15+
Years independent PH practice
Manila
Based — face-to-face available
PHP
Peso retainers, BIR-compliant
Why Philippine SMBs hire a local fractional CTO
Local market knowledge — vendors, talent, gotchas
I know which local vendors deliver and which oversell. I know what hiring rates are realistic in Manila vs Cebu. I know which DTI/BIR/SEC compliance items break SaaS launches in the PH. That is institutional knowledge a US-based remote CTO simply does not have.
Peso-denominated retainers, BIR-compliant invoicing
Engagement retainers run in PHP, not USD. Invoices comply with BIR official receipt format. Withholding tax handled correctly. No currency hedging surprises in your monthly burn.
On-the-ground availability for Manila meetings
Strategic decisions sometimes need a face-to-face board session, vendor walk-through, or warehouse visit. I am based in Metro Manila. I show up.
Real Filipino startup track record
Shipped or scaled platforms used by Philippine retailers, hospitals, laundromats, hotels, and government clients. References available from PH-based founders, not just overseas.
What this engagement covers
- Tech strategy and architecture review for Philippine SMB and family-owned operations
- Vendor evaluation — local PH dev shops, hosting providers, payment gateways (PayMaya, GCash, Stripe PH, Xendit)
- PH-specific compliance review — BIR e-invoicing, SEC, NPC data privacy, DICT cybersecurity baseline
- Engineering hiring — sourcing senior PH talent, comp benchmarking against Manila market, retention strategy
- Founder-CTO handoffs for Filipino founders ready to step out of code
- AI/automation strategy tuned for the PH market (call centers, BPOs, retail chains, healthcare networks)
- Cloud migration planning — moving on-prem PH infrastructure to AWS/GCP with peso-cost modeling
- Technical due diligence for PH PE/VC investment or acquisition deals
Frequently asked questions
What does a fractional CTO retainer cost in PHP?
Two common bands: PHP 30-60k/month for 8-15 hours of advisory (suited to SMBs needing strategic input but not daily execution), or PHP 100-200k/month for 30-50 hours of dedicated CTO bandwidth (suited to growth-stage startups and platforms scaling beyond a single founder).
Do you issue BIR official receipts?
Yes. Engagements are billed through a registered Philippine sole proprietorship with BIR-issued ORs. Withholding tax (EWT) handled correctly per your accounting team's setup.
Can you join board meetings in person in Metro Manila?
Yes for Metro Manila and nearby provinces. Quarterly board meetings, vendor walkthroughs, on-site assessments. Out-of-town engagements are billed at travel cost + reasonable per-diem.
How is this different from hiring a local PH dev shop as my CTO?
A dev shop has a billable-hours incentive — they want to expand the engagement. A fractional CTO's incentive is the opposite — make you self-sufficient as fast as possible. I stay because the work is genuinely useful, not because I am the gate to your codebase.
What kind of Philippine companies usually hire you?
Most often: family-owned SMBs running PHP 50M-1B revenue going through digital transformation, founder-led PH startups at seed to Series A, and post-acquisition platforms that inherited tech debt from the previous owner.
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