Romantic Philippines is top wedding destination

Although the month of June is about to end, the Philippines is still considered by most Asian countries as the ideal wedding, honeymoon and romantic hideaway with its more than 36,000 kilometers of unspoilt coastlines, breathtaking scenic landscapes, and a myriad of natural wonders.

The Department of Tourism reveals a total of 96,296 visitors in 2006 visited the Philippines to get married; 111,948 in 2007; and 116,653 in 2008, which reflects a significant 14 per cent growth rate.

The DOT is now looking on the brighter and more fruitful years for travel and tourism, especially noting the huge potential of our islands in enticing a growing number of travelers, the Philippines expects to sustain an upward trend in the coming years.

The theme Romantic Philippines is set to captivate Asian couples, featuring unique getaways and exhilarating thrills.

“The country’s stunning landscapes truly make it a sought-after wedding destination. Couples would choose only the best for life’s most memorable events, and we are certain they would never run out of exciting discoveries in our many islands,” Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said.

In an upcoming ITE Expo in Hong Kong supported by the DOT, they will be joined by renowned and respected industry leaders Boracay Regency Beach Resort and Convention Center, Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort, The Manila Hotel, El Nido Resort, Boracay Grand Vista Resort and Spa, Eskaya Beach Resort and Spa, Le Soleil de Boracay, Hotel Seraph Boracay, Waterfront Hotels and Casino, and Plantation Bay Resort and Spa.

Trusted travel operators Shroff International Travel Care, Inc., Castro Travel Solutions Agency, Le Soleil de Boracay, Happy Sun Travel and Tours, and Planet Holiday, as well as leading carriers Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air, will also be represented.

Now on its 23rd year, the ITE has chosen the country as a finalist for the ‘New Travel Route’ competition, where finalist countries will be put to popular vote as the most preferred destinations for avid travelers.

Joining the Philippines for the list of finalists are Switzerland, Greece, Peru, India, South Korea, Turkey, and Japan, among others.

(Story courtesy of PNA)

Sport Diver Int’l magazine hail RP dive sites

The UK and US editions of top dive magazine Sport Diver have two different lengthy features with full colored images on the Philippines’ premier dive sites, Puerto Galera, Malapascua, Apo Island and Palawan,

The underwater exploration feature in the US edition was done by seasoned travel writer Ted Alan Stedman and award-winning photographer Carlos Villoch in Cebu, Bohol, Dumaguete, Boracay, Palawan, and Puerto Galera, which yielded in a 10-page, full-color article.

Stedman is well-known freelance travel writer while Carlos is an accomplished underwater photographer whose images have graced more than 65 front magazine covers, museums and aquariums throughout the world and were utilized by the World Wildlife Fund and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

A sighting of an ominous 12-foot thresher shark at Monad Shoal in Malapascua Cebu opened Stedman’s article, noting a renowned fable in the island that told of a Chinese fisherman decapitated by a thresher’s scythe-like tail.

After Cebu, Stedman and Villoch headed to Apo Island in Negros. The dive writer underlined Apo Island as a marine restoration success story, with even the Chicago’s Shedd Museum dedicating a permanent exhibit for it entitled Wild Reef.

Villoch’s breathtaking top shot of El Nido, Palawan, with an expanse of colorful coral beds visible above water, served as the feature’s main photo.

Sport Diver’s version in the UK featured two articles by writers, Virginia Fage and Michael Yee.

Both writers participated in the magazine’s Writers’ Workshop campaign spearheaded by Editor-in-Chief Mark Evans.

Sport Diver UK teamed up with Brendan O’Brien and Michael Aw who were running a photojournalism course in the Philippines.

Winner Virginia Fage raved about the wreck Alma Jane in Puerto Galera. In her article, Fage mentioned that the wreck was sunk intentionally in 2003, and is now a photographer’s haven with the lights playing around the different creatures found underneath such as the lionfish, sweetlips, rabbit fish, batfish, and blue-spotted stingray among others.

Her photo of a dive master hovering closely on top of a giant clam measuring around one and a half meter long occupied a page on the magazine.

Another highlight of the winning articles was the complex mating of the mandarin fish.

Entry to the New 7 Wonders of the World

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located about 50 kilometers north of the city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. The National Park is located in the Saint Paul Mountain Range on the northern coast of the island. It is bordered by St. Paul Bay to the north and the Babuyan River to the east. The City Government of Puerto Princesa has managed the National Park since 1992. It is also known as St. Paul's Subterranean River National Park, or St. Paul Underground River. The entrance to the Subterranean River is a short hike from the town of Sabang. Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park has been nominated for the "New Seven Wonders of Nature" competition.The park has a limestone karst mountain landscape with an 8.2 kilometer navigable underground river. A distinguishing feature of the river is that it winds through a cave before flowing directly into the South China Sea. It includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers. The lower portion of the river is subject to tidal influences. Until the 2007 discovery of an underground river in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula^[1], the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River was reputed to be the world's longest underground riverThe area also represents a habitat for biodiversity conservation. The site contains a full mountain-to-the-sea ecosystem and has some of the most important forests in Asia. It was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site on December 4, 1999.

The Park has a range of forest formations representing eight of the thirteen forest types found in tropical Asia, namely forest over ultramafic soils, forest over limestone soils, montane forest, freshwater swamp forest, lowland evergreen tropical rainforest, riverine forest, beach forest,

and mangrove forest. Researchers have identified more than 800 plant species from 300 genera and 100 families. These include at least 295 trees dominated by the dipterocarp type of species. In the lowland forest, large trees such as the Dao (Dracontomelon dao), Ipil (Instia bijuga), Dita (Alstonia scholaris), Amugis (Koordersiodendrum pinnatum), and Apitong (Dipterocarpus gracilis) are common. Beach forest species include Bitaog (Calophyllum inophyllum), Pongamia pinnata, and Erynthia orientalis. Other notable plant species include Almaciga (Agathis philippinensis), Kamagong (Diospyros pulganensis) Pandan (Pandanus sp.) Anibong, and Rattan ('Calamus sp.)

Birds comprise the largest group of vertebrates found in the Park. Of the 252 bird species known to occur in Palawan, a total of 165 species of birds was recorded in the park from. This represents 67% of the total birds and all of the 15 endemic bird species of Palawan. Notable species seen in the park are the Blue-napped parrot (Tanygnathus lucionensis), Tabon scrub fowl (Megapodius cumunigii), Hill myna (Gracula religiosa), Palawan hornbill (Anthracoceros marchei), White breasted sea eagle (Halitutus leucogates ).

There are also some 30 mammal species that have been recorded (Madulid, 1998). Most often observed in the forest canopy and along the shoreline feeding during low tide is the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis), the only primate found in the area. Other mammal species in the Park are the Bearded pig (Sus barbatus), Bearcat (Arctictis binturong), Palawan stink badger (Mydaus marchei) and the Palawan porcupine (Hystrix pumilus)

19 species of reptiles have been identified, eight of which are endemic (Madulid, 1998). Common species in the area include large predators like the Common reticulated python (Phython reticulatus), the Monitor lizard (Varanus salvator) and the green crested lizard (Bronchocoela cristatella). Amphibian fauna include ten species. The Philippine woodland frog (Rana acanthi) is the most dominant and frequently encountered. One species, Barbourula busuangensis, endemic to Palawan was also observed in the area.

Notable are the nine species of bats, two species of swiftlets and whip spider (Stygophrynus sp.) found in the cave, and the Sea cow (Dugong dugon) and the Hawksbill sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) the feed in the coastal area of the Park.

As of this writing our Puerto Princesa Subterranean River currently No. 2 under Group E - Forest, Natural Parks, Natural Reserves Category. There are seven categories in voting so choose wisely. You can click the link below and follow few instructions in order for you to vote.

http://www.new7wonders.com/nature/en/nominees/asia/c/PuertoPrincesa/

Imagine a world without Filipinos

By Abdullah Al-Maghlooth

Muhammad Al-Maghrabi became handicapped and shut down his flower and gifts shop business in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home. He says: “When they left, I felt as if I had lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite.”

Al-Maghrabi then flew to Manila to look for two other Filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities but they did not impress him. “There is no comparison between Filipinos and others,” he says. Whenever I see Filipinos working in the Kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them.

Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers — 1,019,577 — outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more than 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing. Filipinos not only play an important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in countries across the world, including working as sailors. They are known for their professionalism and the quality of their work.

Nobody here can think of a life without Filipinos, who make up around 20 percent of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors.

So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.

What makes Filipinos unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education. There are several specialized training institutes in the Philippines, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competent in these vital areas.

When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.

Cathy Ann, a 35-year-old Filipino nurse who has been working in the Kingdom for the last five years and before that in Singapore, said she does not feel homesick abroad because “I am surrounded by my compatriots everywhere.” Ann thinks that early training allows Filipinos to excel in nursing and other vocations. She started learning this profession at the age of four as her aunt, a nurse, used to take her to hospital and ask her to watch the work. “She used to kiss me whenever I learned a new thing. At the age of 11, I could do a lot. I began doing things like measuring my grandfather’s blood pressure and giving my mother her insulin injections,” she said.

This type of early education system is lacking in the Kingdom. Many of our children reach the university stage without learning anything except boredom.

The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.

We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.

We should learn and educate our children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing and how to achieve perfection in our work. This is a must so that we do not become like Muhammad Al-Maghrabi who lost his interest and appetite when Filipino workers left his flower shop.

We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us.

(Story courtesy of Arab News)

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