The Possibilities and Impossibilities

After the second of my two 4-month stays, I decided to leave Catigan not sure what the future would hold. I went back to Metro Manila. I was not happy to be away from the peace and quiet of Catigan but delighted to be able to get back into my city ways. I had learnt to live without many things whilst I was away but none of that means I didn’t miss having a more convenient and easier life by being in a city.

I’m a city boy and I guess if you’re city-orientated from birth then you are always going to feel more at home with what you’re used to. The eight (8) months I spent in Catigan was my first real taste of rural Filipino life. I was quite pleased with myself that I did adapt over time and once you stop missing things you think you need, you learn that really you don’t need much.

Understanding the WTF Factor

This project of mine is about trying to show varying sides of Filipino life. It’s done in a totally amateur way with lousy photos taken on a cell phone and being broke means I live in a way most foreigners wouldn’t want to which in turn brings me face to face with some of the hardships that many everyday Filipinos have to endure. I don’t have the resources to venture into surrounding resorts nor food taste in restaurants. I bloody well want to and dream of that day ever happening. I give a perspective from places many outsiders would not want to bother with. Not entirely by choice but as that’s how it is for me: I embrace it, learn from it and share it.

The reason I’ve sub-headed “Understanding the WTF Factor” is because although some people are aware of how life is here for many, it still comes as a bit of a surprise when you venture into the everyday world of the Filipino. The more you learn, the more you realise just how life is hard for so many every day. Most get by with little and they live and eat daily. As you venture into cities and in the countryside, you experience situations where you find yourself asking, “How do they survive it?”

Time possibly hardens you as you become used to it. For newbies, it’s inevitable that on several occasions, you will find yourself exclaiming “WTF?!” It’s something only those that have travelled extensively around the third world would not be a little overawed by the lack of opportunity and the difficulties they endure. It’s not every Filipino of course but still many more than any official stats would suggest live lives unimaginable by anything the average westerner is accustomed to. The Philippines is not just a country with some in poverty, it’s a country of mass poverty.

For us, it is culture shock as well as astonishment at the patience these people have even damned stupidity of how they don’t fight back. Time teaches you why they don’t. We as westerners would probably make discord and find scapegoats as we do that in our cultures. I’m not even knocking the concept of fighting to improve man’s lot, but I have learnt from my time here that sometimes you’re just too powerless and finding a way through it is energy better spent.

Many of us become opinionated and I was and sometimes still am no exception to that. Only time can paint you a fuller picture. How you get to understanding it is naturally a unique trek for every individual, nobody experiences the same things. Time is the main teacher. Over the years, your “WTF” becomes a gentle roll of the eyes and when you have reached that place, you have begun to adapt and accept. Some things you never fully accept but you will at least understand it more.

Relating to Metro Manila

By having a small amount of understanding of how people live outside of Metro Manila, it helps you understand why Metro Manila is how it is. Many come into the capital from everywhere in the archipelago and the city absorbs it all. The diversity is something a visitor cannot grasp with ease. Millions of people from every corner of the Philippines have come and tried to make a life for themselves in the city as I wrote about in Cities of Broken Dreams . The cities fuse together but in a completely incomprehensible fashion. Seeing the wider Philippines brings home to you just what a combo the Philippines is and therefore Metro Manila, in all its insane glory, becomes just a little more comprehensible.

People are there from all over and it’s like a machine made up of parts of other machines but it just about functions. Seeing where all those parts have come from can also help you appreciate it and understand it a little more.

Metro Manila has always been Metro Manila but the influx from everywhere else is also what makes Metro Manila what it is today. It’s crazy but there are not too many cities under the strain this collection of cities is under. The influx from everywhere else adds extra incomprehension but it also makes it what it is, diverse, insane, unfathomable but fascinating.

Business Thoughts about Catigan

All I report is simply based on my limited experiences and I share the little I learnt. Like many foreigners, I always had an eye for spotting business possibilities. Like a lot of things here, some business ideas make good sense whilst at the same time you encounter many negatives to put you off. The same applies whether town or country. I’m always watching for good ideas that may suit locals and foreigners alike as business ventures. In Catigan, Davao City, I spotted some and at the same time discounted many.

I have already spoken about the minibus idea I had had in Ideas, Opportunity and Self Destruction and my mind would keep thinking up other crazy ideas about making a living in Catigan. My financial future is very uncertain so I have to content myself with dreams and discussing possibilities for others and sharing ideas at least for the moment anyway.

Is there any worthwhile ways a foreigner or local could make a living in Catigan. The answer is as always a frustrating one, it’s maybe.

I had many rushes of blood to my business head and had some crazy thoughts go through it. Some was totally out of the lunatic areas in my brain such as pony treks through beautiful Catigan, off track using local horses which some locals had as a mode of transport. You would see horses grazing as you went about Catigan and kids would enjoy galloping across the open areas on them having a great time using rice sack saddles. I asked myself would the owners be up to being hired along with their horse for a Sunday afternoon.

Then I thought of how thin some of the horses were. They would have needed a little food supplement for sure to build them up and make them healthier. I don’t know the reason why but most of the horses I saw looked a little underfed despite the fairly lush pasture and therefore possibly not up to the job.

Next reality check was when I started thinking about supplying proper saddles and the cost of them. I finally gave it up as a bad idea when I began to think about how to market it. For sure, it would not be made easily marketable I would think. Although such crazy ideas are doable, it really is debatable as to whether all the cogs to run the machine would work well. Then you consider marketing it alone, it becomes more of a nice thought than a viable business.

Living off the Land

There are many foreigners around the Philippines who have successfully made good business with farming. Whether growing crops, fruits or keeping livestock, it certainly is a potential livelihood that has some merit. The opinion I give here is really meant only as my thoughts after leaving one location, Catigan. I’m at no point saying that farming is not a worthwhile venture.

If you fancy yourself as a farmer, well it’s quite possible you can find some land for sale at surprisingly good prices. Depending on your legal status of course then land is easily obtainable. If you’re not a local, then investing in farming could be an extremely risky business. You need to be able to take the time to learn before you even begin.

You would be highly reliant on staff which is to be expected and would certainly be available. On a positive note; you would be surrounded by a lot of experienced heads. In communities like this, it’s likely through friendship you can obtain plenty of localised farming knowledge. There is a lot to know and it would take years to acquire enough knowledge to manage it yourself. Take time out to learn then it becomes a far more realistic path to a livelihood.

If you were thinking about such a venture, you should simply spend a year just living in the community and getting to know people whilst observing. The reason being is that it’s a way of life you need to know if you’re cut out for. Of course, you can just have it managed for you and I believe there are foreigners doing just that in the area. Even so, it always pays to immerse yourself in knowledge to lessen the risks from making bad uninformed decisions which stem from inexperience.

Aspects of farming seem attractive. For those that just want to supplement an income then a little small scale livestock farming can supplement your food at least. Pigs, goats and chickens make many here a little extra income.

Managing the land takes a lot of knowledge and you’re in a community that is raised doing just that and the knowledge is passed down from generation to generation. You would be well served to integrate into the community where there is a market already available for your produce and buyers collect regularly or you can seek out your own buyers.

Land ownership is a complicated matter for foreigners but there are ways to do it even if you’re single and non-resident. The drawback of course is it won’t be in your name entirely which for some is a risk too far. A foreigner not being able to own land 100% does not seem to be really helping anyone whether local or outsider but that’s another discussion. Let me know your situation and I will see what is possible legally.

Who Let the Dogs Idea Out?

If you wanted to simply spend your days in a beautiful peaceful idyllic setting with very little to do for entertainment then Catigan would be ideal for you. It even went through my head that it could be an ideal spot for a dog breeder. The dogs would be supremely fit with regular exercise up and down the hills of Catigan. I really don’t have too much knowledge of dog breeding personally but it did seem like a nice thought. You could have a local carpenter build kennels extremely affordably and it’s an option as well as endless space which is essential to keep dogs healthy and in peak condition. Location could be a difficulty if you were thinking of boarding kennels but not fatal. It’s a little out of the way but that can easily be presented as an asset. To higher class clients it could be sold more as a holiday for the dog as I’m sure any healthy dog would have a great time chasing chickens and running up and down the hills of Catigan.

Not knowing too much about the dog market, I can’t really tell you more but I’m sure it could be a viable option. I was told that breeding certain breeds has a constant market and again, a nice thought. It’s not the kind of idea I put too much thought into and I’m sure I’m missing something but it does seem like it could have potential.

I won’t go through the sillier ideas I had as I prefer to save myself the embarrassment.

Vacation House

An idea that had me curious was a venture into offering holiday accommodation. Catigan definitely has its appeal and I’m sure many would appreciate a weekend or even longer away from it all. Land can be obtained at very reasonable prices and if you keep it traditional then the cost of building a house is surprisingly cheap. I estimated that for around 200,000 PHP ($4,500 approx) you could buy land in a beautiful setting and build an ideal perfectly comfortable house along with a side house which you could move yourself into whenever you have a client. You could earn extra again by offering meals and with a little imagination, you could make it comfortable using traditional furnishings all very affordably.

Drawbacks would be that Catigan doesn’t have all the facilities that many people seeking a break may expect. One thing I have learnt from my time in the Philippines is that many things can be done but there will always be obstacles. At first, you think that only having cold water available would be off-putting for many. Although some would be prepared to be hardy, unfortunately those looking for a break and can afford a break, well, they may have other ideas. Realistically, most would be seeking some comforts.

Again, the difficulties can be overcome although a little expensive. It is perfectly possible to fit a water heater and I’ve even seen ones you simply plug into the mains and drop the heater into a tank of water and it warms it. With a good builder, you could even fit a shower of some sort with an overhead tank but my god, it would be a challenge keeping it filled. You would need to supply all the water manually by either fetching it yourself and filling tanks, or you have the option of paying the local carabao man to deliver your water for you, there are ways ‘round everything but a little costly.

A vacation house was my favourite idea but whilst you could buy land and build a house extremely inexpensively, that could well be the only advantage.

The beauty and cooler climate of Catigan would surely be an attraction. As beautiful as it is there,there are many factors that make it difficult, although difficult most definitely does not make it impossible.

Building Your Vacation House

On a positive note, buying land in Catigan is affordable, I would even go as far as to say very affordable. Despite its location being a little off the track, it is easy as well as cheap to arrange having a house built including septic tank. Using local builders and suppliers, you can build a traditional house in the Bagobo style and I saw some houses there that were enchanting as well as perfectly comfortable.

A small house could be built for around 30,000 PHP ($670 approx) and a more lavish and larger construction should not really cost any more than 100,000 PHP ($2,300 approx).

A common feature here is building other houses on your land to accommodate extended family. Many families live side by side creating family compounds.

As I went around Catigan, I came across some wonderful unique structures.

There is wealth and poverty in Catigan and much between the two. The locations furthest from the road are where it’s possibly cheaper to live. As you ride up the main Catigan road, you see glimpses of affluence. As you move more into the farmed areas away from the road, walking is the only option, and I’ve visited people that were a full hour’s walk away.

Away from the road, the more beautiful it is but as you go further then you are not able to connect to the local unofficial electricity supply. Seems, Catigan has pluses and minuses and if we’re talking vacation house and offering a few amenities then you would need to find land not too far from the road for electricity connection purposes. It also helps to be situated somewhere your clients wouldn’t need to take an hour’s walk to get to.

Another option could be a generator but that would be an expensive investment. Water is free everywhere and a series of hoses runs all over Catigan from local springs but in some cases, depending where your situated, it can be far.

From a health and well-being point of view, as long as you have a little stamina, it’s great fitness-building country. Whilst I was there, I only ate vegetables and rice which helped me develop the body of an athlete. Simply walking up and down the hills built my fitness and stamina a lot. I wasn’t panting and lost several pounds after a few months of being in Catigan. All these things I felt if presented in the right way, could be plus points for those who want a break away from the stresses of life and seek somewhere quiet and relaxing as a typical vacation house client would. Possibly a selling point but for most, that doesn’t appeal. It’s another world and the lack of things to do for some is not exciting but for others, it’s perfect. Every way you think about it, it was good and bad, positives and negatives, all of which made it very difficult to make a solid assessment.

I even had the silly notion of promoting it as a weight loss vacation but it was at this point I started to realise the higher altitude was warping my mind.

As is often the case, when you think ideas through a little deeper, you encounter the reasons not to do it even more. If everyone who wanted a break or vacation were hardy souls along with having immense patience, then it could be a winner, however, not too surprisingly if someone wants to pay out good money for an escape then they are going to want things to be just how they want it. Enduring some adversity is most often not any kind of selling point.

Although these points against it may seem trivial to such as me who has become used to the more difficult aspects of life in Catigan, not many will want to have to endure potentially having to walk up to their knees in mud nor have to listen to the awful sounds of squealing that come from the local videoke. Someone paying out good money to get away from the stresses of life in a city could be put off by these factors.

There are places out of earshot of the horrendous noise of locals attempting to sing bad rock ballads but I suspect they would be possibly a little too far off the track and although this isn’t fatal, it’s certainly a problem which I doubt many would want to gamble with if they are investing in a business.

The final negative is what I reported in The Catigan Social Experiment Failure and that being the problem of lack of garbage collection. Catigan can be a little untidy and the beauty is a little spoilt by the garbage that gets thrown around. It’s not terrible but bad enough for people to notice and it does somewhat let the place down. It’s a common problem which you tend to encounter in many places in the Philippines and possibly something many are used to but still, it makes Catigan a little less idyllic.

None of the negatives I’ve mentioned are fatal to any of the ideas. Viable projects? Probably not. Still all the same, the unbalanced side of me would have loved to give it a try especially the vacation house. Maybe it’s a blessing I don’t have money for any such ventures. You can’t always trust yourself when you get a crazy idea. Riskier ventures somehow add to the thrill. With me not having the money, the options weren’t there so I just allowed myself to dream and let my possibly overly optimistic business fantasies run amok.

The final blow to my vacation house business fantasy was marketing. Maybe with more thought, a way to bring it to people’s attention was possible but I just didn’t imagine people would be queuing down the Catigan road for a weekend there. I would imagine it could quite possibly be empty much of the year. I’m sure a marketing consultant could tell me otherwise, I don’t really know.

If you could afford to potentially take the blow of having a vacation house without clients for much of the year then that’s all well and good and of course it suddenly becomes a less risky project. I’m sure some are in a position where as long as they end up with a nice house, then they would be prepared to take the risk. You haven’t really lost as you have a nice house for yourself even if it’s a failed business. Catigan is beautiful; it can be a very decent place to live especially if you have your own transport.

Maybe or Maybe Not

This was my first taste of rural life and in the 8 months in all I spent there, I learnt much but you can never learn enough. I really wanted to come up with good ideas for ways to make business in Catigan. I had no reason other than to try and prove to myself i have a sharp eye.

I quite possibly missed some and I would never rule out the possibilities of succeeding as a farmer, renting out a vacation house and even the more insane ideas such as pony treks or dog breeding. Really, they were stabs in the dark and I am certainly no expert when it comes to seeking out good business opportunities. Future ventures around the Philippines I hope will make me a better potential good business idea spotter but this was my first real rural experience and I’m simply playing with ideas. As regards Catigan, the cautious part of me would have me thinking to look somewhere else.

It has huge potential but possibly better suited to someone that just wanted somewhere peaceful to live without the uncertainly and risk of trying out any of my crazy ideas. I felt Catigan is possibly too problematic to risk putting your cash into with its logistical and geographical problems which had me imagining many reasons to play safe and not take a risk than to go for it.

For someone who has knowledge of farming techniques in this part of the world, then I suspect that it could be a very successful venture. The thing there though is that not many expats have that knowledge. In partnership with a local that does, it could be a worthwhile and safer business but as a single investor and not having experience of such things, I myself wouldn’t do it.

I’m not saying don’t consider it, I’m just meaning that I personally didn’t see or think of anything that I felt fully at ease with as a business opportunity, at least not in Catigan anyway.

A Place to Settle Down

Of course, another option that is not business related is to simply build yourself an affordable house on affordable land. For less than 100,000 PHP ($4500 approx), you could spend your days in a beautiful part of the world and adapt to life as it is here. You can drink tuba in the mid afternoon, go on endless walks and lose yourself in another world.

If you just want somewhere to spend your weekends or holidays then it’s an affordable dream. Why do I mention these things? Because people do it. I was shown a few properties that had caretakers looking after them that were owned by foreigners. Most of the year, they were unoccupied but were used for visits. Residents come in and out of the country and Catigan is where they chose to stay when in the Philippines. Considering how inexpensively you can find land and build on it, it’s easy to see why. Usually though, that happens due to family connections.

Filipinos have a more hardy nature than your average westerner and many would come from a place with some similarities to Catigan. For them, cold water and fetching it yourself is just something they are used to. It really isn’t that bad in most cases and if a foreigner living here can make a few simple adaptations, they can spend their time living quietly, cheaply and enjoying the beauty.

It is Catigan I speak of because I’ve been there but the same applies in so many places in the Philippines. As for Catigan, I would recommend it to anyone who just wants somewhere peaceful to stay. For a business? I’m not so sure. For excitement? Definitely not.

It’s easy to see why I hoped Catigan could have possibilities as a tourism haven even. Its beauty and appeal are obvious.

I spent many quiet hours just enjoying the views, watching the daily life and thinking I could stay here forever. I believe there are thousands of places all over the Philippines that would have a very similar effect on many of us. Dreams are possible in the Philippines.

I saw a house being built and was told by the owner the whole structure was going to cost him 70,000 pesos (1,600 US$ approx).

Laws which prevent foreigners from owning land restrict many. If you want to find out whether your wishes could be fulfilled, it’s best to just tell me your dream and I will try and help you and see if it can be fulfilled. I can find out the requirements related to your specific needs and guide you through some of the legalities. The possibilities never end. This is a free service; I do it because I love the exploration of seeking possibilities.

I’ve said enough about Catigan. I’ve lived in many places in different situations but this was my first truly rural Philippines experience. It’s good to not think about expectations and just take what there is. I hope to be bringing some other perspectives and maybe better ideas for some alternative ways of living in future writings. For now, it was back to the city where other kinds of possibilities lie and a good wash.

Catigan taught me a lot about myself. It’s sparked my imagination with a first proper taste of a rural way of life in the Philippines. I shall keep looking for good ideas as I get around and share them. Anyway, back to Metro Manila, adventure over and who knows what the future will hold.

The Catigan Social Experiment Failure

 

It’s Not Their Fault, Is It?

 
Every now and then, I move into self appointed scientist mode. I don a white coat, arm myself with a clipboard and begin my research. This was one of those moments and my subjects for experimentation was the people within my vicinity in Catigan.

This silly little experiment I conducted because for a moment I fooled myself into thinking that the people of Catigan had some ways forced upon them. I wanted to end my experiment with a theory of mine backed up.

I believed for a foolish moment, that if you gave people an opportunity to make their world a more beautiful place, that they would grasp it. Not meaning to be like someone who tells you the ending of the film before you watch it, I will say here and now I was wrong. The people failed massively and my theory was left in tatters.

 

It’s Only Garbage

 
Catigan is a beautiful place yet it was noticeable that for a community that was fairly small, there was a hell of a lot of garbage strewn around. On the walk back from the sari sari store, I would pick up endless plastic wrappers from corn chips, plastic bags in general and wrappers removed from whatever was bought from the sari sari and just thrown on the ground. This is far from unique to Catigan as I think just about everywhere I have been in the Philippines, I’ve come across the same problem whether town or country.

My first instinct was to be appalled at the disrespect they had for their own community. Everywhere I have been in the Philippines, it’s been noticeable that most people don’t care a damn about such a trivial matter such as keeping their environment free from garbage. The plastic wrappers I would collect to use as fire starters and melt them unto the wood which in turn helps to ignite it. I was fully aware that burning plastic is not good for the environment but it was better than leaving them strewn all over Catigan or at least that was my logic. Most likely they would get burnt eventually anyway if not trodden into the ground.

Yes, I hear all you first world citizens asking why I simply didn’t put them in the garbage. Well, that is the problem here as well as in many other parts of rural Philippines, there is no collection of garbage. Hence, Catigan is littered with paper, plastic and endless bottles.

Someone would call ‘round every now and then and buy certain kinds of bottles, substantial pieces of plastic and metal for a low price. Many would hang on to the materials that they could get some money back which included tin cans and gladly exchange it for cash, but as regards household garbage there was limited ways in getting rid of it. It was burn it or bury it, there was no other choice.

So a bottle that was not of the kind accepted by junk shops would end up in the ground. In Catigan, garbage disposal tragically consists of making a hole somewhere and burying it if it could not be burnt. I’m not saying it’s too obvious to the eye. Burning gets rid of much of it and the rest is buried or sold.

Being aware that there is no garbage collection, I gave people the benefit of the doubt and believed it was only that way because there was nowhere else to put it, so might as well just throw it down on the ground as it’s going to end up there anyway. Well, there was no garbage bins around that was for sure. If there were, surely they would put it in one and keep the place looking decent, wouldn’t they?

Just give them the means to clean up Catigan and keep it clean, then naturally they are going to embrace it. By the end of my little experiment, the conclusion was that they had no wish to make Catigan a more beautiful place, even given the means to do it.

 

It’s The Local Government’s Fault, Isn’t It?

 
I automatically blamed the problem of garbage on the local government for not having any garbage collection there. It’s an easy conclusion to come to until you give it deeper thought. Most places in Catigan are inaccessible to vehicles.

So realising the logistical nightmare that garbage collection would be in a terrain like this, it debatably excuses local government. I thought that some initiative by local government at barangay level could help things by supplying bins or at least nailing up some rice sacks for people to put the trash they strewn about into. Thing is even if they did, whose going to empty them and where are they going to put it.

So it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that a garbage collection of some sort could be arranged. Perhaps it could but it would be one hell of a task. Garbage would need to be taken over lengthy distances by carabao as nothing else could manage the terrain. The collected household waste would have to be taken to the road where a garbage truck could collect it. Yes, possible I’m sure but it was easy to work out why it wasn’t happening. That would mean employing people to do it and I guess the local barangay would not have a budget for that so in short, Catigan is like many other places in the Philippines, having no garbage collection.

I’m sure they could be doing something more than they are doing but it’s hard to say what, so for that reason I’m not going to blame anyone in local government entirely. It’s one of those problems like many in the Philippines that are just too difficult to organise and therefore nothing is done. It’s a problem in many places I imagine throughout rural Philippines. It’s simply too much of a complex and expensive project to undertake. It’s never as simple as it seems so therefore no garbage collections.

 

Spring Test

 
So still slightly deluded in the belief that people would do something about it themselves if given the encouragement and means, I began my social experiment. It was simple enough; clean up the spring where my neighbours wash clothes and themselves as well as collect drinking water and I’m sure they will want to keep it clean and beautiful. I was very, very wrong indeed.

Every time I went to the spring to wash myself, I would feel sad at how disgusting the people had made it. Water was supplied through a hose which was ran all over the community and various springs scattered around would be the washing of clothes area as well as place to wash yourself.

It was a beautiful spot surrounded by ancient bamboo trees. The spring attracted beautiful butterflies as well as various dragonflies of varying colour. I would enjoy the peace and quiet and listen to the gentle running water which made the disgusting mess the people had made of it all the more tragic.

Under this pile of garbage was more. Seemed someone’s idea of cleaning up the spring was to throw soil over the top and cover it and a new layer would be made on the surface which eventually would get covered over with soil and on and on it went.

I always found this unfortunately typical Filipino problem of environmental apathy heartbreaking. So I set out to prove that it only happens because people get no help or encouragement to make things better. I really did think that if they were shown what it could be like and to give them somewhere to dispose of their soap packets, used toothpaste tubes and worse, they would want it kept looking good and be grateful that a small part of their immediate environment would be free of garbage.

 

The Clean Up

 
I set out to clean it up. I picked up endless plastic containers, wrappers and even used diapers. I didn’t go as far as to turn over the soil and pull out the previously buried garbage as I didn’t have the tools but I picked up every piece of garbage that was on the surface and I was delighted with the end result.

We also put up some poles for hanging the washing on and hung rice sacks so that people could easily dispose of their garbage. Of course, this was all it ever needed in the first place. Just give them the means to keep their environment nice and of course, they will do the rest. Surely, it was just a lack of local organisation; of course, from now on the problem was solved and the spring would become once again a pleasant place.

Well, the theory was good but I was soon to discover that the problem with good theories and making a small difference is that it needs others to share the sentiment and wish for something better, even if it was just a matter of cleaning up one tiny part of their world. There were plenty of other springs around the purok. Most of those were used by more people than this particular spring and were far worse as regards being covered with garbage.

Good Start

For the first week, I was starting to believe I was very clever and all my theories were being backed up. It just so happened to be a time of plentiful rain which meant that the spring was not having the usual people go there to do the washing.

My cleanup operation was taken well by one or two and it was said to me that “yes, it’s awful how people make such a mess”. So a week of wet weather had me fooled and I never gave it much thought that if people are not going there due to the weather, then there won’t be so much mess. However, week 2 started to present another story.

I noticed that once people started attending the spring again that garbage was being thrown around; slowly at first with just the odd soap wrapper or discarded empty shampoo packet. Rice sacks had been put in place to make it easy for people to simply put their garbage into them. Seemed actually putting anything into them was too difficult for many people in Catigan.

Each time I went down to the spring, I would dutifully pick up the new garbage that had been thrown around and put it in the rice sacks provided. It wasn’t a huge amount but this was probably because only around 10 people used that spring.

It appeared some were even hostile towards my efforts. The garbage would be placed on the floor right alongside the rice sack. It appeared like someone was trying to say something as it would have been easier to just drop it in the sack.

Word got back to me that there was some bitching because I had cleaned up the spring and I really believe some of the garbage was strategically placed right alongside the rice sacks as if to make some point.

Maybe they resented a foreigner cleaning up part of their world. I ignored the provocation and continued to pick up anything that was thrown down daily and hoped that at some point they would change their ways. It never got too bad as my daily efforts to keep it clean countered the anti social spite which some was displaying.

I concluded before I flew back to Manila that I was on the verge of a losing battle. It was kept clean purely because I was picking up what they had thrown down. I left knowing what was going to happen after I was gone. Just a few weeks after my return to Manila, I asked my sons’ mother what kind of state was the spring in. Sadly, she told me that it was back to how it was before I cleaned it up.

 

The Real Blame

 
It’s possibly being trivial to say too much about a little challenge I set people involving a little spring. It may seem harsh to make any conclusions based on the outcome. Yes it’s trivial and I’m sure some would say that people here have greater things to concern themselves other than garbage and its disposal.

I would heartily agree if it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve seen the Philippines being brought down by some Filipinos far too often. It’s not only Catigan, it’s all over the country. Filipinos too often do not respect the beauty they live in. I’ve heard endless excuses in the past and most of it revolved around not being given the tools to make a difference. This is often true but we won’t go into that here right now. In this case, I supplied the tools and incentive, but the reaction was depressing.

Although hardly scientific, my silly social experiment did echo what many say. That being, in certain matters, the Filipino is his own worst enemy. It isn’t something you can afford to get too fed up of as it takes no time for you to realise that you aren’t going to change a thing. Positive messages and guidance is scant. I always have my sons put their wrappers in a bin. If nowhere to dispose of it, I get them to hand it to someone in a sari sari store for them to dispose of. The point being that people can be educated to do the right things as it wasn’t hard with my kids with this particular issue at least.

Authorities offer no guidance or influence and it goes on because nobody anywhere is saying to do otherwise. It’s just one of so many classic Filipino dilemmas you observe daily. To take on the issue of trying to clean things up would be so very difficult. Consequently nobody will step up and begin to tackle it. Unfortunately, this is in far more aspects of life here than mere garbage. It’s a mentality which is not exactly what I would call the Filipinos strongest feature.

You can sympathize with authorities on one level as the collecting of garbage in rural areas is often a logistical nightmare. When you see how so many citizens don’t even want to see a less polluted Philippines along with no real will from media, politicians and the people themselves, then you start to experience that given up feeling. Seems people haven’t even given up, they never started.

The message and training I give my kids is not something you would hear too often from locals. Mom and Dad would most likely be throwing their garbage around so not surprisingly the kids follow suit. It must be considered though that I come from a culture where it’s quite logistically possible to collect garbage and dispose of it. Naturally, my view on this is influenced by that and I do have to think a little wider and be aware that it actually is such a mammoth task; it’s just so much easier to give up.

So the obvious conclusion is that if you give the people here in Catigan the tools to improve their world as far as keeping it beautiful at least, they won’t do a damned thing about it. It’s their right to destroy your own environment or at least that’s how some seem to see it. I was disappointed to say the least but not completely surprised either. If you are new to being in the Philippines, straight away you will notice that people don’t exactly have any conscience when it comes to simply throwing things around. We sometimes come from cultures that have such things pushed harder into us. We are told to put things in the bin by our parents when we are out and about. I don’t ever remember seeing a Filipino parent pushing that message. If Filipinos wanted to put something in the bin, it’s doubtful they would find one. Simple fact of life which is all part of the Philippines experience.

I just wanted to be proven right in my experiment. I really hoped I would see a sign that in this small spring, people would demonstrate that they can do things right. I was sadly wrong.

You see the same scene replicated in so many places. It’s too easy to give out blame. It’s more about reasons. Could it be logistics, lack of funds as well as apathy about the environment? All of them, I guess.

It seems that perhaps they have other priorities. Yes I hear all the excuses and see the difficulties and I have learnt to accept it but still, I was disappointed.

Lazy Hazy Crazy Days

It would be easy to assume this is knocking at a place that on the surface would seem to have such a heavy drinking culture but I’m not. If I was thinking overly negatively about what I witnessed, I would be a complete hypocrite as I merrily indulged in the same vices as many here in Catigan. I have witnessed a lot of drinking in my time in the Philippines generally and I make no denials that I am prone to the very same vices as those around me.

In Catigan, they can drink and drink hard. It’s hardly surprising in an isolated community with very little to do as it is in Catigan. I witnessed people drunk at 7 in the morning and just to emphasise that I’m not above such things, I would be offered my first shot by locals at that time if I was up early enough and I would often take it.

Drinking so early wasn’t general, far from, but I saw individuals who regularly have a bottle of Tanduay for breakfast and would be sat in a small group sharing a bottle of the lethal rhum and very much the worse for wear, yes even at that hour. However, it must be said that this was only a few who had such tendencies but I completely understood why and how they got into such a state.

Many people here are rooted in Catigan; in fact, they have little reason to go anywhere else and drinking was all there was to do. So whether they had a day’s work ahead of them or not, some would happily begin the day intoxicated.

Drinking to the extreme like I just described was not typical though. More typical would be people getting up, do their work and maybe by mid afternoon indulge in the local favourite of tuba (coconut wine). I confess, I was a little more typical than most. Often fuelled by boredom, I would often find myself buying a half gallon for 20 pesos, have a few glasses and sleep away the late afternoon.

Sundays were the most social time as many would have the day off and they get together at the local videoke and spend the whole day drinking. Also, drinking was done frequently in homes and outside sari sari stores. I have to admit that despite its debilitating effects, I fell into the same trap much too often. Yes, I have had many a day when I’ve drank far too much of either Tanduay rhum or tuba or even both.  I won’t over indulge in the social consequences as life went on for most normally but I will say that in a place with nothing to do, it’s inevitable. Drinking was the only pastime for many.Here, I was experiencing my first taste of living among one of many of the tribes of Mindanao, the Bagobo tribe, yet I did not see anything much of the culture or learn much about the roots of these people as everything just seemed like most rural places in the Philippines. I know that some are proud of their roots and they speak in their own dialect and some express pride in their ancestry but nevertheless, I really didn’t feel I was living among a tribe; they just seemed like every day Filipinos living off the land and getting by.

Cheap and Cheerful Tuba

Tuba is a common feature of Mindanao. In fact, there are a few varieties; some fermented over a period of time but here it was fresh and was on sale in the sari sari stores within hours of being tapped from the coconut tree.  It’s a cheap resource and readily available and it most definitely has a big influence on everyday life for many and during my stay, me also. So enough said about that, what I want to tell you about is the fascinating process of collecting tuba and how it is made.

It seems simple enough on the surface to produce tuba if scaling 30 ft. or more up a tree to collect it is simple. It most certainly isn’t something I could even remotely imagine myself doing. I get dizzy on a bridge and watching these guys effortlessly climb up the coconut tree had me in awe for their courage and tree climbing skill.

Climbing coconut trees is a skill many possess and I’ve even seen them do it at night holding a torch. Many do it to bring down the young green coconuts as part of their living and tuba collecting is effortless to these guys. I would have a vertigo attack looking up at them from the ground so it most definitely is not something I would consider as a white boy who has only climbed the odd apple tree as a small boy.

I was completely in the dark as to what tuba was when I first got here and foolishly believed it was made from the coconut juice from fresh young green coconuts. I was very wrong.

Tapping the Flower

Tuba is actually made from the sap of the flower.

A bamboo vessel is then placed over the cut end which collects the sweet sap and that is collected often in the very early hours and taken back to the home for processing and it’s left to ferment awhile but not too long. It is then filtered and taken off to the sari sari store where it was freely available and freely drank.

Thetungog (bark of mangrove tree) is added into the bamboo tube attached to the flower in the mid afternoon and the sap is collected very early the following morning. The tungog is what gives it its kick and it certainly has a kick, even more so when its more mature but mature tuba loses its sweetness and is much nicer drank fresh as its sweeter then. As the day goes by, it deteriorates quite quickly which makes it stronger but it becomes sour. I would only drink it fresh as I didn’t enjoy it old. It was less potent when fresh but still potent enough.

It seemed different producers varied the amount of tungog they would add to the sweet sap and you soon got to know who made the nicest batch or at least one that suited your taste. Some like it sweet, some like it sour. I was most definitely a sweet man.

Health Hazard

It was said to me on a few occasions that tuba is not good for people with high blood pressure. Well, generally throughout life, I have always failed tests, so I am particularly proud of the fact that every time I have had my blood pressure tested, I’ve come out with a good reading. After a few glasses of tuba, I would feel my blood pressure rising. I would go reddish and could be prone to the odd temper tantrum after drinking too much of it. The danger I experienced was liking the taste too much. It’s so sweet when fresh, too easy to drink and a half gallon could slip down my neck very quickly. It was also noticeable that very often on Sundays, which was the most sociable time in Catigan, fights would often break out among bickering drinkers. I also noticed that people tended to talk more shit than usual under its influence and probably myself, too. I soon learnt that the best place to indulge was at home.

Tuba is a big part of the life here and a cheap way for people to pass the time. It may not be good for the blood pressure but locals will tell you, it’s full of vitamins. I have no idea how true that is but that would be my excuse for my excesses. Since leaving Catigan, I haven’t been anywhere yet where it is so freely available. Free shots was commonplace as its cheap and even an old kuripot (tightfisted) foreigner like me would happily share as another 20 pesos would get me another half gallon. It was also available in the sari sari at 2 pesos a glass.

I loved tuba when fresh. I have to be honest though that I’m glad to be away from it now. I could see how easy it can be to get drunk daily with something so cheap and easily available. Mixed with Tanduay, it was lethal.

Well, I doubt I shall be returning to Catigan after this last trip as my kids have moved away from there. Probably, just as well.

White on the Outside, Poor in the Middle

The White Man’s Really a Poor

One of the things I do in these articles is to try and take the Filipino perspective into consideration. Being a foreigner, it’s not always possible to do that sincerely as I can’t help being a foreigner and that alone puts limitations on how deeply you can get inside of everyday life for the normal Filipino. No matter what circles I move in, I will always be a foreigner obviously. I won’t be treated the same naturally and some unfortunate mindsets prevent many Filipinos seeing you as anything other than a comfortably off foreigner.

Due to having already spent some months there previously, I had got to know many people. Coming from Metro Manila, it always felt good to simply not be in any rush for anything. Life is slow in Catigan but I enjoyed that aspect. Going to the store which was a 20 minute walk away could take 4 hours. Most times I went to the store; I would get sidetracked by people armed with Tanduay or Tuba. It was impossible to escape them as they would be sat outside the store you were going to.

I have my own demons and weaknesses so I was rarely strong enough to say no and refusal was something many wouldn’t accept anyway. I was always given drinks, almost daily. Only on a couple of occasions was I ever asked to buy a bottle. Most times it was give, give, give and I would take, take, and take.

A shift in mindset happened because it was about this time that people started to realise that the big fat Americano who isn’t an Americano “is not a rich, he’s a poor”. At least, those were the words used to describe the general drift of conversation which got reported back to me.

Due to some calamity in my financial world, I was suddenly cut off from income. I was left to live on debt repayments of 6000 pesos less than $140 a month. That was all I had to feed myself, my twin sons of 4 years of age and their mom. I had less than many of the people here and on par with most whilst most were certainly doing better than me. I really was even more than ever in the same flip flops as those around me, having just enough. This meant the basics, food, water, rent and electric being our only overheads. If you eat what is around you, it cuts down your costs and lashings of rice to fill your stomach, you get by.

I stopped buying my cherished Mighty red cigarettes at 30 pesos a pack to tobacco (Fresbie), 10 pesos a small block and rolled it in newspaper or notepaper. They turn out ok once you get used to it and at this level, cigarettes, even cheap ones was a luxury.

I don’t know what made the penny drop with the locals as regards my poor standing in the financial world but there was a change of mindset compared to my previous visit. Maybe it just seemed more obvious because just like the locals, I was crediting. With people always being sat outside the store, all gets noticed and spread around the community via the verbal media machine.

However, I will say that although I was not doing well on my last visit with finances, I had more cash than I had now. The mindset at that time was I’m a rich foreigner as is usual with many all over the Philippines even though I had no outward signs of wealth. On this visit, that mindset was successfully altered by my obvious lack of money.

My cash crisis started on my first visit to Catigan 4 months previous to this visit. However, I had some put by and it made things easier. On this second visit, the funds were depleted. I was down to $140 a month repaid debt money and it showed.

I stopped being the centre of financial conversations and they soon stopped wondering which piece of land I had come to invest my millions of dollars in. It came to rest that I was not the wealthy foreigner that it’s always assumed you are when you are a foreigner, or at least as many people see it here. Did it mean they treated me differently? No, not really. For that I have to give a little credit.

Like many of us grumpy foreigners here, I was too often of the mindset of thinking people sometimes are only interested in your money. It’s something very apparent to every foreigner here. Yes, there were many occasions, situations and conversations that told me this was still in the thinking of many in my locality. Having said that, it’s not right to fail to point out that many, even most, treated me no different on the realisation that I wasn’t what they expected.

Ways of Seeing You

This leads me to talking about acceptance as regards being a foreigner. You will never completely get away from the money mindset when you’re a foreigner. When they turn on the TV, they see foreign films, mostly American. It’s a world of big houses, everyone having a car, fitted kitchens and lush furnishings and your house isn’t made of wood. If you live how millions do here, that looks mighty damned rich. It gets tiresome but you have to remind yourself how it looks through their eyes.

You come from that world, you’re rich; just realise why they think it and learn to live with it. It is particularly hard to deal with it when you’re not exactly rich but struggling to survive. It just feels all wrong when you’re down on your arse but you’re thought of as rich. That was my problem; it was pointless getting pissed as they don’t know about my misfortune.

What was more interesting was how those that came to know I was having a hard time did not noticeably change towards me. I was still given shots almost every time I went to the sari-sari. The majority remained friendly but yes there was some bad mouthing from a minority and of course, those that never get to accept that you’re anything other than rich if you’re a foreigner.

Showing Respect through Language

When I conversed with the genuine majority, I was frequently asked if I spoke Visayan. Shamefully, I would always say no and fraudulently say I spoke Konti lang (little) Tagalog. I only said it as a deflection away from my shame at my own uselessness at never being good at picking up on tongues.

I quietly prayed after my exaggerated claim to having a little Tagalog knowledge that they won’t speak to me in Tagalog and expose my obvious false statement. I know several words in Tagalog but have never been able to put them together into anything like a sentence, and I’m not proud of that at all.

It really gladdens a Filipino when a foreigner even tries, even if badly to speak in the local dialect. I guess, it’s a sign of respect. Naturally enough, being asked about my competence in the local Bagobo language wasn’t a feature but it seemed they expected me to be speaking Visayan. I managed to camouflage it by saying I’ve been living in Manila so wouldn’t have had the need to know Visayan.

To my knowledge, I was spoken badly of by one or two for not having any knowledge of Visayan. It was said “7 years in the Philippines and can’t speak the language, tsk tsk”. This was not put to me in Manila so much or any of its surrounding provinces. It was definitely important to some of these people that I should speak Visayan. It’s a fair comment to say I should be at least speaking Tagalog by now and I see their point. I say this to point out that it may be a good idea to at least know a little, even if it’s just the very basics. It earns you a lot of respect for trying.

Despite my lack of language, I felt pretty much accepted by most and never really felt any hostility. A few slanted remarks are normal and if you can’t take that then best not leave your own country.

However, apart from passing through other rural areas, my 2 visits to Catigan in Davao was my first experience of rural life. I hope future travels will show me that each place has its own quirks.

This is Mindanao where it’s as diverse as it gets. I was living among mostly Bagobo people. I don’t feel I learned a great deal about them nor did I see too much outward evidence of a rich culture. However, I also knew that my lack of language skills and the fact that they just live as any of us do possibly meant I missed a lot.

The culture is now very vague it appeared to me. Many outsiders live among them and it’s not too surprising that their tribal roots are only something in the background. However, I’m also aware I was not one of them and I was probably simply not seeing things. I learnt a few things about how they live, their everyday life but real knowledge, of course not.

Everyday Pictures

Ideas, Opportunity and Self Destruction

The Entrepreneur in All of Us

Naturally enough, we expats, all think we have great ideas in spotting business opportunities even if it’s not our culture. The mistake many make is to think of business ventures in the Philippines as being similar and having the same possibilities as back in our own culture. The first thing you need to realise is that it has very little in common with our culture here. I think I have been here long enough to know that this country has endless possibilities, yet at the same time, why there are a lot of reasons as to why a good idea can be prevented from working here.

I don’t have the resources but that never stops me from dreaming up crazy ideas which on closer inspection don’t always stand up to being all that viable. I dreamed up many crazy ideas and one by one ruled them out for not being feasible due to varying reasons.

Mini Bus Project

I spoke in my earlier article Moving On Up about the nightmare of transport in and out of Catigan. There is an unofficial transport system using motorbikes. The only other method is an illegal sidecar which is outlawed by local government. The motorbike riders never or at least rarely wear a helmet, let alone their paying customers. This is normal practice throughout much of the Philippines and I guess the authorities turn a blind eye.

It has many downsides other than the obvious danger of helmetless motorbikes with numerous passengers riding on the back with you. If you want to get back to Catigan after 6.00 PM, chances are you are going to have to pay a legal authorised sidecar for 180 Pesos. Another problem is when the rain comes, which it frequently does in Catigan, you are going to get wet.

I thought long and hard about this problem and wondered why there was no jeepney service available. The answer I was given reminded me that despite its charms and beauty, the Philippines can sometimes be a lunatic republic.

Apparently many years before, there was a jeepney service between Toril and Catigan. However, when people started offering the unsafe motorbike service unofficially, demand for the jeepney waned and it gave up. It was around the time that the Catigan road was concreted, making motorbikes very popular. Some of those who acquired bikes after the concreting of the Catigan road then offered themselves and their bikes as a service and the people gladly accepted.

Why I regard this as lunatic is because the people themselves, by taking up the dangerous service of the motorbike unofficial service so readily, kind of ended up losing them their only safer and more reliable and comfortable option, the jeepney. I often wondered whether they regretted forcing the jeepney to give up. As a consequence, these dangerous and unreliable modes of public transport became their only option. Not something you expect the people to have given a lot of thought to at the time granted, but the end result in accepting the dangerous motorbike service meant it was going to end all other options. For most, a motorbike is not a problem and locals would not understand my point. It’s only when you want to take small kids with you that you realise that there is no safe way to do that.

This led me to wondering whether or not it may be a good idea for someone to invest in a minibus and take up where the jeepney had left off by offering safe and above all dry comfortable public transport. Not only a good business perhaps, but a benefit to the community.

I did my homework and worked out it could work for someone who was doing it themselves and wasn’t paying wages. It wouldn’t be a high profit but it could be a modest living for whoever was brave enough to risk it. I was confident of the need for such a service. Catigan is not densely populated by any means but there was possibilities for a service say every hour and a half. People get to know your times via a timetable and as long as it wasn’t too much more expensive than the existing motorbike service, I felt some if not all would appreciate the reliability, comfort and safety of such a service.

It’s only my guess as I had not conducted any studies or questionnaires and it was just a hunch. I know Filipinos always take the cheapest option. It used to amaze me that people would put their own flesh and blood into such danger by loading rider, wife, 2 kids and even a baby on a low powered bike which was clearly not able to cope with the load adequately. Watching them struggle to steer the overloaded bike due to the weight that it wasn’t designed to carry was quite disconcerting, yet they did. Filipinos only seem to recognise danger when it’s too late and someone has died. Even that doesn’t stop them more often than not.

This is not just a Catigan issue as I have seen it everywhere, even in Metro Manila. It’s always been that way and without meaning to defend insanity, I’m guessing simple economics dictate. Taking your own family around on an overloaded bike without helmets is madness to us expats. Here, it’s everyday life and it’s rarely questioned. I doubt many would understand what the fuss is about if you tried to point out the insanity of it.

So not entirely convinced a mini bus project was a good idea I mentioned it to others. Many half heartedly said it would be a good idea whilst others said that people will always go with the cheapest option, that being the bike. It was a valid point; I have seen that mindset over all the years I have been here, cheapest is best regardless of the discomfort and even the obvious danger. Many put their loved ones at risk daily based on that simple economic principal and to be fair, in a country where so many are struggling to survive, I think it’s fairly obvious as to why.

However, not everyone in Catigan is poor. As you travel the Catigan road, you pass many more affluent looking houses. Again, this could be an asset but another factor to consider was that the more affluent usually have cars. To start such a service would be very far from a safe bet. I would go as far as to call it a fairly risky project and could just as easily fail as succeed. The only way to find out really would be to just do it and see.

Whoever was so bold would have to go through the usual bureaucratic nightmare of obtaining permissions as well as registering the business which based on my experiences in government offices in Davao, could be a very stressful procedure dealing with extremely unhelpful staff who are simply hideous and pointless. I have a few tales to tell on that score but shall save it for another day. However, once it’s done, it’s done; and after you have all the bricks in place, off you go.

Another setback would be that even if it was a service that someone set up as a self-employed project and manned it themselves, realistically one person could only manage part of the day. If it started at say 7AM and the last run was at 8PM that means it would be finished by around 9 PM. Which in turn means a 14-hour working day and I’m guessing that’s too much even for the hardy and industrious Filipino. It would need to be 7 days a week also so obviously there would be a need to employ someone to help take some of the time as for one, it’s simply too much.

That’s fine if it’s a family business and you have a reliable relative to help you but if not then you’re going to have issues with trust, etc. Still, I didn’t see these as reasons to turn your back on such an idea as yes, these were problems but ones that with thought and effort could be overcome.

I considered all the negatives and was never fully convinced of its viability but it wasn’t any of those things that finally made me put the idea to bed. What finally ended my pre-occupation of thinking the possibilities through was something that was said. Sadly, the comment was valid and unfortunately, an issue so Filipino and at the same time somewhat lunatic. Still, it was something that for most would tip the balance towards thinking, “I won’t bother then.”

What was said was “the bike drivers would get angry” as it would jeopardise their income. People catching a minibus would to them be taking money out of their pockets. Just by allowing the bike service to exist in the first place meant the end to all possibility of safe transport in and out of Catigan for those unfortunate enough to have no other way of getting to Toril.

In other words, they had created a situation where they had made the people reliant on them and the people complied. Anything that was going to threaten the dependence of the local people on the bike service and offer them something better, safer and more reliable was going to upset the dozen or so bike service providers. I have no idea what angry could mean but I think it’s obvious that being so unpopular with a few in a small community could be hazardous to your health.

What they would do about it if anyone started a minibus service I have no idea but it’s entirely possible that if you become a threat you would at least be made to feel uncomfortable living in that community.

The end result being that local people have the unsafe and unreliable option only and nothing else is likely to take away the monopoly the bike drivers had created for themselves. Bike drivers monopolise the transport in and out of Catigan. It’s a sad thought that it’s only in their interests to keep the transport options in and out of Catigan limited. So the dangerous, uncomfortable sidecars and bikes rule the roost and it may be an overstatement to suggest they would do a rival any harm. However, it’s enough to put most off from providing something better.

So in conclusion, there are ways for the brave to exploit the many inadequacies and improve things for a community as well as themselves and make successful businesses in many situations around the Philippines, town and rural. The problem is with so many things here is that the minuses often outweigh the pluses and the hurdles just seem too immense.

A minibus service would be a huge plus for Catigan. The difficulties hold back progress. I would love to see places like Catigan given a decent transport service. I think the headache it would bring to such as a minibus public transport service provider would rule it out. I may be wrong and it could be accepted in the right spirit. Somehow though, it seems that if it’s not in the interests of those with a monopoly, it isn’t going to happen. Sound familiar?

Return to Catigan

Poor old me left Catigan in quite a state. I was injured from a motorbike accident as described in Crash.

Still, my own flesh and blood are in Catigan so naturally I was to return. I spent 4 months in Cavite enjoying the comfort of a bed again and water from the tap whilst I recovered. I left Cavite and moved to Valenzuela City and then back to Catigan for another four-month stint. This time, I was much more ready to learn.

Back to a familiar place

It was nice to return to a more stable environment. Last time I came, we were not in our own place. We found our house on my last visit and it was good to return to the same place. I was promptly told of a rent increase from P300 pesos a month to the astronomical rate of P400 pesos a month (under $10).

Catigan Life

This time around, I took much more notice of the way of life here in Catigan. Unsurprisingly, it is pure farming country. Very often, land remains in family hands generation after generation and for them, that’s security. I certainly never became any kind of expert, but I got a glimpse into how these people survive. Catigan is a fruit basket with abundant land all turned over to varying vegetable crops and fruits and small scale livestock.

Some people own the land they farm and live on while others are tenants or sometimes working for the landowner, managing the land with accommodation provided. Sometimes, families build extra houses on their land to accommodate relatives. I came across quite a few places where the land is totally occupied by a family from granddad and grandma right down to great grandchildren.

Many people work often on a temporary basis as and when required and remain without work between various harvests, and others have regular daily employment. The land is utilized for sellable crops such as corn, beans, cassava, peanuts, sweet potatoes, radish and loads of tomatoes among other crops. It doesn’t seem to do so well with many root vegetables due to the soil.

Fruit trees abound but the main product is young green Coconuts (buko) as well as Jackfruit or for parts of the year the famous durian,  fruit of Mindanao for which Davao is well known. Bananas are also everywhere and each tree has an owner. Bananas are a fast crop whereas a coconut tree takes 10 years before it will give fruit good enough to sell. The payback though is many, many years of being able to utilise everything on the tree, and I do mean everything. It’s said there are 165 uses from a coconut tree. An extra one is the local intoxicant Tuba, or as many referred to it to me as coconut wine. I shall go into that in another article soon.A coconut tree will give fruit for up to eighty (80) years and longer but I don’t know at what age the fruit becomes not good enough for selling. When it has served its purpose, it is cut down for coco lumber. Throughout its life, every part of the coconut tree is utilised and one of the most lucrative uses is cutting out the meat for copra.

The meat is cut out by hand

I used to worry myself to death when I was with the boys as they simply make a hole, a deep one and fire it with dried coconut casings/husks and it was like looking into the bowels of hell.

Doorway to certain death

The twins being around that just makes you realise the horrendous possibilities as there would not be exactly a health and safety practice going down so I didn’t hang around and took the boys home. The consequences of a child falling into a burning pit like that would mean certain death. I only got glimpses into the process and didn’t see as much as I would have liked to. Copra is one of the many by-products from a coconut and it fetches a very decent price when dried. The shell casings are also dried and sold.

The Drying Process

The Sweetly Rancid Durian

You will find much talk about durian online. I remember a small feature about it once on British TV many moons ago and remember it being described as disgusting smelling yet tasting wonderful. For me, it depends on the durian. I was given ones I enjoyed and others I didn’t like so much, they seem to vary a lot and freshness is essential when it comes to eating durian. They have a short shelf life and are messy to eat in the sense of sticky but people love durian. The short shelf life is probably the reason you don’t see them in the west. As for the smell, well, it’s not exactly nice but it’s not as bad as some make out. I do remember once though back in Manila, someone put one inside the refrigerator. Every time I opened the door, I nearly fell. Yes, if intensified by being in a refrigerator, it’s disgusting to smell. Other times, I’ve been riding past a street stall selling durian and the smell can even be good. I guess it depends how your nostrils are wired. The smell is quite bearable, but definitely not in your fridge.

Getting by

On regular days, the buyers turn up at the road where the fruits and vegetables have been brought up by carabao. The landowner takes his share; the caretaker gets the rest from which he pays the workers. Nobody seems to be getting too rich from it but it’s a living and that’s how life goes on in Catigan.

To supplement, many keep small amounts of livestock mainly pigs, goats and chickens. Again, nobody gets rich from it but it’s a guarantee of having food and extra income when they grow to the size that the market in Toril will buy them. They take pigs from thirty (30) kilos upwards and some are kept for breeding.

My two little friends i nicknamed Pinky and Perky

Ideally, a pig fetches its best price when it gets to around 30 kilos and is used for Lechon and when it’s that size (30 kilos), it fetches around P80 pesos (under $2) a kilo. A massive 80-kilo pig does not get such a good price per kilo as the meat is regarded as not as good.

Common sights are goats tied to stakes as you wander around. Catigan is lush. The beauty of a goat is you don’t need to buy feed. Well, from what I’ve read online goats need their diet supplementing a little but here they just seem to leave them to graze. Knowing goats are herd creatures, it was a little sad to see them always staked and out of contact with other goats.

They move them around for fresh pasture and they feed themselves. A kid can be bought for around P1,000 pesos (around $23) and sold for over P2,000 pesos. I believe it takes not much over a year before they are ready for market. I liked the idea of doubling your money without having to buy feed. I have little idea if it’s actually as simple as that but of course if it was something anyone would consider doing, they would naturally find out a few basic facts about goats first before they went on to the next level. It’s not a long wait till they are ready for market. After around a year, you can breed and you may get lucky and have 2 or more kids for the future. So, from very few goats you can self supply and again you won’t get rich but it’s worth doing.

Chickens are outside many people’s homes but I didn’t see anything on any large scale. Chickens are kept mostly for the pot and a few eggs although they are bought and sold locally but its small scale or at least on the purok I was living. I saw some less common types of livestock such as turkey and geese but when I asked the owner if it’s for market, I was answered no but just for themselves.

It would take me years to learn anything solid about their farm management techniques and four (4) months observing and asking only taught me so much. It held a quiet fascination for me and I observed its efficiency although it never fully convinced me it would be a good project for an expat with a few dollars to invest in.

That’s how it is for the majority, enough to live, not well but they get by. Advantages of living in an area like this are free water even if you have to carry it yourself, its free and far sweeter tasting than anything I’ve had from a tap. Water is provided from local springs.

Charcoal was becoming another successful venture locally and on the increase, still most people cook using wood which is just lying around everywhere including coconut tree fronds which fall to the ground with regularity. You simply dry them and after trimming you have fire accelerant great for boiling a kettle quickly and the wood is ideal for cooking.  Another thing I learnt was it is far easier to cut wood when it’s slightly wet. As time goes on, you start to enjoy the extra effort you have to put in for the most basic of needs like firewood and water but you don’t mind as there isn’t much else to do. I hardened up by the day.

I had got a lot better at managing the terrain and I learnt that it’s easier to walk through mud barefoot than on a flip flop and knowing that isn’t exactly rocket science. It’s standard everywhere to wear flip flops in the Philippines but if you get caught out in a shower, then the chances of getting home without falling on your arse a dozen times are slim in a place like this part of Catigan.

I got a lot better but noticed that locals manage the terrain much easier than I ever could even though I had got better. After falling down, slipping around on wet and muddy flip flops, I took them off. It was much easier to walk barefoot. Then came a time when my flip flops broke so I had to go around awhile without them. I got into it. My feet adapted but it’s not stones or concrete so it’s not that difficult.

Future Journeys

I just touched the edges of life here. I learnt much, but there was so much more to learn. I had probably absorbed 3% of it. I did learn enough to appreciate the way of life here but I would not be a great teacher. Catigan is just one tiny part of the Philippines. Like many places here, it has its uniqueness.  Mindanao in particular is immensely diverse.

I write these pieces aiming my sights at foreigners who are considering a visit or even planning to stay here. Catigan, and its way of life, has its negatives as well as positives. In future articles, I intend to highlight some failings and give some reasoning as to why some of the problems are here. I also want to introduce some alternative options for foreigners as regards to life in the Philippines.

Catigan for a business venture? I shall go a little more into that in the next article. The positives and the negatives seem to cancel each other out. Most likely, the same can be said about much of the Philippines for varying reasons. This is an opportunity to show some alternative ideas as to how to live here. It can also highlight how difficult it can be, too.

Self-Discovery and All That Crap

My first few weeks in my new setting was to reveal much about myself as well as opening up my understanding about the Philippines. I have lived in provinces before but it was always in a town setting. I had not experienced this side of the Philippines. My abilities to adapt were being tested. I needed to get over my first big hurdle, yes I’m back to the unpleasant subject of having a crap as nature intended. It weighed on my mind heavily but time came after walking around for close on a week with my bum cheeks tightly clenched, that nature had to take its course.

The world was my toilet, but where?

Why do I keep returning to this issue, I hear you ask? Well, for the simple reason that it brings it home to us by relating this simple fundamental need to how much we have become spoilt in our convenient world, yet for possibly millions of Filipinos, this is everyday life.

It is a crude basic I know but it brings home to many of us how difficult life is for others. I will also add that most people there do have toilet facilities and it was only my first month that I had to endure not having that luxury.

I shall spare you the details so let’s just say I managed. As quiet and peaceful as it was, I still couldn’t get my head around the lack of privacy. I set off with a large metal digging tool, a bucket of water and soap and it took me an age to select my spot. I kept having visions of someone walking past. I actually had trouble adjusting to squatting; (I don’t mean the illegal occupation of private land). It was difficult keeping my balance. Not only that, I was told all about the Philippine Cobra which resides in these parts. Naturally, I was a little paranoid about that especially when some of the best spots to perform my business were in cobra territory.

You’re used to what you’re used to and I hated it and wanted to give up food to relieve myself from the stress of being a reluctant nature boy. However, I crossed that bridge as I had no choice other than to get used to it. It got easier but I was never really comfortable with it.

Hiding behind my fatness

I spent far too long not contributing in helping with the everyday chores. I left the people I was staying with to get on with all that and was all too aware what poor physical shape I was in.

Every day, water needed to be carried back from the spring for drinking and washing. I knew it was going to be hard so I shirked the tasks. Same goes for chopping wood for the cooking. I simply came from a world where I’d never really needed to do it. However, shame caught up with me and after a few weeks, I started contributing towards helping with these everyday important chores which are essential when living in a place like Catigan.

That was the start of a voyage of self discovery. I was fat, unfit and basically dumb as to some very basic things. I was aware I could be likely to stand out like a big colonial sore thumb. I grabbed the water container so after I had washed at the spring, I could bring back valuable water for drinking. It was one hell of a long walk uphill, and I puffed and panted whilst praying nobody would come past to hear me wheezing. I never really got used to being the human fertilizer spreader, but the rest was to come a little easier, eventually anyway.

The social hub, the videoke with pool table and drinking centre

I spent my evenings watching the stars and wincing at the videoke machine that was destroying the peace. It seemed so sad that they saw fit to have to sing in such a quiet and peaceful place. I would look up and even Mount Apo was wincing. It will take a visitor about 36 hours to realize that the many Filipinos are obsessed with videoke. It was certainly no different here. That was the hot spot of this part of Catigan, a sari-sari store/videoke bar with a pool table. On occasion, the pigs being tied up and taken to market sounded better, but that’s Filipinos and videoke. For such a shy people as they often are, they lose all inhibition when given a microphone; Catigan people are no different.

Still the videoke wasn’t ruining the peace all the time, and it was heaven sat out in the dark watching fireflies under beautiful starry nights and most of all the peace. Five o’clock in the morning, Catigan would start to come to life. At first light, you would see people go to the muddy ponds where the carabaos were left to bathe or untied from a stake where they had been happily chomping on the vegetation that was everywhere.

Observing is learning and all I could do was watch

I had little idea about how the place functioned, exactly how they made a living and whether they were working for themselves or others. My first visit I just watched taking in this completely different way of life, I wasn’t ready to ask questions.

Quieter daytime moments were taking gentle walks amongst some of the most incredible breathtaking scenery and above all, slowing myself down. You don’t realize how much city life makes you rush and how living at a faster speed makes you impatient and anxious. Here, you instinctively slow down as there simply is no rush, which was a good feeling.

Catigan Sunrise

Learning A New Life

So the next few weeks and months was to become a huge new learning curve. All I knew of Catigan was it was a little isolated, hilly and was told beautiful. It certainly was all those things but I didn’t really have much idea of what I was coming to. Every passing moment was a lesson especially in those early times. My first stay lasted 4 months. 

A way of life I had never known

The first couple of weeks were purely for psychological adjustment and trying to adapt to my new situation. I was okay with the ridiculously early nights. I was definitely okay with the peace and had no problem about having to walk far down bumpy and sometimes muddy slippery paths to get anywhere but I wasn’t okay with the lack of toilet facilities. Looking back now knowing how things unfolded, I can smile. At the time though, it was a big issue with me. 

Fitting In

In the early days of my stay in Catigan, I went around meeting locals which was an enlightening experience. On my arrival, I sensed the usual mindset thinking of most Filipinos just about anywhere and I was asked all the usual questions pertaining to my perceived wealth. However, that was then. Over time, I got past that but the usual stereotyped thinking about foreigners and money became a too often mentioned topic. I was quizzed and I could sense them thinking, why is a man with money here trying to live like us.

It was known I was here to be with my sons and their mother, which made having to explain my purpose a little easier but the curiosity factor is always there. Filipinos want to know more than they need to know, something you get used to, I suppose.

However, foreigners have plenty of money, that’s always what people believe. So they want to know where my money comes from. If you don’t answer, then assumptions start. I have been in the Philippines long enough to know how to ride that one. I just have fun with their notions which always find their way back to you.

“Maybe he’s not saying much because he is a criminal.” It was mentioned once that I work online and a story spread that it was something illegal. I’m still trying to work that one out but I suppose a white guy staying so far off the tourist map and without a condo or hotel to go back to to take a crap was beyond their comprehension.  It took a long time and that story will unfold but I did manage to make people aware I was not one of those foreigners although that was much later on.

Filipinos are no different from anyone else as regards curiosity and a need to know, but I would say that generally in the Philippines, they want to know more than most. I suspect this may be a topic matter to write on in the future but for now, let’s get back on track.

Welcomed

I soon began to get to know one or two of the people. On the whole I can honestly say that I was welcomed into the community and I was offered shots everywhere especially outside sari-sari stores where men were often drinking. They never failed to offer me a shot of mostly Tanduay (local cheap strong rum). For a chaser or mixer, some would use tuba which is what is also known as coconut wine. In those early days, I got very drunk on many occasions. I came to learn much about tuba but at this point, I was a total novice in rural living and had no idea what tuba was.

When I was given tuba as a chaser, I found it tasted sweet and didn’t even realize that it was alcoholic. I literally thought it was a sweet tasting soft drink. I would heartily drink it down after every shot of Tanduay and couldn’t understand why I was getting drunk so easily.

Coconut wine or tuba has a kick all of its own. Mix that with Tanduay, and bang! On more than one occasion, I had to be helped home as I was falling all over the place. The sweetness really had me fooled; I really did have a lot to learn.

Homemade Tuba

Tribal Land

Catigan is Bagobo country. Now, I never learnt too much about Bagobo people from the Bagobo people themselves. In fact, I wasn’t even aware I was in the midst of people of the Bagobo tribe. I only found out when I asked my companion what some guys outside the sari-sari stores were talking about. She answered she doesn’t know as they are speaking in their native dialect. I asked the obvious question, “So what dialect are they speaking in?” Bagobo would be the reply. I had no idea.

I did learn over time that many were proud of their traditions and I did detect much talk of respect. If I was invited to drink and refused, It would be said “out of respect, have a drink with me” which made it very hard to say no.

I had to wait till I was back in the capital to research as the broken information I was given about Bagobo people only served to confuse me. I learnt that Bagobos are in quite a few corners of Davao and they are a fragmented tribe and cannot understand each other’s dialect. It took my own research to find out that the Bagobos of Catigan are the Bagobo Tagabawa tribe. The history of the Bagobo people is better explained by others. Learning a little about the history makes you realize just how rich and diverse Davao is. 

I could not say to you I was witnessing what some romantics may think of as tribal life in the sense of how a westerner would picture it. Everything on the surface just appears to be as much the same as rural life all over Davao or at least from where I was looking at it.

Catigan is a mix of Bagobo Tagabawa people, Davaoeños (Dabawenyos, or name for people of Davao) and often mixed Tagabawa and Visayans. The culture of the Bagobo Tagabawa lives on through its beliefs, traditions and dialect, but it’s not obvious to an outsider like me.

Congregating outside the sari-sari store as little else to do

They are a very hardy people as are many Filipinos from any part of the country. All of Davao is made up of a mixture of various tribal cultures and Visayan from the inhabitants who migrated here. The history is there to be explored and as many judge everything about the culture of the Philippines on what they observe from Metro Manila; it really is a good idea to learn a little about the overall history and culture of the locality and wider Philippines to understand a little more about where you are and understand its way of life. The more you know, the more you realize that nothing is quite what it seems. Much of the story is missing to the outsider therefore their perceptions are often based on misunderstanding and a little ignorance. History in the Philippines did not start only when the Spanish arrived.

Davao alone has an immensely rich history. To tell that story is not just a book but a whole series of books and if one city can have such history, imagine the rest of the country, too. We tend to think of the Philippines only in its modern day context as an ex-American colony and the ousting of President Ferdinand Marcos. Davao and the rest of the Philippines have many more stories to tell.

I will leave you to discover that for yourselves. For the purposes of this article, I shall simply relate it to my own limited experiences in Catigan. If you are ever in Davao, do visit the Museo Dabawenyo, it teaches you how little you do know.

Museo Dabawenyo, an interesting informative tour to open your eyes