Family

How to build a cheap DIY playpen

29 August 2018 Leave a Comment

When family and friends learned that my husband and I were expecting our firstborn, many gave us their old baby gear, for which we are truly grateful. One of these hand-me-downs is a standard-size playard (aka play yard, playpen, or “baby jail”) from my cousin.

The playard (which sometimes doubled as a crib) truly served us well during the first several months, but now that our baby is starting to crawl, it was beginning to feel small. We wanted a bigger play area where our child can safely move around and do solitary play, as it’s important for us that our baby learns self-distraction. We’d still be watching, but from a close distance outside our child’s own space.

Searching online for something that’s available here in the Philippines, the closest to what we had in mind is the ENO baby fence, a modular playpen made in Korea. However, it’s quite expensive at around PHP 9,000 for a ten-panel enclosure.

And so we decided to just build our own playpen using PVC pipes and fittings, which are commonly used in plumbing. Now, there are websites saying that PVC is “bad for babies”, but I figured if it truly is toxic, many in this country would be dead by now, as PVC pipes are commonly used in our water supply.

For the playpen dimensions, we settled on 6 ft x 4 ft x 2 ft, with each side divided into 2-ft sections for more stability and support. As for the pipe size, we initially planned to use the cheaper 1/2-in pipes, but eventually decided to use the heavier 1-in ones for more sturdiness.

We already had a hacksaw, so we skipped buying a plastic pipe cutter. It is quite intuitive to assemble the frame; no instructions needed. Anyone can easily do it as long as the sections are cut properly and equally.

DIY playpen constructed using PVC pipes and fittings — Connecting the pipes

What about the sides and bottom, you ask? We thought of using polyester netting and a puzzle mat made of interlocking EVA foam, but we opted for fabric as we had some old blankets and comforters lying around. We secured the fabric on the frame using nylon rope. We’re quite satisfied with our finished product:

One thing we missed to install was padding on the pipes, as our child might bang hard against them. We plan to wrap the pipes with foam from an old mattress come laundry day, when we remove all the fabric for washing.

All in all, we spent less than 2,000 pesos on the frame. All the materials we used are easily available at any hardware store.

Quantity	Item	Price	Amount
		Total (PHP)	1,766
8	1-inch PVC pipes (3 meters)	105	840
8	1-inch PVC elbows (90 degrees)	18	144
28	1-inch PVC tees (equal)	19	532
1	Nylon rope (50 meters)	250	250

It’s been a week since we installed the playpen, and our baby can now crawl from one end to the other. Later we plan to add a DIY pull-up bar inside so our child can practice pulling up to stand.

How to apply for a Social Security number (SSN) for an infant at the US Embassy in the Philippines

15 July 2018 Leave a Comment

In my previous post, I wrote about our successful application for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) and US passport at the US Embassy in Manila for our infant child. With CRBA and passport in hand, my husband and I then applied for our child’s Social Security number (SSN).

The process was quick and easy, because unlike in some other countries, the US Embassy in the Philippines has a Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) onsite that provides Social Security services. Personal appearance is also not required for children under 12 years old.

This guide is based on our infant child’s application; additional documents and personal appearance are required for children who are 12 years of age or older.

1. Prepare the requirements

Present the original documents. There is no need to photocopy them; the FBU personnel will make the copies themselves.

Child’s Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)
Child’s unexpired US passport
Unexpired passport of the parent who will sign the application
Application for a Social Security Card. There are two forms available; fill up and sign only one. Both are fillable PDF files, so type in your answers before printing your preferred form on US Letter (8.5″ x 11″) paper. There is no need to print out the first few pages of instructions; just the last page (the actual form) will do.
- Form SS-5 (for US address) – card will be delivered to US address within two weeks
- Form SS-5-FS (for non-US address) – card will be delivered to Philippine address within five months

2. Go to the embassy

The FBU is open on weekdays (except during US and Philippine holidays) from 8 am to 3 pm. There is no need for an appointment. A few tips:

Arrive before 1 pm. The FBU staff can only access the system until 1 pm. If you arrive well before that, they can process your application immediately and have the SSN ready the next business day. If you arrive after 1 pm, they will still accept your application, but will process it the next business day.
Leave electronic devices behind. Cellphones and the like are not allowed inside the embassy.

3. Wait for the card to arrive

A week after we submitted our application, the Social Security card arrived in the mail in the US. If you choose to have it delivered to the Philippines, don’t fret — although you may have to wait for up to five months for the physical card, the actual number will be available within two business days.

If you want to know the SSN right away, provide the FBU staff with your local mobile number. They cannot divulge it over the phone for privacy and security reasons, but they will call to inform you if the SSN is already available. The parent who signed the application form can simply present his/her valid passport and the child’s valid US passport to the FBU to get the SSN.

How to apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) and US passport at the US Embassy in the Philippines

10 May 2018 Leave a Comment

Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America (CRBA) or Form FS-240

Update July 2018: With CRBA and US passport in hand, my husband and I then applied for our child’s Social Security number (SSN). Click here to read about our experience at the US Embassy in Manila.

Under US law, a person born outside the United States to an American parent and a foreign parent in wedlock acquires US citizenship at birth if, prior to birth, the American parent was physically present in the US or its outlying possessions for at least five years, two of which are after the age of 14.

My husband meets this physical presence requirement, and so thanks to him, our child is also a US citizen. To make it official, we applied for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America (CRBA) and US passport for our child at the US Embassy in Manila.

The process was surprisingly quick; we received our child’s CRBA and passport less than a month after mailing in our application. My tips for a smooth process:

Fill up all forms correctly
Ensure all documents are complete
Present a lot of evidence
Both parents are present during the interview

We did all of the above and were approved immediately. On the other hand, we saw several families who were sent home during pre-screening because of incomplete requirements or insufficient evidence. One family, who came without the US citizen parent, was even told to undergo DNA testing.

This guide is based on our infant child’s application; additional documents are required for school-age children and children born out of wedlock, or if one parent or both cannot attend the interview.

1. Prepare the requirements

Click here to download the latest checklist (updated April 2018). Prepare one (1) photocopy each of all documents and completed forms. Do not mail the original documents.

Passport photos. Submit three (3) identical pictures of the child and two (2) of each parent. Click here for photo guidelines and samples.
Application for Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America (Form DS-2029). Click here to download. It is a fillable PDF file, so type in your answers before printing it on US Letter (8.5″ x 11″) paper. Do not sign. Ensure that you provide a working email address, as the appointment letter will be sent there. Also include a local Philippine telephone number.
Certificate of Live Birth of applicant issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). You can easily get a copy online from e-Census (soon to be known as PSASerbilis). Don’t bother to apply if the PSA copy is not yet available; the copy from the Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) will not suffice.
Growing-up photos of applicant. The more pictures, the better. It is best to submit photos of the child together with both parents, spanning from birth to the present. Personally we printed 20 pictures, each labeled with the date and our child’s age on that date.
Evidence of American parent’s citizenship. The US citizen parent may present any one (1) of the following:
- US passport
- US birth certificate
- CRBA (Form FS-240)
- Certificate of Citizenship
- Certificate of Naturalization
Identification document of Filipino parent. The Filipino parent may present his/her passport. If s/he has no passport, s/he must present two (2) other digitized government-issued IDs.
Evidence of American parent’s physical presence in the US. This is important; the application will be denied if the US citizen parent cannot conclusively demonstrate that s/he fulfills the residence requirement. Present as much hard evidence as possible, including old passports, school transcripts, Form W-2s, and medical treatment records. Military members or veterans can also submit a Statement of Service or Report of Separation (DD Form 214). Time abroad counts towards residency only if it was:
- as a member of the US armed forces in honorable status
- as an employee of the US government or other qualifying organizations
- as a dependent unmarried child of any of the above
Certificate of Marriage of parents issued by the PSA. You can easily get a copy online from e-Census (soon to be known as PSASerbilis). The copy from the LCRO will not suffice.
Evidence of mother’s pregnancy. The more evidence, the better. Personally we presented the following:
- ultrasound reports with images (sonograms)
- 20 pictures of myself while pregnant, each labeled with the date and location
- hospital billing statements and receipts
- hospital certification of confinement for myself and our child
Evidence of parents being in the same location at the time of conception. We presented boarding passes along with our passports.
Evidence of parents’ relationship prior to conception. The more evidence, the better. Personally we submitted 20 pictures of the two of us together, spanning from the start of our relationship to just before our child was conceived, including several from our civil wedding. My husband and I like to travel, so we presented more boarding passes along with our old passports.

If you don’t have enough evidence to establish filiation of your child, fret not. There is always DNA testing, which is the last resort because it’s expensive and time-consuming. However, do not initiate DNA testing unless recommended to do so by the consular officer. Click here for more information on this option.

Application for a US Passport (Form DS-11). Click here to fill out the form online. Download and print the resulting PDF file on US Letter paper, but do not sign.
Declaration of No Social Security Number (SSN). Click here to download (embedded below). SSN is a required field in Form DS-11. Obviously our child doesn’t have one yet, so we entered all zeros in the field as instructed and submitted this signed declaration.

Declaration_of_no_SSN

2. Send the application

Arrange the photocopies of the requirements in the above order and mail, along with the signed checklist, via courier to the following address:

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CITIZENSHIP AND PASSPORT UNIT
AMERICAN CITIZEN SERVICES
CONSULAR SECTION
1201 ROXAS BOULEVARD
MANILA 0930

3. Wait for the appointment email

A few days after we sent the package, we received the appointment letter in the email address we indicated in Form DS-2029.

4. Prepare for the interview

A few tips:

Ensure all original forms and documents are complete. Arrange them in the same order as the checklist, then place inside a waterproof plastic zip envelope for protection.
Arrive in Manila at least a day before and check in at a nearby hotel. This is highly recommended for those coming from outside Metro Manila, in order to avoid missing the interview due to flight delays and/or traffic jams. We recommend staying at City Garden Suites, a good mid-price hotel within short walking distance from the embassy. Click here for other accommodation options near the embassy.
Leave electronic devices behind. Cellphones and the like are not allowed inside the embassy.
Bring full payment of CRBA, passport, and delivery fees. The CRBA application fee is USD $100. Click here for the latest schedule of passport fees (updated February 2018). The embassy cashier accepts either cash (US dollars or Philippine pesos) or credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, or Diners Club International). Delivery is handled by a third-party courier, AIR21, which accepts cash only.

5. Go to the embassy

Be sure to arrive at the embassy with your child 30 minutes before your appointment time. There will be a throng of US visa applicants queueing outside, but CRBA applicants do not need to fall in line; simply go straight to the entrance for US citizens.

Once inside, go to American Citizen Services (ACS) on the second floor. Pay the CRBA and passport fees at the cashier, then wait for your turn. When your child’s name is called, proceed to the correct counter window for pre-screening.

Present all your original forms and documents. If everything is in order, you will proceed to the final interview with the approving consular officer. While waiting for the interview, you can pay the delivery fees at the AIR21 booth on the same floor.

Our final interview was quick and pleasant, as most of the probing questions were already asked during pre-screening. We signed the CRBA and passport application forms in front of the consular officer, who then returned our original documents. Finally, the officer confirmed that our child is a US citizen, and has been one since birth. We said our goodbyes, left the embassy, and that’s it. Our child’s CRBA was delivered to our address two weeks later. The passport arrived shortly after.

Want to also apply for a Philippine passport for your dual citizen child? Click here to read about our experience.

How to apply for a Philippine passport for an infant at the Department of Foreign Affairs

21 April 2018 Leave a Comment

It is quite easy to procure a Philippine passport for your newborn baby. It was the first thing my husband and I did after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) copy of our child’s birth certificate finally became available, because in addition to being a travel document, a passport serves as a form of identification and proof of citizenship.

Unlike regular applicants, minors seven years old and below do not need to make an online appointment. Personally, all my husband and I did was show up with our child at the nearest Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) office with the following documents:

Completed and signed application form. Click here to download the latest passport application form for minors (embedded below). It is a fillable PDF file, so you can conveniently type in your answers before printing it double-sided on A4 paper. If you don’t have a printer at home, the DFA office has blank forms that you can fill up onsite. Still, I highly suggest printing it beforehand to save time.

DFA_minor_passport_application_form

Child’s Certificate of Live Birth issued by the PSA. You can easily get a copy online from e-Census (soon to be known as PSASerbilis). There is no need to photocopy the certificate, as the DFA will need and keep the original.
Photocopies of information pages of our Philippine passports. My husband and I presented our original passports for verification.
Photocopy of our Certificate of Marriage issued by the PSA. We presented the original for verification.

And that’s it. After paying the passport fee at the cashier, we didn’t wait long for our child’s turn at picture taking and data encoding. All in all, we spent less than half an hour at the DFA office. Kudos to the DFA for making passport application for young children a quick and painless one. (Now, if only they could likewise improve the process for regular applicants…)

Review: Sun Life Financial Philippines

4 November 2017 Leave a Comment

Life insurance benefit check from Sun Life Financial Philippines

Thinking of getting life insurance? If you compare the policies of the major insurance companies here in the Philippines, you’ll discover that they’re more or less the same, offering similar benefits and riders. So the deciding factor then is: customer service.

We all know how life insurance agents (or financial advisors as they now call themselves) can be so attentive to the point of obsequiousness when they’re trying to make a sale, but what about afterwards?

This is not a review of the insurance products of Sun Life Financial Philippines per se — like I said, you’ll most likely find comparable offerings from its main competitors such as Philam Life or Manulife. Instead, this is about our experience with their after-sales service, especially the all-important claims time, which is the true test of an insurance company.

Twenty years ago, my mother bought a simple endowment life insurance policy from Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), the life insurance arm of Sun Life Financial Philippines. With this particular plan, the beneficiary (me) will receive a guaranteed payout, called an endowment, plus non-guaranteed returns in the form of dividends, upon maturity of the policy or death of the policyholder (my mother). (Sun Life no longer offers this plan; among their current products, the closest to it is Sun Acceler8.)

Update December 2017: A reader shopping for an insurance policy e-mailed me asking for the specific details and figures of my mother’s plan. I’d rather not post such information for privacy and security reasons, but below is a redacted summary of her policy. Hers was a participating policy, which means it paid dividends. My mother availed of the Premium Offset option, wherein the plan’s dividend allotment was used to pay its premiums.

My unsolicited advice to folks looking to buy life insurance: insurance is not investment, so don’t confuse or combine the two. The main purpose of life insurance is not to grow your money, but to financially cushion your dependents from the loss of your income due to death or disability. Keep your insurance and investment vehicles separate. As such, I don’t recommend Variable Universal Life (VUL) insurance.

Wishful thinking: what if I could travel back in time to twenty years ago, knowing now that my mother remains healthy and outlives her policy? Well, I would tell her to invest her premiums in Philequity Fund — which I believe was the only existing mutual fund in the country at that time — instead. The return on investment (ROI) would have been around 480% (!).

(No, I’m not advising to forgo life insurance and dive all-in on investments, especially if you have dependents. I was just imagining a hypothetical scenario with the benefit of hindsight. I would only recommend it if you are single with no dependents and planning to stay that way.)

Summary of life insurance policy from Sun Life of Canada (Philippines)

I don’t know if the other local insurance companies offer this, but one thing I appreciate about Sun Life is that they have a convenient online portal, My Sun Life, where one can easily check policy details. Through My Sun Life, we were able to keep tabs on the dividend values, so we knew exactly how much the policy was worth.

The policy matured last month, and we’re happy to report that we received the benefits from Sun Life with no problems at all. My mother called their toll-free number at 1-800-10-SUNLIFE (7865433) the day after maturity for confirmation, and the rep said they will issue the benefit check within several business days and send it to the address on file via courier.

True enough, the check arrived after 14 business days. My mother and I were pleasantly surprised and impressed at Sun Life’s easy claims process, as we were expecting to have to haul ass to one of their branch offices to fill out a bunch of forms and submit a ton of identity documents in order to personally claim the payout. (In comparison, my mother had to go through exactly this laborious process a few years ago with another insurance company, PhilPlans, for her pension plan with them.)

It was indeed hassle-free dealing with Sun Life. Basically, the only action on our part was to call their call center at no cost. One of the reasons my mother chose Sun Life was because of their longevity — apparently they pioneered life insurance in the country and have been around here since 1895 (!). I can see now why they’re still standing strong when other insurance companies have gone belly-up. Our experience with Sun Life has been positive, and as such I don’t hesitate to recommend them for your life insurance needs.

Cloth diapers: Choosing our “stash”

10 October 2017 Leave a Comment

TL;DR: It’s prefolds with covers.

Our choice of prefolds: Diaper Rite cotton prefolds
Our choice of cover: Diaper Rite 3.1 One Size Diaper Cover

As a would-be first-time mother, I’m a total newbie to modern cloth diapering. Here in the Philippines, I’ve only ever seen disposable diapers, which rule supreme, and the traditional lampin (flat cloth diapers) on babies. (I myself was a lampin baby, as apparently I wouldn’t stop crying when they made me wear disposables).

As my due date grew nearer, I started researching on diapering options online, and was surprised to discover that cloth diapers are all the rage these days. They now come in all shapes and sizes, not just flats. The thought of not dumping more disposables to landfills appealed to my husband and I, so we decided to go with cloth diapers. We still plan to use disposables at night and when going out (we love the environment and all, but we’re not martyrs). Family members also gifted us with lots of Pampers Swaddlers and Baby Dry newborn diapers, so we plan to start cloth diapering at three months.

Anyone who has ever Googled cloth diapers will know that the web is strewn with mommy blogs obsessed with them. These moms have mountainous “stashes” of various cloth diapers. The wide range of choices — and opinions on which one is the best — certainly didn’t make it easy for me to settle on which type and brand of cloth diaper to buy. I did know that I wanted a one-size-fits-all one that can be used all throughout our child’s first years.

SoftBums All-in-Two (AI2) cloth diaper — Source: SoftBums

My initial choice was SoftBums, an All-in-Two (AI2) cloth diaper consisting of an outer cover and an absorbent insert. It was the only one I came across that uses an elastic drawstring (apparently their own patented invention) instead of rise snaps to adjust the size of the cover. It seemed to me that this drawstring system is more likely to provide an exact fit compared to rise snaps, which offer limited adjustment settings.

It was the cost that dissuaded me from going with SoftBums, as they are considerably more expensive than other brands. In addition, the inner lining of their covers is fleece, which I feel is too warm for the weather here. Fleece also soils easily, which means the covers aren’t that reusable. (It didn’t help matters that apparently the owner of SoftBums is a drama queen who can’t take criticism of her product and argues with reviewers online.)

Looking further for a cheaper alternative, I started to lean towards prefold cloth diapers. They seemed intimidating at first with all the folding and pinning involved, but the price can’t be beat. Besides, if my parents managed to lampin me for 2+ years, surely my husband and I could handle prefolds, right?

Now the real question was, which brand? We were actually gifted with a bunch of Gerber prefolds, but it appears that most people use them as burp cloths, and their performance as actual diapers leaves a lot to be desired.

Diaper Rite natural (unbleached) cotton prefold diapers — Source: Diaper Junction

After researching some more, I finally went with the highly-regarded yet affordable prefolds by Diaper Rite, the store brand of the diaper specialty store Diaper Junction. We bought 30 pieces of the natural (unbleached) cotton ones in the largest size, as babies grow big fast (I figured we could just fold the prefold at the back while the baby is still small). As for fasteners, I chose the Snappi over the Boingo.

Next up was the diaper cover. Mom bloggers say it’s a necessity when using prefolds, but the modern cover is a fairly recent trend, at least here in the Philippines. Before the disposable diaper became king here, Pinoy babies of yore — myself included — simply wore lampin secured with safety pins and nothing else. Before our child starts to crawl, we plan to do the same and go coverless most of the time. I feel it would be more presko that way, especially with the warm weather here.

So just a few covers for us, but which brand? I was heavily leaning towards another AI2 diaper, the popular Duo Wrap by Thirsties. Unlike SoftBums, the Duo Wrap is a PUL-only cover, which can be easily wiped for reuse. It comes in a lot of cute colors and prints, and can be used with flats, prefolds, inserts, or fitteds. The feature that attracted me the most was the leg gussets for added leak protection. The only downside is that it’s not one-size — it comes in two sizes, hence the name. While at first glance it appears cheaper than SoftBums, in the end it comes out as more expensive since you eventually have to pony up for the Size 2 when the baby gets bigger.

I overlooked it when I bought their prefolds, but browsing through Diaper Junction again, I noticed they had their own brand of diaper cover, the Diaper Rite 3.1 One Size Diaper Cover. Like the Thirsties Duo Wrap, it’s PUL-only and comes with leg gussets. It’s basically the Duo Wrap’s cheaper cousin that comes in just one size (the description says it can fit babies up to 35 lb).

I was a bit hesitant at first, because outside the high ratings on its product page, I only found this blog review and the video feature above. The baby in the video looks happy enough wearing it, though, so we went ahead and bought six covers.

That brings our cloth diaper “stash”, which is on its way in a balikbayan box, to 30 prefolds, six covers, and five Snappis. The total cost is only about USD 130, which isn’t bad compared to disposables. As for other costs, we plan to just handwash and line-dry them (an added challenge, I know), so no extra electricity charges. Water is inexpensive here, and so is detergent.

Of course, the real test of these cloth diapers is yet to come, and we can’t wait to use them with our baby. Here’s hoping my husband and I are up for the challenge.