This Is It!

“All my bags are packed; I’m ready to go…”

Okay. This is it. After half a decade of staying at the boarding house, we had finally decided to move out and find another place to live. After more than five years of laughing, sharing and arguing over petty things with some board mates, my husband and I had agreed to pay a higher price to enjoy a little privacy.
We agreed to find a small studio or a single room apartment where we can use the bathroom and the kitchen exclusively for ourselves.

Fluorescent Light in our Room

Our boarding house (center)

Sirang baitang ng hagdan

I admit that staying at the boarding house had been so memorable for us. That was the place where I enjoyed freedom for the first time. That was the place where I stayed when I had decided to live independently. That was the house that witnessed our ups and downs because we chose to stay there even when my husband and I started to live together for a few years before getting married.  That was also the place where we met a lot of people from different places and some of them still communicate with us even though they already transferred to other places.

Because it is close to market, public transportation, church and my then-workplace, we stayed there for a longer period of time. Even when I transferred to a new workplace, we still stayed there because that place served as midpoint between my husband’s workplace (Las Piñas) and mine (Ortigas). In addition, Malibay, Pasay is situated between Manila and Taguig where my husband’s family and mine live, respectively, which made it easier for us to visit them.  We were able to save money on transportation and rent since it is cheaper to rent a small room in a house where there is wash area, toilet and kitchen/ reception area which all tenants could use.

For more than five years, we had to endure the agony of sharing the house facilities with some housemates who were inconsiderate. There were people who didn’t mind taking out the trash, cleaning the sink after dishwashing or cooking, or even flush the toilet after using. We even encountered people who use other people’s stuff without asking permission, and there were some who disobey the house rules by bringing friends for a drink even at night. These problems are common and normally, people who break the rules were often complained by others and the more offenses they commit, the bigger the chance to be evicted (it was like PBB or Pinoy Big Brother system hehehe). That was why we were able to endure the last five years of our lives, because we were able to somehow follow the rules especially when paying for the rent.

Each time a tenant leaves the house, the rent of the room that he previously had stayed becomes higher for new occupants. We had noticed that the size of five out of six rooms in the house have the same sizes but the rates are different. In our case, we pay two thousand six hundred pesos per month, inclusive of water and electricity but three months ago, the rate had increased by two hundred pesos. Well, this is legal because it has been stated in  RA 9653 or the “Rent Control Act of 2009”.

Section 4. Limit on Increases in Rent. – For a period of one (1) year from its effectivity, no increase shall be imposed upon the rent of any residential unit covered by this Act:  Provided, that after such period until December 31, 2013, the rent of any residential unit covered by this Act shall not be increased by more than seven (7%) annually as long as the unit is occupied by the same lessee: Provided, further, That when the residential unit becomes vacant, the lessor may set the initial rent for the next lessee: Provided, however, That in the case of boarding houses, dormitories, rooms and bedspaces offered for rent to students, no increase in rental more than once per year shall be allowed.

And since the payment is inclusive of water and electricity the tenants are not allowed to bring extra appliances such as refrigerator and washing machine.

But because of the things that had happened recently, we decided to find another place to stay.  As we stayed longer, we had noticed that the house becomes not presentable anymore. When there’s a typhoon, expect water leaks from the roof and walls of most of the rooms. In addition, the sink and toilet frequently become clogged. One of the treads of the stairs was also broken and was never been fixed. We had also noticed that nowadays, the landlady has not been cleaning the house as often as before. Although we acknowledge that as occupants, it’s our responsibility to keep our place clean, but from the very beginning, the landlady told us that it’s her responsibility to do “general cleaning”, which she hasn’t been doing nowadays and if she has, expect her complaining while doing her task. And finally, the right part of the exhaust window of our comfort room was also broken which was usually left ajar, which was the cause of voyeurism.

As you might have read in my previous posts, four female housemates had become victims of “Peeping Tom” or “Boy Boso”.  (Please read here) This issue had caused strain in our relationship with our landlord, landlady and their relatives and had made my patience run out, because instead of protecting their tenants who happened to be their consumers, they did otherwise. That was why the occupants had started leaving, and some of them did not even bother to talk to our landlady anymore;we just decided to pack our things . Call us rude or whatever you want but my husband and I just couldn't stand it anymore.At present, there were only three rooms which were still occupied: the room across ours, the room nearest to the main door, and the room where we are still occupying. Now that we decided to move out, there will be only one tenant left, because the one who has been occupying the room nearest to the main door will be moving out by the end of September.

But on the lighter side, my husband got a job in a public school somewhere in Makati, so we chose a studio apartment near my husband’s workplace. In that way, we will be able to save money from transportation, since only one of us will be travelling daily. The place is just like Malibay—accessible to all.    It is also near my parents’ house and is still accessible by bus or jeepney.

Oh well, accept changes. Welcome challenges.

I will miss Malibay, Mall of Asia, Taft Avenue and Magallanes Station.