Since we lived in Singapore for almost 9 years before we decided to move here in the Philippines, we are a little cautious on our safety and security. Singapore is one of the safest country in the world, but we still had the habit of locking the gate when we go in and out of our flat. We brought that habit here in the Philippines. Though some of our neighbors here in our subdivision do not have fence or gate, I still do lock our gate everytime we go in and out of our house.
At first I was really paranoid about other people looking at us or trying to talk to us.. but Filipinos are friendly and so majority of us would like to open a conversation to other people. I am still adjusting on this behavior..
When we are in the mall, I am holding my two kids like their hands are chained on my hands.. Haha.. (Well this is pre-covid)
I think one of the reasons why I am really cautious is because of the news in the Philippines that I watched when I was in Singapore and also the posts in social medias. When we were about to move here, I avoided watching the news already and unfollowed the news programs in facebook.
There is no harm on being cautious and aware of the things that we need to do for safety..
Here are the things that I do at home to feel safe.
- Always locking the gate – Since this is a habit that I brought from Singapore, I believe it is okay even if I have to always get the key to unlock it.
- Always locking the screen doors – Houses here have screen doors so that we can open the main doors and bugs will not come inside.
- Locking the door and windows before sleeping or when leaving the house
- Not opening the gate to strangers – If somebody is looking for someone, I will ask first who is he looking for. If he doesn’t know, I will just ignore the person. I also taught this to my children, that somebody needs to know who are they looking for.
- Not giving information to people calling on the phone – When somebody calls someone, he needs to know who they are calling to. They should not ask who is the person who answered the call and where is that person living. So, I am really not fond of entertaining calls from others who do not know who are they calling.
- Erasing my contact details on the AWB of my parcels – Since there a lot of scams going on here in the Philippines, I felt that it is safe to erase my contact details on the AWB of my ordered goods. This is only to be safe, some people could use our details for something bad.
- Turning on some of the lights outside during night time – I bought the bulbs with low wattage so that it would save electricity. It is good that the house is bright at night.
- Having CCTV – Two reasons why we have CCTV, firstly is for my husband to see us whenever he wanted. Secondly, for our security.
There’s no harm in having these habits especially if this would give me and my husband a peace of mind.
Maybahay ng OFW 
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