Wow! this subject is very tricky, first of all why send any money at all? surely the sensible thing to do is send a box a couple of times a year and then if in a genuine emergency send a little money towards hospital treatment or whatever the requirement is needed for. In my past experience many filipinas have sent money to families and after a few years have found out that the hard earned money has been wasted by there family members spending the money to have parties and show off by treating friends and neighbors to food cigarettes and beer then when an emergency arises they have no money and are asking for more. Surely it would be better to think very carefully before sending money every month. Sorry if I've upset anyone, its just my opinion. Also I understand that if a foreigner wont spend money on filipino families and friends they think you are bad, just remember things can be done in a sensible manner and in moderation, you should not buy friendship, because if people need to see money before being your friend they are not worth knowing! I'm sure there are a lot of genuine filipino's out there, in fact I know there are and they are the real deserving family and friends