by admin | Dec 2, 2014 | Local News / Bohol Balita
VIABLE? An experience from Boys scouts camps, the Monkey Bridge in Catigbian’s DATE Park is among the most thrilling traverses in Bohol’s introductory adventure tourism. The October 2013 earthquake however ruined the activity, and the town wants second opinion on the viability of getting the adventure park back in operation. (RAC/PIABohol)
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, December 1 (PIA) –Catigbian towns wants a final word on the possibility of rehabilitating its earthquake-ravaged premier adventure tourism park.
Catigbian Mayor Virgilio Lurot and tourism officer Ardissa Estavilla told members of the local media that with the scarce funds available and the need to priorities on the town’s development agenda, they would need to know if there is still hope for Dagook Adventure Tourism Experience (DATE) park.
A wholesome family adventure park, DATE Park is located in over 20 hectares of local government unit-owned land traversed by a creek which is highlighted by Dagook Falls.
Made a themed Green Recreational Eco-Adventure Tour (GREAT) for families, the park boasts of a canopy walk, a monkey bridge, a mountain slide zipline and trekking trails that is designed to keep families bonded tighter after a day’s experience.
Constructed via a loan which the town obtained, plus local government’s internal revenue allotment and convergence of funds, DATE park soon grossed a meager income that allowed local leaders to spread the tourism benefits into social infrastructure investments.
But before the town could totally relish on the park’s income, a strong earthquake hit Bohol and seriously affected the physical integrity of the park.
According to Estavilla, the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has conducted a post-earthquake Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Survey on the park and it showed unsettling information.
As to what kind of unsettling information, the tourism officer however was not specific, other than stating the Monkey Bridge sagged because a portion of the cliff it was anchored fell into the river below.
She also said the mountains slide cables stretched taut as the launching hut where the zipline cables were anchored was ruined by the earthquake, making its use dangerous.
With a little fund available, town leaders need to know about the viability of funding the rehabilitation of the park over other much needed priorities.
She said, the town has formally requested the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Compete Project to send out a technical assessment team for a thorough assessment of the park, so they would know what to do next. (RAC/PIABohol)
by admin | Nov 27, 2014 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
Typhoon Queenie packed heavy rain with moderate winds and plunged parts of Bohol, including Tagbilaran, into darkness as it moved through northern Mindanao and Eastern Visayas on November 26, 2014. Signal #1 was issued by PAGASA on the province since late morning Wednesday and Thursday, November 27.
The image from the Japan Meteorological Agency shows the path of typhoon Queenie and its location as of 11:00AM PHT (3:00AM UTC). It is forecast to pass through Palawan later today.
Reports of felled trees and electrical poles where reported in various parts of the province. There were also reports of flooding in many parts of the province. Power, however, was gradually restored by noontime on November 27 in Tagbilaran City.
Typhoon Queenie is heading out to Palawan and will be out of the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Friday afternoon.
Hundreds of ferry and boat passengers were stranded in various ports along the path of the typhoon since November 26. The Philippine Coast Guard is expected to give clearance to sea craft as soon as the typhoon signal #1 is lifted by PAGASA.
by admin | Nov 22, 2014 | Local News / Bohol Balita, Tech Talk
TechTalks.PH Tagbilaran, in celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week, held a meetup with local entrepreneurs at Bohol Fab Lab at the Bohol Island State University on November 22, 2014. Jerome Auza of Auza.Net presented a learning session on “Getting Your Website Ready for Viral Fame” and Ms. Lai Biliran of Alturas Group of Companies discussed on an “Introduction to Entrepreneurship”.
Auza discussed on the requirements to make websites ready to receive high traffic when a product or content on the website becomes popular. He showed reports generated from backend analytics of some of Auza.Net’s high traffic websites. He also showed an example of the monitoring data and reports for a high traffic website during times when the content of a website becomes popular and goes viral. “Viral” is a tech lingo which means the content becomes exponentially popular on the Internet.
Biliran talked about the history of the Alturas Group of Companies which grew from a small sari-sari store to the largest employer in the province. From its humble beginnings, the group now is now into various industries such as aquaculture, feed mill, poultry, swine and other production and processing businesses. This is aside from the retail industry where the group has expanded to strategic points of presence in Bohol and Cebu.
Techtalks.PH Tagbilaran members, resource speakers and participants at the Fab Lab
During the round table discussion, the resource persons and the participants exchanged ideas on how the TechTalks.PH Tagbilaran group could help local entrepreneurs who are not necessarily in the technology sector. Future sessions could also include case studies featuring a local entrepreneur’s product and discussion on how information technology could make the product into a commercial success.
by admin | Nov 20, 2014 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
Bien Unido opens inter-town basketball tournament Dec 1
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, November 20, (PIA) –In preparation of its foundation days celebration, Bien Unido town invites town basketball teams all over Bohol to try their luck in the town’s most ambitious basketball league.
Mayor Rey Nino Boniel, himself a basketball enthusiast and athlete said the league is a follow-on after the town successfully capped an inter-barangay tournament that showed the best of the best from the town’s barangays.
Set for December 1 to 15, Bien Unido inter-town Basketball tournament is an open-aged but admits only registered voter players of a town only, no imports, stressed Manuel Item, town information officer in an interview.
Bien Unido Foundation Days are on December 15-16.
All interested teams must register before December 1, Item emphasized, noting that a coaches meeting for all participating teams has been set for November 28.
We will be explaining the tournament rules, game regulations and other policies during that meeting, according to him.
This is so that by the tournament opening, a sure game would entertain spectators at the spacious Bien Unido Gymnasium, the equally agile basketball player information officer said.
We do not give so much though, Item humbly admitted, when asked about tournament prizes.
The tournament champion however can take home a grand cash prize of P30,000, and bring home a trophy.
Second and third prize winners get P20,000 and P10,000, both of which carries with it a respectable-sized trophy, Item added.
Fourth prize gets P5,000, he said.
Registration is P300.00, Item added.
Interested town-based teams can seek more information or register by seeing Councilor Ramon Arsenal, of LGU Bien Unido, or call or text Manuel Item at +63 932 713 5616. (RAC /PIABohol)
by admin | Nov 18, 2014 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
Loon, Maribojoc uplift as nat’l geologic monument?
NATURAL MONUMENT? Seas off Loon and Maribojoc retreated from 50-100 meters seaward as the earthquake in 2013 uplifted these shorelines. When the phenomena exposed interesting geological data, the DENR mulls on declaring these over 11 kilometer shorelines as protected. Fishermen fear, they may lose their access to the sea. (RAC/PIABohol)
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, November 18, (PIA) –-The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) considers declaring the uplifted shores of Loon and Maribojoc a National Geological Monument (NGM), but residents in these areas may not like it.
An eventual declaration of the uplifted areas could mean limited access to the fishermen and residents who have live life of gleaning, spear-fishing and other marine-related activities, a local artist and self-confessed environment advocate feared.
According to Rene Eune Ponte, a declaration may mean the national government taking full control and management of the area, to the detriment of communities who live by the shorelines, having a say at what is best for them.
Made an irritating issue between government and fishermen who started building boat-huts across the 50-100 meters so they could be closer when the waters retreated after the earthquake, the uplifted reefs now become a DENR object for preservation and conservation.
A year ago, a devastating earthquake shook Bohol and its neighboring provinces. This resulted in the uplift of portions of the intertidal zone within waters of Loon and Maribojoc in western Bohol.
And, for various reasons, the uplift becomes an object of interest of the community members, scientists, national and local governments, land use planners, and private individuals.
This pushed the DENR Secretary to consider the declaration of the area as NGM by the National Committee on Geological Sciences (which is under the DENR).
The DENR believes by so doing, it assures protection and conservation of the features exposed after the October 15, 2013 co-seismic uplift, according to a paper submitted by the DENR Mines and Geo sciences Bureau (MGB).
Earlier, an MGB team undertook a rapid assessment of the uplifted coastal zone in Loon and Maribojoc.
“The uplifted area is a predominantly marine carbonate platform with patch coral reefs stretching from north of Loon town center southward and eastward to Barangay Guiwanon in Maribojoc,” a line in their report reads.
The team concluded that the approximately 11.5 kilometers length of emerged shore, mostly ranging in width from 200-250 meters, is the pre-earthquake foreshore (or intertidal) zone.
“Based on the present height of the notches that mark the pre-earthquake eroding zone and high tide line, the earthquake raised the rocky shoreline and adjoining foreshore by at least 0.7 meters with a consequent seaward regression of the high tide line by about 50-100 meters,” their observations stated.
Within the intertidals, MGB pointed out that everything in from coral patches and breaks in the rocks accentuating the monotonous landscape, to the shells and other evidences of the former biota of the intertidal zone, the regenerating mangroves; all are of “geoscientific and ecological importance.”
“The features should be conserved and protected for the appreciation of present and future generations, and to educate the public on geological phenomena associated with tectonics as well as biological and ecological succession of various species of plants and animals that normally follow abrupt changes in the environment,” the reports bared.
For this, the DENR recommends a 2-stage Action Plan for the coastal areas’ preservation, as in the designation of a Geo-conservation Site by the secretary and to be followed by detailed studies for the formulation of a Management Plan and establishment of a Bohol Geopark that would include the uplifted area as one of the areas of geological significance.
A marker or signage with the Declaration will put up the explanation of the geological phenomenon that led to the uplift and exposed features that are of scientific and educational significance and worthy of preservation for its ecological and geo tourism value.
The designation hopes to protect locally and nationally important geological and ecological site; increase public awareness, understanding and enjoyment of the landscape, rocks, fossils, biota and provide an environment for learning about local geology including how certain geological phenomenon can abruptly change the landscape and biota.
Then, a detailed study on the formulation of Conservation and Management Plan as well as the establishment of the Bohol Geopark leads to the endorsement of the proclamation of the area as natural monument under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS).
The Bohol Geopark establishment will raise to international community the geo/eco tourism values of the Uplifted Terrane and the many other tourist areas in the province of Bohol, said the MGB in its recommendation.
But for residents, when the DENR starts solo managing the site, small fishermen would bear the brunt.
“See, we have to manually haul our boats from the boat-houses on the base of the cliffs across 50-100 meters of dried intertidal zones, and finding a way is no joke. How could we do that when the area could not be opened for our access?, a fisherman asked.
Why don’t we allow the people to decide what to do with the area, the same fisherman asked in Cebuano.
Maybe, they can allow the town to manage the area and find portion of the areas suitable for scientific study, others for livelihood, tourism activities and sports and recreation sites, he suggested. (RAC/PIABohol)
by admin | Nov 16, 2014 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
Actuarians donate P280K
To Gawad Kalinga Bohol
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, November 16, (PIA) –A nation-wide association of insurance assessors and evaluators handed to Gawad Kalinga (GK) Bohol a sum of P280,000 in check and pledges, during their recent convention at the Bellevue in Panglao.
The money goes to build houses and communities in earthquake affected and poverty haunted Bohol, according to Cresanto Sabanpan, of the Gawad Kalinga Project.
The Actuarial Society of the Philippines (ASP) who just had their 55th convention at the Pavillion of the Bellevue in tourism resort Panglao readied the papers for the donation through a board resolution which the group’s officers prepared for the Bohol event, according to ASP president Maria Sachiko Pang.
Pang shared this news in front of the delegates gathered who had earlier viewed a video presentation on the GK in the Philippines and its mission.
GK is an organization that started in the Philippine which targets to heave out 5 million poor Filipinos out of poverty by 2024.
This it does, by restoring the poor’s dignity and build a new nation empowered by people believing and loving the natioh, each one caring and sharing and is bent on working to beat poverty and regaining human dignity, according to Sabanpan, in the presentation attended also by the famed Loboc Children’s Choir.
While other groups help communities by building houses, GK characterizes itself by making an integrated and self-reliant community of service and making impossible things possible, leaving no one behind.
GK finds its fiscal support from donations in its social justice projects, banking on charity, being brother’s keepers by heroic response to voluntarism, according to Rey Balatayo, another GK worker in Bohol.
GK communities become active for testing earth friendly technologies, sustainable livelihood and innovations which could be the community’s quick way out of poverty.
With this, QK organizers aspire to attain social progress by working on the successes of voluntarism, caring and serving communities as well as sharing, because GK also believes it is not the lack of resources but the apparent tendency to hoard that makes the Philippines a poor nation.
In Bohol, a GK community is now rising in Bayacabac, Maribojoc, with 16 houses now completed at Purok 4, according to Barangay Chairman Jun Aniscal.
Aside from vermiculture, composting, organic farming, the people of this purok have started planting tree guarded fruit trees along the baranagay road leading to the municipal demo farm. (RAC/PIABohol)
