Vacation time is big business too

ANAHEIM, California – It is that time of the year when I have to cross the Pacific Ocean to visit my children here. It has never been easy. While spending time with children and one grandchild is anticipated, it takes some doing to convince myself that time doing nothing much is time well spent. In fact, given my hypertension, a vacation is what the doctor has always ordered. And so a vacation eventually ends up as an item in a "things to do list" and here I am eager to put a check mark next to it, ASAP.

As it is turning out this year, it isn’t really that bad. My 12-hour direct flight to Los Angeles via Philippine Airlines took off pretty much on schedule. If that one last tardy passenger showed up on time, our plane would have pushed away from NAIA2 five minutes earlier, as scheduled. The flight was full, as usual, and there were more than just a sprinkling of foreign-looking faces as well. All these are good signs for the national flag carrier in this turbulent time for international airlines.

I am sure the fireworks weren’t there to welcome me to California’s Southland, as Ernie Guevara, my brother-in-law, drove towards Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim from the freeway. That was just the nightly colorful display at Disneyland. Harbor Boulevard was pretty festive, as usual too. It all looked like Christmas in June.

The vacation crowd is just starting to fill up Disneyland but my wife who arrived here a few weeks earlier told me the amusement park is pretty filled up most of the week. Vacation time in America is big business. And they handle it with the systems and efficiency they are known for. We do not have the resources they have, but I am sure there is a lot to learn on how they sell vacations and vacation destinations. Or better yet, entice them to invest in a vacation place at home and make their marketing clout work for us too.

My daughter was out of town when I arrived and so it was just my wife babysitting our grandson who is turning two years old today. Being left alone with a kid brought some apprehensive thoughts. With my bad back, is this something I can still handle? My grandson has established a reputation of being a strong willed child, which is the polite way of saying that he can be quite a handful. But over the last 24 hours, he had been quite an angel. I guess he is just softening me up for the kill. Right now, I am still a visitor in his mind. Let’s see how it goes in the next few days.

I hate to admit it, but this grandfather business isn’t so bad. Aside from having to admit you are one, a grandchild can totally deflect your mind from the problems of the world. I didn’t realize I would be able to get myself to stop worrying about the unpleasantness of charter change and focus instead on the icky business of diaper change. It had been quite a while when I last had to struggle with this job and it is nice to know that technology on disposable diapers has also advanced quite a bit since then... just like the technology on disposable constitutions.

Who knows… I may end up enjoying this break in the routine of life back home. I always bring a pile of reading materials with me, just in case I feel too guilty about all the free time. And there is always the Internet, which another of my doctors told me to spend less time on, if I want my carpal tunnel problem eased. Then again, there is always a price to pay for anything worth doing. Who can resist picking up a grandson, to hug and to kiss, back problem or not?

Pagsanjan mayor reacts

Just before I left Manila, I got a letter from Pagsanjan Mayor Emilio Ramon Ejercito III, reacting to the series of reader letters that I published in this column about some unpleasant experiences at Pagsanjan’s famous "shooting the rapids" tourist draw. It is sad, the mayor wrote, that there are still isolated cases of such illegal activities among Pagsanjan’s licensed boatmen. But he reassures, they are exerting all efforts to stop this problem.

In the particular case mentioned, the Pagsanjan PNP conducted an investigation on the basis of the published complaint and they were able to identify the erring boatmen. If the reader who wrote me the complaint would bother to file charges, they would wrap this case up.

The mayor said he has an information campaign to guide tourists on how not to be victimized by boatmen. Billboards are all over the highway advising tourists not to deal with "flaggers" but go straight to an accredited hotel or resort. But this was what the victim who wrote me the complaint did. They went to this resort and it was the boatmen from the resort and a couple of others from another resort who caused all the problems.

Anyway, it may be advisable for those who really want to shoot the rapids to visit first the Pagsanjan Tourist, Culture and Arts Development Office just to protect themselves from harassment and overpricing. The mayor is also calling anyone who may be victimized to immediately file a complaint with his office and he guarantees speedy action.

Real estate

Real estate is still the rage around here, even if rising interest rates have caused pain to those who bought over the past few years on adjustable rates when interest rates were low. There were even schemes where the only thing that had to be paid was a low monthly interest with hardly any downpayment. But those days are gone for those buying real estate here now.

But there is another kind of real estate product that has attracted The Wall Street Journal. In an article last week, the business paper featured real estate deals directed at wealthy expats, particularly Filipinos but also including Mexicans and other Hispanics.

The WSJ noted that the Philippines is specifically targeting potential retirees with large-scale development projects and new communities that include recreation outlets, shopping and entertainment. These high-end projects, the WSJ said, are particularly designed to appeal to people used to similar communities in the US.

The developer mentioned in the article is Landco, more particularly known for the Punta Fuego and leisure farm projects. But the idea to tap the US expat market was really pioneered by Nestor "Tong" Padilla of Rockwell. I know, because I was there at the creation, so to speak.

Several years ago after we had sold most of the units at Rockwell and the Asian crisis hit the economy, we were at a loss on how to pursue the next phases of the Rockwell development. We realized the domestic market was out of the question. Tong Padilla, who heads Rockwell, thought we might be able to tap the expat market in America using the media facilities of ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel to promote it.

We tested the waters in California and we hit pay dirt. Soon, every large developer was doing it too. A large number of the units in the Manansala and Joya towers are now owned by Pinoy expats, including a lot of nurses and other professionals. We still do those roadshows, expanding to the East Coast and Canada. With TFC also now in Europe, that looks like the next area to be explored.

Without the expat market, the Philippine real estate sector wouldn’t be as interesting as it is now threatening to be. It is happening not just with the high-end developments. On the middle to lower end of the market, whole subdivisions in Batangas and other provinces have been named after places in Europe because the new houses were built by OFWs working there.

The value of this expat-driven real estate development to the economy is obvious. The impact of all the construction taking place has a multiplier effect on the economy of a developing country like ours. Construction after all, is highly labor-intensive and labor, we have plenty to spare.

The sociological impact of the phenomenon is also important. The WSJ quotes a Filipina who was looking over one of those roadshows in San Francisco commenting that buying her dream home in her native country is a sign that she has arrived in America. That reminds me of a nurse visiting one of Tong’s roadshows in Cerritos. She asked how much in dollars the monthly amortization would cost. After she was told the amount, she reportedly remarked, "kaya pala... ilang overtime lang yan."

I found that totally heartwarming.

Giving up

Little Johnny watched, fascinated, as his mother smoothed cream on her face. "Why do you do that, mommy?" he asked.

"To make myself beautiful," said his mother, who then began removing the cream with a tissue.

"What’s the matter?" asked Little Johnny. "Giving up?"

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com