Siquijor province posts highest increase in tourist arrivals for Central Visayas
By Minerva BC Newman
Cebu, Philippines (12 December) — Among the four provinces in Central Visayas, Siquijor province posted the highest increase in tourists arrivals by more than 15 percent during the first semester of 2010.
Second to Siquijor province, Cebu and Bohol tourists arrivals posted at 5.13 percent and 3.53 percent respectively while Negros Oriental’s arrivals posted in the negative.
The provincial tourism unit of Negros Oriental said, it is taking local initiatives to aggressively promote the province through video and brochure productions as well as coming up with a Master Plan for Ecotourism.
NEDA further reports that the increase in tourists’ arrivals in Central Visayas is attributed to the improvement of cash positions of business travelers.
After implementing cost reduction measures during the height of the 2008 and 2009 economic crises, companies are now in a better position to spend for business trips.
Tourism industry players also undertook more promotional efforts. Airlines have also came up with and the affordable and promotional airfares that enticed local tourists to travel within Central Visayas and around the country. (PIA-Cebu/mbcn)
DPWH highlights Aklan infra projects in time for SONA
by Venus G. Villanueva
A picture of Ibajay Bridge, inaugurated here by PGMA in June 2008 before Typhoon Frank struck Aklan took a prominent space in the two-page list of DPWH-completed projects since 2001 published in a national newspaper July 27 in time with PGMA’s 9th State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The two other major infrastructure projects in Aklan cited as completed include the Kalibo-Nabas Road, ADB sixth Road Project (Structural Overlay Component), 39.54 kilometers; and Culasi-Nabas Road, Aklan and Antique, ADB Six Road Project (Structural Overlay Component),44.31 kilometers, both implemented in 2005.
The Ibajay Bridge is 246 lm double lane leads to the Caticlan Jetty Port where commercial ships and RORO boats dock. Caticlan is the jump-off point to Boracay Island. It is a UK Steel Truss located 63 meters downstream of the existing bridge at Brgy. Polo, Ibajay, Aklan along the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH) at Aklan West Road.
According to the DPWH, in the 21st century under the leadership of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the department has harnessed resources and manpower to put stone and steel to work to Drive Development Through Responsive and Responsible Public Works.
The DPWH has poured since 2001 concrete and welded steel to expand the road network to 29,370 kilometers, and the bridge network to 314,353 lineal meters.
In Aklan as of June 30, 2009, 5 major projects undertaken by the DPWH include the Aklan East Road, now 92% complete; Altavas-Jamindan Road, 90%; Caticlan Port Access Road, 60%; Kalibo Airport, Pook, Kalibo, 60%; and Caticlan-Malay-Libertad Road, Malay, Phase I, 100% complete. (PIA)
Feature: PGMA’s SONA targets delivered
by Venus G. Villanueva
Caticlan, Malay, Aklan is a jump-off point to Boracay Island, Aklan’s tourism jewel and one of the country’s top tourist destination. It is host to Caticlan Jetty Port and Passenger Terminal, earnings and revenues of which are much enhanced by the RORO boats that ply the route from Cubao, Pasay and other places of origins such as Zamboanga, passing Caticlan going to Iloilo and other provinces in Western Visayas and vice versa.
In 2008, the Caticlan Jetty Port and the Cagban Jetty Port in Boracay Island collected a total revenue of P77,327,819 million, registering an increase of 87 percent from 2007 actual collection of P41.4 million.
Provincial officials in Aklan led by Governor Carlito Marquez believe that the big increase in revenues is due to efficient and effective collection of terminal as well as rolling fees. The turn-over to the province of the Philippine Ports Authority’s newly-constructed port, enabled the Caticlan Jetty Port to have 3 ramps, serving more RORO vessels plying the various routes connecting the islands of the country from Mindanao and Luzon to the Visayas, ferrying in more tourists, visitors, travelers, businessmen, vacationers and many more to Aklan and nearby provinces and bringing them back to their places of origin at minimal transportation expenses, stimulating business and tourism.
The President’s SONA targets could be best remembered through the acronym BEAT THE ODDS, each letter having a specific meaning or program to improve the lives of the Filipinos – Balanced Budget, Education for All, Automated Elections, Transportation and Digital Infrastructure, Terminate Hostilities with MILF and NPA, Healing the Wounds of EDSA, Electricity and Water for All, Opportunities for Livelihood and 10 Million Jobs, Decongest Metro Manila, and Develop Subic and Clark.
The SRNH, of which Aklan is a beneficiary, is under Transportation and Infrastructure, now having 30 operational RORO ports linking the archipelago, boosting business and tourism. (PIA)
PGMA’s SONA project, RP’s tallest bridge, now rises; turnover in August
Tacloban City (July 25) — Thanks to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Eastern Visayas has another claim to fame. It will no longer be known only as the home of the longest bridge in the country, the San Juanico Bridge which connects Leyte and Samar Islands.
This time, Eastern Visayas will also be known as the home of the tallest bridge in the country, as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s SONA Project, the Agas-Agas Bridge, has been completed before the end of July and is set to be turned over in the early part of August 2009.
The Agas-Agas Bridge located at Barangay Kahupian, Sogod, Southern Leyte, is an engineering masterpiece, the first-ever in the country that would be supported by 85-meter piers with heights equivalent to a 25-story building.
In an interview with Department of Public Works and Highways Region 8 Director Angelito Twano, he said that the P995 million project was undertaken by the Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd., and was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency- Official Development Assistance under the second phase of the Philippine-Japan Friendship Highway Rehabilitation Project.
Built over a gorge on the Agas-Agas mountain, the bridge majestically spans 1.5 kilometers in a breathtaking view, connecting mountains of lush forest abundant with flora and fauna.
Even DPWH Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane was so struck by the spectacular panorama of the Agas Agas Bridge that he ordered the construction of a viewing deck at the middle part of the bridge so that motorists will be able to better appreciate the view of the surrounding mountainous areas and forests.
Having a keen eye for beauty, Secretary Ebdane saw the tourism potential of the area. He said that the bridge could in the future be used for bungee jumping, for adventure tourism. He also ordered the construction of comfort rooms and sheds on both sides of the bridge where weary motorists can relax and rest.
Right now, a parking space has been developed as the area has been found to be a very good picnic or camping site.
“Because it is considered as an engineering feat in the country, the Agas-Agas Bridge has the potential of becoming a tourist destination in Eastern Visayas,” Secretary Ebdane said.
The construction of the bridge was seen as a permanent solution to the natural movements of loose soil aggregates, or landslides, in this mountainous area during rainy days reportedly due to a fault line that hinder traffic when the highway is blocked, sometimes resulting to loss of lives and properties.
The project was included in the rehabilitation of Daang Maharlika Project under the “Super-Regions” concept of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo inasmuch as the road network served as a vital link connecting Luzon and Mindanao via the Maharlika highway through the Liloan Ferry Terminal and the newly completed ferry terminal in Benit, San Ricardo, Southern Leyte. (PIA 
