DOT's new campaign slogan is uninspired

(Image courtesy of Anton Diaz)
EVERYONE by now has probably heard of the new branding of the Department of Tourism for its marketing campaign. I can't say I am all that pleased with the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" slogan, although the colors of the letter are pretty, and it does encapsulate what the Philippines is all about - the sun, the sea, the coconut trees swaying in the wind, the tarsier in Bohol.

The DOT has been using Wow Philippines for the longest time, a brand that was conceptualized under the term of the Sec. Richard Gordon so it must be around nine years old by now. I agree with the DOT, that maybe after all these years (and especially after all the tourism challenges we've had - the hostage crisis, the travel advisories) maybe it was time for a change.

I guess what everyone's feeling right now is that the slogan just falls short of everyone's expectations. You have money to spend on research, focus group discussions, and surveys, might as well come up with something really catchy, that could really make tourists stand up and notice the Philippines from the rest of Asian nations vying for their attention ("Incredibly India", "Amazing Thailand", "Malaysia Truly Asia"). Well using Filipino, instead of English, sorry to say, just doesn't make sense. Generally, no one, outside of the Philippines, knows Filipino (the language) or Tagalog (the dialect) on which the language was based on.

I personally feel that it sounds like a morning show. Ayan, na-free advertising pa tuloy ang Umagang Kay Ganda sa marketing slogan na yan! haha. Seriously, it sounds show-bizzy, if there is such a word. It's just so uninspiring (or uninspired?).

I understand that there was considerable research poured into this branding, and Sec. Lim says when they tested it w/ some foreigners, the latter liked it. I am open-minded enough to accept that there may be truth to that, bec. foreigners just have different taste from us. I mean this is why despite many people carping about how outdated DOT's marketing efforts are bec. they still showcase our native dances during marketing efforts abroad, well the foreigners just love it. We might think it's baduy or unsophisticated to use this tack, but well, so far it's still been working. Well, the jury is still out that slogan.

Although Sec. Lim is correct in saying that even countries like Spain uses its own language for its logo i.e. "España" (created by the late Joan Miro, btw), I'd like to point out that its marketing campaign is in English. This year, it just launched its "I need Spain" campaign.

And of course, there was the brouhaha over the new web site (www.beautifulpilipinas.com) that opened up wonderfully to the images of the activities one could engage in the Philippines. Unfortunately, the content was poorly written, with run-on sentences that didn't make any sense, an overly romanticized description of some destinations, and just really grammatically-challenged sentences. According to Usec. Enteng Romano, who was in charge of the project, they just basically gave a "facelift" to the old tourism web site, but didn't change the content w/c came from various DOT-administered sites, in answer to charges of plagiarism.

Also, the URL address was discovered as being quite similar to a porn site, www.beautifulfilipinas.com. Tut-tut people, let's not go there. Stay with me first ;p

But it was disheartening to hear his explanation bec. Romano was hired specifically for his new media skills. During the election period, it was his group which came out with all those clever online campaigns for Noynoy Aquino. What happened? Well it was a rush job pure and simple. To be fair, at least DOT took down the site immediately. But the damage has been done. Did I hear someone out there say, "Haste makes waste".

Look, I have no doubt that Sec. Lim and U/Sec Romano's hearts are in the right place. Based on the few interviews I've had with them since they assumed office, I know they mean well and have put the country's interest before their own. But this slogan just leaves much to be desired. I hope they consider improving it.

Check out Ivan Henares' views on the rebranding effort here and also that of Anton Diaz here.

Btw, I just want to point out that the branding project didn't cost P100 million as some have alleged, and will not go all to Campaigns & Grey. Apparently, this story in GMA.TV caused the confusion (no fault of the GMA guys), which talks about the budget earmarked for social marketing next year. The PKG branding effort itself cost "less than a million pesos," according to U/Sec. Romano. (Pls read my BusinessMirror story below on the issue.) DOT is still open to suggestions about the rebranding, so if I were you, send them your great ideas now.

* * * *

DOT launches new campaign

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) launched its new marketing slogan Monday night, anchored on the beautiful destinations of the Philippines, and the many activities tourists can engage in when visiting the country.

However, less than the 24 hours after the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” brand was launched, its accompanying web site (http://beautifulpilipinas.com) was shut down by the DOT due to accusations of publishing plagiarized content.

On the #helpDOT discussion on Twitter, it was also pointed out that the web site’s URL was similar to a porn site’s URL (http://beautifulfilipinas.com).


(Screen grab courtesy of Carlo Ople)

The new logo uses splashy tropical colors in red, green, blue and aqua for the word “Pilipinas,” with the photo of a tarsier to represent the first “i.” The letter “L” is shaped like the trunk of a coconut, and the dot above the third letter “i” is a playful yellow sun. Underneath the “kay ganda!” phrase are two aqua squiggly lines representing the waves on a sea. Beside it in tiny letters is an instruction of how to pronounce “ganda” and what it means in English.

In an e-mail to the BusinessMirror, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said the new slogan wants to convey “what else, the beauty of the Philippines! In surveys conducted among visitors from different nationalities, the top choice of visitors of what attracts them to the Philippines is the warmth of the people and the beauty of our land and sea. So instead of doing the same as the [other countries] by use of an adjective like ‘amazing’ or ‘incredible’ or ‘your’ before the name of the country, we chose to make an exclamatory remark ‘Kay ganda!’ after Pilipinas. Then in smaller print we give a pronunciation code and an explanation (So beautiful! or Kirei desu!) in the language of the target market.”

Prior to Monday evening’s official launch of the new marketing slogan/branding at the Oceana, San Miguel by the Bay, at the Mall of Asia before tourism stakeholders, bloggers and some members of the hotel and restaurant industry already questioned why the new slogan was in the Filipino language.

President Aquino in a statement last week in Yokohama already announced the new slogan would “reinvigorate” the country’s tourism campaign, replacing the WOW Philippines slogan. That branding was adopted some nine years ago under the term of then Tourism secretary Richard Gordon.

The Philippines’ image abroad suffered a setback after the botched rescue attempt of Hong Kong tourists on August 23, as well as the recent travel advisories by the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, France and New Zealand warning its citizens not to travel to the Philippines due to terrorist threats.

Lim explained: “Some countries use their own language in promoting their country, e.g., España, Polska, etc. Moreover, in Europe, the Philippines is known as Filipinas, or Philippinen or something else. So why not use Pilipinas? The driving reason for using Filipino is that we are compelled to do it differently than our neighbors because they can outspend us by 15 to 20 times. If we do not differentiate, we will be drowned out by their greater ability to repeat their messages. Besides, in some interviews I recently had with a few English tour operators, they said using our own language appeals to their high-value market, which wants to learn about the culture of the places they visit. When they come here, they want to greet or thank us in our language.”

Lim stressed that the branding was still in its “conceptualization stage” and was shown to tourism stakeholders. “It is not yet final but we would appreciate support for it. The actual execution will still be bidded out where ad agencies can participate. We will go throughout the regular government procurement processes.”

The Philippines’ branding—logo, slogan and research—cost “less than a million pesos, a friendly rate,” according to Tourism Undersecretary Vicente Romano III, who handles planning and promotions.

Advertising giant Campaigns & Grey undertook the branding project.

“[The branding] underwent a rigorous process, it was not only us at the DOT which conceptualized that,” he pointed out partly in English.

Yolanda Ong, a supporter of President Aquino’s electoral campaign, heads Campaigns & Grey, which produced the pre-campaign TV commercials called “30 seconds with Noynoy.”

This is not the first project of the advertising firm with the DOT, however. In March 2009 it snagged the medical tourism campaign undertaken by DOT agency Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp.

On the new web site, Romano admitted that the deluge of negative feedback and comments forced the DOT to close it down in the meantime. A few hours after the launch, #helpDOT on Twitter engaged various tweeters in a discussion on how to improve the slogan and the web site. Some felt that the new slogan sounded too “showbiz,” while some accused the site creator of publishing content “copy and pasted” from other sources, and that its URL address was similar to a porn site’s web address.

Several tabs on new site also linked to the old DOT web site whose first page carries a photo of Secretary Lim and a brief message to the industry about his plans.

“We decided to put it down first due to the comments we received. Basically, it was just a face-lift of the old [DOT] site,” Romano said. He added that a new URL address will be chosen, the content would be cleaned up and a new site should be up in three weeks.

He explained that the content in the new site “came from the different tourism web sites the DOT had been administering. This is still a work in progress, and it was just an interim site that we rushed in time for [Tuesday] night’s launch of the new slogan. We just wanted to change the look first but not the content [which was sourced from DOT’s other sites].”

Other sites administered by the DOT are Experience Philippines, Visit My Philippines and WOW Philippines. There are other sites as well administered by the DOT’s tourism attachés in their host countries.

Romano said it was the hope of the DOT to just fuse all these web sites into one general web site, which will be helpful to tourists.

Internet marketing consultant Carlo Ople said he was also puzzled by the use of the Filipino language.

“This is a bit weird, since the target market is obviously the segment that can’t understand our language. Also it might put off all the other local dialects being used here like Cebuano, etc.”

But Ople said he liked how the first images seen when visitors clicked the site which “is the vibrant and fun images showcasing what the Philippines is all about.”

On his web site newmedia.com, Ople also pointed out, though, that the logo was too small to be seen and that the DOT needed to get a “language consultant” because of the content’s wrong grammar.

Romano said the interim web site was made by BCD Pinpoint, a company “doing our Pinoy homecoming campaign, which includes video production and several balikbayan sites. I just requested them to give a face-lift to our old web site. We are humble enough to accept the comments and we’ve taken the site down.”

(UPDATE) : According to its web site, BCD Pinpoint was founded by one Dickie Soriano and has received a number of awards of its direct marketing projects. Its clients include Lufthansa, San Miguel Foods, Ateneo de Manila, to name a few.

Still no. 1!

I'M PROBABLY one of the handful who has never watched a Manny Pacuiao fight before. Shame of me, I know. It's just that I really never liked boxing as a sport. It's a lot of punching, bloody faces, or knockouts that often lead to permanent brain damage for some boxers. It's a cruel sport which I could hardly stomach.

But after hearing that Pacquiao's fight with Antonio Margarito could be his last (or so his Nanay Dionesia believes), I just had to see the match just this time. Having read all the news about it, I knew that Margarito was taller and heavier than Pacquiao so it looked like a lopsided fight in his favor. Sports writers said, what gave Pacquiao the edge, despite his shorter height, was his speed and the strength of his punches.

Logging in to my favorite online streaming TV provider, where I usually watch my Star Trek and Battlestar Gallactica reruns, History Channel, and all-day Family Guy, I searched for "boxing", and hit the jackpot. Soon my Mac was streaming the pre-fights to the Pacquiao-Margarito battle, and I later hooked it up to my TV set and to some speakers. I just had enough time to cook and eat my lunch, before settling down to watch the biggest boxing match of the year.

I wasn't disappointed. To say that it was a great fight is even an understatement. While things were a bit slow in the beginning - I suppose each man was still sizing the other up – the successive rounds heated up. No one can stay that boxing is a stupid sport because all I saw was cold, calculating intelligence behind every move by Pacquiao. I have never seen anyone like him throw rapid punches one after the other, then gingerly dart away just as Margarito lunged at him. (Of course, take this w/ a grain of salt as I said, I really haven't watched that many boxing matches before. The last one was probably a film, Cinderella Man starring Russell Crowe, haha.)

Manny Pacquiao punches Antonio Margarito during the fifth round of their 12-round WBC World Super Welterweight title boxing fight. (MIKE STONE, REUTERS / November 14, 2010 via Chicago Tribune)

Each round quickly went by, as Margarito tried to force Pacquiao to the ropes. But the latter already learned his lesson a few times before, and quickly moved back to the center after absorbing some of Margarito's blows. By the fifth round, Margarito's defeat was almost palpable as his right eye became bloodied and bruised, almost swollen shut. Pacquiao hit the wound in the succeeding rounds, forcing the cut to reopen and bleed again.

But Pacquiao is a gentleman. He knew that he could even knock out his opponent in the 11th round. But by the 12th, he just let the minutes pass by, dancing around Margarito but not hitting him. He was taking it easy and knew that he had already defeated the Mexican tornado, who by then, had already been dubbed "Maga-rito" by the ever reliable witty tweepers, because of his swollen face. In contrast, Pacquiao's face was quite relatively intact despite some side blows connecting from Margarito. To his credit, the tough Mexican finished the fight to the very end, even though the odds were stacking against him, and he could hardly see Pacquiao. Very courageous man.

Then it was all over. The bell signaling the end of the 12th round clanged. The crowd roared as they knew who the winner of the bout was. Pacquiao, as his usual habit, knelt in his corner, praying and thanking the Lord. As he wore his 8th title belt, and was interviewed by the host, Pacquiao had this to say about his opponent: " I was surprised that he was very strong. I'm very lucky I won." Asked why he took it easy on Margarito in the 12th round, Pacquiao responded: "I did not want to damage him permanently. That's not what boxing is about."

But that is what a great boxer is really about. It's not just the strength or quickness of one's punches, or how one's body can mightily absorb a multitude of blows from his opponent. It's also about grace and magnanimity in the face of victory. Ang galing mo Manny. Hanga ako talaga sa yo. You do all of us your countrymen, proud. What a great day to be a Filipino.

Review of the fight in the New York Times and in the Chicago Tribune.

Heartless!

Pinapaalis sa PCSO compound ang isang bahay-ampunan na nangangalaga ng mga batang may malubhang sakit. Depensa ng PCSO, dati pa nilang naabisuhan ang Child-haus para makahanap ng malilipatan. Hindi tuloy alam ng mga batang may sakit kung saan sila pupunta ngayong mawawalan sila ng tirahan. (Watch the video report of Henry Omaga Diaz)

IT BEHOOVES me why the PCSO management, first of all, wants to transfer to the more expensive, plush PICC, instead of staying at the Quezon Institute compound owned by the Phil. Tuberculosis Society. PCSO has always been about charity and helping those less fortunate; moving to the PICC is only helping itself and not the constituencies it is supposed to serve.

Secondly, if PCSO management feels that those kids in The CHILD Haus are not safe in those premises, then why not construct a shelter or buy a small building to house those kids? For those who don't know, The CHILD Haus serves as a temporary hospice or halfway home for indigent children from the provinces battling diseases like cancer. Those who have no place to stay in Metro Manila but who need life-saving treatment, are provided free home care at this place.

With the massive amounts of money PCSO has been raising from the sales of its lotto tickets, surely building a halfway home for those kids w/ cancer would not be difficult. I mean, surely this work at CHILD Haus is just as important as PCSO's current pet project, a milk feeding program.

My colleague and blogger Inday Espina Varona has written an impassioned plea to President Aquino to keep this halfway home open. Click scaRREdcat. If you agree with her, pls. forward a link to her blog to as many people as you can, and let your views on the subject be known. We need to shake things up in Malacañang and see that this matter is given utmost immediate attention.

(UPDATE): The follow up report of ABS-CBN is here. Apparently, The CHILD Haus was set up by the Ricky Reyes Foundation.

A plea for a return to sanity

I’M sure everyone by now knows how one assistant secretary named Mai Mislang, working for P-Noy’s communications team, tweeted insensitive remarks about Vietnam while the President and other officials were being hosted by that government.

Suffice to say, what she did was wrong. She has come to this realization, has apologized to all, and deleted her Twitter account. In a few months or so, those tweets will be gone from cyberspace, contrary to the common belief that it will hang around forever. (Believe me, I’ve done it. Not even goggling my old deleted tweets have turned up as a cache file. Look it up in the Twitter FAQ.)*

Let me say that I personally don’t know Ms. Mislang. Whatever my comments about the incident are purely from my own insights as a tweeter, and as one who has done probably more stupid things than Ms. Mislang. And, yes, my parents would probably never have forgiven me if they had known about those little indiscretions at the time.

As someone who tweets, I know exactly how a thought that pops into one’s head can be out the door and onto cyberspace in less than a minute. One can be thoughtful or stupid, generous or heartless, forgiving or cruel, funny or corny...and the entire world (or your band of followers) will know about it in a split second.

You know it’s just like texting your private thoughts to your friends, except that in the case of Twitter, you tweet them via a computer or a cell phone to a whole bunch of people, some of whom you personally don’t know. I started using Twitter because of my advocacy during the last presidential elections, as I sought to inform people about their candidates @Pulitika2010.

Post-May 2010, however, I started using the same account as a personal pulpit. I post links to my column, news items I deem important and that I want to share with my “followers”, post photos of dishes I like in this or that restaurant, joke around with a few pals who are also on Twitter, and basically share my general thoughts on certain issues.

Tweeting is almost like having a microphone stuck to your mouth, only it works faster. Sometimes using the medium does make one an unthinking dolt and liable to hurt people’s feelings. I realized one day that I was still tweeting in a public setting and, more or less, some of my tweets could be misconstrued in a negative way if other people read them. So I deleted some seemingly insensitive or idiotic comments, and have put my account in privacy mode.

I have since restrained myself from shooting off and now behave in a more respectable tweeting manner that my parents and other relatives wouldn’t be ashamed of. Once in a while, of course, the dirty jokes will be tweeted but we can have a little fun sometimes, right?

In Ms. Mislang’s case, her tweets were public and reaped a barrage of negative comments. As of today, there have been two reported Facebook pages dedicated to hating on Ms. Mislang. I didn’t visit those pages, because I abhor that kind of cruelty.


People have talked about Ms. Mislang’s insensitivity and her lack of breeding. Her parents may have not brought her up well, as one columnist suggested. As someone who grew up with three other siblings who received generally the same kind of lessons and nurturing from our parents, I can say that one can’t blame the parents all the time. My siblings and I all turned out differently. A person is shaped not only by one’s parents attitudes, but also by one’s environment, specifically one’s education and one’s peers.

When you read all the comments about Ms. Mislang, I wonder sometimes who actually lacks breeding. The commenters themselves have become the ones insensitive and cruel, calling into question even Ms. Mislang’s general appearance. Some have even been so downright self-righteous, it’s like no one ever said or did anything stupid or remotely indecent when they were young! I’m just bothered that the level of discourse on this issue has degraded to one of shallowness and an utter disregard for another person's humanity.

The media seems to have even joined the crusade against Ms. Mislang with one outlet publishing a piece (I call it a dissertation) on...hala kayong lahat...the “Dangers of Tweeting”. Slow news day, eh? No more babies left in airplane bathrooms lately? One generally respected columnist who also joined the drubbing of Ms. Mislang has actually written some factually inaccurate pieces before, but no one’s crucified her for those stories.

Good God, people, get a grip already! No one died. There was no diplomatic protest filed over Ms. Mislang’s tweets. In the grand scheme of things, she is so low in the Palace hierarchy, why would anyone bother? She’s just a speechwriter, isn’t she? And I use the word “just” not to denigrate it, but to differentiate her job from those of higher government officials with the larger responsibilities of running the country. Her tweet had nothing to do directly with her job, so why should she be fired? She certainly is no Rico Puno! And yes like any young person who has made any stupid mistake before, she deserves a second chance, or else how will she learn and redeem herself?

Sure, you say this is symptomatic about how the present dispensation in Malacañang likes to run things, and the kind of people P-Noy wants to be surrounded with. Then maybe we should direct all our comments to P-Noy instead, right? Or to Ricky Carandang maybe, who even tweeted her back asking if it was the red or white wine. Ricky was a terrific broadcaster, but as head of P-Noy’s communications team, sadly he has misfired and mishandled this entire situation. He already should’ve called Ms. Mislang’s attention with her first wrongful tweet. Why? Because he’s older and should’ve have known better. (Although I’ve just read his tweet page to check if it was still up and was absolutely horrified at the awfully offensive comments there. Don’t these commenters have any work to do? Good grief!)

I believe Ms. Mislang has ready learned her lesson, so everyone should calm down already. I pity the girl because this experience will surely scar her for life. She will be forever known as “the girl who tweeted that the wine sucked.” She probably deserves it, you say, but, gads, can’t we give her a break already? Like Jon Stewart, I urge us all to return to sanity.

Peace, people.

(My column Something Like Life is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. Cartoon from the Sketchbook of Aaron Riddle.)

*(UPDATE): Of course I didn't count on people actually capturing the image of the back and forth tweets by Ms. Mislang and Ricky, so yes, apparently this unfortunate exchange will remain in cyberspace forever. Tsk, tsk. I think the way to go now for most gov't officials is, not to use their personal Twitter accounts for the meantime, unless these are used directly for info purposes. But I know the Official Gazette already has its own Twitter account, so maybe they can use that for info dissemination or the Palace and other gov't agencies can set up their own accounts for that purpose. For unofficial communication, try texting or the good old phone call instead.

The ties that bind us

(Ambassador Arias says of Filipinos: “You’re very nice. You adapt well [to a country]. There are many immigrants in Spain but the Filipinos are the most loved.”)

I LOVE most things Spanish. I savor paella with gusto, wear Zara and Mango, use espadrilles especially during summer, and will marry Javier Bardem as soon as I get him to divorce Penélope Cruz.

So it was such a pleasure to meet Spain’s Ambassador to Manila Luis Arias y Romero, and talk about all things Spanish, and how his country’s relationship with the Philippines has evolved through the years. At first, the good ambassador seemed very serious and uncomfortable, but my shout of “Viva España!” must have loosened him a bit. (He probably thought I was loca.) He soon became more relaxed and even managed a humorous quip or two. But ever the diplomat course, he would visibly steel himself back, comporting himself.

There are about 300,000 Filipinos in Spain who are already Spanish citizens. This is on top of the 7,000 legally working or studying there. About 15 percent work as domestic helps but there are also many who are professionals such as accountants, health workers, and one even serves at the elite Royal Guard of Spain.

Unlike other immigrants, the ambassador said, “Filipinos can acquire [Spanish] citizenship after only two years of legal residence. You are especially mentioned along with Latin Americans in the Spanish Civil Code; you are assimilated. There are funds in the government budget earmarked to facilitate the integration of immigrants, which may be in the form of education and housing subsidies. Also, remember that they are all entitled to use the public-health service.”

In May, Spain also announced that Filipinos with a valid LTO driver’s license could get a Spanish driver’s license “no questions asked. All you have to show is your Philippine driver’s license and you will get [a Spanish license]. It’s automatic,” Ambassador Arias said.

(As I listened to the ambassador narrate all these benefits for Filipino immigrants, I wondered why most of us still kill ourselves going TNT for years in the US without a great job and a green card to actually look forward to.) “You’re very nice. You adapt well [to a country]. There are many immigrants in Spain but the Filipinos are the most loved,” he stressed.

Ambassador Arias hails from Oviedo, the capital of Asturias, a charming principality located in the northern coast of Spain, described as the “greenest” part of the country with its lush mountains, rambling rivers and lovely beaches. His father is a lawyer and was a professor at the local university, where his mother was also a faculty member.

The ambassador said he had wanted to be a professor like his father, but after he finished his studies, the “political circumstances were not very nice during that time [of Generalisimo Francisco Franco]. The intellectual landscape was not so very good, so I entered diplomatic school.” His previous postings include Costa Rica, Washington, D.C., Poland, Montreal and Brussels.

Of all the countries he has been assigned to, the ambassador said it is the Philippines where he feels most at home. “A lot of things remind me of Spain—the landscape, the names—the sounds are very familiar, also the churches and the character of the people. From the very first time we arrived, it’s already a familiar country. That’s why we are so happy here.” With the ambassador in Manila is his wife Soledad, also a lawyer by profession. They have one son Javier, an executive in Unilever in Madrid.

Spain’s devotion to the Philippines is unmistakable. The embassy has increased its staff in the Philippines, with Spanish expats now numbering 130. “We now have three offices here [in Metro Manila], as well as Instituto Cervantes, and another two cooperation offices in Legazpi, Albay, and in Caraga,” the ambassador added.

As of 2009, bilateral aid alone had reached P3 billion, a large chunk of which supported disaster-relief efforts in Bicol and the peace-building projects in Mindanao. More aid from Spain is channeled through joint programs with other European Union countries and the United Nations.

The ambassador relishes his visits to the project areas supported by Spanish aid. He has been to Cotabato and the Caraga region, as well as in the Visayas, Bicol and up north in Pangasinan.

“In my visits outside of Manila, I have gotten good reception. I am treated like a king!” he joked, remembering the children lined up on the streets waving flags of Spain and the Philippines. He is also deeply touched every time he visits Baler, Aurora, to commemorate the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day every June 30. As the story goes, for close to a year beginning in June 1898, some 50 Spanish soldiers bravely held out at a small church, while Filipino revolucionarios tried to persuade them to surrender. June 30 was the day Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo as president of the first Philippine Republic, issued an order allowing the surrendering soldiers holed up in the Baler Church to return to Spain. “It is very moving. The people of Baler celebrate with us. My gratitude cannot be expressed adequately,” the envoy said.

What thrills Ambassador Arias is the resurgence in the study of the Spanish language. Instituto Cervantes in Manila has the most number of students compared with the other branches in the world. At present, he says, it has 7,000 students, with São Paolo in Brazil coming in second at only 3,000 students.

“Spanish is the second language in the world. There has been increasing demand for Spanish speakers in the United States, for instance, where there are already 80 million Spanish-speakers. Here in the Philippines, for people who want to work in the United States, you are required to know Spanish. Call centers here pay 60 percent to 70 percent more for those who speak Spanish. Because of the vocabulary, it’s easy for Filipinos to learn it.” He points out that the Filipino language, in fact, contains 22,000 Spanish words, while the Chavacano dialect spoken in Cavite and Zamboanga “is 80-percent Spanish.”

Ambassador Arias said Spain and the Philippines now have the “best of relations, but there is always room for improvement. We will continue to give more content to our relations. We will continue to improve our economic relations and cooperate in development projects. The potential for Spain and the Philippines’ friendship is enormous, so I have to work hard every day at it.”

First on his to-do list should be to deliver Bardem to me, pronto!

(My column Something Like Life is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. Photo courtesy of the Spanish Embassy in Manila.)

Legazpi and Misibis in The Amazing Race Asia

YOU know how much I love Legazpi, Albay, and how I enjoyed staying at the Misibis Bay Resort* in Cagraray Island. In last week's episode of The Amazing Race Asia, both destinations were on display for that leg of the race. Hope this eases any nervousnessness about the Philippines by foreign travelers.



The rest of the episode can be watched here.

You just gotta love those Amboys, the Richards, for choosing the nastier challenge in the Jig/Pig portion. I won't say more, just watch it ;p

I'm glad the two Philippine teams are still in the game. Will one of them triumph in this season's race? I certainly hope so. A win can just buoy our collective Pinoy spirit right now.

*Just to clarify, Misibis Bay Resort is under new management.

The march of time

I USED to leave the table whenever my parents and their friends would start discussing their many ailments. My Pop would dispense information about which kind of fruits his doctor allowed him to eat because of his diabetes, while my Mama would talk about the food supplements she took to help oil her joints. Then other friends would pipe in with their heart conditions, or hypertension medicines, etcetera, etcetera.

I never liked old people’s conversations whenever they took this turn, as it was bound to transform any happy get-together into a bummer. One minute, they’re discussing their kids’ accomplishments, then next thing you know, it’s their illnesses and the amount of drugs they’re gulping down. Then they try to remember the “good old days”, when they were all so young and vibrant just to comfort themselves.

Then just about the time the new millennium rushed in, my gal pal Miggy started talking about her high blood sugar. Miggy used to be the type who would be the first to sit down at the dining table and the last to leave. This was why I always made sure I parked myself beside her, because I was the same, too. We just relished every morsel of food popped into our mouths and would feel unperturbed that while everybody else was already having their desserts, we were still occupied with our main course.

When her mother passed away due to a kidney ailment, a direct complication from diabetes, Miggy went into discipline mode. So now after eating, she needs to take her glucophage to control her blood-sugar level. And when we have dinners together, we now usually listen to her airing her feelings of guilt especially when faced with a table full of high-cholesterol, carbohydrates-packed, or strong sugary foods. You can trust her to be there lecturing some hapless diabetes sufferer on the kind of diet and exercise he should be adopting in his lifestyle.

Mercifully, this disciplined diet has led her to a trimmer figure such that she looks very young for a golden girl. Lately, though, she has been complaining of brittle bones.

Then there’s Ms. RP and her hyperthyroidism. The way I understand it, the thyroid oversees the body’s metabolism. Such that your ability to burn fat is affected. The usual outward manifestation is weight gain, but there are other symptoms as well, such as dizziness, rapid irregular heartbeat, and being mentally and physically fatigued. I only saw her weight gain and, fortunately, not those other terrifying symptoms.

I don’t remember what drugs exactly were given to Ms. RP to treat her thyroid problem, but it surely has worked as she’s back to her voluptuous self. (Or maybe it was her recent bout with amoebiasis that has made her thinner, hahaha!) Seriously, hyperthyroidism, while not life-threatening, can lead to very serious complications if left untreated.

While Miggy and Ms. RP are a few years older than me, I had contributed some choice ailments to our gang’s discussions over the years as well. First, there was my bad back.


Of course, this wasn’t strictly a senior problem but more due to a previously sedentary lifestyle. There I was in my old apartment reaching out for something, then suddenly my lower back just gave out, and I fell to the floor, unable to get up. When I was well enough to get an actual diagnosis from a doctor, the first thing he asked was if I exercised. “Uhm...no?” Fortunately, that experience put me on the path to yoga and I have been free of any back ailments so far, knock on wood.

However, there are illnesses that one is cursed with because of one’s genetic predisposition. From my father’s side, I stand to inherit his hypertension and diabetes. For now, I’m quite lucky that a side benefit of my regular yoga practice is that it keeps my blood pressure and blood sugar on an even keel.

But then, there’s my mother’s glaucoma. This terrible medical condition cost her left eyesight. It just crept up on her. She didn’t experience any symptoms at all...then bam! she just went blind. What happens is too much fluid in your eye builds up, increases the pressure inside your eye, and when left unchecked, it damages your optic nerve. There is no cure for this. Once you go blind, you stay blind, which makes it doubly scary. Since this is an inherited condition, and as risks are higher as one reaches 40, I’ve been getting regular checkups—sometimes annually, sometimes every two years.

So last week, I dropped by the Asian Eye Institute at its TriNoma branch to have my eyes checked as part of my regular glaucoma monitoring.

AEI is very thorough when it checks for glaucoma. First, they will refract your eyes to see if your vision has remained the same or has increased. I already have astigmatism (courtesy of my father as well), a condition that popped up in my mid-30s, so I use eyeglasses. The medical assistant checked if my glasses still worked to correct my vision; good thing it still did.

Then to check for glaucoma, I went through this test to check if my peripheral vision was still clear. Apparently, as one gets closer to having glaucoma, the field of vision narrows tremendously. Tunnel vision, literally.

The medical technician then took an in-depth photograph of my eye, then another test to measure the pressure inside my eyes. Then yet another to measure the thickness of my cornea because, as per my glaucoma doctor Dr. Imelda Yap-Veloso, the thinner one’s cornea is, the more susceptible he is to glaucoma. Guess who’s got a thin cornea? Damn.

After all these exams, Dr. Veloso told me that while the pressure in my eyes was still normal, their drainage was slowly closing off. Gulp! When it completely closes, the fluid in my eyes that lubricates the surrounding tissues will have nowhere to go. This will eventually raise the pressure in my peepers.

It devastated me to hear that there was no way to prevent this. It’s just how my eyes are structured. But she said there is a way to secure them by creating another path to drain the eye fluid. To do this, I would need to undergo a laser eye treatment… yikes! (An older friend who earlier had a retina problem said undergoing a laser eye treatment was as easy as pie, so I shouldn’t worry. Still, the thought of having some contraption slice through my eye is discomfiting enough, and then there’s the anxiety about possible side effects.)

Of course, my initial reaction was to blame my mother. What’s one more issue to pin down on her, eh? At least with the other illnesses I’m predisposed to thanks to my father’s genes, these can be prevented or controlled by diet and exercise. But this drainage problem is not only inevitable but could only be solved by a costly procedure. Thank you, Mama! Grrr.

(As I comforted myself with salmon sashimi, a Philadelphia sushi roll and a tendon, I furiously texted my older sister who was in New York then tracking down the historical hotdog cart. I vented my frustration over the outcome of my eye exam, and I also reminded her to get an exam, as well, as soon as she returned home.)

Obviously, I’m being facetious. More than my mother’s unholy inheritance to me, what really kills is that no matter how young I think I am (I still watch cartoons, for heaven’s sake!), there is no way I can deny that age is already creeping up on me. This eye condition is but one more topic to contribute to my gang’s “senior” discussions about the various ailments that are now plaguing us.

And why am I am telling you all this? Because that’s what old people do. Waaah!

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. Cartoon from Mrs. Z's photos.)

No musical instruments?

Use your iPhone!

This was the band featured by Jeanne Moss in CNN (subsequently picked up by ANC). Very creative group of guys. And very catchy song, actually.

I don't know what app they were using but if you've been a long-time Mac user like me, you know that each Macbook comes with a Garage Band app that enables you to create your own songs, and play musical instruments therein. You can also record the same after and turn your songs into mp3's.



According to Jeanne Moss, Apple has already been in touch w/ Atomic Tom's record label to discuss some future projects. Coolness. Oh yeah, that guy playing the "guitar" is unmistakeably Pinoy. Woo-hoo! ;p

Boob jobs

I HAVE a couple of issues I wanted to raise today.

First off, the reported Shalani-P-Noy split.

No one really knows the exact details of the parting of ways of the erstwhile couple.

There have been a number of rumors circulating about the purported reason(s) for the breakup: a) P-Noy is extremely busy with his job as is Shalani, being a councilor in Valenzuela; b) P-Noy is seeing someone else; c) Shalani is supposedly dating someone else; or d) all of the above.

As you may recall, as early as the July inaugural of P-Noy at the Quirino Grandstand, the grapevine went hyperactive because of persistent reports that the two had already gone their separate ways. It was only Shalani who actually denied it, but she was there at the inaugural, albeit seated behind the presidential sisters. Then later that evening, she was also at the People’s Party at the Quezon Memorial Circle, where P-Noy sang “Watch What Happens”—to her utter delight. So people thought they were still an item.

Crooned the newly elected President then:

Cold
No I won’t believe your heart is cold
Maybe just afraid to be broken again.
Let someone with a deep love to give
Give that deep love to you
And what magic you’ll see.

Sigh. What a difference three months make.

But as I wrote then (Shalani's long wait), the burden of that relationship really fell on Shalani’s pretty shoulders, now that her beau had been elected President. While she herself will no doubt be busy attending to her konsehala duties, she still would not be as occupied as the President. So like any typical girlfriend, she would, no doubt, wish they could spend what little free time they had together.

No doubt, she would’ve been racked with guilt had she imposed on P-Noy’s time. After all, there are more pressing problems to attend to than a lonely girlfriend’s issues. Then again, Shalani may also have deeply considered whether P-Noy was such a good catch that she should wait for six years until he made up his mind about marriage and her part in it. Take note that P-Noy had already said he didn’t see himself getting married while seated in Malacañang.

So as the rumors go, P-Noy was supposedly the one who called it quits, as he recognized that Shalani was no longer happy in the relationship. And quick as a pistol, he was espied to be already seemingly dating someone else. It would now seem that he was not really much into Shalani as we all thought, as much as she was into him. Her reaction when asked by media about the issue: “Next time na lang po. Thank you.” Honey, if it’s over, just say it’s over, and move on.

Perhaps, she’s still holding out a candle for the President? Only natural, especially if the woman’s in love. P-Noy, on the other hand, was already able to joke about his date with the still-unidentified mystery woman at Nuvo.

Meanwhile, it’s been pretty interesting, even downright hilarious, to read the reactions from the men on social-networking sites:

From Namby: “To me the best mistake he ever made was break up with Shalani. She deserves a better-looking boy friend.”

Pitutuy: “THAT was maybe the best thing that he did...releasing Shalani, yehehey!”

Dwayne: “eto ang pagbabago after 100 days: si pnoy at liz uy na raw; at si shalani at mayor gatchalian naman daw.”

Big Guy (on news reports of Shalani dating Mayor Gatchalian): “C’mon, guys, give the lady a break! Masyadong pakialamero kayo.”

Seriously, I feel that Shalani is better off without P-Noy. Sure, he may be a good catch because of his family name. He’s intelligent naman and sometimes witty. And, yes, he is the second most powerful man in the country (the first being Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno, of course). But you can’t force yourself on someone who really doesn’t love you.

I just think that if a man is really in love with a woman, he will find the time to be with her. And if he knows that she’s the one he’d like to spend the rest of his life with, he will marry her, or do something to prove that he’s committed to her. An engagement ring would be nice. It will be an unmistakable assurance of his devotion. There will be no vagueness, no uncertainty, no waffling.

It was good while it was lasted, but it’s now time to move forward, Shalani. Go on, you have a whole world of eager adorable men waiting at your feet. God willing, you will get the man you deserve.

****

“I LIKE it on the countertop.”

“I like it on my small bed near the door.”

“I like it carried from the car, flung onto the couch, then unzipped and spread wide open....”

If you’ve been reading these mysterious messages on your female friends’ Facebook status, don’t fret, it’s just another Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign. This year it’s all about where you like putting your handbag. Spoilsport that I am, I did not post any status to that effect. During last year’s campaign, I didn’t post my bra color as asked, so no reason for me to tell you where I put my bag.

Apologies to all the girls who got oh-so-excited with this year’s campaign, but I just think it’s all silly and really doesn’t amount to much. How many of you actually went to your OB-Gyn’s and gotten a breast exam or a mammogram while participating in these campaigns? Raise your hand, anyone? No? Thought so.

Oh, I know it’s supposed to be fun and all, but the whole idea behind these campaigns is to get women thinking about how we can reduce our risks for the disease. Did you know, for instance, that 70 percent of breast cancers occur in women who have no known risk factors?

These are the other facts from the Philippine Breast Cancer Network:

* About 80 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer will be the first to be victims in their families.
* Breast cancer is the leading killer of women ages 35 to 54 worldwide.
* One out of four who are diagnosed with breast-cancer die within the first five years.
* The incidence of breast cancer has been rising for the past 30 years.

And this to me is the most shocking fact of all: “The Philippines has the highest incidence rate of breast cancer in Asia.” (For the rest of the breast-cancer facts, visit www.pbcn.org.)

While early detection may not prevent a woman from getting full-blown breast cancer, and mammography supposedly doesn’t detect as much as 20 percent of breast cancers, it is still advisable to put yourselves through these exams.

The former can be conducted by your OB-Gyn, and she can even teach you how to do it yourself. Using her hand, the doctor will try to detect any changes in your breasts, e.g., if there is some unusual hardening, or lumps. The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends that women beginning the age of 30 should have a clinical breast exam made by a health-care professional.

Mammography is a bit uncomfortable as your boob is squeezed between two panels before it’s given an x-ray dose to see what’s inside. ACS advises mammography for women beginning the age of 40. It may be painful, yes, but what if it can help save your life?

***For more information about breast cancer, also visit icanserve Foundation. While it’s unfortunate that the advocacy group no longer holds those successful Pink Kitchen eat-’til-you-drop fundraising activities, you may still support its programs by purchasing the goods being sold at its booth at The Power Plant Mall on all weekends of October.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. Still photo from the film, Un couple parfait.)

Slow starters*

I HAVE never been a perfect student.

The nuns and teachers in St. Theresa’s will probably attest to the fact that I was diligent enough and applied myself well all through the elementary grades.

But when I got to high school, I floundered a bit. My math subjects confounded me. Seriously, when would I ever need subjects like algebra? Or trigonometry? (You know how it was when we were teenagers—we’d question everything and rebel against certain ideas.)

In grade school, while I wasn’t a math lover, I could see how the subject was useful. We all still need to add, subtract, divide and multiply, especially when it comes to money. Fractions come in handy when we’re talking about intercompany disputes and, well, uhm...family feuds over inheritance.

But whatever did I need to study sine and cosine for? Bless my teacher Ms. Ortiz wherever she may be, and she was really not the terror she was made out to be by the older girls, but I still can’t figure out why I needed to study trigonometry.

Geometry at least has some practical applications...like playing billiards. In a semi-drunken state at some friend’s birthday one time, I asked my friends who were good at playing pool if they aced their geometry subject in school. They all said yes. Well, it’s all about shooting the ball in the right hole using the perfect angle, isn’t it?

So when I got to fourth year high school, I needed help. I was failing my Trigo and sought another math teacher at St. Theresa’s to tutor me after school, three times a week. Needless to say, I got my act together and managed to pass the subject by the third and fourth quarters. Whew.

In college, I believed I did well in most of the courses. But there were other things that occupied my attention. I was very active in my extracurricular activities, maybe more than the usual student, which would get my Pop all fired up. He would chew my ear out regularly because sometimes he would wait in the car for ages ‘til I decided to appear, but usually it wasn’t because I came from class.

But, hey, the university president, then Bro. Andrew Gonzalez, knew me well enough to offer me a teaching job even before I graduated; I got my class absences wiped out by a few professors just because they liked what I wrote in the paper; and, most important, I got exempted from P.E.! Hahaha.

Seriously, I admit that I probably attended my classes to justify my memberships in the school organizations. I would usually coast along, pushing the allowable absences of each class to the limit, then get to the midterm exams. Depending on the results, I would either study like mad to make sure I passed my final exams for that particularly class, or just do more of the same if I got a good grade.

There were classes that were easy; I passed them even if I was half-asleep most of the time. Most other classes were average—all I needed was just to read up and participate in the discussion, or do the practical work required by the professor.

Then there were a few courses which took more effort to study—these were usually, again, the math-based subjects. Like in high school, I wasn’t ashamed to ask for help when I needed it, and sought it out from my classmates or some guy majoring in that particular field. I would eventually do a good job in the final exams and pass the course. There were very few classes which I dropped, and I usually only did so when the teacher wasn’t inspiring enough to hold my attention.

When I finally graduated, my thesis-mate Chinky and I even managed to each snag a gold medal for producing the Best Project in our Communication Arts batch that year. O, di ba? Overall, I don’t think I really had any major difficulties in the university. I actually enjoyed my time in De La Salle.


All this talk about P-Noy and his failing marks in the first 100 days of his leadership obviously made me look back and assess my own student life. Which is why, despite my thinking that he deserves at least a 76—a grade just above pasang-awa—I think he will still come around.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, there are Presidents who are pretty much Dean’s List material the moment they get to Malacañang. They are self-starters, like FVR maybe, who perform brilliantly at the beginning of their term and are consistent throughout, until they step down from office. They come up with the right policies, implement them, and the whole country benefits.

Then there are sluggish ones, like P-Noy, who is like the student that I once was. He has certain strengths in some areas, but in other subjects, he really needs to crack open those books, and ask more knowledgeable people to explain the topics to him. The key is for him to recognize and accept that he needs help, because I’m pretty sure, there are so many smart people willing to extend a hand to him, if only he would asked.

So far, we’re just in the first quarter of his presidency. There is still some time for him to improve those grades. And as any student knows, what’s really most important is making a difference by the third- and fourth-quarter grading periods.

This may not give the rest of us know-it-alls any measure of comfort because it sounds like we’re on a slow boat to China. But I still have just this much hope that P-Noy will take our country where we want it to be in due time. He just needs to get a grip on his own weaknesses, focus more intently and study matters he doesn’t understand, and ask help from the right people. (Published Oct. 8, 2010)

*My column Something Like Life is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.

A word from Prof. Winnie Monsod

I MAY not be from U.P., but I appreciate Prof. Monsod's appeal to her students. She speaks the truth. You want this country to prosper, then stay here and make it work. Not maybe for your sake, but for the sake of the future generations. Stop complaining about the corrupt officials in government if you yourselves cheat in class. We are all leaders...it's time we behave as such. Honor before excellence.

The only reason to watch Eat Pray Love...

Javier Bardem.

That's it.

Brod

SENSELESS.

That bombing off De La Salle University last Sunday at the traditional salubong for bar examinees was a despicable act perpetrated by one human being to another. How could anyone justify lobbing a grenade at a crowd of would-be lawyers—kids really, who had just finished a grueling four Sundays of exams—just because his fraternity had a run-in with a rival frat?

To me, that was the most supreme act of cowardice, dude. If you think you were being such a big man then, you weren’t. And those who continue to coddle you and hide you instead of bringing you to justice to accept punishment for that foolish, nay, that terroristic act, are equally guilty of being cowards, and criminals. (Click Something Like Life, Oct. 1, 2010 for the rest. Photo from the film, Batch '81.)

Airline blues

GOT this press release from Philippine Airlines in my mailbox today. Thought it was interesting enough to publish as is, since most of us don't really know the details of the issues the cabin crew and airline management are fighting about. But clearly, this deadlock between both parties has to be broken soon as it undermines the safety of the riding of the public, and will affect the tourism opportunities in the country.

Read the Flight Attendants' & Stewards' Association of the Philippines (FASAP) press release of Sept. 29, 2010 here first.

PAL salary, benefits of cabin crew

Angara, HSAI Raintree partner to boost tourism in Aurora

(Dikasalarin Cove in Aurora province.)
THE province of Aurora promises to be the next go-to travel destination with the establishment of two new resorts: one for high-end tourists, and the other, a mid-priced hotel to cater to the average middle-income travelers.
In an interview with select reporters, Sen. Edgardo Angara, who hails from the province, said these resorts will be built on land his family owns and will be managed by HSAI Raintree Hospitality Management Inc.

HSAI Raintree president Annabella Wiesniewski said: “We want to open Aurora as the newest exciting tourist destination in the country. It is paradise, undiscovered.” The province sits on the northeastern portion of Luzon and faces the Pacific Ocean.

The first establishment is an 88-room hotel that will be located on a three-hectare property in the capital of Baler.

“It’s ready to break ground,” she said, and will be designed by architect Ed Calma, which promises a modern aesthetic but “will incorporate organic materials that are native to Baler,” such as local wood and stones, and its unique flora. The hotel is projected to be completed by June 2012.

It has a 150-meter beachfront on Sabang beach and will be geared primarily for local travelers. The Angara family already has a beach resort there called Bahia de Baler.

“It will be moderately priced, about P4,000 per night, and will be geared for domestic tourists. The provinces around Aurora are mostly land-locked so Sabang is the nearest beach for them. We have to make [the hotel] reasonable, but still very nice. Government offices and corporations around there can hold their meetings, conferences and seminars there,” said Wiesniewski. A 300-seat ballroom will also be built on the property where functions like conferences and wedding receptions can be held.

The second resort will be 20 minutes away from Baler central on a 100-hectare property located at the private Dikasalarin cove. On it will rise “60 rooms or villas of SLH [small luxury hotels] quality,” she added, ranging from about 50 square meters (sqm) to 200 sqm.

(Traversing one of Aurora's many clean rivers.)
“It’s like Monterey [California]. You drive along the coastline, and you see a very big cove,” she said. The beach is off-white but as fine as the sand of Boracay and with clear waters, she said, so it’s ideal for lounging about and swimming.

The villas, she said, “will be modern with glass, set against the mountains,” taking advantage of the picturesque view of the land- and seascapes. It will also feature a wellness center with a world-class spa. Those who are staying in the Sabang resort, she added, will be given the privilege of taking a day tour in the Dikasalarin property and enjoy its facilities and scenery.

Adjacent to the luxury resort, Angara donated a 10-hectare property, where an artist’s village is currently under construction. “This will give an opportunity for artists to just be away and indulge in their passions. We’ll take care of them, they won’t have to worry about [food and accommodations],” the senator said. The village will also feature an amphitheater where the artists can show off their works or perform.

“We’ve already been able to solicit the assistance of several well-known Filipino artists here and abroad to build individual cottages where the visiting artists can stay,” he added.

Angara cited the many activities that could be pursued in Aurora such as hiking, diving, trekking, mountain biking, bird watching and surfing.

“Baler was the first to introduce surfing in the country with its swells reaching 10 to 12 feet,” he said. A portion of the film Apocalypse Now where soldiers were catching waves was filmed at Charlie’s Point in Baler. A number of international bird societies also have been tracking migrating birds that summer in Baler.

“We have natural beauty - every 10 km. spectacular waterfalls—we have abundant water sources, we have streams, rivers, clean seas that’s why we nice dive sites there. We have a rich supply of marine life—Blue marlin, tuna, Spanish mackerel.” He stressed that travelers are safe in Aurora, being “the first province that was declared insurgency-free.”

(The historic Baler Church which 57 Spanish soldiers turned into a fort during the year-long Siege of Baler.)
Baler is also rich in history, he said, because it is where the infamous “Siege of Baler” happened. Fifty-seven Spanish soldiers held out at a local church for a year against Filipino troops, not knowing the Spanish-American War had already ended. The story was actually made the basis for the local film Baler, which was said to have helped boost travel arrivals in the province, as it showcased the local tourist spots. The event is also commemorated every year on June 30 during the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day.

Asked why he decided to collaborate with HSAI Raintree, Angara said, “We hear they’re the top in the business [of hospitality management].”

HSAI Raintree currently manages the Discovery properties of the Tiu family (of the JTKC Group) in Ortigas, Tagaytay and Boracay Island, and opened Albay to high-end travelers when it initially managed Misibis Bay Resort in Cagraray Island. (It terminated its contract with the resort’s owner, the Sunwest Group, in March.) HSAI Raintree is a partnership between Wiesniewski's Raintree Partners Inc. and the Tiu family's Oakridge Properties.

Although travel time from Manila to Baler currently takes about five hours—“it’s just like going to Baguio”—Angara said the completion of the SCTEx until Aurora will cut travel time by about 1.5-2 hours.

The proposed 60-km. four-lane expressway will start from La Paz, Tarlac and pass through Nueva Ecija, and traversing a scenic route to Baler.

“So it’s going to be such a beautiful drive like going from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe,” Wiesniewski said. Construction on the Tarlac-Aurora portion of the SCTEx is scheduled to start next year, Angara noted, and will be completed in time for the resorts’ opening.

Wiesniewski added that HSAI Raintree is already talking with major carriers Philippine Airlines, Southeast Asian Airlines and Cebu Pacific so they could explore the possibility of flying to Baler, once the resorts are completed.

There are two main airports in Aurora—one is the Dr. Juan C. Angara Airport in Baler with a 1,100 meter-runway, where Seair used to fly a twice-weekly route. Another airport with a 2-km runway is currently being constructed in the municipality of Casiguran, which will be able to accommodate larger jet aircraft and will turn into an international airport.

Currently, a provincial bus line connects Manila to Baler, passing through the Sierra Madre mountain range.

(Photos courtesy office of Sen. Edgardo Angara)

Belissima Bellarocca!

Marinduque is one of those laid-back Philippine provinces that most Filipinos don’t know much about. Except for its colorful and dramatic Moriones Festival celebrated every Holy Week, the island-province has pretty much been going along its merry quiet way, below the radar of most local or foreign tourists.

I myself didn’t have any reason to visit it until I received an invitation from Genesis Hotels and Resorts Corp.’s muy simpatico president Señor Miguel Cerqueda to stay at Bellarocca Island Resort and Spa, the plush resort it manages in the province. (Read the rest in BusinessMirror Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010.)

Surf's up in La Union

Surfing has given La Union a boost in terms of tourist arrivals.

According to data from Region 1 (Ilocos region) of the Department of Tourism, La Union tourist arrivals in the first half of the year grew 35 percent to 45,678, from 33,882 in the same period in 2009.

In an interview with the BusinessMirror, DOT regional director Martin Valera noted the growing number of surfing enthusiasts such that every weekend, about 300 surfers go to La Union to engage in the activity. This includes foreign students from the Manila-based International School, the British School and Brent School. (Read the rest in BusinessMirror, Sept. 27, 2010)

PNoy eats a NY dog

Didn't your mother tell you not to talk when your mouth is full? hehe. But this is nice, if only to show how down to earth President Aquino really is. (His yaya has been quoted as saying that PNoy is not a fussy eater at all.) And yes, there's nothing like a New York dog, especially the ones at Gray's Papaya. Yum.

Who really rocks though is Chief of Protocol Miguel Perez Rubio, who at 84, can still keep up w/ all this presidential business.

Btw, in case you guys are interested, on Sept. 22 (NY time), PNoy had lunch at Serafina restaurant and then a steak dinner at the moderately-priced Keens restaurant. Malacañang is apparently making sure the public knows exactly where and how we, the taxpayers, are feeding the President. Check out the President's Day at the Official Gazette.

Caption this

(Photo courtesy The Official Gazette of the Philippines)

PNoy: O, be a good boy ha?

VP Binay: Opo. Pero 'wag ka magmadaling umuwi ha?

ES Ochoa: Pare, isang Blue Label lang, ayos na ako.

I missed my Pop tonight

From the photo essay, Days with my Father by Phillip Toledano

This is for everyone who's lost a parent, or is living with aging parents.

'Christmas na!'

(Having a good laugh probably over Vic Valdepeñas, Union Bank president and COO-2nd from right-not being in AEV uniform are from left: Jon Ramon Aboitiz, AEV Chairman; Cholo Bernad, EVP for Strategy and Regulations, Aboitiz Power Corp.; Sonny Carpio, EVP-managing trustee, Aboitiz Foundation; and Jovy Batiquin, EVP/COO of Therma Marine.)

MOST Filipinos know Christmas is just around the corner when the ’ber months kick in, and the Christmas carols start playing in malls.

Those of us in the field of business journalism—and I still am despite writing mostly lifestyle pieces for this paper—know that the Yuletide season is upon us because Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) holds the very first Christmas party of the year for media. And, yes, this distinguished company from Cebu holds it in September!

Due to conflicting schedules, I’d not been able to attend these AEV parties in the past years. But last week, I just had to make sure not to set up any other appointment on the night of the event. It was just one of those times I direly needed a midweek break.

(Basti Lacson, AEV Chief Reputation Officer, tries his hand at darts. Don't ask me what his job title means...I'm stumped as well. Seriously, he seemed to have the most fans among the Aboitiz crew...aba, heartthrob!)

And who doesn’t need one? We all had been subjected to the frustration and negativity stemming from the government’s botched hostage rescue, so the party was really a welcome diversion. So, sure, what’s a round of fun and games with a reputable bunch of people—I’m talking about the AEV officials here, not my media colleagues...hahaha—to take our minds off a most depressing time under PNoy administration?

AEV dubs these September media get-togethers as its Media Lechon Party, because it flies the delicious lechon Cebu is well-known for (no sauce needed!) for us Manila-based media to feast to on. Also, I suspect it’s because its officials try to get back at our sometimes-mischievous stories by subjecting us to the pressures of their complicated ridiculous parlor games. In other words, nili-lechon kami!

(AEV head honcho Montxu Aboitiz coaxes his unseen team mate into becoming a Pinoy Henyo, who should guess the word stuck to the latter's construction hat. This was one of the most challenging games of the evening.)

But how could we not just get into the playful spirit of the evening when Erramon "Montxu" Aboitiz himself, AEV president and chief executive officer, wholeheartedly dove into the activities? There were games where we had to guess movie titles; a dartboard; Taboo word game (which got me saying “eff” most of the time, because the thesaurus in my brain seemed offline that night); ring toss; blackjack, where we had to sing while we computed those darned cards (epic fail for me again, being Math-handicapped); and Pinoy Henyo (a takeoff from a TV show).

(Un)fortunately, my Pink team, led by company execs Miguel Aboitiz and Ricky Lacson, failed to make it as contenders to the top prize—some huge amount of gift certificates, which I joked was probably from the Gaisano Country Mall. (To be fair, it was not, otherwise poor winner would need a plane ticket to Cebu just to do her shopping.) Only when we realized that the winning team’s members had to literally sing it out just to claim the top prize, and with AEV officers judging a la American Idol, did Miguel and I congratulate ourselves for our team not making it. Who knew all these new songs anyway?! Ach.

(At the Taboo word game, Miguel Aboitiz, SVP for Aboitiz Power-2nd from left-is as hard-pressed as the rest of our team mates about the word I'm trying earnestly to describe. But lovely arms, dontcha think?)

So while many were not so lucky to take home any prizes, we all went home very lighthearted and chatty, not to mention with full bellies. Loved the yummy spread that evening at the Manila Polo Club’s Turf Room by the way. I especially took to the dark chocolate truffles...woohoo!

That was quite an enjoyable evening, made more special by the top echelons of the company being unafraid to let their hair down. Congratulations to the AEV management and its media handlers Carol Ballesteros, Baby Dimalanta and Liza Almonte for a hugely entertaining soiree. See you next year!


(Txabi Aboitiz, AEV SVP/Chief Human Resources Officer - standing, far right - is cool as a cucumber as his team mates, including BusinessMirror's own Lenie Lectura, beside Aboitiz, work on their Pinoy Henyo skills.)

*A thousand apologies to AEV management for the erroneous photo captions in my column, Something Like Life, published in the Sept. 10-11, 2010 print edition of the BusinessMirror. Mercury's in retrograde, that's all I can say. Ooof! (Photos courtesy of AEV.)