Trust in Post agents’ conscientiousness, the key to the postal service in the Philippines

Trust in Post agents’ conscientiousness,

key to the postal service in the Philippines

by Camille le Tallec

MARIKINA CITY- MANILA- Philippines- Waiting for a parcel from abroad, do not expect to get it at home. Instead of that, be ready to visit the surroundings and to learn about how the postal service works in the Philippines. But do not worry. Chances are that after having been a slight confusion, you will eventually get your stuff.

Looking for a parcel sent from France two weeks before, I went to Marikina Post Office on Thursday 6, September 2007. According to the French postal service, my stuff was supposed to reach the Philippines in one week. When I arrived, the Post office agent started to look for my name in each of the five books put on his desk. Indeed, in this office, everything appeared to be manual. Without any computer at disposal to register the daily arrivals, nothing is computerized.

After fifteen minutes, the young man, called Lorenzo Perez, quietly concluded: “unfortunately, Mam’, your parcel is not arrived yet”, he said. Nonetheless, feeling my irritation, he kindly proposed to call me as soon as my parcel was there, instead of sending to my address the traditional recipe indicating the arrival, a process that takes again several days.

Mr. Lorenzo Perez

Back home, a bit worried, I told my roommate about what I looked upon as a lack of efficiency and a loss of time. She had also experienced some difficulties to get a laptop her sister sent from the USA. To get it, she had to go to Pasig Central Post Office, where she was asked to pay 5,000 Pesos for her package to be delivered.

Definitely aroused, my curiosity urged me to inquire more at the time of my second visit to Marikina Post Office. After the early call of Mr. Perez, I went there yesterday afternoon, September 13. I took advantage of the 35 Pesos I was asked to pay to introduce the conversation. In a relaxed atmosphere, both the Post and the Custom Officers appeared inclined to answer my questions.

According to them, the regular stuff such as food is subject to “Custom fees”: “The amount depends on the size of the package, and sometimes, of the content,” the Custom Officer Luigui Caylo told me. As for electronics, they are subject to “Custom taxes”, which explains the high amount my roommate had to pay to get her laptop.

“The content of the package also explains why it remained in Pasig, which is the Custom Bureau for the Markina area.”, they said. Indeed, several options exist in the Philippines or the packages from abroad. The men explained that “The parcels sent by the regular Post service are never supposed to be delivered at home”. According to them, to get a package at the indicated address, it should have been sent by a mail express service such as FEDEX, which is independent from the Postal institution. On the contrary, since the service is postal, the regular parcels stay at the Post Office whereas the Custom Center keeps the staff subject to Customs taxes.

With rudimentary means, the postal service in Marikina seems to work. Its efficiency is probably not maximal, in as much as manual recording takes time and energy. But apparently, the Post Officers do their best. Indeed, they appear as the key to the Postal system in the Philippines. How it works is dependant on their ethical values, all the more since they are the only ones responsible for the records.

Picture Feature - Colegialas strolling through Mediola

Colegialas stroll through Mendiola umindful of the police and anti-riot paraphernalia.

Loyola Heights in need of donations to battle growing dengue threat

Loyola Heights in need of donations to battle growing dengue threat

by Bernard Manalac

Barangay Loyola Heights is in desperate need of financial help to push through with its Dengue Cleanup Drive, a program which was launched last Friday, September 7 to combat dengue fever which has so far hit 16 residents since February this year.

Barangay officials have been on high alert for occurrences of the disease recently, especially since half of the cases have occurred this month. This includes the death of an 11-year-old boy from Park Seven two days before the drive was launched according to Leny Lacsa, one of the social workers in the Barangay’s Health Centre.

The operation is supposed to have two days to spray preventive medicines throughout the area. The first one was conducted during the launch while the second is supposed to be conducted this Friday, September 14.

“The second ‘spraying’ is where we have a problem,” said Lacsa in Filipino. “Our captain doesn’t want to release any more money because the medicines are too expensive.”

According to Lacsa, each bottle of the medicine costs 2000 pesos and at least 10 bottles are needed in just one operation.

“We are really looking for any form of donation right now so that we can stop this outbreak,” Lacsa added. “Hopefully some of the students from the private schools nearby or their organizations can offer us some help.”

Picture Feature - View of the Bay

The sky and the bay are seamless at 5 in the morning today. (MAPL)

Landscape Change for Manila Baywalk

Landscape Change for Manila Baywalk

by Mary Ann Lonto

Joggers now love the new Baywalk.

It has been almost a month now since Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim ordered the removal of the stalls in Manila Baywalk, a strip overlooking the Manila Bay along Roxas Boulevard .

Tess, a runner, said she loves the newly-renovated Baywalk.

“Ever since the stalls are removed, me and my runner friends found it much more relaxing than in the past,” she said. “In the past, during the morning, there were always trash everywhere, most probably coming from the stores, and we found the stalls as ‘hurdles’ as we can’t run smoothly.”

Joggers and families love the new baywalk

It’s not just the runners that love it. Eric, in his sixties, renewed his love for the place.

“Way back, this place didn’t really have any stalls,” he said. “It was all coconut trees. I loved it then. But when the stores were built, I began to not like it. It was noisy and rowdy. I love nature better than those stores. Now that they’re gone, I come here 5:30AM everyday to relax. The air is now fresher, you know.”

He added that the place should be that way and not anyway else. “Now, people can clearly see the beautiful sunset, even if they’re on the other side of the street or when they’re inside their cars, just like before,” he said.

A new landscape for the walk

However, the regular folks who always went to Baywalk when there were still stalls said that the place is now “boring.”

Alan, a former regular in the stalls of Baywalk in the past, complained.

“Look at it at night,” he said. “It’s so dark! Whenever I drive and pass by this place, all that I can see are stray cats and dogs, fishball vendors and tambay people. For all we know, there might be many thieves here at night already!”

Baywalk at night- almost deserted

When asked why he is found in Baywalk at 5 in the morning, he said, “Well, on the bright side, the place is cleaner and the air is fresher. I was here to jog. Now I’m resting.”

Trikes continue racing along Katipunan

Trikes continue racing along Katipunan

by Justin S. Gatuslao

SAN JUAN DEL MONTE – Philippines – They just keep racing.

In Loyola Heights, Quezon City, passenger tricycles, or “trikes,” continue their early morning drag races along Katipunan Avenue to compete for cash, thrill and ego, raising security concerns in the district.

Renz Murao, Village Secretary, said trike drag races continue even after additional police patrol units were dispatched to the area.

“We are still undermanned,” he said, prompting the barangay council to add more tanods to patrol the Katipunan area. “There are more police patrol cars but the tricycles just keep racing,” he said in Tagalog.

A few months ago Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) head Manuel Sabalza ordered more police units to the area to monitor the illegal activities.

Murao, himself a former tricycle operator, pinpointed the Tricycle Operator’s and Driver’s Associations or TODAS as the instigators of these races. Murao said, “Usually, it is a three way-race between the TODAS of Balara, Katipunan, and Quirino.”

The basic bet ranges from P50 to P300. Once the pot money is collected, which reaches P1,000 to P5,000, they proceed to their starting positions. With a “Go!” signal and a kick to start their engines, the race is on.

Mapping out the route with his finger, Murao said the drag racers start from the east entrance of the Quirino Medical Center, also called “Labor” since the hospital’s labor room is nearby. Then they dart through Katipunan, throttle up and down the flyover, and scurry through the last lap – a mad dash from Ateneo to the gates of Miriam College.

Murao said it really is for the fun, the thrill and the ego boost. “Pero yung 5,000 malaku naman ‘yun,” (But 5000 that’s already (a) big [amount]) he added with a grin.

When pressed about safety issues, Murao said the time they race is safe since there are so few motorists and pedestrians. But he also acknowledge the dangers of drag racing not only for other motorists or pedestrians, but for the tricycle drivers themselves.

“I told all my friends in the TODAs to stop already but they still like racing,” Murao said in Tagalog.

The Katipunan TODA officers refused to comment.

Transexuality, a new field for sex business in RP?

Transexuality, a new field for sex business in RP?

by Camille le Tallec

PUERTO GALERA- Philippines- With an important gay community, the Philippines can appear as a progressive country concerning homosexuality. Philippino people even seem open-minded concerning transexuality, which is so openly practiced all around the country. Nonetheless, in some areas, as Puerto Galera, Mindoro Oriental, as businessmen take advantage of this phenomenon, some crucial questions should be raised.

Last Saturday, Justin Fernandez, a 28 year-old man from Batangas, decided to celebrate his birthday with his friends, exclusively men, in this happy place, “just to do something different” and “to escape from the conventional way of having fun in the city”. “Here in Puerto Galera, we feel free”, he says.

Fifteen minutes away from Puerto Galera’s main harbour, White Beach is a humble jetty flanked by a line of “restobars” and a couple of hotels. Waiting for your course ordered in one of the numerous restaurants along this beach, one can notice the original physiology of the waitresses, in spite of all their efforts to take the more flattering pose.
Observing attentively their movements made of gentle nonchalance, is the way to get the conviction that something is wrong with these ladies.

At nightfall, these poses are converted into suggesting dances around the young Philippino customers. In this favorable atmosphere made of the sound of the wave and the soft wind, and as the beers are drunk, these young men seem to have fun with the multi-talented waitresses. Noticing how close from each other they dance in the late evening, the observer must definitely feel confused.

Jose Alexander De Guzman, a young thirty-five year-old restaurant owner in White Beach, acknowledges that he “had to find new ways to attract customers”. Aware of the crucial impact of night entertainment on the success of his business, he underlines that “with no real nightlife on offer beyond sinking a few beers and watching a wall-mounted TV, this place is used to be fallen asleep by 9pm”.

Asked what happens at the end of the night, Justin replies with conviction that everybody comes back home. Asked whether they went back alone, he replies in a smile: “of course not, we all live together this week-end.”

In his opinion, the waitresses are just doing their job when they entertain customer, and they are not waiting for anything else. Nonetheless, around 4am, when the parties come to an end, customers and waitresses disappear simultaneously in a confusing mess.

Prostitution is a major social issue in the Philippines. Various estimates put the number of sex workers in the Philippines at about 400,000. Most prostitutes come from impoverished provincial families and are easy prey for the girlie bars, which take a majority cut of their earnings in exchange for bare-essential living arrangements and protection from the police.
The Philippines is one of the biggest sex-tourism destination in the world. Many tourists are single-men who visit sex-tourism hot spots like Angeles, though every big city and quite a few smaller places cater to this business.

But whereas female and child prostitution are more likely designated to sex-tourism, prostitution of transexuals appears as a typical Philippino phenomenon, and young men in the Philippines do not hesitate to enjoy their nights with such dancers. Although prostitution is officially illegal in the Philippines, here one does have to wonder, all the more since the police seem to turn a blind eye to the problem.

Philippine National Railways

The Philippine National Railways locomotive is bathed in the afternoon glow at the now derelict Central Station in Manila.

Ateneo Women’s Fencing Team back from successful Singapore stint

Ateneo Women’s Fencing Team back from successful Singapore stint

by Bernard Manalac

Members of the Ateneo Women’s Fencing Team, overall champions in the last University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season, came home Tuesday, September 4 carrying two gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal from their six-day participation in the ASEAN Varsity Championship held in Singapore.

The team, consisting of three participants for foil events, two for sabre and four for epee events, were overall winners in the team competition, defeating representatives from Hong Kong, Singapore, Kazakhstan, and other European countries.

They also faired well in individual competition, producing two silver medals from two of their sophomore members.

In one of the main highlights in the team’s participation, Faye Garcia defeated Ruth Ng, the number one ranked fencer of Singapore, in the semi-final event of the individual competition. Unfortunately she had to settle for silver, losing by only one point in the finals.

Vicky Reyes took home the other silver medal in the individual epee event.

According to Ateneo Fencing Coach Wawit Torres, this was the first time that the school supported this kind of venture. It was made possible, first, through the team’s invitation to the event due to their championship last year and of course, through the support and funding of the University Athletics Office.

“The trip was very successful,” said Torres. “We are hoping for the overall championship again this season.”

The team is hoping as well to participate again in international competition after it received another invitation to a fencing event also to be held in Singapore in December.

Police presence will help prevent pilferage, City Engineer CofS said

Police presence will help prevent pilferage, City Engineer CofS said

by Me Anne Lonto

MANILA , Philippines -- Manila City Engineering Chief-of-staff (CofS) wants policemen to work harder to help end pilferage in the city.

Engineer Alan A. Gatpolidtan said the presence of policemen is one of the solutions to prevent pilferage, the theft and tampering of power transmission materials.

“If there are policemen in that area, then those people who have plans to steal will think twice,” he said in Filipino. “They need to patrol. They should not always stay in their offices. Kailangan nilang magsipag. (They need to work harder.)”

Police Inspector Resty Surell of Manila Police District Station 3 said they do their usual patrol 24 hours a day. The shifting happens every 12 hours, that is, from 7AM to 7PM and 7PM to 7AM .

“Every station has its own foot patrol,” he said in Filipino. “These are the policemen in uniform who roam an area. We also have mobile patrol. If the sub-stations, or the PCP (Police Community Precinct), cannot carry the patrol on their own, they will ask help from the main station. That’s when the Special Force and the extra mobile patrol come in.”

He said that this is called Beat Patrol, a part of their Crime Prevention Program.

Surell admitted they find it hard to catch these thieves.

“It’s rare when people tip us whenever pilferage is happening. They will not inform us even if they see the crime first-hand. Unless they are enemies or not in good terms with that person, they will not report to the police,” the inspector said.

Illegal connections, tampering of meters and stealing and selling transmission lines are examples of pilferage. Surell is not the only one who admitted that it is difficult to catch those who do such acts, local officials such as Barangay Kagawad Salve Tamondong of Brgy. 391 Zone 40 in Quiapo also admitted they find it hard to catch those who stole.

“Usually the thieves are passers-by, scavengers," Tamondong said in Filipino. "They bring carts with them. Most likely they do it around 3AM to 4AM . We usually end our patrol by 1AM.”

Surell hopes the community would cooperate with the local officials to catch these thieves. He said if they see the people in the act, they should report immediately.

Gatpolidtan also said that sometimes the root problem of pilferage is poverty.

“Sometimes, some of the people from the provinces think that Manila is ‘heaven’. They go here and sometimes they can’t find jobs," he said. He also said that in desperation, these people resort to unlawful acts such as pilferage.

Republic Act 7832, known as the Anti-Pilferage law of 1994, prohibits the tampering and stealing of power transmission lines. If a person is found guilty, he will face not more than 20 years of imprisonment and will be penalized between P50,000 to P100,000, depending on how much he stole. The amount also depends on the discretion of the court.

Sanctuary in the Big City

Sanctuary in the Big City

by Justin S. Gatuslao

SAN JUAN DEL MONTE, Philippines - For weary urban dwellers any sanctuary from the cacophony of noises of the big city is a welcome respite. As the mid-day sun baked the asphalt roads of Manila the car came to a stop as traffic slowed down along Bonifacio Drive. Simon de Anda’s obelisk glared with its stark white paintjob as we made a right at Andres Soriano Avenue, where the ancient ramparts of Intramuros greeted me.

Passed the rows of aged buildings, to the left a sizeable church of grayish brown stone came into view and there, before its steps, the car halted. I was a tad surprised as I stepped out. I had expected a bigger, grander-looking structure after all it bore the name of the noble and ever loyal city.

The edifice appeared dark and grey against the cobalt sky. Several cars and unoccupied calesas, horses looking tired and foaming at the mouth, were parked alongside the cathedral and the shady park before it, the Plaza de Roma.

The Cathedral’s façade is dominated by three, great, bronze doors with various carvings. Engraved on the two smaller doors on the left and right have Mary depicted as the Lily of the Valley, Morning Star, Mystical Rose and Fruitful Vine. A Latin inscription above the largest, central portal reads: Tibi Cordi Tuo Immaculato Concredimus Nos Ac Conscecramus.

Above the main door is engraved a timeline of historical moments of the Manila Cathedral such as the blessing of the original church in 1579 and its various reconstructions. White stone statues of St. Andrew the Apostle, St. Francis Xavier, St. Polycarp, and St. Anthony Abbot loom atop pillars flanking the doorways. Beside the rose-glass window stand St. Rose of Lima while St. Jacob the Great rests above.

Viewed from the statue of King Carlos the IV of Spain at the Plaza de Roma, are two seraphims adorning a cross. The towering belfry juts from the left side of the building with a clock, its hands unmoving and eternally set to 11:45, its blue dome peeking from behind, glistening, and standing guard over Manila, the proud bastion of faith in the Orient.

Only one of the three front doors was open with a man seated behind a rickety wooden table, a sign showing the church dress code and a white-painted “love offering” box at the entryway. Several tourists trickled out, looking bothered by the heat as two men holding rosaries appeared out of nowhere, rushed up the stone steps and tempted the Westerners to buy as a donation for an unknown cause.

Seeking respite from the scorching sun, I cautiously walked in and came face to face with gloomy darkness. The silence was deafening but strangely calming. There was barely any light, the only sources being the slow trickle of sunshine from the windows, the soft yellow blush of vigil candles, and two overhead chandeliers, which cast an eerie glow.

There were less than ten people inside, most were sitting at the pews or kneeling down and praying. The floor was laden with cream-colored that was cool to the touch. As I walked along the aisle, lined with neat rows of long, pews in light wood, I imagined women of long ago on their knees, in laced veils, holding rosaries and mumbling Latin.

There was solemn peace everywhere. I felt as if all the saints and angels in the heavens above were staring down at me as I strode beneath the soaring arches and towering marble pillars. The chapels at the sides were hidden in shadows, their openings blocked with wrought iron grills. The confessionals seem to stand out in the olden décor, their polished wood gleaming in the soft, yellow light from the great dome.

Overhead, the massive stained-glass windows are stunning. They sparkle like jewels, a mosaic of the blue, red, pink, and green revealing a striking depiction of Christianity’s history with scholarly, religious men looking down on the faithful.

The communion rail, a marbled mix of orange, cream and white looks like a barrier, as if it separates one from a much more scared ground. Two small iron gates, each cast with bronze sculptures of a lamb and a swan at the center, guard the altar. The lofty pulpit is at the left edge with the Episcopal Throne at the right. Finally, there is the gilded bronze figure of the Blessed Mother standing behind the marble altar, protected by a canopy of angels venerating the Cross. The windows above encircling the image cast a gentle halo over the whole scene.

As I sat on one of the pews, I felt fearful of the eeriness of the atmosphere, yet salved by the holy images surrounding me. After a few minutes of basking in the still quiet, I rose to leave, slightly taken aback with what I saw when I turned around. In the choir loft above, a grand pipe organ stood silhouetted against the light from the rose window. It was drowned in darkness and silence, yet I could hear faint traces of a choir singing and the organ’s music resonating throughout the Cathedral.

The tapping of my shoes on the hard floor echoed as I walked out. A new batch of tourists entered, frowning at their surroundings and whispering Spanish. One of the men peddling rosaries came up to me, grinning. I ignored him.

Still glaring, but less harsh, the sun was now behind the Cathedral. I took shelter beneath the main doorway, gazing intently at the exquisite carvings. The Cathedral, just like the city it towers over, had gone through so much, constantly being rebuilt owing to bombings and earthquakes. I wondered if this present edifice would withstand future disasters.

This church with its grim outer walls and brilliant interiors enclosed me in solemn silence and gave me, a weary urban dweller, sanctuary from the noisy mess of the big city.

LFC opens Isapelikula to public, guest speakers no show

LFC opens Isapelikula to public, guest speakers no show
by Bernard Manalac

Loyola Film Circle (LFC), Ateneo de Manila’s premiere film organization, opened its filmmaking seminar series Isapelikula to non-members and non-Ateneans alike Wednesday, August 29 but produced a no show from its guest speakers.

According to LFC Human Resources Executive Xela Avilla, screenwriters Michiko Yamamoto (“Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros”) and Raymond Lee backed out at the last minute due to miscommunication between LFC’s public relations department and the two screenwriters.

Director Jade Castro (“Endo”) on the other hand got stuck in traffic and never made it to the venue.

“LFC failed not in securing the connection but it failed in a sense because it wasn’t able to make the filmmakers feel the urgency and the need to be there,” said Avilla. “We are targeting the event to be rescheduled this weekend.”

Isapelikula is a seminar series dedicated to filmmaking which began earlier this month. Conducted once a week, it immerses participants to a wide variety of films and provides workshops on the different techniques and processes involved in the production of films such as directing, screenwriting, production design and cinematography.

Initially planned as an LFC members-only project, it is now being opened to non-members one Wednesday a month. Even if the first attempt was a failure, if the upcoming sessions turn out to be successful, the organization will completely open it to the public according to LFC Production Executive Ayo Supangco.

If this pushes through, non-members will have the opportunity to meet and have classes under the big names in the roster that LFC has prepared.

Aside from Yamamoto, Lee and Castro, the list includes Quark Henares (“Keka” and “Super Noypi”), Sherad Sanchez (“Huling Balyan ng Buhi”) and cinematographer Nap Jamir (“Tuli”, “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros”, and “Rizal”).

Although the workshops are conducted by group, Isapelikula aims to discover the potential individual capabilities of each participant and to develop this potential.

“We really focus on individual development,” adds Supangco. “Tutok talaga kami sa development of the talents of our future filmmakers.”

The primary participants, composed only of the organization’s members, were screened and tested in order to measure their knowledge and skills in the various aspects of filmmaking and monitor their progress through the course of the seminars.

Isapelikula will culminate in December in an event entitled “Under the Stars” wherein films produced by the participants will be shown and judged.

(L to R) LFC President Benedict Olgado and Production Executive Ayo Supangco

conducting the workshop in place of the no show Jade Castro

Experimentation of natural lifestyle in the rice terraces

Experimentation of natural lifestyle in the rice terraces

by Camille LE TALLEC

BANAUE- Philippines- Ten hours away from Manila stretch out Banaue rice terraces, drawing flours in the slopes of the mountains. Arriving at 7 a.m. last Friday, August 24, a friend and I decide to set off for a three-day trek, following a guide we just met at the bus station.

In the narrow path, the only people we meet are Pilipino young men carrying wood boards. Talking with them, we learn these students spend their free time in this exhausting activity to finance their studies. Coming from their village, two hours away from Banaue, they usually manage to make the round trip three times a day, earning about 3,000 pesos.

After a day walking, we finally meet a family of farmers. The seven year-old boy, his thirteen year-old brother and their sister, aged of ten, are taking a rest with their father before going down from the fields to their village with bags full of potatoes on their backs. “After going to school in the morning, these children climb up the stairs recently constructed to link the village to the fields, and work the whole afternoon”, our guide Jordan tells us.

Farmer and his son coming back from the fields to Pula, on Friday evening (CLT)

We travel with them to Pula. Walking is the only way to go there, and everything around is nothing but the nature. Here life seems to keep up the pace of the harvests. Corn, potatoes, and above all rice, are the condition of this village self sufficiency.

We share dinner with a native family. Around the table, lighted thanks to solar energy, few words are exchanged. But while wondering what happiness is, I observe the faces and notice that they express both tiredness and serenity.

Old man having a rest after dinner in Pula, Friday evening (CLT)

These thoughts remain in my mind on Saturday morning, when I notice old people strangely sat on their feet along the fields. Hurt by a life of work in the rice terraces, their bodies do not enable them to stand up anymore. “They must stay bent”, our guide says.

Farmers working in the rice terraces, Saturday morning (CLT)

Maybe, the harshness of this life is one of the reasons why people have dreams of succeeding elsewhere, as do the owner of Batad guest house we reach at nightfall. Proudly, this wood artist, named Joseph, tells us in English his project for the following months. “Two Americans offer me a job in Palawan, to make woodcarving; I will be paid 2500 pesos a month.” I ask him how he feels before leaving his family. “No choice to pay my children’s studies”, he answers.

On the way from Banga-an, the last village of our trek, to the road, we meet more people than in three days. Thanks to what Jordan taught us the day before, we guess they are relatives coming from the whole country to take part in an old man death ceremony in this village, and that the pigs carried by the men are fated to sacrifice.

Men carrying a pig for the death ceremony in Banga-an, Sunday

Indeed, during our break in Maggor Saturday afternoon, Jordan told us about popular believes, and we understood how such a culture can keep a community alive. Ceremonies celebrating the rice god or other meaningful divinities, give rhythm to the life. It led my friend wondering in which extent the threat of being punished prevents people from behaving badly, contributing to peaceful human relationships.

After such an experiment, we cannot refrain from thinking about the Philippines as a heterogeneous society. Away from the modern life of Manila, we have become aware of the social complexity of this country. Helping people is all the more difficult as the needs vary: while the government should supply these villagers with materials to build stairs, it should rather give subsidies to business owners. As a result, the development process is much more complicated.

The old man and the Bay

The old man and the Bay

It was a drizzly Monday morning when Manong Doc Bautista went fishing. Wearing a sweater over a T-shirt, he did not mind the chilly winds along Manila Bay.

Mang Doc is from Boracay and went to Manila to work in the recent years. Now at the age of 73, he admitted that he can’t still go home to his hometown. “Ang layo, eh. Dito na lang muna ako.”

He loves fishing in the Manila Bay. “Naglalaro lang kami eh. Hanggang mamaya pa kaming alas-dose dito. Wala namang ginagawa eh. Wala nang trabaho,” he said as he smiled.

He caught two fishes from the bay: A Kanduli (the bigger fish) and a Pigaon.

(Mary Anne Po Lonto)

First oceanarium in RP to open soon

[UPDATE] RP’s first Oceanarium to rise in Rizal Park

by Mary Anne Po Lonto

MANILA, Philippines -- Patrons of Rizal Park will now have something to look forward to as the construction of the Manila Ocean Park, the country’s first oceanarium, is underway.

Located near the Quirino Grandstand, the construction site was once the Luneta Boardwalk platform. According to a Manila Times report, the 1.2-hectare Manila Ocean Park will consist of an oceanarium, a landscaped pavilion, a marine discovery park, shops, a mall, a boardwalk and a food court featuring Southeast Asian cuisines.

Construction Site (once the Luneta Boardwalk platform) Mary Anne Po Lonto

Facing the Manila Bay, the project started in the latter months of former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza's term and continues today under Mayor Alfredo Lim. This three-storey Ocean Park aims to strengthen the country’s tourism industry with its state-of-the-art complex and facilities.

The project was proposed by China Oceanis Philippines Inc. with Singaporean, Malaysian, Chinese and Australian investors.

Some construction workers said Korean contractors also assist in the construction, specifically the tunnel that is supposed to simulate the experience of walking underwater. This construct is similar to the one found in Sentosa Park in Singapore.

Underwater tunnel in Sentosa Singapore that will be similar to the one being constructed in the site (Sentosa Golf Club website)

One of the site’s construction workers said the project is targeted for completion in December. When asked about who owns the construction site, he said in Filipino: “It is near completion. A private company heads the construction. Maybe after some years they will hand it (the Ocean Park) to the government.”

The Manila Ocean Park is targeted for opening in February 2008.

“Many children will be glad about this park. I also heard that there is an entrance fee. I just hope that it will not be too expensive,” the worker said.

The father of a family of four walking around the Rizal Park agreed that the ocean park would be a great project.

“My family comes here every weekend to jog and when we heard about it, we became excited,” he said. “It would definitely be something new to us. We won’t just have to come here to just exercise anymore, my children can also learn about marine life.”

Ici Manille - Staff

Ici Manille - Staff

Justin S. Gatuslao is a junior Communication student at the Ateneo de Manila. Pursuing a Minor in History, he has a flair for the good old days and finds reason to believe he was born in the wrong era. Ever the Negrense, he firmly believes gentility is what remains even when the money is gone.

Camille Le Tallec is a French exchange student who will study in the Philippines for the whole academic year. Anxious to enter a journalism school when she goes back to France, she decided to study this topic in Ateneo. Aware of the unique experience this year is, she tries to travel as much as possible to discover and understand the Philippines society and culture.

For Mary Anne Po Lonto, a junior Communication student at the Ateneo de Manila Universty, experiencing new things is the most exciting. A book lover, she believes Sidney Sheldon is one of the greatest story-tellers in the history of mankind. She loves Time Magazine and if fate would be really kind to her, she would be very ecstatic if she would have the chance to work in it.

Bernard S. Manalac is a junior Communication student at the Ateneo de Manila University, always in search of new things and never settling for the ordinary. He is a no nonsense individual who likes to get straight to the point.