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In general, the easiest and cheapest way of communicating within the Philippines, and between the Philippines and overseas, is through mobile phones (more popularly known here as “cellphones”). Although access to the Internet is already fairly easy and widespread, the cellphone is still the preferred mode of communication — almost everyone owns one, and SMS (or text messaging) and call rates are very low.

Using Your Phone from Your Home Country

It’s possible to bring and use your mobile phone from overseas in the Philippines, but you have to take note of a few things.

If you plan to visit the Philippines for only a short trip (i.e. a few days), it may be better to activate the roaming service from your network on your phone. Check with your provider if roaming can be enabled in the Philippines. To activate roaming, you usually have to contact your provider to enable it for your account, a few days before your departure. For some networks or accounts, activation can be done by dialing a certain number or sending an SMS. For others, it’s automatically enabled.

Also, be careful with the charges associated with roaming — call and SMS rates may be higher. Plus, many providers charge extra (either one-time, or daily) to be able to roam, racking up a much higher bill when you go back home!

Chances are, however, that if you are on this page, you are considering or have already made plans to move permanently to the Philippines. If that’s the case, it would be much easier and more practical to get a Philippine phone number. More of that later in the article.

About Open Line

Many mobile service providers overseas have your phone locked to your network — that is, you can only use your phone with the account you purchased under that network. If you want to bring your own phone to the Philippines, you have to make sure it’s unlocked, or in other words, open line. A preliminary way of checking is looking at your phone itself: if it has the network’s logo on it, chances are it’s locked. You can always check with your provider if your phone is locked to your account.

If your phone is locked to your network, it’s not a big problem. There are plenty of shops around (check the electronics/mobile phone section in shopping centers) that offer unlocking services for pretty cheap. This will also depend, however, on your mobile phone—usually, if it uses a SIM card, it should be unlockable. A word of caution: sometimes, unlocking your phone may render it useless when you go back to your home country, due to software incompatibility.

Getting a Cellphone in the Philippines

If you are moving to the Philippines, my advice is to purchase a new account and phone. Most phone models are pretty inexpensive, especially when purchased together with a (postpaid) phone plan. A unit usually costs more if you plan to get it with a prepaid (where you purchase credits or “load” before you can start using your phone) account, but the advantage is that you can use it with as many different accounts or phone numbers (with different networks), by swapping SIM cards, as you want.

According to your needs, either a postpaid or prepaid account would be more suitable for you. If you intend to use your mobile phone for more formal or business / professional purposes, getting a postpaid account would be better. That way, you can stay connected 24/7 without any worries of running out of credits. Paying bills have in the recent years become much more convenient than before: in addition to authorized banks and payment centers, some providers have also enabled online bill payment.

For prepaid accounts, you can purchase credits for as low as PHP 15, and you can find “load” stations practically everywhere—in shopping centers, the airport, on sidewalks, and your closest neighborhood sari-sari (variety) store! You can even ask someone else to give you credits, called “pasa-load” (pasa = pass). If you are overseas, there are some websites where you can purchase prepaid cards so that you can load credits to your loved ones back in the Philippines, by providing them the PIN number of the purchased card.

If you are a newly-arrived expat, your best bet would be to get a prepaid account, since you will need some credit history before you can sign up for a postpaid plan.

There are three major mobile service providers in the Philippines: Globe Telecom, Smart, and Sun Cellular (other providers such as Touch Mobile and Talk ‘N Text are subsidiaries of Globe and Smart, respectively). Although I find that the rates and services provided by each provider are largely similar, one provider may have some specific perks that can be more attractive to you. Moreover, it’s not uncommon for people to have accounts with more than one provider, so they can take full advantage of these perks.

The good thing about mobile phone plans in the Philippines is that you aren’t charged for any incoming messages. For example, even if your prepaid account has no more credits, you can still receive as many text messages and calls as usual, free of charge! However, your account will probably expire within several weeks of not reloading credits.

For international rates, sending text messages to a number overseas seems to be quite standard at PHP 15/text. Call rates tend to vary, depending on the country being called. Some countries will have cheaper rates, and those tend to be ones where a sizeable population of OFWs can be found e.g. USA, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong.

More on using cellphones

The Philippines has been dubbed the “Text Capital of the World“, with millions of text messages sent and received every day. That said, the preferred way of communicating between mobile phone users is through texting. People send texts not only to family and friends — I’ve even inquired and received updates about job applications through text!

I’ve noticed that calls are used more often for more formal purposes, such as conducting business or discussions with colleagues and superiors. For non-urgent matters, however, most people go by sending text messages.

Voicemail is also quite infrequently used in the Philippines. That is, if someone isn’t able to pick up a call, a text message instead of voice message is usually left.

Money On The Phone

Your mobile phone can also function as an “e-wallet“, where you can make transactions and purchases (online, or at plenty of establishments nationwide) with “e-money” that you deposit in your account.

GSM phones are still widely used, since plenty of users rely on their mobile phones primarily for communicating through calls and SMS. Very few people will be carrying Blackberrys. Nevertheless, phones with 3G and wi-fi capability are gaining popularity, especially among young adults and those working in the corporate world.

Internet Connection

Davao City has plenty of free wi-fi spots, although most of them tend to be in establishments such as cafés and hotels, which may not be readily accessible if you only want a quick email check and such. The internet connectivity available through the different providers is quite reliable, however, with some offering to keep you connected all day at low rates.

No phone? Don’t fret!

There are other easy and possibly cheaper ways to keep in touch with family and friends.
Plenty of calling cards with reasonable rates for calls to the Philippines are available: look for them in your nearest Asian grocery store, or perhaps more conveniently, you can purchase them online (try www.pingo.com, www.phonecardsforsale.com).

If your loved ones have access to a reliable computer and internet connection, a good alternative is chatting through programs such as Skype, Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, which let you make free computer-to-computer calls as long as both parties have a microphone. Video chatting, an excellent way of keeping in touch over long distances, is even free, and the only investment you have to make is a good webcam which can come relatively cheap. Skype even lets you call landlines and mobile phones from your computer at very low rates, with a subscription or by purchasing credits online.

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Using Cellphones To Communicate To The Philippines is written by Katlyn Batuigas.

Do you find yourself in any of the following situations cited below?

• You are thinking of moving to the Philippines but are daunted at the prospect of shipping your belongings from your home country to your new residence.
• You are an expat already based in the Philippines, and your relatives from back home want to send you some goodies for the holidays.
• You want to ship some items to your relatives, or your spouse’s relatives, in the Philippines.
• You are a “balikbayan” and are planning to come back to the Philippines (perhaps for the first time ever!), with a lot of presents in tow.

If the answer to the above posted question is “Yes”, one of the options you could consider is using a Balikbayan Box to ship things to the Philippines.

A balikbayan box contains any number of items ranging from clothes, to canned goods, toiletries, books and electronics sent from abroad to the Philippines, traditionally by an overseas Filipino, known as a “balikbayan”. Balikbayan boxes started to become popular around the 1970s, when overseas Filipino workers from the USA would bring with them these eagerly-awaited pasalubong (homecoming gifts or tokens) back to their families and friends. These balikbayan boxes enabled our hardworking Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs to share a slice of the “American Dream” with their loved ones in the Philippines, but over the years it has evolved into a genuinely Filipino custom, practiced by balikbayans from all corners of the globe.

Balikbayans traditionally brought home balikbayan boxes with them aboard their flights or voyages (and you knew someone was a balikbayan from the impressive number of those boxes surrounding him or her!), but due to the increased restriction on luggage allowances, nowadays most balikbayan boxes make their way to the Philippines through freight forwarding.

So now you’ve done your shopping for items you want to send to the Philippines, and have a list of people who are receiving them. What’s next?

1) Getting the box

You can buy a balikbayan box through a cargo forwarding company. Boxes may also be available at your local Asian/Filipino supermarket or grocery store. If you have any OFW friends, ask them where they buy their boxes! And if those fail, try to search on Google with the following terms: “balikbayan box” + “name of your hometown”.

There are different sizes available for your needs — they range from 23 x 17 x 20 inches (actually, as small as you want) to about 30 x 20 x 20 inches. The great thing about using a balikbayan box is that the cost of shipping is the same regardless of the box’s weight. Do take note, though, that this is true only for boxes shipped by sea, which could take several weeks depending on the sender’s and recipient’s location. Shipping by air (which is much faster but subject to airline luggage restrictions) is normally only used for emergency purposes.

2) Packing and sealing

Place the heaviest items at the bottom of the box. Use bubble wrap for fragile items, or pack them in a separate lighter box, as the heavier boxes are usually loaded at the bottom of the ocean liner. If you are sending clothes, you may also use these to wrap other items — be resourceful! Try to pack liquids, such as lotions and shampoos, inside resealable plastic bags. Include a packing list for your intended recipients.

Don’t forget to check with your freight forwarding company about customs-prohibited items.

Seal your box carefully using packing or strapping (not duct, as it tends to unravel with the humidity) tape. Using a black permanent marker, label your box on every side with the recipient’s complete name, address and telephone number.

3) Which company?

Check your carrier for both price and reliability. From the United States, shipping usually costs $60 to $120 per box; be wary if the prices are outside this range. (Prices may be much higher in other places such as in the UK or Latin America.) Make sure the company is accredited with the appropriate agencies e.g. Federal Maritime Commission, or the Philippines Shippers’ Bureau or Department of Trade and Industry. Check the Better Business Bureau for complaints. Ask your OFW friends for their experiences and recommendations with freight forwarders. And again, Google the company for reviews!

Try to shop around to get the best value for your money. Some companies provide services such as pick-ups straight from your house, so that you don’t have to drop your box off at their location. Others take photos of your recipient with the box, and then send you the photo and proof of receipt. Look out for other perks such as regular-customer discounts.

4) Bill of lading

A bill of lading (or sales invoice) is issued by the freight forwarding company, acknowledging that your box has been received by the carrier and will be delivered to the specified recipient. It includes the list of items that are inside the box, and the recipient’s information (e.g. name, address and phone number). You will need to fill out a bill of lading for every recipient—that is, if you are sending two boxes to just one recipient, only one bill of lading needs to be completed.

5) The send-off

Check your forwarding company for the methods of payment. Ask for a tracking code so you can track the box either by phone or online. Notify your recipient about the shipment and when they can expect to receive it, and make sure they can provide valid identification upon receipt. Lastly, remind them to keep you updated if they have received the balikbayan box, or if they encounter any problems so you can follow up with the company.

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What to ship things to the Philippines? A Balikbayan Box helps, according to Katlyn Batuigas.