It is not unusual here. The culture is such that age is not as important as personal security. That is something we all seek. Here, there are many ladies of all ages looking for a mate and "foreigners" are prime pickings.
Wages here for a good job are 300-400 Ph Pesos per day, or around 10-12000 per month. The exchange rate is now 44 +/-, so that is around $200-300 monthly income.
My wife and I were brought together through a mutual friend, who also has a Filipina wife. I subscribe to a Yahoo group (Living in the Philippines) and see the trials and tribulations of folk living with or hoping to find a mate here. Most that find one have a good life with a good mate. Some of the girls are pure gold-diggers, but most are just hoping to not have the same life in which they were raised.
My sweetie's family lives in rural Davao del Norte, in a "hollow block" house on a dirt/gravel road, in an area with frequent flooding. They got their household water from a hand-dug well in the yard, and scoop the water with a plastic bucket on the end of a bamboo pole, when I first visited there. I bought and installed a hand-pump, and water line from a holding tank, which is elevated and provided gravity flow. The first time I saw their well, I decided to help, after looking at the eyeballs looking at me (frogs) from the water.
Life is different here, but it is better than the one I was living there...
