# Aussie working short term in Philippines



## Twh (Oct 15, 2012)

Hi all, as a new user to this forum, i hope to recieve as much information as possible, and also offer advice to others after i have travelled to the philippines myself.

I will be sent to the Philippines next month by my company in Australia to carry out some work at a mine site. I will be intially in the country for one-two months, with a possibility of future trips to other various regions.

It would be great if i could get some information on;
-preffered mobile phone networks/data plans for ipad
-safe travel advice aus-manilla-davaro
-any other info that you consider worth knowing


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

*Welcome*



Twh said:


> Hi all, as a new user to this forum, i hope to recieve as much information as possible, and also offer advice to others after i have travelled to the philippines myself.
> 
> I will be sent to the Philippines next month by my company in Australia to carry out some work at a mine site. I will be intially in the country for one-two months, with a possibility of future trips to other various regions.
> 
> ...


*Hi TWH and welcome,

Service with mobile providers here is EXTREMELY difficult to get on a post-paid plan. Would be better if your company will make arraingments for your phone service so you hopefully won't have much to deal with. Everything else is prepaid and a pain in the tail.

I'll refer or defer the rest of your post to others here that are from Australia for better info than I can give.



Good luck and BE SAFE HERE. The area you are going is not particularly safe!


Gene
*


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## seram (Oct 12, 2011)

I am very surprised your company has not given you all this information because under work place laws they have a duty of care to advise and make sure you are in a safe work place and informed of any dangers that may occur.

For only 2 months why worry about a plan..Buy a SmartBro USB and then u can top it up for different values from 100 peso and more.. If you come back for an extended period worry about a plan then..

Get back onto your company and tell them they have a duty of care to inform you of all safety concerns...Because there are many and the most serious is your life... cheers


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## beyond_sunsets (Oct 18, 2012)

Please do be very careful.

I can't believe your Aussie firm would let you go somewhere in Mindanao where AU always release travel advisories which states not to go to Mindanao.

I think this is still a sensitive issue considering that Aussie who was kidnapped early this year.


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## Twh (Oct 15, 2012)

Twh said:


> Hi all, as a new user to this forum, i hope to recieve as much information as possible, and also offer advice to others after i have travelled to the philippines myself.
> 
> I will be sent to the Philippines next month by my company in Australia to carry out some work at a mine site. I will be intially in the country for one-two months, with a possibility of future trips to other various regions.
> 
> ...




Hi All, thank you for the replies and concern for my travel to Mindanao...

As i promised in my original post, and also to the many great people i met during my travel to the Philippines, i want to leave information that i hope can be be viewed by others who may be sent to Mindanao for work and have the same concerns/questions as i had.

One of the first things i think of when i am told by my company i am being sent to another country is "will i get phone signal to call home to my parents on Sunday nights" and "how much money should i carry on me".

Saftey is the first thing i should really be thinking of, i mean it is always on my mind and perhaps i sounded to "unconcerned with personal safety" in my original post, but my company is very new at working in these countries and are getting better at teaming up with local company's for help, assistance and information which in turn makes our job quicker with less chance of problems occurring.

I started of purchasing a 'Lonely Planet guide to The Philippines which had no information on Mindanao at all except a small part on Davao, in which they were right, it is a beautiful city.

Visa - I received a business visa through The Philippines Consulate General in Sydney. I had my tickets booked, a letter from the company in which my company had a contract with explaining what i was traveling to their site for and that they were accommodating me etc.etc... This only took half a day in Sydney, AU$80 for the visa and i payed a little more money (approx AU$20 to have my visa stamped in my passport that day). In fact, three other guys i traveled with were stamped with a 21day tourist visa on entry into Manilla no questions asked, ill explain later but if i was to return to Philippines again it would be the easiest way to enter the country just accepting the free 21day tourist visa.

Flights - I flew Philippine Airlines, they operate a great service Sydney-Manila daily with clean Boeing 777 Aircraft, plenty of legroom in Economy class and better still, arrived on time in Manila for my connection to Davao. I checke dmy bags straight through to Davao from Sydney, ill explain later the process of connections in Manila.

Manila - Arriving in Manila (on time) taking the Domestic Transfer lane in Manila Airport, i lined straight up at immigration, even though i had purchased a business visa in Sydney weeks before my trip i was till stamped with a 21day tourist visa, even a pilot i was traveling with was carrying his flight helmet and was still even stamped with a 21day tourist visa. After entering through immigration, a customs officer collected my customs declaration slip, i seen the official baggage officer when i pointed to my bag on the belt, he re tagged it with a security tag and placed it back on the next belt to be loaded to my Davao domestic flight. All airport staff were friendly and smiled and i had no issues. I then exited the international terminal, asked a security officer for assistance, he kindly pointed me in the direction of the domestic terminal, i went up the stairs, out past the taxis and around into the domestic terminal, friendly staff explained the 200peso terminal fee, i payed it and walked through to find my gate.

Davao - Arriving in Davao (also on time) i collected my bag off the belt, went to the hotel concierge desk, my representitive was not there, so another hotels staff walked me to a taxi and explained to me that the new mayor of the city is making it very safe to travel by taxi and i went to my hotel (the waterfront) 5mins drive 70pesos although i gave him 100pesos and he gave me a receipt! Actually i took many taxis to and from over the next few days in Davao and got receipts every time!

Accommodation (Davao) - Waterfront hotel, close to airport, great people, beautiful location, great bar, free WiFi all over the site, excellent meals. (a few times i went by Jeepney to the SM shopping mall to purchase a mobile phone/top-up credit/lunch/sight seeing) Jeepney much MUCH cheaper than taxi and yes everyone did stare at me i had a great time and i am so happy i got to experience that.

Money - I always stress that i will not have enough as it usually costs a lot to get where you need to go for work and to make things happen, i took 20,000pesos with me and it was way too much. i was staying at an expensive hotel (90pesos for a bottle of water, 20 pesos and 150-200 pesos for taxis into the city, i purchased a lot and i still had plenty money left over to buy beer at Manila airport on my way home). I was in The Philippines for 6weeks.

Mobile Phones - I purchased a Nokia with dual Sim, Globe and Smart which worked out great, i also purchased plenty of top-up cards, most people in The Philippines have both and you need to call Globe form Globe and Smart from Smart etc.etc...

Local Eateries - I ate locally a few times in Davao and i REALLY enjoyed it, great people and beautiful BBQ food i have never had such great BBQ food anywhere else (and i am Aussie!)

Maco Area- When arriving in Maco, we had a real issue as our flying permit with the military was confused as something else and lots of tension between local militia and military occurred, we were kept safe the whole time, locals at first were very weary of us but in the end i became very good Friends with everyone. 

Very beautiful country!


Typhoon Bopha - After three weeks we had been keeping an eye on the Typhoon Bopha that was making its way towards us, when i changed course we left site - returning to Davao only to return to Maco 5 days later to absolute destruction. I will never forget the damage to the roads, power lines and of course the villages. And also, i will never forget the people, the way they worked hard to get the roads and power going before worrying about their own places. I had a generator and a 10way power board, so when cell phone signal was back, i was the local "charging station" for the locals mobile phones, in which i had no issues doing this for them.




After my trip to The Philippines, i cannot wait to go back. I will be accepting any future work in the country, i know very well my next visit may not the same experience as my first visit, but i can only offer my version of my first experience of Davao and South Mindanao.

I found everyone i met to be very polite and friendly, in fact, i told many people of my intentions to write this reply to my post and they thanked me for helping them spread the word, as they were extremely proud of their country and upset on how the world sometimes view The Philippines and its people.

I have worked in Indonesia, Papua New guinea and now The Philippines and i can say with certainty, if you are aware of your surroundings, prepare yourself to move quick if you had to, and are genuinely polite to people, you will not have any problems getting where you need to go to do your job and return home safely.

I hope this info can help any one who may be traveling to South Mindanao for work.


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