Celebrity Cruises to hire more Filipino crew

The company Celebrity Cruises is eyeing to hire more Filipino crew as part of its expansion program in the coming months.

This was bared by captain Nicolas Christodoulakis, a European, during the inaugural port of call in this resort island by MS Celebrity Millennium being operated by Celebrity Cruises, Wednesday. The MS Celebrity Millennium has both visited the ports of Manila and Boracay Island.

"The plan to hire more Filipinos has been discussed just this week by the management. Currently, there are 12,000 Filipinos working in the star cruises," he said.

Around 300 of these Filipino crew are working at the MS Celebrity Millennium.

"Based on our experience, Filipino crew are hard working, determined and industrious. This is the reason why we are planning to hire more in our expansion programs," said Christodoulakis.

The MS Celebrity Millennium was welcomed by the representatives coming from the Aklan Provincial Government, Department of Tourism, Philippine Ports Authority, Boracay Police, Wallem Philippines, and Aklan media, among others.

The MS Celebrity Millennium was known worldwide as it played host for a US based television series the top chef. The cruise proceeded to Singapore after it stayed for almost 12 hours in this resort island.

Carrying more than 2,000 passengers, it has registered the largest cruise ship record to set sail in Boracay since it started cruising three years ago.

For his part, Niven Maquirang, jetty port administrator, said that around 12 cruise ships are expected to arrive in this resort island this year.

The DoT has considered Boracay as a cruise ship destination along with Metro Manila and Puerto Princesa in Palawan.

Korean firm files slander raps vs Army lieutenant

A Filipino soldier is facing charges of slander for allegedly maligning a South Korean lounge adjacent to Kalibo International Airport in Kalibo, Aklan.
Lawyer Rowena Mae Mencias, legal counsel for South Korean firm Domabem Corp., said that slander by deed was filed against Lieutenant Ryan Layug of the Philippine Army last week.
Layug caused a stir in social networking site Facebook when he posted a January 2 complaint that he was discriminated by the lounge inside Discover Boracay Hotel & Spa last New Year’s Day.
Allegedly, Layug was denied entry at the lounge because it was only reserved for South Koreans.
Domabem Corp. denied discriminating Layug. Mencias noted that the man who allegedly told Layug that the lounge are only for South Koreans and not Filipinos was a mere tour guide.
“We believe that it was only a miscommunication and not a case of discrimination,” noted Mencias.
Domabem Corp. Manager Gunse Lee said that they only want Layug to publicly apologize.
“We can forgive Layug and withdraw the case if only he will apologize in public. If he will not do it, then we will continue the case against him,” he added.
Meanwhile, the management of Discover Boracay Hotel & Spa explained that the lounge where Layug was reportedly denied entry to was only renting a space.
Layug apologized to the management of Discover Boracay Hotel & Spa in a Facebook post dated January 3 and January 6.

Skyscanner names Kalibo as among top emerging destinations

The Ati-atihan town of Kalibo has been named as one of the top three emerging destinations to be explored in 2016, based on the survey conducted by global travel search engine Skyscanner.
Skyscanner, in their report, highly recommends top 10 destinations as vacation spots because of their growing popularity from Singapore in the past three years.
First in the list is the Phu Quoc (Vietnam); Paro (Bhutan); Kalibo (Philippines); Reykjavic (Iceland); Shenyang (China); Saporro (Japan); Nagoya (Japan); Hobart (Australia); Osaka (Japan); and, Tokyo (Japan).
The Skyscanner's data indicate that tourists should explore the areas for vacation to find out why people "are loving them so much."

Among the Kalibo tourism areas are the Kalibo Ati-atihan Festival, the Kalibo Bakhawan Eco-Park; the Aklan Museum; and, Tigayon Hill, among others.

Boracay receives more tourists from China, USA

Despite terror warnings, this resort island continues to receive more foreign tourists coming from China, United States of America (USA) and Malaysia.

Data from the jetty port administration show that in 2015, Boracay received a total of 1,560,106 foreign and local tourists and overseas Filipino workers.

South Korea continue to be at the top spot with 292,174 tourists arrivals; China with 177,926; Taiwan with 57,765; Malaysia, 34,970; USA, 25,403; Singapore, 16,446; United Kingdom, 14,210; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 14,210; and Japan with 12,195.

Niven Maquirang, jetty port administrator, said there is an increase in the number of tourist arrivals in 2015, as compared to 2014, wherein there were 165,243 tourists from China; 19,452 from Malaysia; and 22,203 from USA.

Earlier, the US Embassy has included Boracay Island in its terror alert, urging Americans to be vigilant in their visit.

The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency has affirmed the terror report because of the continuous kidnapping incidents in some areas in Mindanao.

The Boracay Special Tourists Police Office has already coordinated with several government agencies in ensuring the safety of all tourists coming to this resort island.

Kalibo Airport lounge denies racial discrimination

The management of the controversial Kalibo Airport lounge has denied the alleged racial discrimination as claimed by a Filipino soldier.

Korean staff John Lee said he was speaking on behalf of the management that claimed being surprised to the allegations now viral in social media.

According to Ryan Layug, a Philippine Army lieutenant, he was barred from entering the airport lounge when he sought its services on the night of Jan.1.

“I am Ryan Layug, a soldier, a Filipino. I am returning to duty in Mindanao after my New Year’s leave. I am a bit worried that I might be reprimanded of this post but as a soldier I defend democracy, and I will defend my fellow Filipinos (in) the face of discrimination,” the soldier said in his post.

Lee said that they are mulling filing a complaint against Layug. The soldier is believed to be a resident of nearby province of Libertad, Antique.

For her part, airport lounge staff Judith Jorque, a Filipina, said that she hopes Layug is able to film the entire proceedings of the incident.

"I dare him to show evidence of his allegations. We have a proof that we are fully booked during those times and that we are not discriminating Filipinos coming to us," said Jorque.

Jorque said she was among those who had been approached by Layug during the incident.