Kalibo

Went to the town of Kalibo to prepare the land transfer papers. I took an air-con bus for P100 ($2.50) The trip took about 1 1/2 hrs. The ride was comfortable and they were playing Rocky 2 video.

I was encouraged by someone from the land title office to employ the assistance of a local lawyer's secretary who not only knows the in and outs of the system but is also well connected in the community. I found out afterwards that the secretary was his wife. She charged me half of the going rate and felt that she was really working hard to help me out. She did asked me to pray for her daughter who is going to be taking her nursing exams.

It is interesting to know that relationships carries more weight than policies when it comes to paperworks in the philippines. Be prepared to "tip" people if you do not know anybody and if you want things to move efficiently. I asked someone about what they think about "tipping". The common answer is that most working folks make about P240 ($5) a day, it isn't enough to feed a family yet they see so many tourists spend more than that amount for one meal alone. They feel that there is so much money flowing from intl. corporations that are doing business in the Philippines yet not much is trickling down to the local communities to help those who are providing services to them. What do you think?