...spots and beyond

PHL tourism: Approaching 2011 from another angle

 

MELAY LAPEÑA, GMANews.TV

01/05/2011 | 08:03 PM

The Philippines is one of Lonely Planet's Top 10 best value destinations for 2011, nearly replacing Thailand as the go-to spot for the best cheap beaches "for those who desire nothing more than to find great, undiscovered beaches, surf the odd wave and eat unique, distinctive food for under $20 a day."

According to travel guide publisher Lonely Planet, the ideal island hopping destinations are those in the Zambales Coast northwest of the country and the Bacuit Archipelago via El Nido in Palawan.

With the country still reeling from a string of unfortunate incidents last year, such commendations from Lonely Planet, which is 75 percent owned by BBC Worldwide, gives Philippine tourism a much needed boost.

Led by Secretary Alberto Lim, the Department of Tourism is still recovering from the Aug. 23 hostage tragedy, the Pilipinas Kay Ganda fiasco, and the negative travel advisories by six nations.

As 2010 and those incidents fade from memory, the DOT has taken on an optimistic stand and a different tact this year.

The department said more than 2.84 million tourists arrived in the country in January-October — the latest numbers available — up 15.85 percent in the same 2009 period.

Beyond sun and sea destinations

The approach to tourism this year veers off Lonely Planet’s focus on island life, as the DOT intends to zero in on cultural travel spots rather than the many white-sand beaches that dot the country's 7,000 plus islands.

"This year we are going beyond the sun and sea destinations. We want to highlight our cultural and heritage sites as well as health and wellness destinations," said Lim, former president of Ten Knots Development Corp., the owner and manager of El Nido resorts.

The key is quality, according to the former high-end resort developer.

“Unbridled tourism is also bad because the environment suffers. So, we are very careful about the type of tourism we want. The people who come for culture, history and nature, maybe we can receive them," he said in a statement.

While attractions like Boracay are overdeveloped, many beautiful artifacts are deteriorating in warehouses that "We should get museums in the old style operating in the old city," Lim said.

Also a former executive director of The Makati Business Club, Lim plans to double the country’s tourism revenues in six years by attracting high-paying tourists instead of the mass-market as instituted by other Southeast Asian countries.

Focus is also being eyed on developing nature tourism, a niche market that Philippine tourism officials think has a lot of potential.

Lim said he will support the first Malasimbo Arts and Music Festival next month in Puerto Galera.

Festival tickets are expensive and a portion of the proceeds will fund reforestation along the famous Baclayan Trail, a project that may give the indigenous Mangyans livelihood activities.

"This event will be a worthy example of how the private and public sectors can work together to bring about sustainable development and alleviation of poverty in our country," said Lim.

Blue, open skies ahead

A former board member of the Civil Aeronautics Board, Lim co-founded the Freedom to Fly Coalition whose main advocacy is open-skies policy to promote economic development. “Access creates investments, investments create hotel facilities and that will also lower prices," according to the tourism secretary.

His stand has elicited the ire of other stakeholders.

Travel Cooperative of the Philippines chairman Robert Lim Joseph has accused Lim of prioritizing foreign interests in advocating an "unlimited" open skies policy.

Joseph has opposed Lim's appointment as tourism chief, citing the Pilipinas Kay Ganda campaign to attract tourists that ended in a flop.

Malacañang is set to issue this week an executive order (EO) on President Benigno Aquino III's "pocket open skies policy," reaffirming EO 219 issued in 1995 by then President Fidel V. Ramos to boost tourism and investments with a more liberal international aviation policy.

Public-private partnership

A priority of the Aquino administration is the public-private partnership (PPP) initiative with many projects on infrastructure development supporting travel and tourism.

Lim said such projects will help increase tourist arrivals from 3 million a year to 6 million by 2013.

But former Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo earlier countered that the effects of PPP projects on tourism and agribusiness would only be felt two years from now. “As of the moment, these projects are still in their early stages. We can barely say [that] their effects will be felt too soon," he said.

Lim also plans to refocus the department’s budget to product development from marketing and promotion.

“We need to develop first-rate products and come up with impeccable services to draw more tourists. We have to be more visible by generating very good projects and we should deliver what we promised," Lim said. — VS, GMANews.TV

...the pacman

Pacquiao named Fighter of the Decade by WBC

January 5, 2011 09:31:26

The World Boxing Council (WBC), one of the top boxing bodies in the world, has recognized superstar Manny Pacquiao as the best fighter in the last 10 years.

The WBC bestowed its Fighter of the Decade honor to Pacquiao as part of its yearend "Best for 2010" selection.

The 32-year-old Pacquiao was conferred the award after tallying the most number of votes from boxing fans who logged in at the website of the 47-year-old boxing body. No official number of votes, however, was posted.

Nonetheless, Pacquiao bested a handful of great fighters in winning the honor, including super-welterweight champions Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., heavyweight titlist Vitali Klitschko, super-lightweight king Erik Morales, and flyweight champion Pongsaklek Wongjongkam.

The Fighter of the Decade award is just the latest in a long list of yearend accolades to be conferred on the honorable congressman from the province of Sarangani, who was also earlier named the best fighter of the past 10 years by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) as well as ESPN.

Pacquiao won a record eighth world title in eighth different weight classes last year by beating Mexican Antonio Margarito in 12 rounds to bag the WBC's super-welterweight belt.

Incidentally, Filipino Justiniano Montano was among WBC's founding members and president. The WBC was established on February 14, 1963 in Mexico City, with former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Atty. Rudy Salud drafting its original Constitution and By-Laws in his capacity as secretary general.

No Fighter of the Year honors
However, Pacquiao failed to score a double as he was beaten by WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez of Argentina for the Fighter of the Year honors.

Martinez clinched the award after defeating Kelly Pavlik via unanimous decision to win the 160-pound title, and then successfully defended his belt with a dramatic second round knockout of Paul Williams.

"Two great fights in the year," said the WBC in its small item on the 35-year-old Argentine.

Martinez's sensational one-punch knockout of Williams was also adjudged as the Knockout of the Year, which the WBC described as a "knockout that will go down in history."

The controversial majority draw between aging Bernard Hopkins and WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal was named Fight of the Year, while Klitschko was the Exemplary World Champion of the Year.

Fernando Montiel's demolition of Hozumi Hasegawa was the winner of the Most Dramatic Fight of the Year, one which saw Montiel, a heavy underdog, knock out Hasegawa in the fourth round to put an end to the Japanese fighter's five-year title reign.

The victory allowed the durable Mexican to unify the WBC and World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight titles, which he will defend against Filipino Nonito Donaire Jr. on February 19 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Unbeaten middleweight and Pacquiao stablemate Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Saul Alvarez were named Hope and Revelation of the Year. – JVP, GMANews.TV

...vocal power

 Charice makes it to "11 to Watch in 2011" list of a popular Hollywood website

PEP - 05 January 2011

abs-cbnnews.com

 

MANILA, Philippines - The country's pride and joy Charice has joined the list of rising celebrities in the United States who are expected to shine in 2011.

In the introduction to its “11 to Watch in 2011” list, “Entertainment Weekly (EW)” wrote, “Familiar with Sky Ferreira? Alex Pettyfer? Charice? We have a feeling by 2012, that'll be a silly question.”

EW noted that “this pint-size star with the powerhouse pipes” might have had the backing of big personalities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey, but Charice’s debut on “Glee 2” has proven that she's got what it takes to make it big in Hollywood.

"YouTube, Ellen, and Oprah may have helped bring us this pint-size star with the powerhouse pipes, but the 18-year-old (last name: Pempengco) made her own splash on Glee's season 2 premiere playing Sunshine Corazon. She'll be back this spring to wow us," it said.

Also on the list was Tom Hardy, who got noticed for his "scene-stealing turn in 'Incepcion,'" and Rooney Mara, who played Mark Zuckerberg's girlfriend in "The Social Network."

Below is the complete list of EW.com’s "11 to Watch in 2011."

No. 1 — Rooney Mara (25, actress) - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
No. 2 — Adam Scott (actor) - Parks and Recreation
No. 3 — Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (23, actress) - Transformers: Dark of the Moon
No. 4 — James Newman (18, actor) - Skins
No. 5 — Tom Hardy (33, actor) - The Dark Knight Rises, This Means War, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
No. 6 — Daniel Sunjata (39, actor) Grey's Anatomy, One for The Money
No. 7 — Wiz Khalifa (23, rapper) - ''Black and Yellow"
No. 8 — Michael Fassbander (33, actor) - Jane Eyre, Haywire, X-Men: First Class
No. 9 — Charice (18, singer) - Glee Season 2
No. 10 — Alex Pettyfer (20, model turned actor) - I Am Number Four, Beastly, Now
No. 11 — Sky Ferreira (18, singer) - ''17'' and ''One"

...footwork

Neil Etheridge back in UK to play for Fulham Club

abs-cbnNEWS.com

01/04/2011

LONDON – Rising football star Neil Etheridge is back in the United Kingdom to play for his team, Fulham Club, as its reserve goal keeper.

Etheridge is the first British-Filipino included in the English premier league.

He is a reserve goal keeper of Fulham Club that has millions of fans all over the world.

Etheridge also serves as the goal keeper of the Philippine football team “Azkals” that made history in the recent Suzuki Cup.

The goal keeper wants to make football a popular sport in the Philippines.

“Hopefully, this will be the start of something new for the Philippines. Hopefully, we can continue our success in the Challenge Cup in February,” Etheridge said.

Fulham’s main goal keeper Mark Schwarzer will play for his country, Australia. This will give Etheridge the chance to show his skills and talent as a reserve goal keeper.

“I will just be doing my work here as hard as I can. It will be the manager’s decision what happens,” he said.
Etheridge has not forgotten his fans in the Philippines while he is back in the UK.

“Without the fans, without the support, we will not be doing our job on the pitch,” he added.

To the fans who have been inquiring on his Facebook fan page about his relationship status, Etheridge replied, “Yes, I am single.”

Etheridge hopes that Fulham would again allow him to play for the ASEAN Football Confederation Challenge Cup this February. Rose Eclarinal, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

...belief in Pinoy

Maltese employers prefer OFWs—labor chief

INQUIRER.net

02anuary 2011

MANILA, Philippines—Employers in Malta , a small country in the Mediterranean , have expressed desire to hire Filipino caregivers, seafarers, and service industry workers, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said in a news release.

Citing a report of Nasser Mustaffa, Philippine labor attache stationed in Tripoli, Libya, Baldoz said Maltese nationals now want the services of Filipino caregivers primarily because of their efficiency and love of work.

“Labor attache Mustaffa reported that he had travelled to Valletta, the Maltese capital, to meet with the 1,000-strong Filipino community and assess the prospects of deploying more workers there. His assessment was positive,” the labor chief said.

In his report, Mustaffa said Filipino caregivers he had spoken to in Malta, a prime tourist destination, expressed preference to stay and work in this prime tourist destination in the Mediterranean because of high salaries.

“Malta’s minimum wage is 620 euro (about $820) and Filipino workers there receive not less than this minimum wage amount. Besides, Filipino workers in Malta are allowed to do part-time jobs after eight hours of regular work,” he said.

Baldoz, however, warned jobseekers desiring to work in Malta to check their prospective employers, as well as their recruitment agencies, with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to ensure that there are valid job orders from Malta and that they would undergo legal application and deployment processes.

“There is no Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Malta. It is under the jurisdiction of our POLO in Libya and it is our POLO in Tripoli which will verify employment contracts for Malta,” Baldoz said.

“Go to POEA first,” she urged prospective applicants, before you entertain any job offer from Malta,” she reiterated.

...designing

Pinoy designs toys for Disney

By Steve Angeles, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau

12/31/2010

 

 

GLENDALE, California – At 30, a soon-to-be-father of 2 is still playing with toys for a living.

From "Toy Story" to "Cars" to "Pirates of the Caribbean", PJ Palijo leads the creative Disney Team that takes movie and television characters from the screen and puts them into the hands of children.

For New York-born Palijo, a former fashion major, it was a Disney movie that would eventually influence his career.

“[The year] 1995 is when I saw 'Toy Story' when it first came out. Oh my gosh! I want to be a toy designer. How do I become a toy designer? Fortunately, an after-school I was attending had a toy design program,” said Palijo, Disney’s Design Director of Toys.

Palijo now designs "Toy Story" figures as well as other Disney and Pixar characters.

But he also went back to his Pinoy roots. Recently, the Disney team helped create limited edition Manny Pacquiao-Mickey Mouse figures available only in the Philippines.

Palijo said despite new technologies and characters, they continue to follow basic behavioral science when it comes to creating toys.

“The play pattern for a boy or girl never ever changes no matter how old you are, no matter generations of generations of kids. Little boys play with vehicles the same way little boys played with vehicles back in the 60s,” he said.

2 other Pinoys at Disney

One of his lead designers is another Pinoy, Rey Leoncio. His duty is to design toys and make them look as lifelike as possible.

“It’s a lot of work. But you know, at the end of the day, I think for me the most gratifying is when a kid tells his mom I want that figure,” Leoncio said.

Meanwhile, Bobby Saygen started his career interning for Palijo. He now designs non-action figure Disney toys such as board games and puzzles.

“The players are kinda really an international language so I explore different kinds of play throughout the world,” said Saygen, manager of Design Multi-properties.

Aside from racking up sales, they are also raking in awards.

A gravity-defying vehicle from the movie "Tron Legacy" has been nominated for the Toy of the Year by the Toy Industry Foundation. Balitang America

...analytics

So world's No. 3 junior chess player The Philippine Star January 02, 2011

MANILA, Philippines – Wesley So vaulted into No. 3 in the list of the world’s top junior players in the newest rating list released by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for January 2011.
 
The 17-year-old Filipino champion raised his Elo rating by four points – from 2669 to 2673 -- to climb to third place overall behind GMs Fabiano Caruana of Italy and Anish Giri of the Netherlands.

Caruana is now on top of the list with an Elo 2771, replacing super GM Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has left the junior category.

Giri, one of the few junior players with a plus record over So, is now second with 2686.

So’s top Southeast Asian rival, GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, dropped to fourth place with   2664. Le lost 25 points in the same period.

Also in the list of Top 10 junior players in the world GMs Sebastian Feller of France (2656), Anton Kovalyov of Argentina (2629), Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan (2629), Ivan Salgado Lopez of Spain (2626), Sana Sjugirov of Russia (2626) and Maxim Matlakov of Russia (2613).

GM Parimarjan Negi of India (2607) and GMs Yu Yangyi (2607) and Hou Yifan (2602) occupy the next three places.

Overall, So also moved into No. 64 in the world. He is only two points behind GM Vladimir Akopianof Armenia for 63rd place and one point ahead of GM Ernesto Inarkiev of Russia.

In the November 2010 rating list of FIDE, So is ranked No. 9 in the junior category and No. 73 in the world.

Previously, So’s highest rating was No. 60 in the world when he reached Elo 2674 during the July 2010 period. He first broke the elite Top 100 list -- No. 92 -- with 2646 in July 2009.

In the list of top chess-playing countries, the Philippines is now No. 33 with an average rating of 2531, ahead of Asian rivals Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.

The Philippines now has 62 titled players, including 12 GMs and 23 IMs.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president/chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay lauded So and other Filipino players for their exceptional showing in the year just ended.

Pichay said So can easily breach the 2700 mark this year, judging from his superb play last year.

Newly-elected FIDE Southeast Asian zone president and Tagaytay Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino also expressed confidence that Filipino players will perform even better in 2011.

So also kept his top spot in the list of leading Filipino players.

Four other Filipinos – GMs Rogelio Antonio Jr., Roland Salvador, John Paul Gomez and Mark Paragua – also made significant improvements.

Antonio kept second place with 2589 – up by 16 points from his previous Elo of 2573. He achieved his highest rating since becoming the country’s third GM in Baguio City in 1993. He is now ranked No. 254 in the world.