One Visayas to boost tourism

By Rhia de Pablo Updated February 28, 2009 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines - Showcasing the arts and culture of 16 municipalities in the three regions in the Visayas, the upcoming One Visayas Culture and Arts Festival is seen to draw in both local and foreign tourism markets to Cebu.

In a recent press conference, regional coordinator and Department of Tourism (DOT) Central Visayas regional director Patria Aurora Roa said that One Visayas will highlight a strong arts and culture, which is a strong component of tourism.

She said that this event will allow Cebu to get more warm bodies to come over and spend their money here that will further fuel the local economy.

In her overview of the event, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said that the hosting of the province for the first ever One Visayas was a unanimous decision between the three Regional Development Committee (RDC) chairs from the three regions in the Visayas in a convention held recently in Iloilo.

“We wanted to get things done and do projects that are “implementable” that will give Visayas its own identity. They were impressed with what’s happening in Cebu and taken notice of One Cebu which symbolized unity so we decided on doing One Visayas,” said Garcia.

She said that arts and culture is the focus of the festival because despite of some differences, Visayans have blended and harmonized culture.

”This event showcases the cooperation and commitment of all provinces in the Visayas through arts and culture. We want to show that this can be done so that other regions can also follow suit. We have to focus on things that unite us,” said the governor.

Board Member Agnes Magpale who is also the executive director of the event said that even on short notice, Cebu was able to mobilize all sectors to get things going for the upcoming One Visayas to be held at the Cebu International Convention Center this coming March 1 to 8.

“This is a good opportunity for students, teachers and anyone of us to know the diverse culture of Visayas. This event also shows how ready Cebu is to be come a host for any international event even on such a short notice,” said Magpale.

One Visayas will showcase the arts and culture exhibitions, song and dance performances, cultural presentations, street dancing, film festivals, culinary demonstrations, theater arts, fine arts, crafts, architecture, literature of the different regions in the Visayas.

To make the event accessible to anyone, the governor has recently put a regular jeepney route going to and from the CICC.

In an interview, Roa said that One Visayas indeed has a great tourism potential and impact because everyone will get to see the beauty and the diverse culture of the 16 provinces in the Visayas.

“This event is a feasting of the eyes and it will indeed help us in our initiative to attract more domestic and international tourists not only to Cebu but for the whole Visayas,” said Roa.

She said that as a multi-faceted event, One Visayas will definitely be a “crowd drawer” so influx of more people coming to Cebu is expected.

“Cebu and the Central Visayas region is still doing fine despite the economic meltdown. We may feel the recession by the second and the third quarter of this year because it can’t be avoided considering the diminishing number of traffic but as of the moment the percentage of growth has not declined yet. We are anticipating growth although we do not expect it to be as big as previous quarters,” said Roa.

She said that Central Visayas was able to grow 12 percent for the year 2008; still a double digit growth amidst the worsening global economic crisis and Cebu consisted the bulk of this growth sharing about 80 to 85 percent of tourism traffic.

Philacre aims to purge bad practices in real estate

Updated March 02, 2009 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines - In order to attract more investors and boost the country’s real estate industry, a newly organized group of real estate practitioners is now looking at the need to strengthen the image of its stakeholders.

The Philippine Allied Chamber of Real Estate Brokers and Licensed Salesmen (Philacre) has been formalized last October 2008 and it aims to be the voice of the real estate industry as it gets together the multi-faceted segments of the sector, which is composed of stakeholders such as developers, brokers, and licensed salesmen.

“The real estate industry here in the Philippines is dirty because some practitioners are doing unethical tactics and strategies just to get a sale. There must be a need to change, professionalize the industry and clear out the negative image,” said Philacre Inc. president for real estate brokers Anthony Leuterio.

“If people will trust us, we can have more buyers and more sales. We should just help each other and reach out to other practitioners, share stocks and inventories and also seek out more training,” said Leuterio during the recently held gathering entitled: “An Inside View of Real Estate Selling: Regulatory Framework, Current Professional Practices and Issues”held at the Sacred Heart Center.

In an interview, Leuterio said Philacre will serve as a watchdog for the industry to boost up customer confidence and also prevent and stop anomalous sales.

“We should be creating a push for the industry so that it can be revived back to its previous condition. We should echo the concerns of the real estate practitioners and help it survive the downfall that is brought by the crisis,” said Chris Malazarte, one of the committee members of Philacre.

He said that Philacre is the first of its kind organization in the country that advocates the revival of the confidence of people into the real estate business.

“This effort was never done before although the issues that we want to echo have been around but no one wants to talk about it. We are doing these efforts to protect the industry and our business. If we will continue to allow anomalous and unethical practices especially at these times of global crisis, there might be a collapse of real estate selling,” said Malazarte.

“As the economy worsens, more practitioners are going under the table to get a sale and this is adding up to the dirtiness of the industry. If we don’t change our old system how can we protect the business and the profession or change the industry and even protect our buyers? We don’t want these to continue so we conceptualized the group,” said Leuterio.

He said that after forming their group, they will be holding more sets of trainings and skills-upgrade seminars to help the real estate practitioners at these times of slowdown.

He said that Philacre is in partnership with other real estate groups such as CREBA as well as the real estate developers and currently they have the support of 80 percent of the total number of real estate developers in Cebu.

The group as of the moment has around 150 to 300 members, which spans among real estate brokers, licensed salesmen, real estate practitioners, developers and other stakeholders. — Rhia de Pablo (THE FREEMAN)

RP fares better than Asian neighbors

By Ehda M. Dagooc Updated March 02, 2009 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine economy is seen to fare better than its neighbors in Asia for as long as remittances from the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) will continue coming in.

Rafael S. Alagarra Jr., one of Asia’s renowned economists, said that the economic outlook of the country is generally good while the market holds on to a perception of a recovery, which provides a strong shield against the intense impact of the global economic meltdown.

“The Philippines is not as bad as most countries in the region,” he said.

Alagarra, who is the treasurer of Security Bank Corporation, was in Cebu recently together with other economic experts, to enlighten Cebuanos, particularly Security Bank’s clients, of the economic future of the country, while the world is still haunted with too much uncertainty.

“What is important is the market perceives that we have reached the bottom, at least the reception of worst is over, and businesses think the market is turning up. Businesses may start making money later in the year,” Alagarra said.

Unlike other countries in the region, the Philippines has the strong resistance to weather the world economic downfall, because the country’s economy is not depending largely on exports. The country managed to stay afloat with the aid of the growing OFW remittances, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) investments, among others.

However, he said since the Philippine economy remains dependent on the global movement, albeit indirectly, thus it has to prepare additional shields.

Domestic consumption is still in healthy position, which helps the economy breath easily compared to other countries, because of continuous inflow of the OFW remittances, he said.

Next year, which is election year for the Philippines , will be another economic booster for the country, as election is always a “natural stimulus” for the Philippine economy.

The only worry of the Philippines that has to be given special and optimum attention is to provide jobs for the retrenched workers, especially in the export sector.

The Philippine government, he said should be very watchful in the employment development of OFWs, making sure also, that they continue to have jobs in other countries to sustain the remittance figure, which is one of the countries economic boosters.

Alagarra, however expressed confidence that Filipino workers abroad will hold on to their jobs, as most of them are in the health service, education and government services, of which these sectors are unlikely to cut jobs that easy.

Last year’s figure showed a record of US$16.4 billion OFW remittances, a 13 percent increase compared to 1997. This strong remittance inflow has fueled a stronger Philippines , while US and other economic giants are facing severe economic battles.

Compared to the 1997 regional economic crisis, the Philippines is performing very well this time in weathering the global crisis.

Real recovery of the market is seen to go full swing by 2010 as the market is starting to nurture a positive perception, he said. – THE FREEMAN

Land Bank grants P60M loan to oil firm as aid to Bohol palm growers

Updated March 02, 2009 12:00 AM CEBU, Philippines – The Land Bank of the Philippines has granted a P60 million loan package to Bohol-based Palm Incorporated as assistance to palm growers in the province. Palm Inc. recently entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with LBP and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation for the grant of the P60-million loan. PCIC will provide crop insurance coverage of the palm oil plant under its High Value Commercial Crop Insurance Program. With the loan, Palm Inc. would provide the planting materials and technical support to around 2,000 palm growers in 15 municipalities in Bohol. These municipalities include Danao, Buenavista, Mabini, Trinidad, Talibon, Pilar, Candijay, Inabanga, Alicia, Ubay, Carmen, Sagbayan, San Miguel, Getafe and Garcia Hernandez. Palm Inc. will also serve as the marketing arm of the products the growers will produce. Palm Inc. said it will buy the products from the growers based on the prevailing world market price. Palm Inc. President Joven Uy said the company will buy palm fruits from the growers to produce crude oil which is to be sold to refineries for final products like edible oil. With the insurance provided by PCIC, palm growers and their crops will be protected from possible unpleasant incidents like natural calamities including typhoon, flood, drought, volcanic eruption, earthquake as well as fire and other phenomena. PCIC will indemnify claims to LBP for the account of Palm Inc. or the palm oil plant grower. In a separate development, the 3,810 members of the Catmon Community Multipurpose Cooperative have insured their cooperative borrowers to PCIC under the Loan Repayment Protection Plan of the Term Insurance Power Packages. With the signing of MOA with PCIC, the coop has extended agricultural loans to their borrowers for livestock production, fishing, vending and crop production. — Jessica Ann Pareja/JMO (THE

'One Visayas' trade fair opens

Updated March 02, 2009 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines – Hundreds of local government officials, exhibitors and entrepreneurs yesterday attended the grand opening of the “One Visayas” exhibit and trade fair at the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City.

With the theme “One people, one destiny and one future,” the opening ceremony was attended by high-ranking officials of the government like Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano and Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas III.

One Visayas features the wealth of Filipino festivals, trade and artists that will run for eight days, starting yesterday until March 8.

The three Visayas regions, Regions 6, 7 and 8, were assigned a symbol each that would best represent them which are Pahuway sculpture, coral stone and Pandan golden map, respectively.

Eastern and Western Visayas took the center stage in enhancing their best resources with a balanced program that includes learning sessions in history and heritage, music and folklore, festival dances and photography, architecture and fine arts, among others.

Roxas said the concept of solidarity and unity was really reflected in the event.

One Visayas is also aimed at bringing all tourism and industry key players in one event, like a one-stop exhibit of landmarks, products and festivals.

Antique Governor Salvacion Perez said the event will unite the Visayan regions by promoting appreciation of arts, culture and heritage.

Durano, for his part, said President Gloria Arroyo will be happy with the event as most of her big projects are implemented in the Visayas. — Johanna Natavio/WAB (THE FREEMAN)