November 2024
DIY beds
We bought land in Siargao, and this is what we learned. It is not easy, and the government kept asking for taxes and fees that the government staff themselves couldn’t explain. I don’t recommend it for someone who doesn’t have direct connections they can fully trust money-wise in Siargao. Don’t hire someone named “Blessie” for processing docs (and also Federico Concepcion Cavile Pique Jr.).
In our case, there were many siblings selling one piece of land. It was very complicated because the land was not in their names but their deceased father’s, and we were asked to provide their deceased mother’s death certificate as well. This made it even more complicated because she didn’t have one—this alone took more than three weeks for us to get, and there were many hoops to jump through to obtain it. We were even offered to "pay" for it by the church. Getting this and other documents took more than a month, making it basically impossible to accomplish paying within one month of the transaction. That is why people, even the BIR, recommended and expected for DOAS to not have dates included. Ours had a date, and because it is impossible to comply with all the document requirements in the Philippines, we paid a penalty of 15,000 PHP due to a one-day late payment of the 30-day must-pay duration for CGT and DST. We didn't waste a day, and still, we couldn’t provide the documents on time. If you know the document processing in the Philippines, you know how tedious, lengthy, and pricey it can be. It was in November, and there were many holidays too. The government wasn’t understanding at all, as expected from the local government in the Philippines.
Here are all the documents you will need the land sellers to provide before you release any money to them. We didn’t have this list before and painstakingly had to ask them for signatures again, during which the seller siblings kept asking us for more money when they shouldn't have. However, we had no choice but to pay more money since we needed their signatures.
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Certified true copy of tax declaration
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Copies of TIN IDs of the all siblings with 3 signatures each
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SPA—for TIN, tax paying, and land title registration. I included all 3 in one SPA (it is possible). However, one part of the government required another separate SPA—so you should have a separate SPA for different purposes.
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Annotation—two documents
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PSA death certificate of the father of the siblings
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PSA death certificate of the mother of the siblings (Request this, as it might be another reason for payment delay, leading to penalties for late tax payment)
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Easement of Right of Way--this should be signed together with the notarized DOAS
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Notarized DOAS extrajudicial settlement with acknowledgment receipt (AR is necessary). In our case, we had a deal with the land sellers' siblings that we would pay 50/50 on lawyer fees—ask for a receipt of the lawyer payment.
Beware of My Experience with an Agent and Geodetic Engineer Staff
I want to share my experience to warn others about dealing with agents and geodetic engineer staff for land surveys. My agent, who acted as the mediator between me and the land sellers, recommended a survey service. He informed me it would cost 20,000 PHP. Having checked prices before arriving in Siargao, I knew that the survey alone typically costs 12,000 PHP. I clarified with the agent several times, through calls, texts, and in person, if the price included the processing fee for DENR, and he confirmed each time.
When I met with the geodetic engineer staff, the agent repeatedly tried to change the topic and cut me off, preventing me from speaking directly with them. It turned out that the agent and the geodetic engineer staff had made a deal behind my back: the 20,000 PHP was just for the survey, which should only cost 12,000 PHP. The agent blatantly lied to me, hoping to pocket the extra money.
I confronted the agent politely in front of everyone—the land sellers and the geodetic engineer staff—and explained the situation. Embarrassed, he admitted to giving me incorrect information and promised to handle the processing. However, after the sale, he disappeared and kept lying, making excuses for why he couldn't help us.
I don't recommend dealing with this agent or the geodetic engineer company in Siargao. Unfortunately, I can't name them here.
Things are moving along with @ohayosiargao. We have now paid for the business permit while still building Ohayo. It’s one of those strange rules we have to follow. I’m glad this part is over, and we can start advertising as soon as the construction is finished (hopefully by mid-August). I thought it would take another 4 months to process it, similar to the building permit, but thankfully, that’s not the case. The local government only required our money and some effort this time, but fortunately, not another 4 months. If you know how difficult it is to process anything related to documents in Philippines, you would understand I'm understating this “effort.”
We are still considering building another one in Cebu, which I hope will cater to higher-end guests, similar to Treeful. While we can certainly create something like Treeful, Mikko prefers it to be "pangmasa," just above average without being too expensive, similar to the places we usually stay during our travels.
My stocks have gained value and are worth more now than they were 6 months ago (Mikko’s Christmas gift was 1,010,000 yen worth of stocks).
Once our mini hotel is up and running, Mikko says I can do whatever I want with 1/3 of our earnings, minus taxes, etc. So maybe I will invest more in stocks. Another 1/3 is his, and the remaining 1/3 is to repay what we spent on it (land, construction, etc.)
In mid-February this year, we started the construction of our mini hotel, and hopefully, the Ohayo building will be finished around August. As of June 2024, we have invested 4.1 million pesos solely in the construction phase, not including the initial cost of purchasing the land. Siargao is an expensive island, and the Philippines isn't cheap in general. We always wonder how Filipinos manage when eating at restaurants costs the same as in Japan, but salaries in Japan are about ten times higher.