"Sige, Boss" vs. "Sir, Tipid Tayo Dito"
Walang Diskusyon, Walang Protection
Inspector Milo here, para walang palusot! 🐾
Have you ever hired someone who just... agrees with everything?
“Sige, boss.” “Oo, boss.” “Ikaw bahala, boss.”
That’s a super red flag. You’ve just hired a very passive professional who prefers to keep quiet and never pushes back on your requests. That will cost you, for sure! How? Read on.
If you’re thinking of hiring someone, our Hiring Professionals Checklist and Alert can give you a solid foundation of who to hire. But don’t just stop there, keep observing when construction starts.
The Cost of Hiring an All “Sige, Boss” Professional
1. You pay for piping you didn’t need.
You: “Okay lang ba na magkalayo yung mga banyo?”
Sige Boss: “Sige, boss. Ikaw bahala.”
Honest Professional: “Ma’am, mas mura kung magkadikit ang wet areas. Mas maikli ang piping, mas maliit ang gastos.”
Bathroom placement, kitchen location, and laundry area all affect how your plumbing system is built and how much it costs.
An honest professional thinks about this before drawing anything.
A “sige boss” just draws what you say.
2. You pay for windows that don’t do anything.
You: “Gusto ko ng maraming bintana sa lahat ng dingding.”
Sige Boss: “Sige, boss. Maganda yan.”
Honest Professional: "Sir, hindi lahat ng dingding kailangan ng bintana. Pwede nating i-limit para may privacy sa banda dito at hindi rin kayo mahihirapan tuwing bagyo."
Aesthetics-driven decisions, like having many large windows, cost money.
An honest professional tells you when something looks good but serves no function.
A “sige boss” just says yes because every extra item is extra billing. That’s just a professional who doesn’t care and wants to benefit from your bad decisions.
3. You pay to fix mistakes they saw coming.
You: “Ay, bakit ganito yung labasan? Hindi maganda.”
Sige Boss: “Oo nga, sir. Aayusin na natin — may karagdagang bayad po.”
Honest Professional: (before construction) “Ma’am, kung dito natin ilagay ang labasan, magiging problema yan later. Dito na lang para maiwasan.”
Tandaan: sa bawat repair or change, you will be the one to pay. Materials, extra labor, lahat-lahat.
An honest professional prevents these situations before they start because they actually think ahead. Kaya ka nga naghire, ‘di ba?
4. You lose negotiating power.
You: “Okay na ba itong budget natin?”
Sige Boss: “Oo, boss. Tama na yan.”
Honest Professional: “Sir, pwede, pero may ilang areas na pwede pa nating i-adjust para may matira kayong contingency fund.”
When you hire, you pay for their expertise, not just their labor.
Ibig sabihin, they are to give options, share what they know, what works, what doesn’t work, or what will be costly.
So if they stay silent or just agree, they’re not sharing their expertise at all. Nothing to negotiate, and you don’t even know what to negotiate unless, of course, you did your homework. What You Can Do Right Now: 10 Steps Before You Build
5. You can’t tell the difference between honest and dishonest.
You: “Okay naman siya, lagi naman akong nasusundan. Walang reklamo, walang problema.”
That’s exactly why this Alert exists. If you’ve never experienced an honest professional who pushes back, you won’t know what you’re missing. A “sige boss” will feel completely normal.
Ganito lang ‘yan, mga homeowners: sa buhay, kung lahat na lang ay agree, wala man lang diskusyon — kabahan ka na. Wala kang protection!
What You Do Next
If you’re still in the hiring stage, our Hiring Professionals Checklist is a good place to start.
And if you want to understand layout tactics in full, read the Intentional Layouts Dispatch, because knowing what intentional design looks like is your first defense against a “sige boss.”
Inspector Milo is Construction Pulis’s vigilant mascot who shows up with warnings and reminders to homeowners. Para walang palusot. 🐾