Destination Philippines

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2012-01-26T09:07:00.012+08:00

A Christmas to forget

2011-12-24T18:58:00.000+08:00

When Jerry Mamonguy last saw his wife and three children' they were clinging to the roof of their home as it was washed down-river. He is now on a desperate search to find out what happened to his wife and three children. But he is not the only one who lost their loved ones in the tragical flood catastrophe that took place in southern part of the Philippines. More than one thousand dead bodies has been found, but not identified yet. It's now six days since the flood hit the country, and hopes to find survivors vanishes as time goes by. picture by BBC ASIA

Tropical floods rises in southern Philippines

2011-12-18T01:46:00.000+08:00

Rescuers paddle their rubber boat to search for survivors following a flash flood that inundated Cagayan de Oro City today. A tropical storm triggered flash floods in the southern Philippines. Until now 436 people has been found dead. An official said the coast guard and voluntaries were scouring out the water of the costal city for survivors or bodies that may have been swept to the sea.

Coast guard and voluntaries were scouring out the water of the costal city for survivors or bodies.

Relax your mind at KadiwaPark

2011-10-24T01:29:00.000+08:00

Kadiwa Park is located in Dasmarinas, Cavite, about 12 km from Metro Manila. It's a small and silent park where you can relax and look at the artificial but beautiful birds, waterfalls and animals lightened up by all kind of colored spotlights. It's difficult making good pictures there at nighttime, but anyway, its worth a visit.

Canary birds

peacock

Two men from Sweden jailed after cybersex

2011-10-08T04:03:00.002+08:00

This two Swedes must spend the rest of their lives in prison.


Sample photo, Not associated with this case

Two Swedish men age 31 and 35 were sent to prison for lifetime after found guilty in human trafficking. This happen after police raided a commercial building in Cagayan de Oro, a city at the southern part of the Philippines. Police found 15 computers and 15 nude cam-girls in the building. The girls had a salary of 15000 pesos pr month, but claimed they were not allowed to leave the building. The 2 Swedes said they was assigned as It-consultants only, and they did not know that their job was illegal. Two men, Filipino citizens were sent to prison for 20 years. The core point here is if the cam-girls was allowed to leave the building or not. The Swedes has 15 days to appeal the judges decision, and they say they will.What is your opinion of this case? Please post a comment below.

Mall of Asia, the 4th largest mall in the world

2011-07-31T00:30:00.001+08:00

SM Mall of Asia (MOA) SM Mall of Asia is the 2nd largest mall in the Philippines, 3rd largest shopping mall in Asia and the 4th largest shopping mall in the world. It has a land area of 42 hectares and has a gross floor area of an approximate 390,193 m² (4.2 million square feet) and 407,101 m² of total area. The mall is located in Pasay, near the SM Central Business Park, the Manila Bay. The mall attracts a daily average foot traffic of about 200,000 people.

MOA as seen from Manila Bay (picture left), and the ICD Globe (right).

Thailand and Philippines cooperate to fight human trafficking

2011-05-21T12:50:00.000+08:00

Thailand and the Philippines have agreed to share intelligence in a bid to counter drug and human trafficking.
The countries made the agreement at a special meeting of Foreign Ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in Bangkok earlier this month. The United States recently upgraded the Philippines on its watchlist of countries with dubious human trafficking records, saying the country has made significant progress in combating the problem. But analysts say the problem is widespread and more cooperation is needed between source and destination countries in the human trafficking trade.(radioaustralia.com)

PH firms may seek up to 660,000 tons of Vietnam rice

2011-03-08T20:50:00.000+08:00

Philippine private firms may be in the market seeking to buy up to 660,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice, while the Vietnamese food authority raised the minimum rice export prices by up to 4 percent on Tuesday, traders said. The potential buyers from the Philippines, the world's largest rice buyer, were expected to come to Vietnam this week with a demand of between 640,000 and 660,000 tonnes of 25 percent broken rice, traders in Ho Chi Minh City said. On Tuesday Vietnam raised the floor price for 25 percent broken rice, the most common grade often bought by the Philippines, by 2 percent to $490 a tonne, the Vietnam Food Association said. It also raised the floor for 5 percent broken rice by 4 percent to $520 a tonne, free-on-board. CNN

Vietnamese rice field

Cebu and Boracay top the list of favorite destinations for Chinese tourists

2011-02-13T03:33:00.000+08:00

Cebu and Boracay top the list of favorite destinations for Chinese tourists celebrating the Spring Festival Week in the Philippines, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Friday.

Citing figures from its offices in China and from tour operators in the Philippines, the DOT said some 3,500 Chinese nationals are trooping to the Philippines for the spring festival, with the wave of tourist arrivals expected within the first week of February.

“Among the top-selling Philippine destinations this year are Boracay and Cebu, with the new available chartered flights to Kalibo direct from Shanghai and Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China," the DOT said in a news release posted on the government portal.

Arrivals from China posted a 20.9-percent increase in 2010, while arrivals from Hong Kong and Taiwan posted 8.9 percent and 39.29 percent increases, respectively, the DOT said.

It said the uptrend signifies renewed confidence among visitors from these regions, which comprised more than 13 percent of total tourist arrivals in the Philippines in 2010.

"This market is anticipated to push continued growth as activities are undertaken to reposition the country as a safe and secure tourist destination," it said.

As a gesture of goodwill for the tour groups, the DOT said it is providing tourist assistance services for their stay in the country.

The DOT added that Philippine consular and tourism offices in China remain open despite the long Spring Festival holiday there because of continued bookings and applications for visa issuances for travel to the Philippines.

Coinciding with their Spring Festival, the Chinese celebrate the Chunyun period (Spring Festival Transportation Rush), dubbed the world's largest yearly human migration, 15 days before the Chinese New Year. This year's Chunyun started on January 19 and will last for 40 days.

Passenger journeys within China during Chunyun shoot up to as many as two billion, as the period has become an opportunity for family reunions, posing problems on the country's transportation systems.

With more opportunities to travel abroad and visit their overseas kin, Chinese nationals also take advantage of the Chunyun holidays to travel to neighboring countries, including the Philippines.

Last year, Philippine tourism suffered a blow after a dismissed police officer hijacked a bus full of Hong Kong tourists and eventually killed eight of the hostages.

The August 23 hostage tragedy prompted Hong Kong to issue a "black" travel warning discouraging travel to the Philippines.—With Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV

Cebu Pacific FAs dancing

2011-01-11T01:39:00.000+08:00

Cebu Pacific Airlines find new and genial ways to promote the company

Holyday Planners think safety first

2011-01-08T01:01:00.000+08:00

SAFETY is one of the biggest factors would-be travelers will consider when choosing a holiday destination this year, according to a survey.
Fifty-six percent of respondents said they will check to make sure a destination is safe before they depart, according to an online survey by Ctrip.com, China's major web-based travel service platform. The company interviewed thousands of its members to compile the survey.
Ctrip officials said this was the first time that so many members expressed concern about safety.

Respondents said they would never forget the kidnapping calamity in the Philippines last summer in which eight Hong Kong tourists were killed.

Philippines beats India to be the world's BPO capital

2010-12-11T13:54:00.000+08:00

Employees at a call centre in Manila.

The Philippines has become the business process outsourcing (BPO) capital of the world, overtaking India as the number one player in the global business outsourcing market.
The Indian public, used to the notion of the country being the undisputed leader in offshore services, has just learnt with some surprise that in the volume (voice or call centre) segment of the business process outsourcing (BPO) space, it has been outpaced by the Philippines.
Several factors, like a well-educated workforce, good language competencies and work ethic, have made the Philippines an attractive BPO destination. Source: Rediff.com

The water of Laguna.

2010-06-25T22:37:00.000+08:00

Laguna's greatest natural resource is water. It has an estimated 1,100,000 m³ of underground water, capable of generating energy for Laguna's expanding power needs. The province of Laguna is located about 40 km southeast of Metro Manila. Water might be a main resource, not for producing energy only, but also for swimming and water sport.

Hot Spring swimming resort in Laguna

Running for a seat in the congress.

2010-04-16T01:21:00.000+08:00

Dr. Nelia Servida is running for a seat in the congress. I personally met her twice during her election campaign.

A round trip to Soutern Leyte.

2010-03-18T14:19:00.000+08:00

High above the clouds.

But rainy season and empty beaches in Sogod, Soutern Leyte.

And three days later we landed in Manila again.

A park in Tagaytay

2010-02-06T18:07:00.000+08:00

Peoples Park in the Sky, only 55km (31 miles) away from Manila via Aguinaldo Highway, it is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations The mountains of Tagaytay provides a good view of the Manila surroundings. The place is a popular summer tourist destination because of its cool climate.

The view.

Local tourists picturing.

But no food, just soft drinks. There should have been a restaurant at a place like this. Jembie and her uncle Undoy bought some cokes.

A vendor on the way to the market place.

2010-02-01T19:23:00.000+08:00

This is also a kind of transportation, but the cow looks very tired..

2010-01-19T20:13:00.000+08:00

I changed the title of my blog from Asian Pleasure to Destination Philippines. I don't know what kind of implications that may occur because of that.

Children playing in the backyard.

2010-01-12T16:58:00.000+08:00

I'm wondering why i titled this blog "Asian Pleasure" when i see poor children like this every day.

Common public transportation.

2009-12-11T18:39:00.000+08:00

Jeeps and tricycles (left) are the most common vehicles for public transportation at a low cost. Buses are mostly used for longer distances. Taxi's are not commonly used because of relative high prices. There's a railway from Baclaran to Marikina, but that's all.
Motor cycles (below) are good alternative if you want to make it faster. The traffic is usually heavy in Manila.

A national Filipino hero.

2009-11-20T10:53:00.000+08:00

Manny Pacquiao is a national Filipino hero. His next fight will take place in Las Vegas at the month of March 2010. (photo: flikr.com).

Rescue patrols on stand by in Metro Manila.

2009-11-01T12:02:00.000+08:00

At this time of the year, approaching Christmas, many storms use to hit the Philippine islands. Rescue patrols are standing by waiting for the next typhoon..

Operative manager Nerie Barcada on stand by in his rescue vehicle downtown Manila ( photo: Bonzon )

2007-07-22T09:19:00.000+08:00

Are you going to the philippines or do you plan to visit here.If you come from a western country there are many things to learn from filipino tradition and culture.