Pakikisama

Although many Expats feel comfortable talking and relating to Filipinos on a casual basis, eventually most will suffer culture shock due to fundemental differences in the way people think here. To increase ones understanding, it is necessary, ( if you want to fit in) to learn the foundations of the Philippine value system: Pakikisama, Hiya , Amor propio, and Utang na loob and the importance of the extended family.

This first piece will be on the topic of Pakikisama. In future articles I hope to discuss many other traditions, ways of thinking and relating to others unique to Asian cultures in general and specifically the Philippines.

In Japan it is called “Uchi-Soto” or similarly, "Nemawashi", a process of relating to others by consensus building. It is a non confrontational way of doing life, business, and interpersonal group relationships. In the Philippines Pakikisama is the ability of a person to get along with others to maintain good and harmonious relationships. It implies camaraderie and togetherness in a group and the cause of one’s being socially accepted. Pakikisama requires someone yielding to group opinion, pressuring him to do what he can for the advancement of his group, sacrificing individual welfare for the general welfare. Consensus takes precedent over individual needs or opinion.

Pakikisama implies smooth social interaction. Relationships no matter with whom and on what level should be without open conflict. To keep pakikisama, Filipinos in general will avoid verbal confrontations, rude words or gestures, the direct decline of a request, and will try to act polity and calmly although perhaps they are not inside. You will seldom hear no to a request or question. To an Expat this will be confusing and sometimes lead one to think Filipinos are insincere or otherwise misleading with their answers. It is not so. Maybe is a standard reply which often means no, or sometimes yes, and other times maybe. If you are now totally confused, it is understandable. It takes exposure and time to understand the difference.

Often critical matters are negotiated through third parties to avoid direct conflict. Sometimes a quarrel between two individuals escalates to an unsolvable row between two clans or families. The only way to resolve the conflict peaceably (very desirable), is to go to the local Barangay captain and use him as a mediator. The skillful Barangay chief will explain to both parties in private why he is doing them a favor by entertaining their side of the argument. In the end all go home satisfied that they have been heard and perhaps nothing was gained or lost in the process. Everyone maintained Amor Propio, or saves face.

Pakikisama is most important at work places and is considered as the key factor getting a job best done. The Western way of arguing, disagreeing and being very straightforward or frank, is considered by many Filipinos as a breach of etiquette.

Pakikisama has many manifestations in Philippine society, one of which is extending support or offering help to neighbors who are in need. This comes from the still relevant necessity to bind together to survive as a group. When food is scarce and rice is expensive, all eat, for the good of the group. Pakikisama reflects the bayanihan spirit, which involves cooperation among fellow men to come up with a certain idea or accomplish a certain task. While bayanihan refers to a community-support action, pakikisama has a more individualized sense.

I will talk more about these and other cultural traits in future writings. As you can already surmise all these ways of thinking and behaving are inter-related.

Landing at Dumaguete Airport

Here is a You Tube clip of the West approach to Dumaguete airport. As you land from this direction the pilot will fly low over residential areas and below the summit of Mount Talinas which is out of view on the right side of the plane. Careful flying is required, but it offers a great view for passengers of the area around Dumaguete. Cebu Island is visible as the plane makes it's final descent. Both Cebu Pacific and Philippines Airlines make daily scheduled trips to dumaguete from Manila.

Multicabs Demystified

Maybe you have seen them and did not know what they were. There are many now in Dumaguete, brightly colored little trucks and vans, micro sized and perfect for the narrow streets of Dumaguete. They look like toy cars, and in many ways they are. The Volkswagen of the Philippines, they offer automotive transport at an economical price for Filipinos and expats alike. They are the Suzuki, Scrum, mini trucks often called Multicabs.

Multicab is a trade name coined by Norkis Manufacturing for their version of the Suzuki 660cc micro trucks they first imported from Japan. The name has stuck and almost everyone calls them this as a generic reference. The trucks were originally brought in as surplus, meaning they were free of excessive duty thus making them inexpensive. The chassis of these vehicles are cut in half either lengthwise or crosswise to conform to the law about importing scrap or junk vehicles.

The concept was first to replace the polluting tricycles choking the streets of Cebu. Norkis worked with some government agencies in order to introduce the Easy Ride as a small economical passenger van for commercial use. The Easy Ride was essentially a Multicab pick up with an open jeepney type body from the cab rearward. The Easyride has replaced the tricycle in downtown Cebu and has reduced pollution from two stroke motorcycle engines. Its introduction also decreased the number of vehicles clogging the streets of Cebu at the time.

To get back to the process of remanufacturing these trucks, after they are imported in pieces, then they are essentially welded back together, painted and repaired to almost new condition. The difficulty when it comes to buying one off a lot is that you have no idea of how many kilometers are on the motor or chassis, how much body filler is holding the paint on, and whether or not the car was wrecked before they remade it. Careful examination is very important. Or better yet have someone you know who works in one of the shops pick one out for you before it is made pretty. Some shops like Phil Trucks will let you pick out your vehicle pre repair so at least you know what you started with. Even others offer the “bare” rebuilds sans body work and paint for a substantial discount.

The engines are sometimes rebuilt, but are often left as is. A test drive is a must to determine at least if the water pump and cooling system is working well. Some dealers will offer a short warranty period, often only one week, sometimes 30 days. In any event these vehicles are cheap to operate and repair. A total engine replacement is about 18,000 Pesos, a tune up 300, and a yearly replacement of all hoses, belts, and brakes etc about 1000 P.

The basic types are as follows:

· Multicab- small pick up truck
· Multivan- Microvan, also called carry alls
· Easy Ride- pick up cab with passenger body on rear, similar to a Jeepney
· Hybrid- half truck, half van
· Countless other aberrations

The motors come either 6 valve or twelve valve, the twelve valve being the better choice for power. The engines are three cylinder overhead valve water cooled. Transmission choices are 4 speed or 5 speed manual shift. Top speed is for practical purposes about 80 KPH, the 5 speed is a good choice if your going to drive any distance.

Generally the trucks and vans come in three trim levels new rebuilt.

· Rebuilt not painted
· Rebuilt painted, with standard tires steel rims, and no air conditioning
· Or with two tone paint, air conditioning, wide low profile tires and alloy rims

Power steering is not required on these although I have seen it on a few. The wide tubeless tires and alloy rims look cool, but they are eaten up quickly here on the rough roads. The tubeless tires tend to leak because of low pressure and small size. The steering has to be converted from right hand in Japan to left in the Philippines, so alignment is an issue that will plague those with the wide tires. Aircon is nice, but realize it will sap the power from the tiny engine and reduce fuel economy.

Both the Multicabs and the Multivans are available in 4 wheel drive. Unless you plan on traveling frequently to the mountains, these can be problematic as well. Maintenance is more expensive, cvc joints wear out and only surplus parts are available. Again fuel economy and power will suffer with a 4x4. The Multicabs are also available with three sizes of canopies to cover the back, often in combination with bench seats to accommodate rear passengers.
The two wheel drive multicabs are mostly mid/front engine, while the vans are rear engine rear wheel drive, better for traction up muddy roads.

Relative prices new rebuilt.

4x4 PICKUP type:
without CANOPY: PHP155,000
(w/ accessories)without CANOPY: PHP135,000
(w/o accessories)with CANOPY: PHP180,000
(w/ accessories)with CANOPY: PHP160,000 (w/o accessories)

Easy Ride type:
Passenger OPEN: PHP150,000
FB (closed): PHP165,000

Options:
5th speed transmission= 6,000
4X4 (front drive/4WD) = 12,000
Airconditioning = 12,000

Multivan:
170,000 190,000

Sineguelas, Food of the Gods

The heat of summer is nearing its peak and the leafy greens and water dependent vegetables that were so abundant and robust just weeks ago are now disappearing from the markets. However, a few fruits are ripening now in an annual effort to propagate themselves and seed the countryside before the rainy season.


Sineguelas are one of those “childhood memory fruits” in the Philippines. Sineguelas (Spondias purpurea) or Spanish Plum in English, is a native to Mexico and the western coast of Central and South America. Brought over by the Spaniards, it has taken very well to the Philippine archipelago and thrives here.

The fruit are approximately 1 to 1.5 inches in length and start off purplish or maroon green and ripen to a yellow or dark red state. The skin is taut and shiny and the flesh firm when unripe and slightly astringent (many of my relatives prefer them green hard eaten with salt) When they are ripe Sineguelas are more like the plum I am familiar with, sweet, juicy, with a large pit.

They are in season from April to June or so but they seem to peak in May. In my family, they are considered like manna, food from the gods. There is an almost sacramental aura about them in our household and neighborhood. My wife assures me the best Sineguelas are grown in Siaton, and that they grow nowhere else quite as well as at home. I asked why she thought so. She remarked that while they will grow anywhere in the Philippines the limestone (coral) bluffs along the sea are ideal growing conditions for larger and more prolific fruit production. This leads me to surmise they like well drained neutral acidic soils.

In any event, we have made no less than three trips to Siaton from Dumaguete to pick bushels of these little fruits. Ading’s family has a large plantation of Sineguelas on their large property over looking the sea. They bring them back and prefer to eat them when they are green hard and sour. Dipped in sea salt and eaten until there are no more to eat. The almost mystical attraction to these fruits is baffling to me, but then they are not part of my growing up.

When friends come to visit us, they are given without asking a large bag of Sineguelas to take home. It is like that, sharing something of great value which seems to make the eating of them all the more precious.


The season is just about over now, peaking this month in Siaton, we will have to wait another year to again go sineguelas crazy and eat until sickened by these strange little gems.

A Stay at Silliman Medical Center

From an expat point of view, medical care in Dumaguete has been both praised and maligned. When you talk to other expats at social gatherings you will no doubt hear so called horror stories about everything from misdiagnosis to incompetent physicians. If you participate on local internet forums, the discussions run the gamut from caution to praise. I had the recent opportunity to, by quite serendipitous and unpleasant circumstances, to become involved first hand in the quality of care at Silliman Medical Center.

When a member of your family becomes gravely ill, sometimes you have no choice but to avail yourself of the first line defenses available in the community. I’ll leave out the personal details in this narrative out of courtesy to my family, suffice to say, all came out extremely well. What follows is a “foreigners” perspective on local hospital care.

Silliman University Medical center is well respected in the local community. A teaching institution, there are always plenty of student nurses, interns, and medical students running about. The physical infrastructure is old, no other way to put it. Most of the beds look like they date back to the 1940’s. The wards are small crowded, and worn. We were forced to use the general facilities for three days as there were no available private rooms.


In the Philippines the first difference a typical foreign visitor will notice, is that there are no restrictions on family visits. The wards are literally jammed with mothers, fathers, and anyone one else who would like to come in. It is common practice to stay with your sick family member often sleeping in the same bed around the clock. I became part of this. I chose to sleep at home, but spent my entire day at the bedside. Food is supplied three times a day, but most often we went outside for food, an unusual practice by my standards, but no one objects as long as the restrictions are complied with. In fact all manner of food drinks and personal supplies are brought in by families.

If you are in a ward the problem is that all these people are crammed into one very small room housing up to six patients, all eating all manner of sometimes odiferous food brought in from the outside. Banana Q’s, lechon, fish, whatever is allowed on the patients diet comes in from outside. We were fortunate to transfer to a private room in a few days as one became available.


Despite the shabby surroundings, the medical care was good. The Doctor we had was astute, conscientious and managed to correctly diagnose two complicating infections. Doctor patient communication is not as well developed as a rule, as most Filipinos tend to let the doctors do their thing and ask few questions. I am used to talking to doctors and getting specific information about the diagnosis and care of the patient. The nurses and doctors were forthcoming and informative when asked, and would go into great detail. But you must ask.

There were never fewer than 15 nurses at the nurses station on our floor, sometimes there were 30 or more. I am assuming many of these were students. One thing they could not seem to do was check the IV in our patient. We had to summon the nurse every time the Dextrose solution ran low.

Another unusual practice is the dispensing of the medications prescribed. The patient is presented a list daily of all the meds the patient will require. The family can go outside the hospital and buy the medications. I tried in vain to have the hospital supply the meds, but they don’t have many of the medications in stock at the hospital pharmacy. So every day we went out to buy antibiotics, Dextrose solution, and a variety of other medications. This is unlike anything I have experienced before, and I found it unbelievable that the hospital did not have medications on hand. It was explained to me that this practice is to allow local families to buy medicines at lower prices outside the hospital. Nearly everyone takes advantage of this opportunity to by cheaper medications when possible. Perhaps this is why the hospital does not bother to stock some drugs.

Since I was going outside several times a day, I became very familiar with the two elevators at the hospital. It looked as if they were never inspected. One always stopped 3-6 inches above or below the floor level; the other would sometimes fail to open right away, causing some concern. On occasion the smaller of the two elevators would deliver you to the basement unannounced (the morgue). After a day or two I got used to this, never got stuck between floors, and just kicked the door to get it open.

Our family Doctor had the demeanor of a politician, rushing into the room, trailed by several student doctors furtively taking notes; she was loud, cheerful, took no questions and left as suddenly as she had entered. Her assistant, a young Korean med student would visit alternatively. She was very forthcoming and was the source for the answers to most of our questions.

Despite the unusual protocols and rundown infrastructure, I was very pleased with the overall care, both nurses and doctors were attentive (except the IV checking), and provided care indistinguishable from a hospital in the U.S. From our experience I can’t fault the level of care at Silliman University Medical Center. Some people might be taken aback by the old equipment and shabby paint, but the bottom line is the care you receive, and in this instance it was first rate.