| Lending a Filipino money
I mentioned that we has a loan of an old car while our Explore was being repaired. Finally got rid of the old car today. The owner rang last night and said they needed to pick it up because her daughter no longer had a car. The wife told her that we would deliver the car that evening washed with a full take of fuel. She insisted on coming in the morning. I was not about to miss out on Gym so when I got back it was gone.
The person that lent my wife the car was a Filipina. Over the past few weeks she had been applying a lot of pressure to my wife to buy the car. It turns out she is desperate for money as she has booked to return to the Philippines but does not have enough money to do so.
My wife explained that we simply did not need or want the car as we are moving to the Philippines early next year. As it is we will need to get rid of the Explorer when the time comes. We don’t need another old car that would cost more than it is worth to transfer to our name.
Despite this she continued to apply increasing pressure to my wife who finally offered to lend her some money and pay her $200 for the loan of the car. The kind and generous offer turned out to have a hidden sting.
The wife has always said never borrow anything from a Filipino because it always comes at a cost. In this case she did not follow her own advice and sure enough….
We have been discussing the likely hood of getting the borrowed money back and it does not seem good. Many Filipino’s have an attitude that if they think others can afford it then there is no need to pay back or return something borrowed.
My wife feels compelled to loan her the money regardless. It is the Filipino debt of gratitude (utang na loob ) at work. We have now decided that I will be the one to loan her the money so that she feels obligated to repay it. I will reinforce the need to pay it back by saying that she can take her time as long its paid back by the end of the year. Sometimes not being a Filipino can work to your advantage. Time will tell.
Posted: Tuesday 10th May 2005, 7:26 AM
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