Philippine Malapascua and Calangaman

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February 21st 2008

Published: April 1st 2008

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RodaDua

While waiting for a ferry, why not have a mobile manicurist takes care of my sorry toes.

From Boracay, I took the outrigger back to Panay island and rode South to Iloilo city. The road is well paved and hugs the coastline for the first 50km before turning inland. Midway along the route sugar cane fields appeared. The trucks they used to haul the sugarcane from the field are the old 60’s and 70’s truck. Heavy and overloaded with sugarcane they damaged the road and created many potholes. Mud from the field and sugarcanes felt off from the truck made the road quite dusty and unpleasant to ride. The same condition is repeated in Negros island which has even more sugarcane plantation.

During the commodities boom of the late 70’s, the sugar plantation owners wielded considerable political power. Then sugar price collapsed and remained depress for 25 odd years. The towns along the way seems to have had their best day behind. However, another commodity boom seems to be just starting. Worldwide sugar price has reached 52 weeks high. Perhaps the next time I’ll ride this route, the road will be better maintain with investment from the profit.

Iloilo is a midsize town with a lot of English language learning centers for Korean. These language centers

Standard class sleeping berth on a roro ferry.

are a peculiar form of labor force globalization. I met some of these Korean students in the guesthouse in Manila. They are eager to learn English. English language teachers, particularly a native speaker, and specifically Caucasian native speakers, are highly sought to teach English in Korea. No teaching qualification is needed, just need to be a Caucasian and speaks English. Korean pays good money for these teachers. So, some smart Korean start opening up English language learning centers in Philippine employing mostly Filipinos with a few Caucasian teachers. Korean college students came here to take English intensive course for a few months. They paid cheaper tuition and enjoyed the warm weather and beaches. Their colleague in Korea froze in the middle of cold Korean winter and paid dearly for the Caucasian English teacher. Along with the English language centers, there are scores of hotels, restaurants, and shops catering to Korean.

From Iloilo I took another ferry to Bocolod in the island of Negros and head straight to the small Malapascua island north of the big island Cebu. In Malapascua island, you can dive and see thresher shark with its humongous tail. I took an introductory diving course and enjoyed it quite a

Malapascua island.

bit (no shark), despite a partial lost of hearing on my right ear for a few weeks. Later I regretted that I did not take the full 4 days course.

Malapascua is a beautiful island with no car, no tricycle, no road, some electricity some of the time, slow internet, and a great ambience to relax. I met Mike, a British guy, and observed another interesting form of globalization: globalization of romance.

In Philippine I noticed, without even trying to notice, a large numbers of pairing between Caucasian man and Filipina lady. Some of these pairs were clearly matches made in the so call bikini bars. For others, pairing would be an inaccurate description because the men are accompanied by two or more ladies with them. However, a large numbers of these pairs seems to be just an ordinary couple. Mike is on his way to become one of these pairs.

He was born in England and start working for overseas oil companies from a tender age of 20s. After 20s years of working overseas, he wanted to settle down from the stressful ulcers-producing nomadic job. He got married in the US. Unfortunately, four years ago the

Home of the thresher shark with its humoungous tail.

marriage felt apart and he got divorced. Mike is a positive person. Though the divorce is clearly bitter and stressful, the way he talked about the event was like telling a good yarn. He found a new job back in England. After spending four years trying to get back on his feet financially, now he is channeling his new found energy to his new endeavor which is looking for a new wife.

One of his friend convinced him that Filipina ladies are the best daughters of Eve. His friend told him that a Filipina lady will care for him, cook for him, wash the dishes and laundry, clean the house, and so on. His friend also told him that not only they care for him, but Filipina ladies also enjoy sex (Editor note: not my words. That is verbatim.) All he got to do is bringing home the money. So, Mike is not looking just for a new wife. He is looking for a new Filipina wife to fulfill his dream.

On this trip, Mike combine his hobby for diving with his quest to searching a new wife. He came to Philippine, luggage loaded with diving gears, and

Malapascua island.

heart filled with anticipation. There were so many diving spots, so his hobby is easily taken care off. His change of meeting his future wife is also quite high. Mike wanted to make as many contact as possible with Filipina ladies he met and like. Eventually, he wanted to marry one of them and bring her back to England.

He told his quest to many friends he made. I admire his positive attitude, searching and going after what he want. And Filipinos seems to be attune to this endeavor. For Filipino, going overseas for work or marriage is mundane business as usual. Out of the population of 77 million, 7.5 million Filipino (about 10%) live outside of Philippine. The money overseas Filipino sent home each year amount to about $8 billion or one half of Philippine foreign trade. If you are a single male traveling in Philippine, you’d get many questions along the line: Are you married? Why not? Have a job? I have a sister, or cousins, or nieces, …etc.

Many of the pairing are between the older Caucasian men and the younger Filipina lady. It is understandable that if they considered marrying outside their race, living

Malapascua island.

outside their country, that they would want financial security in addition to romance. Life for a woman in Philippine is quite hard.

One day we were at a restaurant in Malapascua. The waitress was a cute Filipina. She was a little shy and mumbling to ask what is the drink. Perhaps he did not hear clearly or was mesmerized by her, Mike though she asked her what is his dream. He said, “If I could only tell you my dream”. Since then, he nick-named her Panaginip, a tagalog word for dream.

At first he was just flirting with Panaginip and reluctant to ask her out. He preferred a city person instead of a person from a rural area. His reasoning is that a city person is more assertive and would adjust to life in England better than a shy rural person. Malapascua is quite rural and Panaginip is shy. A few nights ago, Mike was introduced by the hotel owner to her cousin. Mike did not find a common ground with the lady, thus reinforcing his preference for a city person. He want somebody who is more like the hotel owner.

The hotel owner has a German

Sun drying the squids.

boyfriend. She is a lioness: assertive, confidence, arrogance, knows what she wants, and full of ideas of how to get what she wants. She was having a problem with her German boyfriend. Typically, by 11:00am, the boyfriend reeked of alcohol.

He is her second German. She stayed with the first one for 3 months in Germany. They separated after he was having what she said was an affair. I asked her what a foreign man should know about a Filipina lady. She said Filipina lady is a jealous type. I wonder, due to a cultural difference, if a casual female friendship of a German man would be an inappropriate relationship for a Filipina lady. She also said that Filipina lady has an extended family. Indeed she has.

The hotel/restaurant was run by 5 staff, all of them are relatives from her extended family. She built the hotel from his money. They met a year ago on the island and went together to Bohol with her as a guide. After a few weeks, he gave her money to buy a plot of land and go back to Germany to work. Foreigner can’t hold a land as a person, so

Barbeque stuffed giant squid, P300 (USD 7.50) with rice. We could not finish it.

the certificate is under her name. The two story house for them is roofed and almost completed. The cement house is a skyscraper around the nipa huts.

One night they had an argument related to staff management. She, accustom to giving out order while he is in Germany, gave an order without his consent. He, the source of cash, resent the fact that she did not inform him of the decision while he is on the island. He is tense because he is bleeding cash. The hotel has not bring in enough money to break even, let alone profitable.

The next day, she came showing us the picture of his first boyfriend. A very bad sign. But what she to do. If she breaks up with this second German, then the income stream stop and there are 5 relatives plus their family to feed. And what he to do. He has already invested all his saving for this hotel. So, she asked the staff to cooked her breakfast. And, he went back to his rum and coke.

He came to the island last winter after splitting with his cheating German girlfriend. Imagine his situation: just breaking up,

Videoke time. Filipinnos sing very well.

being single, vulnerable, coming from cold weather, arriving in warm weather, stress less life, strikingly beautiful beaches, beach front property at P5000 a meter, and seductive Filipinas cooking, washing, cleaning for you.

Never mind the hotel owner problems. Mike is very street smart, everyone would be after 20 something years working in the oil industry around the world. Never mind Panaginip is from rural area. What his brain decide is not what his heart desire. Mike asked for Panaginip’s address, email, phone, or anything to keep in touch. Then we went back to the hotel and chat with the hotel crew about it. Malapascua is a very small island. Everybody knows everybody else sisters, brothers, nieces, cousins, etc. Soon, the Filipinos took charge. A friend of the hotel crew knew Panaginip. They concocted a plan to take Mike for a visit to Panaginip at her house, tomorrow morning. And they showed up at 6:00am, right after the rooster crows, before they have to go to work around 8:00am.

The next day they spent half a day in the park. He said Panaginip has a big heart, while his heart fluttered. Eventually he went back to Malapascua island again

Orchid

to stay for another week courting Panaginip. Despite what his brain tell him, his heart might dictate what he does. An island lady, several thousands miles from England, might win his heart. He went back to England, luggage still filled with diving gear and heart filled with passion. The last I heard is that Mike is saving money to go back to Philippine. They are planning to get married and started the paperwork process to bring her to England.

If you read this Mike, happy new life with your dream lady.

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