Dear Foreign Retiree, Why You Should Retire in My Town ?

“Dear Foreign Retiree, Why you should retire in my town?” by Erica Anne B. Santiago

From the day you graduated College, your thinking about getting the job that you want. You want to work immediately to earn money for yourself, for your family and for you future. While looking for a job that is right for you, you will first experience some challenges or finish some process that is needed like covering letters and interviews before you can work at the job that you want. After getting the job, you have to work hard because you have to excel from the other employees and get a higher position. Sometiemes, you also need to sacrifice just to perform your job very well. For example, sometimes you need to sacrifice the time for your family because your company needs you. Sometimes, you need to go to far places if your work is there. My father is a seaman. In a year, he spent his nine months in the cruise where he works . The remaining three months were spent with us. As you can see, the allotted months for his work is obviously much longer than the months he spent for us. But we cannot blame him for he was just trying to sacrifice for our benefits. Me and my brother are studying and we also have our personal needs. He is sacrificing just to give us a bright future. That’s the reality. I know that all the retirees have experienced these kinds of sacrifices just for their loved ones. And I think that after retiring, they really deserve a place where they can spent those few more years and precious times with their family.

Everytime I heard the word Foreign Retirees, I always taught of the retired workers and employees that gave their life and work hard for their family. Just like the retirees from the Philippines, they are also human beings and they need some time for their family. Before their retirements, as I’ve said awhile ago, I know that they have also experienced sacrifices because they really love their job. Yes, they spent more than half of their life working because they are happy with their professions. Not only Philippines but also the other foreign countries were known to have dedicated and well-trained workers. They are willing to sacrifice just for their job. Everytime I see foreigners here in our country especially the old ones, it makes me feel proud because I know that they are happy to stay here in the Philippines and spent their vacations here. Our country is known for having scenic sites and tourist spots that are really popular all over the world. That’s why there are many foreigners who would comeback here in the Philippines every year just to visit their favorite destinations for their vacation and sometimes they rather chose to buy a place here and stay here permanently. These are just few of the reasons why I believe that the Foreign Retirees should choose Philippines as their second home and retirement destination.

To my dear Foreign Retirees, Why you should retire on my town?. Let me tell you the reasons why you should spent those few more years of your life here in our town. I’m only sixteen years old and as a youth, I would like to share to all of you the beauty of our country. Honestly, I was born hrere in Manila and this is the place where I grew up. Since I’m was still a a child, my family takes me to our provinces. Both in my mother and father side. I just can’t explain the excitement that I’m feeling everytime we had a trip that is out of town. When our family was staying in the province for a couple of weeks, I felt like I was in the other world. A different atmosphere, a different place and different people. I always see the green fields and the animals that ate the grasses. The sound of chirping birds and the cool breeze of the air. Everything was peaceful. We also often visit the beaches that adds a lot to my excitement. Those places were really wonderful! Aside from those beautiful places, I really admire the people. Filipino people were known for being hospitable. Everytime we had visitors, even though we really don’t have something to offer, we find ways just to treat them well and give them something to eat. Everytime we go back to our provinces, they are really glad to see us back. I also have families from the states and they often visit our provinces and they also noticed the same things that the place has and notice the people’s hospitality towads visitors, family and friends. For me, Philippines is an island of Happiness. Even though the people experienced different kinds of calamities and poverty, we filipinos are creative and we find ways to face all the problems we have. We filipinos often smile and we really like celebrations. In provinces and other local towns and cities, we celebrated different kinds of festivals which really attracts foreigners and tourists. Aside from the place and the people, our country also have popular and delicious local foods and native delicacies. In local towns and cities, each of them has their own delicacie that they can offer. In Bulacan, they are famous for their Native Kakanin like Kalamay and Biko. Pampanga’s Native sweets like Pastillas and it’s famous Tocino and Longganisa. While in Pangasinan, they can offer igado, imbutido and atsara (pickles). Everyone can be hooked with Laguna’s famous Buko Pie, Kesong puti and Espasol. Because Cavite is near at the beach, they can offer seafoods like Tahong and Talaba. And in Cebu, the delicious Lechon. And other original filipino foods like Kare-kare, Adobo, Sinigang and Kaldereta. These are just only few of those popular local foods and native delicacies found here in the Philippines which is one of the reasons why foreigners and tourists really love and would comeback in our country.

Philippines is once called as “Pearl of the Orient”. As the name describes the country itself, Philippines is like a Pearl. A precious thing that should be preserve and protect. Over a hundered ethnic groups, a mixture of foreign influences and a fusion of culture and arts have enhanced the uniqueness of the Filipino race and the wonder that is the Philippines. Our country is very rich with Natural resources and it is really blessed with marvelous sites that are famous to foreign tourists. As a proof, this is also one of the factors why our country was colonized by other countries. And to show to you the different towns and cities that are suitable as second home and retirement destination for foreign retirees, I chose five top perfect places or destinations for foreign retirees. These towns and cities are from the three major islands of the Philippines, the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Everytime there’s a typhoon coming in our country, the first province that comes in your mind is Batanes because this province is subject to frequent typhoons. Batanes is also the smallest province in the Philippines. Despite all of these, I still chose Batanes as a perfect retirement destination because this place is very peaceful. And there’s still a way how to avoid typhoons. You can visit Batanes in the month of Mid-March to June that has a lower chance of rainfall. This place is also known for scenic islands and beaches and green fields and hills. Other attractions here are the Batanes Lighthouse, old churches, and stone houses. And the most amazing is the Honesty Coffee shop. Maybe you already heard about this on News or TV. It’s a store wherein there’s no one operating it. All you have to do is to get what you want then leave the money inside the box. It’s just so amazing how the owner of the store trust other people and it’s just a proof that the people here are honest and they trust each other. Next is Ilocos Norte which is known as the Northern tourist destination and the birthplace of former President Ferdinand Marcos. This province is really near to my heart because this is where my ancestors came from. Our family is Ilocano and I’m happy to share the beauty of our race as well as the place. The famous attractions here are the Bangui Windmills which help in conservation of energy. The old ancestral homes, the Pagudpod Beach and Marcos Mausoleum. The next main island is Mindanao. In here, I chose Davao because it’s the largest city in Mindanao. It was awarded as the “10th Asian City of the Future” and the “Most Livable City in 2008”. Maybe it’s because this is the Business, Investment and Tourism hub for the entire Southern Philippines. Have you already heard of Crocodile Farm and People’s Park ? Yes. These famous tourist destinations are located in Davao. Davao is also suited for different kinds of religion. Here in Davao, you can find the Lon Wa Buddhist temple, Mindanao Taoist Temple, Mosques and the San Pedro Cathedral.

Also in Mindanao is Zamboanga. The largest and highly urbanized city located in Zamboanga Peninsula and the center of economic activities in Mindanao because of it’s modern International Seaports and Airports. This city has been visited by U.S Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney and it also has it’s foreign relations through an organization which aims to promote peace within the City through respect and cooperation with other foreign partners. Zamboanga is popularly known as “Asia’s Latin City” which I really admire because it’s one way of telling the other countries that we have local towns and cities that can be compare to other countries.

Lastly, in Visayas, I chose the Oldest City in the Philippines, Cebu. It is one the most develpoed provinces because it’s the main center of commerce, trade, education and industry in Visayas. Cebu is also rich with historical siginificances wherein the Oldest Christian Image, the Magellan’s Cross, the Magellan’s Shrine and Lapu-lapu’s Shrine are all found. Cebu is also called the “Island of festivals” with it’s hundred kinds of different festivals each year in each towns. The most famous festivals here are the Sinulog Festival, Kabkaban, Banig , Isda and many other kinds of festivals. I know that these words are aren’t enough to be able to show you the beauty and how majestic our country is with it’s natural wonders, colorful history and warm engaging people. But there’s only one thing I want to say, God gave us all of these and I want all of you, dear foreign retirees to experience all of these and choose our town as a second home and the perfect retirement destination.

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