Foreign arrivals rose despite travel advisories–BI

By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Despite a spate of negative travel advisories, the number of foreigners who visited the Philippines last year rose to more than 3.4 million, an increase of almost 20 percent compared to 2009, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Sunday.

Immigration officer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledesma said foreigner arrivals totaled 3,451,668 in 2010, or 19.5 percent higher than the 2,887,303 who came to the country the previous year.

“The negative advisories of foreign governments warning their citizens against going to the Philippines did not

have any impact at all,” Ledesma said in a statement.

International traveler arrivals even peaked during the last quarter of the year, when most of the advisories were issued due to reported threats of terror attacks in the country, he added.

BI records showed that from 188,028 foreign visitor arrivals in September, the number increased steadily to 204,779 in October, 218,482 in November, and 265,651 in December.

“These numbers send a very clear message that the confidence of the international community in the Philippines and the government of President Aquino is very strong. No amount of alleged or perceived terror threats could shake or erode that confidence,” he said.

Ledesma noted that BI statistics were consistent with the Department of Tourism’s target of 3.3 million tourist arrivals in 2010.

BI's 3.4 million arrivals included all types of international travelers, including tourists, investors, expatriates, students and balikbayans who had acquired foreign citizenship.

BI immigration regulation division chief Alberto Braganza said that of the 3.4 million foreigners who came last year, about 80 percent or 2.7 million landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport while the rest entered at other ports such as Mactan, Clark and Davao.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

xtreme boat riding in Samar launched

PARANAS, Samar – From being a mere nautical highway to being tagged as an illegal logging hotspot, Ulot River is now an eco-tourism destination with extreme boat riding as its main attraction.

The Ulot River Torpedo Extreme Boat Riding was launched Tuesday, which is expected to draw thousands of local and foreign tourists considering a different experience it offers – riding in a boat without outriggers going downstream and upstream.

Department of Tourism (DOT) Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes described the activity as “unique” and a never-been seen adventure in the country and even in Asia.

“This is a destination that we should be proud of. If Palawan said they are the last frontier of the Philippines, I would like to say that Samar is the ultimate frontier of our country,” Tiopes said during the launching.

Aside from DOT officials, the event was attended by officials from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Samar Island Biodiversity Project, Philippine Army, Samar Chamber of Commerce, non-government organizations, and officials from provincial offices and local government.

DENR regional technical director for research Manolito Ragub said that the arrival of tourists would help preserve the environment within the watershed area since people will earn income that would sustain their needs.

“This tourism activity will provide jobs to people and would divert their attention from cutting trees and hunting wildlife to providing services to tourists,” Ragub said.

SAMAR. Department of Tourism and the Samar Island Natural Park/Samar Island Biodiversity Project launch Tuesday the Torpedo Boats Extreme Rides in Campo Uno, Barangay Tenani, Paranas. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)

Boatmen and river guides were earlier trained by the DOT on how to deal with tourists and ensure their safety during the tour but their skills in boating was acquired from hauling illegally-cut logs.

Tour guide Adrian Igdalino, a native of Barangay Tenani, said that the arrival of tourists in Ulot has somehow changed livelihood activities among the locals.

“Before the tourists came in, our group was used in transporting of logs. That’s the fastest way to earn money,” said Igdalino who earns P250 a day from tour guiding.

Igdalino is just one of the hundreds of villagers engaged in ecotourism activity.

There are nine people’s organization in Ulot Watershed that are now service providers to tourists such as tour guiding, boat services, catering, food production, among others.

The nine groups, formed into Ulot Watershed Model Forest Stakeholders Federation, are affiliated with the International Model Forest Network Secretariat.

Federation’s president Danilo Miralles said in an interview that these people have been earning before the launching of the eco-tourism loop.

“Visitors have been coming here. It’s a big help to our livelihood and contribute to the effort in protecting the forest,” Miralles added.

Records of the Samar Island Natural Park (SINP) showed that at least 300 visitors have so far visited the river this year.

Long before roads became the main transportation route, Ulot River served as a nautical highway for trading products and transporting people from and to Samar and Eastern Samar.

“This tour is not just an adventure but also one way to share the local’s way of life,” Tiopes said.

Few boats are still transporting villagers since it is the most convenient way to get to the town center.

Ulot is a 520-kilometer river and is considered to be the longest in Samar Island. It is part of the 87,000-hectare Ulot Watershed rambling in 11 towns of the island with bigger part of the area situated in this town.

SINP is recommending only 10.5-kilometer stretch for extreme boat ride, which is the most accessible part of the stream from the national highway.

Souece: Leyte Samar Express

Ilocos Norte’s top secret: John Irving

Thelma Sioson San JuanPhilippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Great American novelist John Irving is in the Philippines—that may well have been Ilocos’ best kept secret last week.

Irving, called the best storyteller of his time, has been in the country since the Christmas holidays, spending part of his time at the Filipino heritage resort Sitio Remedios in Currimao, Ilocos Norte. He also visited Palawan.

He’s here on a private visit and leaves on Tuesday.

Irving is best known to today’s readers—and moviegoers—for his novel “The Cider House Rules,” which won the 1999 Academy Awards for Best Adopted Screenplay, and for Michael Caine the Best Supporting Actor.

Other Irving novels which have become popular movies are “The Hotel New Hampshire” and “The World According to Garp.”

But beyond these, Irving is loved by readers the world over for his enthralling stories and their rich characters who stay with you long after you have put down his book.

A favorite of many are “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” “A Son of the Circus,” “A Widow For One Year,” and more recently, “Until I Find You.”

Released last year was his latest, his 12th novel, “Last Night in Twisted River.”

Anonymity, privacy

At Sitio Remedios, the Philippine Daily Inquirer learned, Irving spent the days writing, skipping the town tours. He was writing about nine hours a day.

It is also said that he enjoys a few glasses of beer before and during dinner. The Sitio Remedios folk found him simple, unassuming. But he could be quite funny once he got to talking with them.

They said he enjoyed the privacy and anonymity at Sitio Remedios.

He came with his wife Janet.

How did he get to know of Ilocos?

Circuitous route

His teenage son Everett is a close friend of the daughter of a Filipino doctor in Boston. It was the Filipino doctor who suggested Sitio Remedios to Irving. The doctor was a student of neurologist Joven Cuanang, the medical director of St. Luke’s Medical Center.

Cuanang created Sitio Remedios, envisioning it as a showcase of the Ilocano way of life.

Sitio Remedios recreates the Ilocos town of old—with a chapel and houses built from discarded parts of old Ilocos homes.

It was Ilocos researcher and Inquirer contributor Rene Guatlo who told his Boston-based Filipino friend about Sitio Remedios, and that friend happened to be the cousin of the Filipino doctor.

That’s the circuitous route (and 10 months of planning) that Irving’s visit to the Philippines, his first, took. Long, but not nearly as engrossing as a John Irving novel.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer