From the Midwest redneck author of "The Rooster Crows at 4am!," "Lizard Poop!," and "The Philippines Expat Advisor"
Testing Your Patience in the Philippines
The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians that "patience is a virtue." If you define patience as "waiting without complaint," than living in the Philippines will sorely test the limits of your willingness to endure waiting. My 19-year-old niece, April, recently encountered some obstacles in local governmental offices that would have left me screaming and running for the exits. 
April will start working at SM City in Iloilo this August. 31. She needed an assortment of pre-employment paperwork before she could start her new job. She received notice last Wednesday of her necessary requirements and only had until this past Monday at 2 pm to submit them to the Human Resources office. On a country that runs on "Filipino Time," this left her precious little time to obtain all the necessary documents.
Our "hot" laundry lady was going to care for the Barangay Clearance. (According to Wikipedia, a barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward.)
The barangay office was quite a distance from us and our helper volunteered to obtain it since she lived nearby. Only costs P20, 47¢, for the document and she had a week to procure it before her next visit to wash our clothes.
A Barangay Clearance, or Certificate of Residency, is a certification from a barangay captain stating that you are a bona fide resident of the said barangay and that the barangay captain knows you personally and can vouch for you. See a sample document below.
Our niece was going to get an early start the next day, Thursday, laundry day, to get her requirements. Trouble is, our laundry lady was late. No text message from her. Nothing. I was not happy. She usually arrives at 7:30 am but didn't show up until 9:15. April couldn't get her necessary local police and National Bureau of Investigation, NBI, background checks without first having the barangay clearance.
My asawa was taking a shower. She had already spent almost three hours washing the clothes. Why wash the clothes yourself if we specifically pay someone the hefty sum of P300, $7.14 USD, to do that chore? It's a source of continual aggravation for me.
And to further provoke me, I saw no barangay clearance in our helper's hands. I loudly proclaimed this fact to my spouse. I was getting extremely irritated.
Seems that the barangay captain was gone on vacation for a week and had just returned today. I couldn't believe that no one else was filling in. The barangay secretary had told our laundry lady that she would "try" to get the clearance this afternoon. My asawa had obtained her own barangay clearance in Guimaras in a matter of minutes when we moved to the Philippines three years ago. I wasn't happy about this delay.
My asawa and our niece determined that April would at least be able to get her E-1 form needed from the Social Security office in Iloilo. April took off. She still had a TIN, Taxpayer Identification Number, from BIR, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Police and NBI Clearances and a medical exam to obtain.
No barangay clearance arrived that afternoon. Our niece came back late in the day with only her Social Security requirements. With local government offices closed on the weekend and still no word on the Barangay Clearance, her chances of getting all the paperwork she needed by this past Monday afternoon seemed dim.
To be continued. (With apologies to Larry.)
Meriam and I both had to have a Barangay Clearance for my permanent 13a visa. The main deal was to make sure we are not trouble makers. Clean record for both of us. Good luck April!!!
This country sure runs on paper works.
Yep, the Barangay Clearance is intended to show a person’s not a trouble maker, Gary. I never got one in Guimaras though Smart Bro told me back in August 2009 that I would need one when I opened my account in my name. Didn’t get it and still have my internet service with them three years later. Guess just paying my bill on time is good enough for them.
Hi Dave.
When the Kapitan is away then the first Kagaward is the acting Kapitan. There should have been no interuption in service. If it were me I would just go to the Iloilo police department and obtain a police clearance from them.
I think this is why former military guys don’t mind the Philippines bureacracy as much as regular folks. They are used to the ‘Hurry up and Wait’ mentality.
I was raised in military bases around the world and ended up working for the Department of Defense 25 years of my 35 working years and this is the first I’ve heard of it having a hurry-up-and-wait mentality! I guess there’s different perspective for everyone depending on which side you want to be in and assume the “bahala na” attitude. I do this too, but, it depends on the day I’m having whether to take on the world or just let it be.
Anyways Dave, I think April could have gotten the clearance much faster if she did it herself. If she’s entering the working world, she should have the pleasure of doing the paperwork!!
When I first arrived in Philippines my husband wanted me to be accompanied by a relative who knew the banking system here and will get me what I wanted done. I said no thanks to it and I gained a better understanding of the way things work and gained valuable rapport with the bank’s customer service.
Guide and mentor April in this first job and you’ll see the pride and hard work she’ll gain knowing she did it herself… I love your articles Dave, and I read and learn from it! Thanks!!!
Thanks, Tom, for the info. I think our laundry lady was just “blowing smoke.” I find it hard to believe no one else was in charge. Your info reaffirms my belief.
Good point, Mark G.
I agree, Let, I believe April could also have gotten the clearance sooner if she had gone herself to do it. Passing off the barangay clearance chore to our laundry lady was done without my knowledge. I completely agree with you that our niece should learn to do these things on her own, just as you did. That is the only way she is going to learn. I’ll have the rest of the story later today.
Thanks so much for the kind words. Glad you enjoy reading my articles. That always makes my day brighter and is sincerely appreciated. Take care.
And people wonder why I advise folks _not_ to get a job in the Philippines?
In addition to the paperwork hassle, the wages are so pitifully low, running a little food pushcart pays more. And if anyone can string together English sentences, look into eland.com and other online freelancing sites. Even fiverr.com.
Jobs? An idea from last century. Hard to get and whatever you get paid, I guarantee you are earning your employer three time or more what s/he is paying you.
My American expat friend Scott B dropped by the house yesterday afternoon, Dave S, and the topic of jobs came up. We were talking about my niece April, who was on the computer checking out some hunks on Cherry Blossoms, and starts work at SM City on August 31. Scott calls working conditions in the PH “slave labor .” Unfortunately, he’s right. But like my asawa pointed out, it’s great that she could find a job. Her P265 a day salary is P265 more than she’s earning now.
as the topic is “testing your patience in the Philippines “I remember one time were in Davao and i had business at the Immigration office .I arrived mid afternoon went to the service counter and was greeted by a charming girl ..(the most beautiful smile as i remember } and requested my application then filled it up ….and returned it to the smiley girl .I then sat and took my mind to a happy place .Soon after we were entertained by a foreign visitor ..he shouted ..”this is a terrible country ,,i will never come back here ..I,ve been waiting over one hour already “We three seated together smiled at each Im sure sharing the same thought that he will be in for a very long wait .Each half hour the poor guy burst into into ano loud criticism other ..Im sure ..sharing the thought that he would be here much much loger yet
When all staff stopped work for their afternoon marienda ..he provided wonderful theatre …When I left at around 4.45pm with my extension visa the poor guy was still there ……….I would guess he was not served that day ……………..
my story is a bit muddled ……the comments section wont scroll up and stay up …am i doing somthing wrong ?
I’m using a Google Chrome browser, Clarrie, and not having any problems. What browser are you using?
They should have just booted the bonehead out of the immigration office, Clarrie. Morons like that spouting off “this is a terrible country” have no business being here in the first place.
The goofball didn’t realize all of his complaining wasn’t getting him anywhere, Clarrie. What a bonehead!
I wasnt familiar with the word bonehead until I saw it in your writings in Philippines Plus Dave but that word surely describes the guy . The Embassy staff were so gracious in dealing with the guy (THE BONEHEAD). Im pleased to report he wasnt Australian nor American .BTW ..Im using Google Chrome also …dont know what the problem was ….yes i do ….ME ……….
I was having the same problem with Internet Explorer 8. Had to switch to Firefox for your page.
My best friend at AT&T was a fellow “bonehead” like myself, Clarrie. We got in trouble for talking too much and our boss had to separate us. WE thought we were funny, if no one else did, we really didn’t care.
John Thompson also noted he had problems viewing the site on Internet Explorer, Clarrie. I’ll have to check it out and see if I can fix the problem.
Thanks for the info, John T. I’ll check it out.
Just looked at my website, John T., and used my Internet Explorer browser. Everything looked fine on the main page and this story’s page including the comments. Hopefully, whatever problem there was is straightened out.