I married my Filipina wife because I wanted to have a family, and I thought it would be nice to live in the Philippines eventually, but I thought I could think about it later, about 10 years later.
There are two reasons why I started to think about bringing it forward. One is that we bought a 725 square meter plot of land near my wife's parents' house in June after my wife's relatives asked us to buy some land due to the effects of the new coronavirus. The purchase of the land made it a reality that we had been thinking vaguely that we could eventually build a house in the Philippines.
Another reason I'm starting to think families are best when they live together.
My wife has two children. The older boy is 8 years old and the younger girl is 5 years old, and they are now living with my wife's sister's family in Toledo City (west of Cebu Island, with Negros Island across the ocean). We thought about bringing them to Japan, but it's not a good idea for them to be educated in cramped conditions in Japan for their future, and it would be very difficult for the older one to learn Japanese and use it normally from now on, let alone the younger one.
Quality of education aside, I think the Philippines is better than Japan in terms of raising children in a carefree manner. Moreover, my sister-in-law has children of the same age (they are my children's cousins), so they will be able to learn to live with them while leaning on each other, which will be a good learning experience for them. That's why we're keeping them in Cebu, but I'm starting to think that it would be better for the family to live together.
Children grow up and eventually leave the nest. We don't actually have that much time to live together. That's why the time we spend with our children is so precious.
I think it's important for me and my children, who are not blood related, to live together in order to build a relationship. If that's the case, it's too late to build a house and live in the Philippines in ten years' time.
I'd like to say now, but I'm still working in the corporate and won't receive my pension until I turn 65 next year. Until then, I'm thinking of going to the Philippines late next year to start building a house in the second half of next year as a preparation period for emigration.
