Skills Every Expat Living In The Rural Philippines Should Know

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Cement & Masonry Work
• Carpentry (Constant Demand)
• Blacksmithing & Basic Metalwork (High Leverage)
• Electrical Work (Critical Infrastructure)
• Electronics Repair (Underrated Superpower)
• Gardening & Food Production (Food Security)
• Car & Motorcycle Repair (Mobility = Independence)
• Computer Repair & Networking (Modern Necessity)
• Solar Power Systems (Power Resilience)
• Plumbing & Water Systems (Daily Survival)
• Water Well & Pump Systems (If Applicable)
• Logistics & Procurement (Hidden Skill)
• Communication & Instruction Skills (Most Overlooked)
• Optional but Powerful Skills
• Reality Check
• Thinking of Moving to the Philippines? Get Reliable Guidance

Introduction

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This post completes the ‘Be Your Own Maintenence Department’ Series. What skills sets should you have if you are living in the rural Philippines?

In rural areas:

• Specialists are not always available
• Quality varies wildly
• “Yes, sir” does not mean understanding
• Power, water, and transport are fragile systems
• The more skills you have, the less dependent—and frustrated—you become.

Cement & Masonry Work (Foundational)

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It’s important because:

• Everything is concrete. Everything cracks.

Recommended skills:

• Mixing correct cement ratios
• Rebar placement and tying
• Patching cracks and spalls
• Pouring small slabs and footings
• Setting posts and anchors
• Waterproofing concrete

Bad concrete is permanent regret.

Carpentry (Constant Demand)

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It’s important because: Wood warps, termites eat it, and repairs are constant.

Recommended skills:

• Framing repairs
• Door and window alignment
• Cabinet and shelving construction
• Plywood patching
• Fence and gate building
• Termite mitigation basics

Nothing is square. Accept it.

Blacksmithing & Basic Metalwork (High Leverage)

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It’s important because:

• Replacement parts may not exist.

Recommended skills:

• Heating and shaping steel
• Making brackets, hooks, hinges
• Tool repair and modification
• Simple forge welding
• Sharpening and hardening tools

Metal skills turn scrap into solutions.

Electrical Work (Critical Infrastructure)

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It’s important because:

• Electrical standards vary, and failure is common.

Recommended skills:

• Wiring outlets and switches
• Load balancing
• Grounding systems
• Circuit troubleshooting
• Safe breaker panel work
• Surge protection installation

Electricity failures don’t ask permission.

Electronics Repair (Underrated Superpower)

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It’s important because:

• Import delays make replacement painful.

Recommended skills:

• Soldering and desoldering
• Component testing
• Power supply repair
• Motor controller basics
• Sensor replacement
• Diagnosing intermittent faults

One bad capacitor can stop everything.

Gardening & Food Production (Food Security)

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It’s important because:

• Supply chains fail quietly. My girlfriend and her sister run a small store in their parent’s barangay. They sell Coke Cola produts among many things. There is one truck that delivers product to every store for a couple of hours drive north and south of that location. Every so often, the truck won’t come. It’ll be a couple of weeks before they see it. That’s just one example. Virtually anything that is made elsewhere and shipped here has similar potential issues. The supply chains in the rural Philippines have numerous single points of failure just with trucks and drivers.

Recommended skills:

• Soil improvement
• Tropical crop management
• Pest control (non-chemical)
• Composting
• Irrigation setup
• Tree care and pruning

Food grows fast—problems grow faster.

Car & Motorcycle Repair (Mobility = Independence)

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It’s important because:

• Mechanics vary in skill and honesty.

Recommended skills:

• Oil and fluid changes
• Brake servicing
• Chain and sprocket maintenance
• Electrical diagnosis
• Tire repair
• Carburetor or EFI basics

Breakdowns don’t care about schedules.

Computer Repair & Networking (Modern Necessity)

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It’s important because:

• Work, communication, and logistics depend on it.

Recommended skills:

• Hardware replacement
• OS recovery
• Router configuration
• Wi-Fi troubleshooting
• Data backup and recovery
• Malware removal

A broken laptop isolates you fast.

Solar Power Systems (Power Resilience)

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It’s important because:

• Grid power is unreliable or nonexistent.

Recommended skills:

• Panel installation
• Charge controller configuration
• Battery management
• Inverter troubleshooting
• Load planning
• System expansion

Solar failures compound quickly.

10. Diesel Generator Operation & Repair (Backup of the Backup)

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It’s important because:

• When everything else fails, diesel still runs.

Recommended skills:

• Fuel system maintenance
• Change oil
• Replace battery
• change air filter
• change fuel filter(s)
• Filter replacement
• Bleeding air
• Starter and battery diagnostics
• Load management
• Basic engine repair

Generators fail when neglected. See the The Time My Diesel Generator Broke Down During A Typhoon blog post for more information.

Plumbing & Water Systems (Daily Survival)

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It’s important because:

• Water problems are immediate emergencies.

Recommended skills:

• PVC and PPR pipe work
• Valve replacement
• Leak detection
• Pump troubleshooting
• Pressure management
• Drain and septic basics

Water always finds a way out.

Water Well & Pump Systems (If Applicable)

Back to the Top It’s important because:

• You may be your own utility company.

Recommended skills:

• Submersible pump wiring
• Pressure tank setup
• Float switch repair
• Foot valve servicing
• Sediment filtration
• System priming

No water stops everything.

Logistics & Procurement (Hidden Skill)

Back to the Top It’s important because:

• Knowing where and how to buy matters more than money.

Recommended skills:

• Sourcing locally
• Evaluating material quality
• Negotiating without offense
• Stockpiling essentials
• Predicting shortages

Supply gaps are predictable if you watch.

Communication & Instruction Skills (Most Overlooked)

Back to the Top It’s important because:

• Miscommunication causes most failures.

Recommended skills:

• Breaking tasks into steps
• Demonstrating, not explaining
• Verifying understanding
• Reading non-verbal cues
• Managing expectations calmly
• Competence fails without communication.

Optional but Powerful Skills

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• Welding (arc/MIG)
• Small engine repair
• Roofing and waterproofing
• Pest control

Reality Check

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Living in the rural Philippines rewards:

• Adaptability over perfection
• Practical skills over credentials
• Redundancy over efficiency
• Competence over convenience

Thinking of Moving to the Philippines? Get Reliable Guidance

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Online communities are helpful for general questions. For anything important, you still need accurate, professional, and updated information. E636 Expat Services helps foreigners with:

• Residency and long term visas
• Bank account opening
• Health insurance guidance
• Real estate assistance
• Business setup
• Retirement planning
• A smooth and secure transition into life in the Philippines

If you want to move with confidence instead of relying on random comments online, we can guide you every step of the way.

Book a consultation with E636 and start your journey the right way.