Sunday, January 06, 2013

SOS Manila Bay Coalition launched; People's Petition against reclamation of Manila Bay initiated

The SOS Manila Bay Coalition against the reclamation of Manila Bay was formally launched last January 5, 2013, Saturday at the Manila Yacht Club. For information on the reclamation project and the reasons behind the opposition, below is the petition that is circulating among Manila residents and concerned citizens.

THE PEOPLE'S PETITION AGAINST THE RECLAMATION OF MANILA BAY

Whereas, Manila Bay, covering the areas of Manila, Pasay, and Paranaque was reserved for the purposes of a national park under Proclamation 41 in 1954 by President Ramon Magsaysay, to be known as the Manila Bay Beach Resort;

Whereas, Republic Act 7586 issued in 1992, recognized the value of having a national park in the Manila Bay area and included it in the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992 notwithstanding the fact that portions of the Bay area of Pasay and Paranaque had already been reclaimed;

Whereas, the City Council of Manila passed City Ordinance 7777 on January 13, 1993 prohibiting any form of reclamation along Manila Bay from the U. S. Embassy to the Cultural Center of the Philippines, which Ordinance was approved by Alfredo S. Lim as Mayor of Manila and Jose L. Atienza as Vice-Mayor and Presiding Officer of the City Council of Manila;

Whereas, on June 6, 2011, the City Council of Manila passed City Ordinance 8233 amending Ordinance 7777 and all rules and regulations inconsistent with the Ordinance, and authorizing the Mayor of Manila, Alfredo S. Lim, to file an application with the Philippine Reclamation Authority to reclaim certain portions of the Manila Bay;

Whereas, the City of Manila  signed a contract with Manila Gold Coast Corporation as contractor for the reclamation without a genuine consultation with the people, and in apparent contradiction with Republic Act No. 7586;

Whereas, Republic Act No. 7586 dated 1992 declares among others that the Manila Bay should be among the areas considered as a protected landscape and seascape of national significance which is characterized by the harmonious interaction of man and land while providing opportunities for public enjoyment through recreation and tourism within the normal lifestyle and economic activity of these land areas;

Whereas, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines declared the Manila Bay and Waterfront from Del Pan Bridge to the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Roxas Boulevard as a National Historical Landmark, and is thus protected by Republic Act No. 10066, “The National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009”;

Whereas, the Philippine Tour Operators Association has launched a campaign to make Manila the center of culture, arts and recreation with our heritage landmarks, open parks, the boulevard, and the Manila Bay sunset at the forefront;

Whereas, the area of Manila Bay along the historic districts of Ermita, Malate and Intramuros have been important culture, art and tourism destinations whose potential should be maximized along what other great cities have done for their waterfront and historical districts and improved rather than destroyed;

Whereas, the present aggressive development of the area cannot be supported by the existing infrastructure, and extreme pressure is being placed on already inadequate water and power supply, traffic,  sewage and sanitation — problems so far not solved, which can only worsen with reclamation;

Whereas, excessive groundwater extraction brought about by the growing population of Manila has caused the lowering of the land surface by several centimeters to more than a decimeter a year in the areas of Ermita, Malate and Intramuros;

Whereas, the lowering of the land level is causing floods to worsen year by year, and any reclamation made would be built at a higher grade causing rainwater to flow back into an already flood-prone area, destroying the already fragile ecological balance;

Whereas, the coastal areas along the Manila Bay are at highest risk for liquefaction in earthquake scenarios;

Whereas, the Philippines suffers from a geographic disadvantage because it is one of the countries in the world which experiences the highest rate of sea level rise and any physical changes in the coastline will affect the way weather systems form, approach and behave on land;

Whereas, it is extremely important for all stakeholders to understand how these reclamation plans will impact our human communities, coastal and marine geology, biodiversity, heritage structures, and climate change;

Whereas, the planned reclamation of Manila Bay and the planned development of the area will directly affect the entire community made up of residents, businesses, tourism establishments, cultural heritage centers, and the Filipino people, and will destroy all hopes of making Manila the center of culture, arts, recreation, and tourism;

Therefore: We, our consortium, which includes registered voters of the City of Manila, are united in making the following PROPOSITIONS to the Sanggunian Panglungsod of the City of Manila:

1. Repeal City of Manila Ordinance 8233 and restore City of Manila Ordinance 7777;
2. Stop the planned and future reclamation of Manila Bay between the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the U. S. Embassy;
3. Cancel the contract between the Manila City government and the Manila Gold Coast Corp;
4. Enact a master plan that maximizes the opportunities and potential of the waterfront for the enjoyment of the people.

Signed on this 5th day of January, 2013.

SOS MANILA BAY COALITION
Alyansa ng Maralita ng Maynila Laban sa Reklamasyon ■ Artist Welfare Foundation, Inc. (AWFI) ■ Care for the Earth - Malate Catholic Church ■ Care for the Earth - Vicariate of the Nuestra SeƱora de Guia ■ Cinemalaya Filmmakers ■ CCP Employees Association ■ CCP Resident Companies ■ Cultural Center of the Philippines ■ Day by Day Ministry ■ Ecological Society of the Philippines ■ Heritage Conservation Society ■ ICOMOS Philippines ■ International PEN (Poets and Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists) ■ Kabataan Partylist ■ Kalikasan Partylist ■ Kutitap Storytellers Groups ■ National Theater Festival Network ■ Old Manila Walks ■ Philippine Art Education Association ■ Philippine Association of Theater Designers and Technicians (PATDAT) ■ Philippine High School for the Arts ■ Philippine Legitimate Stage Artists Group (Philstage) ■ Philippine Tour Operators Association ■ Piano Teachers Guild ■ Printmakers Association of the Philippines ■ Save Philippine Seas ■ Theater Actors Guild ■ Ugnayan ng Manunulat sa Pilipinas ■ Walk This Way (Celdran Tours) ■ World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Philippines

Sign the petition here. Join the coalition, like the SOS Manila Bay Facebook page. Use the Twitter hastag #SaveManilaBay

News Articles
Coalition vs reclamation: Keep Manila Bay ‘sacred’
Goodbye beautiful sunset? Groups protest Manila Bay reclamation project
Citizens coalition opposes reclamation of Manila Bay along Roxas Blvd
Mania Bay reclamation project faces continued opposition
Standoff looms over Manila Bay reclamation project

Friday, January 04, 2013

UnionBank extends promo for remittances from UAE


Remittances don't stop when the Christmas season ends. Many OFWs send money regularly. In fact, UnionBank has a promo for remittances from UAE through UAExchange Money Transfer Operators running until March 31, 2013.

If you're based in UAE, or if you have relatives sending funds from UAE, Visa Money Transfer Fast Funds is a payment and remittance service from Visa which allows immediate cross-country crediting to any Visa card. So your monthly remittances can be made through the Visa Money Transfer Service. And it's a real time payment and remittance service that is safe, fast and convenient.

The program is open to all UnionBank Visa Debit Cardholders who are beneficiaries of OFWs and receive their remittance through the Visa Money Transfer Service from any branch of UAE Exchange in the United Arab Emirates.

Qualified UnionBank Visa Debit Cardholders are entitled to get an additional Php500 cash credit from every remittance of any amount they receive from any branch of UAExchange through their UnionBank Visa Debit Account from October 25, 2012 to March 31, 2013. The additional Cash Credits of P500.00 will be credited to the account of qualified cardholders within three banking days from date of receipt.

So if you’re looking for a quick and efficient was of sending remittances, you might want to consider UnionBank’s service. For more information, click here

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Looking back at 2012

Happy New Year to all! It's already 2013, but I got to revisit my trips for 2012 only now since I was traveling up until the last day of the year. In fact, I have passport stamps for the first and last day of the year, and arrived home at exactly 12 midnight with no second to spare!

While 2011 remains the benchmark year for international trips, last year was not far behind. I spent a week in South Korea with UP AIT at the start of the year for Woosong University's Winter Culture Camp (Daejeon, Seoul and Muju). In March, I stayed in Singapore for a week, exploring many new attractions. 

Summer saw me back in Europe with a three week trip to the United Kingdom, which took me through many cities in England (London, Oxford, York, Lake District, Liverpool, Manchester, Stratford-upon-Avon, Cotswolds, Bath and Stonehenge), Scotland (Edinburgh, Highland Region, Isle of Skye, Glasgow) and Wales (Cardiff). 

The afternoon I got back, I switched terminals to fly to Malaysia and catch the Mount Kinabalu Expedition 2012 in Sabah. We also joined EVA Air's trip to Taiwan (Taipei and Hualien) in May.

A weekend trip to Thailand, a week in Myanmar (Yangon, Mandalay, Inle Lake and Bagan) and four days in Sri Lanka (Dambulla, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Colombo and Negombo), plus transit in Malaysia all happened in July. I had to beg off from international travel from the rest of July to November as we prepared for the very well-attended ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Conference in Vigan. And the effort was all worth it.

Pleasant surprises followed with back-to-back long-haul trips to Canada as part of the maiden flight of Philippine Airlines to Toronto, and ten days in Southern Italy (Alberobello, Matera, Naples, Pompei, Sorrento and Capri), Sicily (Taormina, Agrigento, Palermo and Cefalu), Rome and the Vatican City for Christmas until the New Year. 

Local destinations were exciting too! I realized I revisited many of our country's major tourism destination (Bicol, Bohol, Boracay, Cebu, Davao, Ifugao, Vigan, Palawan and Puerto Galera among many others), returning to some of them twice or even thrice this year. 

Here's my Travel Year 2012 album. I'm definitely looking forward to 2013!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Quezon City: Bagoong Club's Noche Buena Menu

You a have a few days left to catch the Noche Buena Menu of Bagoong Club! We got to try this menu last week and definitely enjoyed it. There are seven dishes in the special Christmas menu. Here they are:

I particularly liked the Mula sa Puso which is puso ng saging (banana blossom) sisig. It's a healthy twist to the popular Kapampangan dish.

Puso de Coco is banana blossom wrapped in gabi leaves and cooked in coconut milk.

Tinapambutido is crispy-fried smoked fish patties topped with laing.

Then there's Bagoong Club's Christmas twist to the staple lechon: Liemponillo. It's Filipino style cuchinillo pork liempo with asado sauce and whole scallions.

Krismanok is grilled glazed chicken rolled with ham and cheese, cooked in pineapple sauce.

Balut Adobo is deep-fried balut cooked the adobo way with a generous serving of garlic.

Finally, there's Sisig Paella. That's flavorful paella infused with delectable Pampanga pork sisig.

You have until the end of the month to catch this special menu at Bagoong Club!

Bagoong Club
122 Scout Dr. Lazcano
Sacred Heart, Quezon City
(02) 929-0544

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Batangas: Sailing for beginners at Taal Lake Yacht Club

Ivan Man Dy talks about our Lake Sailing 101 adventure at the Taal Lake Yacht Club and lunch at Club Balai Isabel in Talisay, Batangas.

I had thought that layag was just the verb and I didn't realize that layag is also Tagalog for boat sail. Just like English, layag (the sail) is root word of the verb layag (to sail). Thus maglalayag sa dagat literally translates to sailing in the sea. This was just one of the many aha moments I learned with our first sailing experience in Taal Lake in Batangas. We recently checked out the sailing activities at the Taal Lake Yacht Club (TLYC) upon invitation by their president Peter Capotosto to try out the sports activities of the club. And what a revelation it was!
             
Located in the town of Talisay just below the ridge from Tagaytay, we now add this to our list of fun things to do when visiting this highland city. Upon arrival, we signed a waiver and did a crash course on sailing. TLYC offers several options to enjoy the the waters of Taal Lake such as the Hobie 16 (feet) sail boat that is good for 3 people, kayaks, sail boards and even bangka rentals for Taal Volcano hikes. Our pick was the two-hulled Hobie 21 Sport Cruiser sailboat which was the biggest in the lot. With Peter as our captain and guide, we immediately headed off for the water.
           
Our day was perfect for sailing, with the onset of the amihan (north-east monsoon), Taal Lake was filled with endless gusts of wind that took our Hobie sail boat from a relaxing cruise to sudden bursts of speed which was very exhilarating! In between controlling the sail, determining the wind direction and guiding us as we controlled the rudder, our captain Peter explained to us the intricacies of this sport as well as discussed the environment issues currently confronting Taal Lake. In terms of sanitation standards, Taal Lake is rated class 2 which means that it is not recommend for drinking but just right for swimming and water sports like sailing.
       
For our lunch break, we made a spur of the moment decision to dock at the nearby resort of Club Balai Isabel. Good thing the resort's amiable president Nelson Terrible was there and he treated us to a sumptuous lunch buffet at the restaurant. What was once an old coconut plantation is now a nine-hectare fully-furnished resort with 228 rooms and a swimming pool, in case the lake is too big for you!
             
All in all, it was a very productive morning with fresh insights and new experiences to a tried-and-tested day-trip destination. Sailing is an individual sport as it can be a fun-group or family-oriented activity. They even allow for food and beer to carried on-board! Note that you will get very wet, so do not forget to bring extra clothes, towels and toiletries. Hobie sail boat rentals start at Php1,500 and goes up depending on the boat size and duration. Even better is that the rental fees can be charged on an hour's interval, perfect for first-timers who are initially testing the waters to this adrenaline pumping sport!

Thanks to Peter Capotosto of the Taal Lake Yacht club for hosting this trip. For sailing details, click here.

By the way, they're selling BlackBerry phones at for as much as 35% off at BlackBerry hubs in SM. If you still haven't gotten one, time to get your brand new BlackBerryBarkada smartphones at really low prices this Christmas! I'm getting one myself and I can't choose which BlackBerry I want more with everything up to 35% off! Click here for details.
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