See our blue sky(not brown like manila). See about half of the traffic that you are use too there. See (which is the most important thing for me!)affordable housing. I may be just a little bit bias but I compare Manila to New York, always so busy,busy,busy. But my sister-in-law lives there (only until Feb when I kind of persuaded her to move here in March. But everyone has thier place. I also do like Negros but some of those parts had never seen a forigner before,everytime me and my wife would walk outside by a school, all the teenage girls would stop what they were doing and just look at us , which my wife would look at me!let's just say I have only been there once!;

Hi Thanks for the info. My wife and I purchased approximately 268 sq.m in obo, dalaguete from a friend of my in-laws. My father in-law take care of it. There are coconut, and banana trees, he also grows sweet potatoes, cassava, and Gabi. We plan to build a small house there for when we visit family there, which will be about once or twice a month . However, our main residence will be in Mandaue City. My wife have a friend from Boljoon, her family name is Sestoso. Ask your friends if they know them

I am a retired military (Air Force) and am planning on moving to the Philippines within the next 90 days. I have been retired for just over 5 years now living in Las Vegas and am tired of the rush, rush, work-a-day world of the US. I am single (my wife passed away a year ago), 48 years old and financially stable. I have been searching for military retirees message boards, com sites or anything for info. I am initially planning on living in Angeles City until I get a better idea of whats going on. I guess what I'm after is your recommendations as to where one should live and anything I should accomplish before leaving. I plan on furthuring my education, finishing a graduate degree, so a Veteran's Agency approved school close by would be necessary. Thank you for your time and assistance. Happy New Year.

Dear Don (and others who follow Philippine culture/politics), I have followed developments in the Philippines closely over the past few years. I write regularly to Nene Pimentel- it is surprising how easily one can establish a ""pen-pal"" relationship with PI senators. A summary of my thoughts about PI politics and change are as follows: 1. PI culture, like American culture, is at the heart of PI politics. 2. American culture is extremely different from PI culture- hence, American political structure is barely applicable in PI. Three examples follow: a) Pakikisama- American families flee the home at 18, bravo. PI families live together forever, bravo. Combine that with: b) Utang Na Loob- Americans live to be free of debt. Filipinos live to be indebted to others. c) Amor Propio- Americans divorce 3 - 4 times on the average over a life-time, some say the rate is growing. It is illegal to divorce in the Philippines. I can list dozens of additional differences (for any American who has lived in the Philippines you can gain another 100). But my examples serve to make my point. The top ranking (read governmental), PI families are inextricably related. Repaying lifelong debts (viewed as ""graft"" in US), is an essential ingredient in life. Think of the boost to PI economy by Filipina's who travel out of country to send money back.... While Filipinos may separate and reengage in other intimate relationships (and possibly at the same rate as Americans), they continue throughout life to be integrally involved in all of their relationships. In the US we have made it a federal law to catch fathers who refuse to pay for children in divorced families. Want to ""fix"" the PI government? Get rid of their culture.... We already try to ""Americanize"" them out of existence. I was proud of those Filipinos who kicked American military out!! For me, I am happily able to live in PI within the culture. I passed the 3 year exam: year 1 - exquisite tourism, year 2- stupid Filipinos, year 3, stupid me... accept, accept, accept, and smile warmly.

Hello Mike, my name Is Charles. My wife is a Philippino citizen. We live in the U.S. I plan to retire next year to Mandaue City. I would appreciate any help from you,or from anyone concerning my immigratiom status, and what would you suggest that I do to be able to live in the Philippine. Thanking you in advance.

Chip, be sure to let me know how the trip on the Superferry was, if you choose to go that way. I'm also planning on the same mode of travel when I visit Iligan City in late February. Also, if anyone lese has travelled on the Superferries, i would appreciate any hints or advise I can get. Thanks and happy New Year!

Saying Americans divorce 3 to 4 times on average is a gross exageration that I am sure is done for effect. But just to be safe, let me say the following: Most Americans have never divorced. There are half as many divorces as marriages every year, and that has been going on for 20-25 years, maybe. Factor in those who were married 25, 30, 50 years ago, and well over half of all marriages are first marriages. So the ""average"" number of divorces per American is somewhere less that .5 It should be noted, of course, that the more often one marries, the more often one divorces. Second marriages more often lead to divorce than first marriages. Third marriages more often the second. Etc. Etc

Thank your for sharing your thoughful and I believe accurate insight, Mike. Those exams are tough. Many don't pass. It takes self examination and flexibility some just can't muster. I know, I had a hard time. Passsing them all is most importation to enjoying yourself here and becoming part of the solution if you chose.

Thank your for sharing your thoughful and I believe accurate insight, Mike. Those exams are tough. Many don't pass. It takes self examination and flexibility some just can't muster. I know, I had a hard time. Passsing them all is most importation to enjoying yourself here and becoming part of the solution if you chose.

well, i guess i am one of the 3 of 5 and i am working on marrage #2 lets just see where i go from here. i think i will make it this time and not make the club of 4 out of 5

There are no typhoons in Cebu and none expected. There is a low pressure area though that causes cloudy skies and scattered rainshowers but no typhoon.!

be sure to let me know how the trip on the Superferry was, if you choose to go that way. I'm also planning on the same mode of travel when I visit Iligan City in late February. Also, if anyone lese has travelled on the Superferries, i would appreciate any hints or advise I can get. Thanks and happy New Year!

It seems from your post that there are no good times and there never was. So what do you expect to reappear if there was no good times there to begin with? Though I kinda agree there never was any good times. Filipinos just like mud-slinging too much...no President was and will ever good enough. People always complain, no matter who stayed in Malacañang Palace. The press and everyone around them always have something bad to say. Nothing they ever do is ever good enough. And about developments...it's the same everywhere. They only cater to Manila and not anywhere else. Developments in cities and provinces outside of Manila lay largely on the hands of the governors and mayors. Cebu was just lucky to have a few good governors (Governor Lito Osmeña played a major hand in it) and mayors in the past that was able to bring up the growth rate of the city. But that also has drawbacks as it makes the province more attractive to people in neighboring provinces and tend to flock where they think they have a better chance of finding a job. You're right in saying that if you have never seen the good times then you can't believe they will reappear. I don't think I have ever seen the good times in the Philippines yet, I was born just as Marcos got elected as president. Why would anyone want to come to the Philippines? For that matter, why would anyone want to marry a Filipino? I guess the answers would only lay in the hands of you, foreigners, who come to our shores...

I found your comments on the Philippines a degree pessimistic, perhaps based on too short a period of time of involvement with the Philippines. If you haven't seen the good times you can't believe they ever will reappear. I lived and worked in the Philippines during the period 1962 - 1964, and return about every 3 years for a too short period of time. The views from the early 60's were quite different. The Philippines was probably ranked 2nd or 3rd in Asia and moving up. And yes there was corruption even at that time. But I think there was also pride and nationalism and they worked hand-in-hand in a positive way. The regime of Marcos and its length, left many people with no view of how checks and balances should work, and perhaps we have a generation more greedy then ever, who also know nothing better. The Philippines as an agricultural and service country seems to be more seriously hurt by changes in the economies of major powers. When developed nations sneeze, the Philippines catches pneumonia. The long-term recession in Japan has had a greater impact upon the Philippines, from a development point of view, then has the more recent American slump. And the control of the Taipans, post-Marcos has had an impact. The image of the country, with its expanded kidnap for ransom gangs, that now go after unknown foreigners, has hurt tourism. But in my view tourism, except for returning Balikbayans, never really took off, as it did in almost every other SE Asian country. When I've looked at Davao City, which seems to be slightly outside of the economic corruption/power belt, I see a lot of good development in the city, and adjacent areas, coupled with some reasonable growth along the roads going south and west. I haven't traveled north. I see hard working Filipinos and Filipinas getting ahead. I see hotel and tourism development. I see many attempts to rationalize development. And growth, in spite of Malacanang seeming to ignore this region, and most of the rest of Mindanao. I'm not sure what the current power balances are - multi-party legislature, executive, and judicial. I will learn about some of that during the next few months, through seminars at the University of Michigan.

You make some very good points and I agree with you. You've seen the evolution of the country over a much longer period than I. I generally avoid discussing politics, especially Philippine politics! The socio-economic strata of the people I mostly deal with are far removed from the mechanics of higher government. The closest contact most have are through local councilmen, mayors or barangay captains. I think one of the mistakes most foreigners make in the RP is to try to evaluate what they see with their Western presets. Even if they recognize the cultural differences that obviously exist, they'll attempt to rationalize using precepts they've brought with them. It may be a simplistic view, but from what I've observed over the 20 years or so of my direct involvement that politicians treat the offices they win by election as their own private business. This is one of the definitions of a feudal state and in many ways that is how the RP is functioning (or not) today. In my normal travels in the RP I've had occasion to meet a few politicians. I find a few ""honest"" ones, who seem to want to bring improvements to the RP, yet the underlying motive is always #1 first! I've also come to believe that despite the actions of all of the politicians, nothing changes in the RP that matters unless one or more of the seven families who control the economy has a hand in it.

Just thought that I should reply to your reply. I visited the Philippines in June 1992. I stayed there for one month. I enjoyed it very much, at first I felt a bit uncomfortable from the many stares of the local citizens. After talking to and interacting with the many friendly, helpful citizens, I felt totally at ease and welcomed. The purpose of my visit was curiousity and to marry my Filipina fiancee, Susan. We were married August 13, 1992 at Capitol Site, Cebu City. My wife, Susan, is beautiful, and the most caring, sharing lady in the world (yes,I'm very much in love with her and she make me feel loved) We have been happily married for nine years and looking forward to many happy years to come. We will bw building our home in July, 2002. I consider myself to be one of the most blessed men in the world. I would not have a life if not for my wonderful ,sweet wife and my New family. Oh, we will build our home in Mandaue City.

Thank you for your first hand experience assessment, Joy. Re: Filipinas. Why would one ever want to marry one. Do you know any American women? If you do, you should not have to ask that question though there are some good ones. But for loyalty, kindness and understanding, Filipinas are far superior, I feel. And we are all attracted to exotica, both men and women. And Filipinas are different from our own. Wide set eyes that remind us of babies everyone loves and youth makes for beauty as do small noses. I had a US girlfriend 6'2"", a real beauty, a ramp model, but never was comfortable looking he in the eye, like she was a buddy. Some of my friends had to look up at her. She was a good woman too, and I came close to marrying her, but she found another, a guy 5'9"" Why come here. People smile here, often and honestly thought they mean something different sometimes than a westerner's smile. The US is a completive country where if one brother his successful the other may hate him for it. That would never happen here, or very rarely I feel. And it is not always true in the States, but it often is, much too often. Family values are strong here. Foreigners are treated with respect as are old folks like me. If I made a list, Joy, it would be a long one.

Your estimates could be only 11 percent apart if less than 50 percent was 49 percent and 3 our of 5 is 60 percent. With the margin of error the estimates could be less (or more) than 11 percent. But my math is like my spelling. I am interested on Stats of American Filipina marriage success. All the old guys like me marrying the young women from here especially. I know a lot work. But I know from first hand experience a lot don't. I am down 2 an 0, one and 0 in the States with a woman from the US. I must admit all but the last one with an mentally unstable Filipina who did have some wonderful characteristics were not terrible things, but growing apart. I remain friends with them all. And I wonder the success rate for those who take their wives to the States and those who stay here. I guess the US Census on the Net has a some of this, but not broken down my racial groups.

I just got it, Ray. He will not be with us as soon as I can get to the control center of the list. I hope list members ignore spam and don't deal with companies that use it. If companies practice such questionable marketing practices, it probably would be wise not to do business with them.p>

I think you are right on in your comment that Filipinos like "mud slinging" too much. I was "lucky" enough to sit next to a senior editor of the Star at party this week. She was laughing over a photo taken of GMA nudging her napping husband during Christmas Eve mass; she said the only reason they didn't run the photo was because it was Christmas. I have also noticed that Filipinos have the attitude - We fight within our families/village/country, but if an outsider/foreigner tries to fight with my brother he is fighting with me.

Thank you for your first hand experience assessment, Joy. Re: Filipinas. Why would one ever want to marry one. Do you know any American women? If you do, you should not have to ask that question though there are some good ones. But for loyalty, kindness and understanding, Filipinas are far superior, I feel. And we are all attracted to exotica, both men and women. And Filipinas are different from our own. Wide set eyes that remind us of babies everyone loves and youth makes for beauty as do small noses. I had a US girlfriend 6'2"", a real beauty, a ramp model, but never was comfortable looking he in the eye, like she was a buddy. Some of my friends had to look up at her. She was a good woman too, and I came close to marrying her, but she found another, a guy 5'9"" Why come here. People smile here, often and honestly thought they mean something different sometimes than a westerner's smile. The US is a completive country where if one brother his successful the other may hate him for it. That would never happen here, or very rarely I feel. And it is not always true in the States, but it often is, much too often. Family values are strong here. Foreigners are treated with respect as are old folks like me. If I made a list, Joy, it would be a long one.

Good that you do a little homework before you move. You will find that the cost of living in the RP can be very low depending upon the style of living that you would like to achieve. In other words, your money will go much further in the RP. If you want to spend more you would have no trouble doing so. However, about finding a job and working...that is a whole different subject. You will also find that standard wages in the RP are very low compared to wages you are accustomed to in the US, but not to say that you have no other options. You should get some good advice from the list on this subject. In my case I'm on a company pension and SS and don't need a job. I have a very small little business that keeps me busy, but in no way do I expect it to support my lifestyle. If you feel that you can't retire in the RP and need a wage, you as a foreigner have a distinct disadvantage. One of the best options in my opinion would be to secure a job with a foreign (could be US) company and have them transfer you to the RP. If you can find such a job, you should expect a normal US wage with proper relocation allowances (including moving expenses and housing), retirement benefits and liberal medical insurance. These jobs can be found, but not normally within the RP. These companies should also process your visas and working permits. You could choose to go native, work odd jobs for Filipino wages and this is done too. I'll be interested in some of the other answers you will get from the list.

Thank you for your first hand experience assessment, Joy. Re: Filipinas. Why would one ever want to marry one. Do you know any American women? If you do, you should not have to ask that question though there are some good ones. But for loyalty, kindness and understanding, Filipinas are far superior, I feel. And we are all attracted to exotica, both men and women. And Filipinas are different from our own. Wide set eyes that remind us of babies everyone loves and youth makes for beauty as do small noses. I had a US girlfriend 6'2"", a real beauty, a ramp model, but never was comfortable looking he in the eye, like she was a buddy. Some of my friends had to look up at her. She was a good woman too, and I came close to marrying her, but she found another, a guy 5'9"" Why come here. People smile here, often and honestly thought they mean something different sometimes than a westerner's smile. The US is a completive country where if one brother his successful the other may hate him for it. That would never happen here, or very rarely I feel. And it is not always true in the States, but it often is, much too often. Family values are strong here. Foreigners are treated with respect as are old folks like me. If I made a list, Joy, it would be a long one.

i will be retiring to the pi around aug to sept next year..ill be staying in cavite city till i figure things out..much as you. in angeles city you will not be lonely for sure. lots of americans and ausies. pls keep in contact ..i have a web site that gives ALL the info you need for moving. its the rao site in angeles city.

I am a retired military (Air Force) and am planning on moving to the Philippines within the next 90 days. I have been retired for just over 5 years now living in Las Vegas and am tired of the rush, rush, work-a-day world of the US. I am single (my wife passed away a year ago), 48 years old and financially stable. I have been searching for military retirees message boards, com sites or anything for info. I am initially planning on living in Angeles City until I get a better idea of whats going on. I guess what I'm after is your recommendations as to where one should live and anything I should accomplish before leaving. I plan on furthuring my education, finishing a graduate degree, so a Veteran's Agency approved school close by would be necessary. Thank you for your time and assistance. Happy New Year.

Great points of reference Mike, One of the travel tips I post on the wall of our small hotel near the Manila airports for our international guests includes: ""eliminate ""why"" and ""should"" from your vocabulary because once you begin using them you will give yourself a constant headache"" Like you said about your 3rd year ACCEPTANCE is the key to loving the Philippines lifestyle and appreciating the Filipino culture. I just arrived back in the States after a 6 week trip to the Philippines and can't wait until our daughter finishes high school here so my wife and I can move back to the Philippines semi- permanently. Gloria, being from a famous, educated family, married to a very rich one and being a Filipina makes her a much better leader than Estrada. But will she make any major, significant improvements during her Presidency? I doubt she can change the cultural, personal interest, family first attitude of the Filipinos employed or elected throughout the government agencies. Who could? only a benevelent dictator with an iron fist.

You should have lots of FUN in AC and taking an academic course of study is a great idea which will give you something mental to focus on in life. In AC it's easy to drink too much and chase hundreds of young Filipinas. Feel free to drop by The Townhouse Hotel ( Hostel )near the Manila airports for a chat and a beer if you find yourself in stuck there overnight sometime. My next trip will be in late April until the end of August 2002.

You have a beautiful website. I would appreciate a prominent lint to www.livinginthephilippines.com on the front page of it, with a very positive comment like, ""To really get to know about the Philippines go to and, check the site. You can join the free mailing list from there. I hope you agree that is too much to ask in exchange for your posting your commercial site on my list and the link on my site to you. It is not my general practice to allow such post on my list. I do hope we can work something out since I do enjoy your comments about the Philippines so much and we are in such harmony.

The RAO website is really good, especially if you are retired military and even if you are not. But ""ALL"" the information may be a stretch. Living in the Philippines at www.livinginthephilippines.com has a lot of information too, but not all the information. I don't believe there is one like that on the Net. And I believe in the archives of over 5000 post on this list there is more information than on any site on the Net for foreigners wanting to live here. The Subic RAO Website is excellent too, also free like Angeles and this one, although I don't agree with everything it says or everything the Angeles City site says. I don't agree with everything www.livinginthephilippines.com says, and I wrote it. I don't agree with all the posts in the archives, even many I wrote. Things change. But reading the post on this list, reading the extensive archives, one can get different views. They don't just get what Don Herrington though last January. They get what many people wiser than me write and feel. I do hope you search the archives using the ""expand"" command that may make your search quicker. And I do hope you don't expect to find ""ALL"" you need to know anywhere. It takes a lot of study many sites and a lot of living here to get close to all. And close may be further than you think I believe Mike, you said that you will never be lonesome in Angeles. I was. And I make friends fairly easily. And I am former US Army, many of the guys were my age. But I did not find I had a lot in common with many. Drinking in the morning at RUMPA was fine for a while, but really not to my taste. The guys are good guys, but some not my kind of people. I found the worst of the worst foreigners there, involved in prostitution, and other activities that I felt were not the best things you could do to help the Philippines though it might fill their pockets. Some guys are gems, like Jim Boyd and others. Some are sometimes sober. But there are a lot of very confused unhappy lonely people roaming around there fighting one another and with their own demons. And living where so many foreigners is like living in a walled compound in Manila. You get to know some girls, but not the culture. I suggest checking Ange! les out. But the Philippines has many wonderful places to live. Cavite is an excellent choice. Cebu is good, as is Davao. I want to know more about the mayor of Davao and approach to law and order and the safety outside the city limits. But so far no one has come forward to answer my post. I am sure they will. There are many great places to live, depending you your needs, orientation and who you are. And there are many recourses to learn more about them. I don't think one is better that the other, but I think their differences complement. The RAO Subic is www.hvisions.com/rao/ They have been kind enough to put a link to Living in the Philippines. As soon as I get a coder they will have one in return from Living in the Philippines. The RAO Angeles is www.mozcom.com/~rao_cabr/ . I do hope Jim and company in Angeles RAO, that is Retired Affairs office see the value in us linking together. And I hope Jim, though he has written me a couple of times, will decide to join the list if he is not on. He could be on, and just quiet. If he is, I wish he would speak up. He is a wise and good man as are many of our good members from Angeles.

I know the RAO, and Jim and have mention him and his services even the website on this list. Since you are using this mailing list to advertise your site, it would be nice if you, like RAO Subic would provide a link to mine. I will be happy to put one to yours. You say you have ""ALL"" the information. I am not sure anyone has ""ALL"" the information and things change too rapidly to change the site./ That is one of the advantages a mailing list and a news letter like the Angeles RAO has. The mailing list is constant, 24 hours and carried differnt but important infomration. We complement one another and we both are selling nothing, totally non commercial. My website certainly contains only some of the information about living here, though quite a bit. The list augments it greatly with so many knowledagable expats who have their opinions, diameticerally opposed to others. Everyone has to use their own judgement. Not all are looking for the same thing. For instance I was more lonely in Angeles than here in Cebu. I found more foeigners I had things in common with here, not that I did not find a few in Angeles. There is an article coming out on Living in the Philippines on Kiplinger's Magazine in April, available in March, I believe. Kiplingers has a circulation of over a million, and is highly respected. The pass on rate is 1to 6. That is for every one copy sold six people will read it. So 6 the article on Living in the Philippine, or Retiring in the Philippines, will pass through 6 million hands. Maybe a half million will read it. Maybe 100,000 will come to my site. Maybe 5,000 will join. Maybe 2,000 will visit your site if you have a link. Now that may be a very conservative estimate. It all depends on how favorable the article is. It could bring 20,000 new members. And this is only on marketing effort I have in the works. It is also in our best interest to link together because the more links you have the higher you rate with the search engines. Type Living in the Philippines and Retiring in the Philippines in Google. Try MSN. You will see I have excellent rankings already. Should we link 40 or so may see you link on my page each day. My unique hit list is getting higher all the time. I was at 20, now at 40 and by next year I plan to have 80 and growing at the rate of five new members a day, rather than 2.5. I hope you feel as I do this is worth doing.

Well, I just got my tix on China Air, leave JFK Jan 5, arrive Mnl Jan 7 and will be in the Phils 'til Feb 5. Figured I was doing no good job hunting here (just finished a 1 month contract) and I think Ligaya needs a little help with the paperwork process, so there I go! Just saw Bill Lorna's Boracay links; thought it would be out of budget, but looks doable now. So after a week in Luzon will either go to Romblon, Boracay, then Davao, or vice versa, with a short stopover in Cebu. I havt to remember to get a 59 day visa for the 1st time; usually I would go to HKG every 2 or 3 weeks in past trips, so I never needed one. The first couple of days will be spent waiting in lines at St. Lukes, NBI and Sing and HKG Consulates, followed by a 12 hour bus trip from Mnl to Laoag. But it beats watching the History Channel!

Dear friends, A friend of mine, who is not on the list, in Thailand now on ""vacation,"" told me an interesting story before he left about a young girl from the province who he and his wife brought to the city for a visit. Eight year old Miriam hand never been anywhere but in the hills of northern Cebu Island. Her house did not have electricity or running water. There were no real roads just paths very wet at times. But the area was beautiful and quiet. Neighbors were few an far. The only other children she saw we here siblings and those few who went to the small school house with three teachers for all grades one through ten. They took her to SM the monster department store here, to McDonalds, put her on the rides, showed her the video games, took her in the airport so she could see the planes take off and land and every other imaginable place you could think of to entertain a child. She seem no very impressed. When they took her home to her parents, relatives of my friend's wife, they ask Miriam were she went and what she did as my friend and his wife listened. She said, ""I don't know where I was. But it was cold! She had never been in air-conditioning before and was probably numb in the car and everywhere else but too shy to say anything about it. I met her. She is 16 now and still shy. She hide her face when my friend told me the story while laughing with uncontrollable embarrassment. So it goes, living in the Philippines.

I am working for the California state agency that administers the California adoption program, and we see the foreign adoptions which eventually involve California residents. Adoptions from the Philippines are among the lowest number of any Asian country, mainly because of the RP strict court requirements. Additionally, to get a relative visa to the US, one must have the court docs proving the adoption, etc. Our experience (State govt) has been with US citizens (usually Filipino nationals) calling us for help. There are agents and attorneys in the Philippines who facilitate (very professionally) the adoptions process there, after which one has to deal with the US INS to get an adopted child into the US.

Dear friends, A friend of mine, who is not on the list, in Thailand now on ""vacation,"" told me an interesting story before he left about a young girl from the province who he and his wife brought to the city for a visit. Eight year old Miriam hand never been anywhere but in the hills of northern Cebu Island. Her house did not have electricity or running water. There were no real roads just paths very wet at times. But the area was beautiful and quiet. Neighbors were few an far. The only other children she saw we here siblings and those few who went to the small school house with three teachers for all grades one through ten. They took her to SM the monster department store here, to McDonalds, put her on the rides, showed her the video games, took her in the airport so she could see the planes take off and land and every other imaginable place you could think of to entertain a child. She seem no very impressed. When they took her home to her parents, relatives of my friend's wife, they ask Miriam were she went and what she did as my friend and his wife listened. She said, ""I don't know where I was. But it was cold! She had never been in air-conditioning before and was probably numb in the car and everywhere else but too shy to say anything about it. I met her. She is 16 now and still shy. She hide her face when my friend told me the story while laughing with uncontrollable embarrassment. So it goes, living in the Philippines. Another two topics: I hear you can own property at a free port zone, even if you are a foreigner. Does that mean the corporation you own a part of owns it or out right ownership. Or is it speculation. I hear the laws have been relaxed on adopting Filipino children and taking them to the States or other courtiers. To adopt one here you just go out on the streets and get one and bring one home. Ani almost did that to day with a street child she fell for. But the child disappeared in traffic, begging. If anyone has information on adoption for Stateside people please let me know. I have several friends who can't have children and would love to have a homeless Filipino child in their home and are very capable of supporting them emotionally and financially.