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Known for its globally-recognized degree of hospitality, not-so-costly standard of living, the active and competent urban lifestyle and its diverse cultures, the Philippines has been the preferred and favored destination of retirees, expats and immigrants.

The country’s retirement program is managed by the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA), with a primary role to promote and grant the Special Resident Retiree Visa (SRRV) to possible retirees, foreigners and overseas Filipinos, and to offer a wide range of services, benefits, and other perks that would make your stay truly meaningful. In its entirety, the SSRV Visa holder is entitled to multiple-entry privileges with the right to stay permanently or indefinitely in the Philippines, as long as the required minimum deposit investment subsists. (Sec. 2, Rule II of LOI 1470).

Dubbed as the “Retiree’s Visa“, the SSRV is a special non-immigrant visa separate and distinct from the existing visa categories defined by the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940. The Philippine government makes it trouble-free and uncomplicated to live permanently in the country, unlike other neighboring countries, since it has fewer restrictions. Acquiring a Special Rsident Retiree’s Visa (SSRV) is a good option especially when one is not married to a Filipino citizen. It’s somewhat referred as the Cadillac of Philippine Visas.

Here are a few things that you should know about the Special Resident Retiree’s Visa:

Who are eligible to apply?

The SRRV is valid for as long as one remains a good standing member of the Program and provided his / her time deposit and/or investment exists in the Philippines.

1. Any foreign national, apart from those nationals of countries with which the Philippines does not have diplomatic relations and those nationals considered restricted by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

2. Overseas Filipinos who are immigrants or under a visa category allowing them legal stay abroad and have resided therein continuously for at least seven (7) years, prior to their application for enrolment in the Program and should not have stayed a maximum total of sixty (60) days in a year in the Philippines.

Below are the Retirement options and their Required Time Deposits:

1. With Pension – (50 years. Old and above) the required time deposit is US$10, 000.00 plus a monthly pension of US$800.00 for a single applicant and US$1,000.00 for couple

2. Without Pension

• 35 to 49 years old — US$50, 000.00 time deposit
• 50 years old and above — US$20, 000.00 time deposit
• Former Filipino Citizens (at least 35 years old, regardless of the number of dependents — US$1,500.00
• Ambassadors of foreign countries who served and retired in the Philippines — US$1,500.00

Note:The PRA Accredited banks agree to accept any acceptable foreign currency for deposit in the accounts, provided that it shall be credited to the account as the United States Dollar or Philippine Peso equivalent.

How to join the PRA Program

If you are based in the Philippines, you may secure an application form and file the same with the following:

Philippine Retirement Authority
29/F Citibank Tower
8741 Paseo de Roxas
Makati City 1227

Telephone No.: (632) 848-1412 to 16
Fax No.: (632) 848-1411
Direct Line: (632) 848-7104
E-mail: inquiry@pra.gov.ph

If you are based abroad you may contact and seek assistance from the Philippine Embassy or Consulate near you.

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This article is written by Julius Piala

Once, an Australian friend of mine and I were in SM City Mall when he had a “great” idea. He thought that it was time for him (after four days’ stay here in the Philippines) to take the definitive Filipino practice: ride a jeepney. It was a mark of my hospitality that I – even when I thought the idea rather silly and pointless – readily okayed. Unfortunately, the only jeepneys that would go by where we were going were multicabs, which, being scaled for the average-sized Filipino commuter, only made my 6-foot-3 friend look like Gandalf in a Hobbit’s hut. It was with a sense of adventure that we boarded our ride.

The jeepney we hopped on was packed. We were sat near the front and, because my friend obviously had the longest reach, it became his unofficial duty to pass the other passengers’ fare to the driver (as well as hand them their change back) – a proxy konduktor (see below for the meaning). I first thought that he might find the task bothersome, and it was quite a surprise to see that he actually enjoyed doing it – and this while he still had to make sure his head doesn’t keep bopping on the roof.

This had me wondering what makes jeepney riding — despite its obvious discomforts — a tolerable, if not quite pleasant, activity. And, for the benefit of anybody else who might be wondering — may you be a foreigner or a local — here are three of my observations:

Jeepney-riding is a practice on common courtesy

Apparently, Filipinos view public space as other people’s personal space — if only evidenced by how we always excuse ourselves when passing in the jeepney’s aisle — and the better of us act in a jeepney as we would in other people’s homes. Politeness is observed, perhaps best exemplified by how we pay our fare: although all passengers have the communal obligation of passing each other’s fare to the driver / konduktor, we still act as though this is not obligatory and we give our thanks when we find assistance. (As a sidenote: it might be interpreted that when a passenger asks for his fare to be passed, he implies giving his trust – that the other passengers won’t cheat him – as well as “declaring” that he has come under the favor of strangers.) Other courtesies are also performed: assisting the elderly, helping our co-passengers with their baggage, and looking after the younger passengers.

The jeepney offers a chance to show our pakibagay or “fellow-feeling”

To ride a jeepney is to enter a social contract; along the ride, one is expected to be observant and considerate of one’s fellow passengers. This is why, in a packed ride, the chief rule is: occupy as small space as possible. This is not only for the financial gains of the driver, but more so for whatever amount of comfort one can give to one’s seatmate from giving those precious inches of sitting space.

However, ironically, little attention is paid to the intimacy of the situation (bodies may bump on each other, arms and thighs may rub). Once inside the jeepney, the passengers are — as much as can be helped — just sexless, anonymous bodies.

A jeepney ride offers a rest even while in transit

With twenty-plus years of commuting, even I still find it quite a wonder how we Filipinos can sleep in a moving jeepney. For locals, it might seem like a usual thing to do, but consider the facts: jeepneys travel at 30 – 45 kph (with sudden stops and starts), most drivers blow their horns liberally, we constantly move in our seats because of the shifting number of passengers, and we only have a beam of metal attached to the roof to hold to keep ourselves steady. Yet, it seems so easy to sleep inside the jeepney.

The only explanation I can find for this is, simply, we are just not bothered by these conditions. (I might even go as far as to say we’re fine with it.) This only shows, I suppose, not only our faith in our motorists’ obedience to traffic rules but also our feeling of easiness with the little communities that we get to form within the span of our travel.

Many good things have been said about the jeepney – mostly about it being the typified Filipino vehicle, the best example of our “ingenuity and resiliency” – but my honest opinion on the vehicle, per se, is that it isn’t really much to brag about. The wonder of jeepney-riding lies not in the contraption itself, but rather in what it carries. The jeepney do not only transport passengers, it transmits common decency and understanding: it is a showcase of Filipino culture.

Foreigners perhaps try riding the jeepney for its novelty. But, as my Australian friend and I have found out, it could also be an economical chance to participate in a wonderful, albeit strange, cultural activity.

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There is more to riding a jeepney than just getting from one location to another. In this article, Gabriel Milado also reveals something about Filipino Values and Courtesies observed by Filipinos even in routine and trivial activities like riding the King of the Road: The Jeepney.

Davao 4 Expats Notes:

Sakay-sakay means taking a ride.
Kundoktor is Jeepney driver’s sidekick; he or she is the one who handles the passengers’ fare and is the overall in-charge of the passengers. If the driver is the pilot, this guy is the steward.

Click here to read the complete article online.