By Vince and Patricia Hizon

If you listen to the vast majority of stories on North American media, you might think the Philippines is not the ideal place to visit or much less live in. It seems all we hear about the homeland are news of coup attempts, natural or man-made disasters, extreme poverty, terrorist activity and the negative list goes on. When and what was the last meaningfully constructive or positive thing you heard about the Philippines? Outside of Manny Pacquiao’s Mexican demolition, Arnel Pineda’s Journey, and Charice Pempengco’s astonishing rise to musical stardom, the country is usually depicted to be headed to economic, political, and even natural tragedy.

My wife and I spent the bulk of our formative years growing up in North America. I was born and raised in Southern California; meanwhile my wife’s family migrated to Montreal and Toronto, Canada when she was young. Both of us lived our lives with North American ways and thinking.

Living in the Philippines was never in our plans but God willed a different path for us. One day, I had an uncle call me about a scholarship offer at The Ateneo de Manila University. A few years later, my wife was tasked to accompany her Lola back from Canada to Manila. Both of us thought we would be here for just a year or two, but we couldn’t have been more wrong.

I really fell in love with the ‘home’ sense of everything in the Philippines. It seems, like it or not, that everything revolves around family here. When was the last time everyone in your family got together for Christmas, let alone a birthday or some kind of dinner function? I’m not referring to a few of your immediate brothers, sisters and a few of their kids. I’m talking everyone in the family . . . brothers, sisters, in-laws, uncles, aunts, cousins up to the third or fourth degree.

I remember while living in the U.S., how hard it was for no fault of anybody but just because of the ‘rat race’ mentality, to get everybody together. There always seemed to be an excuse of a Boy Scout event, soccer practice, ballet or musical recital, school function, PTA meeting, some business meeting or trip, in-law functions, working longer hours and the list goes on. In the Philippines however, when one of the aunts or uncles says lunch on Sunday, you darn well better be there.

One might think this kind of living can be a bit of a hassle but we don’t. These occasions keep the family together as far as we’re concerned. We know about everybody’s successes and pitfalls and we always try to help each other out if the need arises. I just wish the U.S. and Canada had a little more of this strong family atmosphere.

Years after arriving here in Manila, my wife and I met, fell in love and eventually got married on January 1, 2004. We now have two adorable boys together and we can think of no better place in which to raise them than right here in the Philippines. They’re growing up to be young men who really know what family togetherness is. It’s truly awesome to witness. In a time when the U.S. and Canada thinks everybody wants to migrate to their countries, we chose to leave and start our new life in the Philippines.

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