Doing DIY in the Philippines is not as simple as it was back home. While you might have been a handyman is the UK it is not so easy in the Philippines for many reason, the main one being the heat makes doing DIY in the Philippines very hard work, finding the material is also another problem as they are ever not available or they have a different name for them.

You will find hardware shops in most malls in the Philippines the main 3 being Ace Hardware, D.I.Y. Hardware and Handyman however what they stock is limited even more so in the smaller malls and for many things they are not cheap, to get things cheaper you will find local hardware stores that seem to be mainly owned by Chinese, however the quality is often very poor. The closest you will get to the large hardware stores in the UK is Wilcon Depot.

Even if you are not a handyman you might find yourself doing DIY in the Philippines because of the poor quality of work from locals that call themselves builders or carpenters, as they seem to have done no training at all.