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Boracay waitpersons join beachfront race

Some 30 waiters and waitresses working in various restaurants in this world-famous island joined the second Waiters’ Race.

The race – initiated by the Italian Food Specialist, Inc. – was held on Oct. 21, organizer Jorge Billedo said.

Participants were made to walk the 1.5-kilometer beachfront while holding a glass of red wine.

Whoever finishes first with the least amount of wine spillage wins.

The wind and some tourists blocking the way challenged the participants, said Italian Chef Massimo Lamagne.

“The race aims to recognize the efficiency and resiliency of our Pinoy waiters here in Boracay,” Billedo said./

Filipina-British 'Bond girl' to promote PH as fun destination

A British-Filipina actress and writer is in the country to promote several tourism sights as fun destinations.

Rachel Louise Grant de Longueuil, or simply Rachel Grant, said she will be documenting at least seven stories to boost the Philippine tourism industry.

Grant is known as a James Bond Girl in the 2002 movie, “Die Another Day,” with British actor Pierce Brosnan and US actress Halle Berry. She also appeared as Maria Ronson in the film “Until Death” with Belgian martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme.

"I am a Filipina and I love the Philippines. Abroad, there are reports on the killings in the Philippines because of drugs. I would like to counter it by producing a documentary that will promote the country as a fun destination. It’s more fun in the Philippines," she said.

She also bared to have already eaten “balut” (duck embryo) a thousand times in her lifetime since it is among her favorite Filipino delicacy.

In Boracay, Grant visited Maya Restaurant which features a version of the Boodle Fight, the Boracay Toilet, Boracay Mermaid and the Ati village, among others.

The actress is here with her parents and Puerto Rican videographer.

She will also be visiting Metro Manila and the provinces of Antique and Pangasinan, as part of her Philippine travel producing viral videos. (

Hollywood actress to visit Boracay Aeta community

Hollywood actress and travel blogger Rachel Grant is expected to visit the Aeta community in this word-famous island.

Raffy Cooper, marketing officer of the Boracay Foundation, Inc., said Grant’s visit will be on Oct. 23 to 24.

“Her itinerary includes a visit with the Aeta community here. She will also document a boodle fight restaurant for her travel video blog,” Cooper said.

Grant played the character of Peaceful Fountains of Desire in a James Bond movie Die Another Day in 2002.

She was born in the Philippines and was raised in Nottingham, United Kingdom.

In 2014, Grant built a school in Bani, Pangasinan for children whose families were affected by typhoons.

She also helps in her mother Isabel Padua-Grant’s charity foundation – The Padua Charitable Fund – and volunteered to help supertyphoon “Yolanda” victims in Tacloban.

Artificial intelligence topic in BPO forum

The Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) is studying the possible effects of artificial intelligence (AI) among business process outsourcing (BPO) firms in the country.

The use of AI in BPO companies had been the topic in the Contact Islands conference at the Shangri-la Resort and Spa in this world-famous island.

Over 200 participants composed mostly of industry leaders attended the conference with a theme, “The Future of Customer Experience.”

“We are looking at two sides here: the positive and negative ways of using AI,” CCAP chairman Benedict Hernandez said.

Hernandez also said BPO company leaders must be ready to embrace the opportunities that the use of AI may bring to the Philippine BPO scene.

The Philippines is considered one of the key BPO hubs in the world.

For his part, Engelbert Camasura, president of the Asia Select Philippines, said the use of AI may also affect the media industry.

“The media must be vigilant on this matter. The AI process is still evolving and we must all be ready to embrace change. But we must also consider looking for alternatives,” Camasura said.

CCAP is a group of BPO companies in the country.

Everest Group: PH posed to shape future of global center industry

The Philippines has en edge in being the "location of choice" by outsourcing clients as the global contact center industry transforms from an arbitrage-first to an experience-first model. This is the highlight of the white paper entitled "Philippines at the Helm of Delivering Costumer Experience of the Future" presented by global consulting and research firm Everest Group during the Contact Islands conference held at Shangri-Las Boracay Resort and Spa, Boracay Island.

"The Philippines has a unique opportunity  to not just adapt but to innovate and influence the change," said Everest Group Global Sourcing Partner H. Karthhik who presented the study on Day 1 of the two-day conference organized by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP)." This will propel the Philippines to be at the helm of shaping future costumer experience."

The study underlined that while technology innovation will play a key role in upholding costumer experience, high-skilled agents will remain as the key for delivering required services.

"The contact center industry in the Philippines is rapidly evolving to meet the requirements of costumer experience delivery and will continue to have a strong  leading value preposition," Kathnik asserted. "Costumer experience will continue to be heavily dependent on high-quality talent with high-empathy skills, and the Philippines the leading provider of such talent."

He also emphasized the advantage brought about by the fact that the country has among the world's youngest  population (with median age of 23 years). "It forms the perfect bedrock for serving the millenial costumers," he said.

The analysis by Everest Group pointed out that local contact centers have already  started upgrading its capabilities to meet the changing requirements in the global industry environment. The study identified these current conditions of Philippine-based contact centers.

*Up to a third of the agents in best-in-class centers have already been trained to acquire multi-channel expertise.
*Robotic process automation (RPA) solutions are starting to be implemented like rule-based chatbots for simple business processes and costumer queries.
*Focus and investment on analytics for costumer experience delivery is growing although analytics for operational excellence still has the higher adaption.
*Companies are actively redesigning their recruitment and training approaches to increase focus on multi-national channel capabilities and technical skills.

Despite its strong position in adapting and instituting skills-upgrade of its agents, the country's contact center industry still needs to further strengthen its capabilities  to "shape the global future" of contact center services, according to Everest Group.

Aklan province forges MOA with Makati Med

The Aklan Provincial Government, in cooperation with the Department of Health, has forged a  partnership with the Makati Medical Center Foundation.

Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores said the partnership was made through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) also being supported by the Zuellig Family Foundation.

“The partnership will focus on the improvement of quality healthcare delivery through the organizational strengthening of all the eight public hospitals in the province,” Miraflores said.

The MOA signing was held in Manila last week. It was not yet clear what were the details of the MOA.

The public hospitals in the province include the Altavas District Hospital, Libacao District Hospital, Ibajay District Hospital, Malay District Hospital, Buruanga District Hospital and Boracay District Hospital, among others.

All of the district hospitals were being part of the Economic and Enterprise Development Department of the Aklan provincial government.

Dr. Adrian Sallaver of the Malay Health Office said the Malay District Hospital was also being modernized prior to the signing of MOA with the Makati Medical Center.

“Here, we did some innovation by acquiring this [digital] software that makes it easier for us to process the results of lab exams down to the sanitation units. This is to better serve the increasing number of clients that we have,” he said.

Aside from the Malay District Hospital, other hospitals in the province are undergoing training for its information technology (IT) support. The IT’s are being updated on the Hospital Billing System and eventually transition to an Integrated Hospital Operations and Management Information System. The Aklan Provincial Government spends at least P100 million annually for the health-care services of the province population.

The healthcare services are being subsidized by the increasing growth of the tourism industry brought by the island of Boracay.

Hybrid boat proponent hopes for tech body OK

A private cooperator is confident that the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) will give its final approval for the implementation of his proposed hybrid trimaran fast craft project.

Engineer Jonathan Salvador, owner of the Metallica Shipyard in New Washington, Aklan, said the project’s final evaluation will be on Oct. 13 in Manila.

Salvador’s project uses renewable energy from the ocean to fuel the boat.

He teamed up with the Aklan State University-Marine Science Campus in proposing the project to PCIEERD for funding.

PCIEERD is one of the research arms of the Department of Science and Technology.

“The PCIEERD has already expressed commitment for our proposed project,” said Salvador.

He also shared that PCIEERD is planning to introduce the “institutionalization of a new academic program related to marine engineering.”

After the final evaluation, PCIIEERD officials are expected to arrive in the province to test the proposed project./

18 minors violate Boracay curfew

 At least 18 minors have violated the curfew in this island resort, according to the Boracay Tourist Assistance Center (BTAC).

The apprehended minors were under the custody of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) for counseling, said Senior Inspector Mark Anthony Gesulga, BTAC chief.

The curfew has been implemented in the island since last week.

The MSWDO has been monitoring the beachfront, internet shops and recreation centers, among others.

Municipal Ordinance No. 212 prohibits minors from roaming Malay town and the island resort between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The ordinance also fines the minors’ parents or guardians.

For the first offense, parents or guardians are required to undergo a seminar, the ordinance said.

For second and third offenses, they are fined P500 and P1,000, respectively.

Earlier, the BTAC received a complaint from Korean tourists. They said they were harassed by minors who were creating sand castles./

Aklan OKs higher real property tax rates

Gov. Florencio Miraflores signed a provincial ordinance that raised real property tax rates in Aklan.

Ordinance No. 2017-001 adjusted the schedule of market values of all real properties in the province. It shall take effect starting Jan. 1, 2018.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) passed the measure on third and final reading during a special session on Wednesday.

Vice Gov. Reynaldo Quimpo, SP presiding officer, said raising real property taxes was necessary for Aklan to be “competitive.”

“Among the features of the RPT (real property tax) hike was a 10-percent increase among residential and agricultural lots, and at least 50-percent hike among commercial areas, including Boracay,” said Quimpo.

Revenues from increased real property taxes will be used for the town’s special education fund and health services, he added.

Republic Act 7160, or the Local Government Code, requires local government units to adjust real property tax values every three years.

The last time Aklan made general revisions in its real property tax rates was on Feb. 9, 2005. The adjustments took effect in 2006.

“Certain localities have experienced rapid development in commerce, trade and investment, sparked mainly by the booming tourism industry [over] the past 12 years,” read part of the consolidated SP committee of the whole Report No. 2017-182.

“In effect, the (current) real property tax level is no longer reflective of the current true market assessment values in Aklan and therefore should be updated,” the report read.

Real property owners in agricultural and residential areas may avail themselves of a 20-percent discount if they pay in advance, said Quimpo.

Real properties in Aklan are around 97 percent agricultural and residential and only 3 percent commercial and industrial, he noted.

“We tried to implement a new RPT hike in 2014 but this was considered void after some sectors questioned it in court,” said Provincial Assessor Kokoy Soguilon. “We have learned our lesson, and we are more ready to face court charges.”

Assuming it could achieve a 100-percent collection rate, the province expects P41 million worth of additional revenue with the new real property tax rates, according to Provincial Treasurer Suzette Pioquid.

In August, the SP consulted with municipal assessors, treasurers and elected officials in reviewing the current land valuation assessment levels and rates, and the impact of the resulting increase, or incremental tax due.

“The 2005 assessment level resulted to negative real property tax for certain real property kinds and classification, therefore an adjustment is necessary in consonance with the principle of progressive taxation,” the SP had said.

Public hearings on the then proposed new real property tax rates were held in Barangay Old Buswang in this capital town on Sept. 5 and at the Nabas town covered court on Sept. 7.

SMC developing 130-hectare property in Aklan town

San Miguel Corp. is developing a 130-hectare property in Barangay Union here, its town mayor said.

In an interview, Nabas Mayor James Solanoy said that, because of such development, the town is currently bracing for a faster economic growth.

“Just last week SMC invited me to grace the groundbreaking ceremony of a 400-room hotel under the Marriott Hotel brand. More development is expected to grow in their property,” Solanoy said.

Aside from the Marriott Hotel, other plans being put up include an ocean park, an entertainment complex and more hotels, among others.

“They are also now building a departure and arrival terminal for the Boracay Airport being anticipated to open during the last quarter of 2018,” he said.

The Boracay Airport’s current terminal is at Barangay Caticlan, in adjacent Malay, Aklan. With the ongoing development, it is being transferred to the town of Nabas.

“SMC’s 130-hectare property was not included in the airport’s development plan. The Boracay Airport is still being managed by the SMC,” Solanoy said.

Meanwhile, Kathleen Paton, the newly crowned Miss Teen International, said she is also planning to promote the ecotourism of Nabas, such as its cold springs.

Paton, from Barangay Laserna, Nabas, is the first Filipina to win the prestigious beauty-teen pageant.

“I am planning to organize friendship tours among teenagers to promote the welfare and camaraderie among teens around the world,” said Paton, whose father is an Australian.

Her mother hails from Barangay Laserna, Nabas town.