about anything you need.  A lot of really good restaurants to include variety (maybe the best selection I have seen in the Philippines).   Hospital accepts Tricare.   A LOT of expats if that is important to you.   Clark international airport 10 minutes away.  Manila 90 minutes to 2 hours.   Clark has no traffic at all and is quite clean.   A lot of golf courses nearby, some expensive some not so bad.    Cons:  Angeles does have traffic and is not clean.   Housing in my opinion is way way overpriced.   The subdivsions are virtually without trees and the plots of land are relatively small (lot of houses crammed in, but there are some nice homes albeit expensive).   Housing in Clark is "extremely" limited, with very very few houses, and a lot of condos, and again, expensive.   There is really not too much to do in Angeles unless you like Golf, drinking and chasing skirts, or hanging out at Mcdonalds reminiscing about days gone by (just my opinion).     My housing two cents is geared towards a family.  A single guy would have a lot more affordable choices.   We like Clark because we want to be away from the madness in Angeles, we can get anywhere within 12 minutes, and we have a couple nice parks that are within walking distance.  Also having a tricare hospital is a big plus.    Ahhhh but most importantly for us and this is why we are here, there is a good international school close by for our son.     If you have any specific questions, ask away, I will answer to the best of my abilities.

[Rooster]

FPO is available in Angeles City, Manila, Subic, La Union, Baguio.  Everything you need to know about FPO is on The Angeles City Military Retired Affairs Site below including most inf you can use to prepare to live here.

Also, be aware that you will have access to The AFN Now App to stream US TV shows and sports. Ensure your DEERS inf is correct. AFN will Validate you via DEERS. Download it og Google Play or Apple. Available also on Firestick and other apps. 

https://1925mcarthur.wixsite.com/raoangeles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azFshFrs5K4

 

Edited March 16 by Rooster

[Heeb]

On 3/16/2026 at 5:14 AM, RETIREDUSARMY said:

How do you receive or go about receiving an FPO address? Do I do this before I arrive in the PH or after have an established address in PH? Is there only certain neighborhoods/areas that you can have an FPO? I am seriously looking at Clark or Subic to live year round. Any suggestions on pro/cons of living in either place?

I have an FPO at the Olongapo Barretto RAO. Your mailbox is located in the RAO office itself. If you live further out you can text them and they will check your box. It costs about $100 a year.

They provide other admin type services, the girls working there are very knowledgeable about tricare and deers etc. I don’t think you have to pay for a mailbox to avail of these services. You can only receive letter mail less than 1lb, no packages but they do have a Philippine P.O. Box for packages. Better off using DHL, FEDEX, or LBC if you need a package fast. Amazon delivers straight to your door here, some items ship free when you spend over $49 dollars. I use a freight forwarder for items they won’t ship from Amazon or eBay but it’s a terrible last resort service, very slow sometimes. 

Edited March 17 by Heeb

[Mark25]

On 3/15/2026 at 8:51 PM, craftbeerlover said:

I live in Clark, I'd be glad to answer any questions you may have about the area.   Off the top of my head Pros:  Easy access to just about anything you need.  A lot of really good restaurants to include variety (maybe the best selection I have seen in the Philippines).   Hospital accepts Tricare.   A LOT of expats if that is important to you.   Clark international airport 10 minutes away.  Manila 90 minutes to 2 hours.   Clark has no traffic at all and is quite clean.   A lot of golf courses nearby, some expensive some not so bad.    Cons:  Angeles does have traffic and is not clean.   Housing in my opinion is way way overpriced.   The subdivsions are virtually without trees and the plots of land are relatively small (lot of houses crammed in, but there are some nice homes albeit expensive).   Housing in Clark is "extremely" limited, with very very few houses, and a lot of condos, and again, expensive.   There is really not too much to do in Angeles unless you like Golf, drinking and chasing skirts, or hanging out at Mcdonalds reminiscing about days gone by (just my opinion).     My housing two cents is geared towards a family.  A single guy would have a lot more affordable choices.   We like Clark because we want to be away from the madness in Angeles, we can get anywhere within 12 minutes, and we have a couple nice parks that are within walking distance.  Also having a tricare hospital is a big plus.    Ahhhh but most importantly for us and this is why we are here, there is a good international school close by for our son.     If you have any specific questions, ask away, I will answer to the best of my abilities.

Can you tell me the name of the school your son goes to?

[Jeff_G]

57 minutes ago, Mark25 said:

Can you tell me the name of the school your son goes to?

Hasnt started yet, but we are pretty sure we will send him to St Paul's American School (unless we move).