Boracay employees mandated to undergo x-ray examination

Employees working for private and public firms in this resort island who will be hired or will renew their job contracts beginning January 2013 will have to undergo x-ray examination.
"We admit that this will be an additional burden to employees but we only wanted Boracay as a premier tourism destination to have a healthy working environment," said Malay Mayor John Yap.
This development came into light when the local council reviewed Malay's sanitation ordinance and discovered that it was already prescribed that all employees needed x-ray examination before allowing to work.
"Although the local law covers all employees, it also emphasized that those working in the food service sector will be prioritized. We are now strictly implementing this," Yap said.
The local government warned that it would not renew business permits of business firms that will be discovered violating the said ordinance.

Boracay business group assures enough room for tourists this Christmas

Visitors are starting to flock here to enjoy the holidays, said Jony Salme, president of the Boracay Foundation Incorporated (BFI), who also assured there's enough room for tourists who would like to spend their Christmas vacation in this resort island.
"As long as tourists are not choosy there’s always enough room to stay for everyone," said Salme.
The BFI is a prominent business organization in this resort island composed mainly of resort owners.
Meanwhile, officials of Caticlan and Cagban Ports urged balikbayans to speak using their local dialect when making transactions.
"We have received complaints from Aklanons coming from abroad that they could not avail of the tax exemptions because they do not have local identification cards as proof that they are local residents. To remedy this we ask Aklanons to speak to our crew in local dialect so that they can be exempted from terminal and environmental fee charges," said Niven Maquirang, Aklan Jetty port administrator.
A provincial ordinance exempts Aklanon from being charged of local taxes whenever they visit Boracay. 

DPWH to light Aklan’s tourism highway

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has allocated P50 million to install lighting system in Aklan’s tourism highway in 2013.
DPWH said the fund will come from their Road Board Fund to light roads from the Kalibo International Airport (KIA) to Caticlan, Aklan.
First to be lighted are areas where the road widening project has been completed such as the highways of Kalibo, Numancia and Caticlan in Malay.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Aklan has already endorsed the project as part of the requirements set by the Road Board Fund.

American national found dead inside his resort room

An American national was discovered dead inside his rented room in a private resort here Monday night.
Police officials identified the victim as Fred Harvey Lubia, 60. Police found him lying on his bed with no signs of injury.
According to the management of the resort, they were worried when the victim failed to respond to their room call. The management decided to ask police authorities for help.
Based on initial police investigation, a broken bottle was seen near the victim’s body. Police are still determining if there was a foul play on his death.

Hong Kong team dominates world windsurfing championship

Hong Kong players won both the men and women titles of the World Windsurfing Championship held in Boracay, a famous resort island in central Philippines, the organizer announced Sunday.

According to an official release Sunday morning, Hei Man Chan won the women Espoir division (under the year of 22), while Blanca Alabau from Spain took home silver and Kwan Ching Ma, also from Hong Kong of China, grabbed the bronze medal.

For the men's Espoir group, Chun Ting Lee of Hong Kong, China was declared the winner while another Hong Kong player Lok Yiu To won the silver, and Philippine Yancy Kaibigan took home the bronze.

Spain's Olympic gold medalist Marina Alabau won the One Women World Championship, followed by Hei Man Chan of Hong Kong, China and Bryony Shaw of Britan at the third. Alabao won the Olympics in London while Shaw won the bronze in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

In the One Men World Championship, Geylord Coveta of the Philippines won the gold medal, while Chang Tao of Chinese Taipei grabbed the silver. Yuta Nagano of Japan placed third.

Boracay continues to reign, faces brighter prospects in 2013

Regardless of the environmental issues it faced, Boracay remained to dominate Philippine tourism in the year 2013.
Already popular because of its pristine white sand and blue water, its flourishing tourism industry has been boosted when an international publication,Travel and Leisure Magazine, named Boracay island as the "Best Tropical Resort in the World."
With the declaration, Boracay experienced unprecedented developments among which was the arrival of the Royal Carribean Cruise, the visit of seven ambassadors and for reaching one million tourists, among others.
Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson gathered in his Boracay resort US Ambassador Harry Thomas, Czech Ambassador Josef Rychtar, Greek Ambassador Constantina Koliou, Vietnam Ambassador Vu Tu Nguyen, Iraq Ambassador Wadee Al-Batti, Romanian Ambassador Valeriu Georghe, and Italian Ambassador Luca Fornari.
As the tourism industry flourished, revenues increased benefiting both the national and local government coffers.
As of October this year, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reported of reaching P1 billion tax revenue generated from different hotels while the Aklan provincial government would earn P180 million revenue this year.
The Malay local government also generated P305 million from business permits, environmental fees, among others.
In area of sports, Boracay was chosen as the venue for the RS:One World Championship, an event which will gather Olympic medalists on windsurfing. The event, organized by Niel Pryde, aimed to catapult Boracay as the mecca for windsurfing and kite-surfing in Asia.
Boracay, was not however, spared from environmental and structural issues, one of which was the controversial demolition of an extension of the West Cove Resort.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) ordered to torn down the expansion done by the resort.
For 2013, Boracay is raring to boost the Department of Tourism's slogan, "Its More Fun in the Philippines." The province of Aklan anticipated to reach 1.5 million tourists for next year.
It looked forward to the signing of sisterhood agreement with Bali, Indonesia. Indonesian Consul R. Toto Waspodo came had visited the resort island and met with the local government officials and discussed the matter.
In November 2013, Boracay will host the Asian Games Centennial Festival to be hosted by the Olympic Council of Asia.
Another development in the offing was the phasing out of motorcycle which gained funding following the forging of an agreement between the Department of Energy (DOE) the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
By 2015, it is expected that tricycles will be replaced by environment-friendly electronic tricycles (e-trikes).
Communication lines will also be expanded as Globe Telecom promised to upgrade its facilities and more rooms and facilities will be added with the construction of The Newcoast Resort which will house seven international hotel chains.

Olympians rule second day of 2012 RS: One World Championships in Boracay Island

Veteran Olympians ruled the fierce battle among top Asian and European windsurfers in the second day of the 2012 RS: One World Championships in Boracay Island.
Results as of Wednesday, Dec. 12, show Bryony Shaw of Great Britain coming in first with a total score of 8.0 in the women division. Shaw won the bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Hei Man Chann, of the Hong Kong windsurfing team, came in second with the score of 9.0.
Falling in third place was Spain's Marina Alabao Neira , the gold medalist in the recently concluded London Olympics.
Alabao had a score of 15.0 but vowed to get back in the next games hoping to retain her top spot in the final count.
The week-long event started December 11 and will culminate December 15.
For the Espoir (19-22 years old) Men Division, Chun Ting Lee of Hong Kong won with a score of 15.0. Lok Yiu To also of Hong Kong came in second with 17.0 as Japan's Takahiro Komori grabbed third spot with score of 30.
In the Men's (over 22) Division, Gaylord Coveta of the Philippines won for the day with the score of 6. Following in second was Taipei's Chang Hao with a score of 13 while Kichiro Hirata of Japan scored 17 for third place.
Most of the top windsurfers are competing with the hope of getting a slot in the next Olympics. 

Bali-Boracay Sisterhood Agreement Seen

The country's famous resort Boracay and Bali of Indonesia would forge a sisterhood agreement on trade and tourism.
Tim Ticar of the Department of Tourism-Boracay said Indonesian Consul R. Toto Waspodo visited the resort island to explore the possibility of the sisterhood agreement.
"The towns of Kalibo and Malay including this resort island were part of the proposal to forge pact for a sisterhood agreement," Ticar said Wednesday.
Waspodo who arrived in Kalibo on Tuesday met with local government and tourism officials to explore the possibilities.
Officials from both countries believed the sisterhood program will boost tourism and trade in South East Asia.
Boracay, which is considered as the best tropical beach in the world, is targeting 1.5 million tourists for the year 2013.

PHL's Butterfly Queen opens garden in Boracay

Elizabeth Lumawig-Heitzmann, the country's known butterfly queen, has opened a Flora Farm Butterfly Garden in this resort island, confident that it would become one of the major attractions in this resort island.
Lumawig is the daughter of Romeo Lumawig, the first Philippine lepidopterist and an internationally acknowledged collector of butterfly and insects.
The opening last Saturday was attended and supported by other international butterfly promoters John Calvert of the Butterfly Garden of Stratford, United Kingdom, and Dr. Maarten Bijleveld, founder of Papiliorama that is a national butterfly garden in Switzerland. Malay town vice mayor Ciceron Cawaling also attended the opening ceremonies.
The Butterfly Garden of Calvert is a prominent tourism destination in the town of Avon in the United Kingdom and is considered as the birthplace of greatest British poet William Shakespeare.
"The newly built Flora Farm Butterfly Garden offers a permanent live exhibition of hundreds of the Philippines' most colorful butterflies, having on show not less than 30 different species during the year," Heitzmann said.
"Butterflies are considered a major dollar industry exports. They have therapeutic effect on people as butterflies make them young. If we export these butterflies to other countries, we have to see it is as necessary. Filipinos have to learn to appreciate the existence of the colorful butterflies," she said in an interview.
Heitzmann, Bijleveld and Calvert became friends while attending different international conferences for the conservation of butterflies in the midst of the developing countries.

Olympic medalists to compete in Boracay

Windsurfing Olympic medalists are coming to Boracay to compete in the five-day RS: One World Championship which will run from Dec. 11 - 15.
The Spaniard Marina Alabao, the current gold medalist in windsurfing of the recently concluded London Olympics, said on Monday she will join in the competition.
"My biggest opponent for this event is a windsurfing delegate from Hong Kong. The biggest challenge is that we will all be competing for the RS One category while in the Olympics we are competing for the RX:X," she said.
"We will be using different sets of equipment for the game which we have not yet used," Alabao said in an interview.
Nenette Aguirre-Graf, local organizer of the international event, said the Olympians were invited by Neil Pryde, one of the founders of the annual event.
"Competitors are coming from 17 countries around the world, they are deemed the best of the best," Graf said.
Alabao arrived on Saturday at this resort island in Central Philippines while others came on Sunday and Monday.
"We invite everyone to witness the event since the games will be played at the front beach of Boracay. In the past it seems impossible that Olympians will be coming to this resort island but it's happening. Indeed, its more fun to be in Boracay," Graf said.
For several years, Graf has been partnered with Neil Pryde in organizing international competitions. The game will make Boracay a mecca for windsurfing and kite-boarding in Asia.

Malay town achieves P315M collection target

 The local government of Malay, Aklan reported reaching the target of P315 million taxes collected for this year.
Municipal treasurer Dediosa Dioso said majority of the collected taxes came from the garbage fee and business tax permits.
"The collection is higher than last year which is only P280 million," Dioso said.
The local government of Malay is currently deliberating on the town budget worth P315 million for the year 2013.
Aside from the garbage fees and business taxes, a high percentage of collections also came from the penalties paid by both tourists and residents for violating local ordinances.
Among these ordinances were smoking and eating at the front beach, colorum vehicles, among others.

Chinese national drowns in Philippine resort

A 27-year-old Chinese national drowned at a beach front in Boracay, a world-renowned resort in central Philippines, on Monday, police said Tuesday.

Police officials identified the victim as Ming Xiu from the city of Shanghai, east China.

Police investigation shows that Ming was swimming with his wife at the beach at around 9:30 a.m. local time when the mishap happened. His wife was reportedly pregnant.

While swimming, Ming suffered a heart attack. Rescuers immediately brought him to a private clinic on the island, but he was already declared dead on arrival.

The Boracay Island has more than a dozen unique beaches and many coves. Most of these beaches have the same powdery white sand for which the island is famous around the world.

Based on records from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, 629,750 passengers, both foreign and local, arrived at the Kalibo airport, the gateway to Boracay, in 2011.

Malay gov't redefines 'fun' tourism

The local government of Malay, Aklan has redefined the "Its More Fun in the Philippines" campaign of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to suit the excitement offered by Boracay Island.
Malay Mayor John Yap said their municipal tourism recently launched the "Experience Boracay" tagline complemented with action plans to ensure enjoyment of tourists while in this resort island.
“Tourists have four ways to experience Boracay. The first is from the airport to the seaport; second is from the Caticlan Port (mainland) up to Cagban Port (Boracay Island); third is from ports to their respective resorts and the last is the island and activities that are available in Boracay," Yap said.
"The Experience: Boracay" is the local government's contribution to the "Its More Fun to the Philippines" slogan globally promoted by the DOT.
Boracay targets 1.5 million tourists in 2013. 

PHL entertainment industry vulnerable to HIV AIDS

A former commercial model now active in the campaign against Human Immuno Virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS) said the country’s entertainment industry is highly vulnerable because of low information drive being done within the industry.
Allen Dizon, a former commercial model and is now a speaker of the Channels of Hope (COH) said there are some Philippine celebrities who are already positive of HIV-AIDS but are hiding under their "stars."
"These celebrities are popular, they do not want to be known that they have HIV-AIDS. But we in the COH are eager to help them in their healing process. They could also help us in promoting HIV-AIDS awareness because they could easily convince people," Dizon said during a press conference here Saturday.
Dizon who hails from Negros Occidental had visited different provinces to conduct HIV-AIDS education program. He visited Boracay Island which was also considered vulnerable being a premier tourist destination frequented by tourists.
Reports from the Department of Health in Western Visayas showed there are 223 persons afflicted with HIV-AIDS in the region. Of the number, 18 were from Aklan including Boracay Island.