What's On & Expat - Philippines

Adkom Media Group recently launched its upscale lifestyle magazine LP Luxury Properties in the Philippines. LP is a bilingual (English and simplified Chinese) and high-end publication featuring the most exclusive properties for sale in the Asia-Pacific region and other parts worldwide including London, the French Riviera, Paris, New York, Miami and Dubai.

     “We believe that LP has a great future in the Philippines. More and more affluent Filipinos are looking at investment opportunities outside the Philippines. At the same time, some high-end real estate developments in the Philippines want to attract foreign investors. LP is helping both ways,” said Olivier Berlot, CEO and publisher of Adkom Media Group.

Improve Tourism Strategy, ASEAN Congress Advices

By Richard A. Ramos

THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA Forum wrapped up the fruitful ASEAN Tourism Congress held recently at the Cebu International Convention Center with several speakers disuccing strategies to improve the country’s perceived image.

     An editor of an internationally-renowned news agency has urged the Philippines to promote its core assets in order to publicize the country’s built-in strengths to the global market and attract more arrivals into local shores.

     According to Greg Hutchinson, editor-in-chief of the Agence France Presse, the Philippines needs to present itself as a destination for remarkable English speakers, as well as its uniqueness in bio-diversity to its target audience, in order differentiate the country from the rest of the field.

     He hinted on the country’s need to go on the offensive and magnify its assets to the world so as to compete more effectively against its Asian neighbors.

     “You have very unique and wonderful marine life. The bio-diversity in the Philippines is easily among the very best in the world,” he told the audience during the Internatiosaid.

     Hutchinson singled out the provinces of Zamboanga and Basilan as having some of the best beaches in the country, but have unfortunately been victimized of negative publicity in recent years.

     The country is likewise blessed with a populace equipped with rich English literacy and comprehension, resulting in the influx of dozens of call centers to set up shop in leading metropolitan centers all over the country.

     The speaker also urged for

the proper usage and exercise of the “People Power” phenomenon since this resulted in the peaceful overthrow of two largely unpopular presidents.

     He noted that the “People Power” phrase is known the world over as a Filipino term and thus needs to be redirected towards positive change and transition on the domestic front.

     Lydia Castillo of the Philippine Star bewailed the various media wrongdoings that have diverted the people’s attention from the real issues to the trivial and scandalous.
She cited the showbiz gossip items that have somehow been passed off as news in order to sell the paper itself and not the country.

     “Media should act properly and not be corrupted in their duties and responsibilities. They should also minimize on gory visuals that further sensationalize the medium,” she said before the audience gathered at the CICC.

     Another is the PR brigade or press release barrage, which is often practiced by hotel and resort personnel regarding their own establishment’s event or promo.

It all boils down to enterprise reporting, she said, as there is much more that lies beneath a food festival or a room discount that merits its appearance in the paper.

     Castillo hinted her dislike for “superficial” writing as she advocated for more in-depth data in such a field for more newsworthy stories enroute to an enlightened public.

     Meanwhile, Honorary British Consul in Cebu Moya Jackson enumerated several measures aimed at improving the tourism industry and elevating the country’s standing in the international community.

     She urged the audience to visit and publicize the country’s little-known places that hold so much potential in attracting local and international visitors to their midst.

     “The Philippines has so much to offer regarding the cultural and heritage aspects of the locale. We need to discover and highlight new places which mostly foreigners know about,” she stated.

     In doing so, she batted for more inter-island travel in order to cater to the wanderlust travelers and promote better accessibility between the archipelago’s 7,100 islands.

     The speaker also cited the need for more tourism information centers to cater to visitors who are unfamiliar to the country and even ask her for advice.
“We also need to protect the environment, implement planned open skies, and increase the availability of collaterals for the tourists,” she affirmed.

     Another recommendation is for cheaper travel for students in order to forge linkages with overseas schools for reciprocal agreements regarding student exchange and training.

     Alice Queblatin, past president of the Cebu Association of Tour Operators (CATO), downplayed the fact that the abundance of Koreans in Cebu has resulted in minimal patronage of such industry stakeholders as local travel agencies, guides, and restaurants.

     “What matters most is that the industry has benefitted as a whole,” she reasoned, “the patronage of taxis, hotels, resorts, and the like has resulted in the overall betterment of Cebu as a tourism destination.”

     Queblatin also admitted that the locals have very little knowledge of the Korean language, hence causing Koreans to patronize only their own kind due to the language barrier.

     Regarding media, the speaker also praised the influence and clout of media, saying that a simple travel article in the papers always results in client calls for bookings and inquiries.

     “The media is the fastest way to spread news. We always invite media to all familiarization tours so that they will inform the readers of their experiences,” she said.

     For her part, Tourism Regional Director Dawnie Roa expressed relief that the local industry has chosen such a noble stand despite the loss of possible income from the Koreans.

     She explained that the Koreans were somewhat like the Japanese before in the sense that an adjustment period was required before the Koreans could assimilate comfortably with the locals.

     “It was not an easy process for the Japanese. But they have been at ease with the locals for many years. I believe the same thing will happen as the Koreans and the Cebuanos learn more about each other over time,” she declared.

     She also advised the local stakeholders to enroll in the crash courses on the Korean language in order to communicate more effectively with the long-staying visitors.
 

30 Foreigners Detained at
Bicutan Jail

Business Planning Workshops for 2 Mactan Barangays

The German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) through the Small and Medium Enterprise Development for Sustainable Employment Program (SMEDSEP) and Eco-Industrial Development (EID) Project concluded the Business Planning workshops for the two barangays around PEXA Mactan Economic Zones in Cebu last July 4 and 5. The activity was part of improving the living conditions of the communities surrounding the industrial zones in terms of enhanced employment and livelihood.

The two organizations believe that in the context of the sustainable development approach of GTZ, an empowered entrepreneurial community is a crucial factor in long-term social and economic progress of the locality, adding that creating livelihood opportunities and improving the employment situation for the communities is of utmost importance.

Some 30 foreigners detained at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) jail in Bicutan were already ordered deported within the past two months as a result of the agency’s program to decongest its prison of overstaying inmates, the BI said.

Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan disclosed that of the 30 foreigners who were issued deportation orders by the BI board of commissioners, 17 have already left the country.

Libanan said the bureau is deporting every week an average of three foreign detainees after it is established that the deportees do not have criminal or civil cases pending against them in the courts.

He explained that those who were deported have secured the required clearances from the courts, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), hence there was no longer any legal obstacle or impediment for them to be deported to their countries of origin.

“We will immediately deport the rest of these aliens who were issued deportation orders as soon as we get the necessary clearances to facilitate their departure,” the BI chief said.

Libanan added that the deportees were all placed in the immigration blacklist of

 undesirable aliens, thus banning them from re-entering the country.

A list of the deportees showed that they included three Americans, two Nigerians, two Lebanese, two Chinese, a Swedish, a Korean, a Japanese, a Sri Lankan, a Namibian, a Ghanaian, a Sudanese and Botswana national.

Earlier, Libanan formed a committee of BI legal officers headed by Associate Commissioner Roy Almoro to review the cases of more than a hundred aliens presently detained at the Bicutan jail.

Almoro’s committee was tasked to recommend measures that will decongest the prison, which, ideally, could accommodate only about 80 detainees.

According to BI legal chief Bienvenido Chy, a committee member, some of the Bicutan detainees are married to Filipinos that explains why they are unwilling to be deported and be separated from their spouses and children.

But Chy said the bureau has no choice but to implement the law especially against aliens who commit offenses in violation of the country’s Immigration Act, adding that deportation is the severest or maximum that the BI can impose on an alien.