Ten Refreshing Local Summer Destinations - That Are No Beaches

There are so much more you can do in our islands other than beach-bumming!

By Mars Salazar

FHM Philippines

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A summer in the Philippines won’t be complete without a trip to at least one of the country’s numerous beaches. Here's the thing: There’s so much more to do in our islands other than beach-bumming!

While we won't stop you from going to your usual summer hangout spot, we remind you that there are plenty of other refreshing destinations within the Philippines that are not beaches. We're talking about places like...

1) La Paz Sand Dunes, Laoag, Ilocos Norte 

A fun-filled day awaits you at the La Paz Sand Dunes, where you can ride an ATV and surf down sandy slopes all day long. Head there early morning or late afternoon to avoid getting a nasty sunburn!

Rates: Package 1: P2,500 for 4-5 persons (inclusive of a 4x4 ATV ride and unlimited sandboarding); Package 2: P2,000 (for a one-hour ATV ride)

2) Chico River, Kalinga 

The mighty Chico River eagerly awaits thrill seekers looking for a different kind of adventure up north. Gather the whole gang for a whitewater rafting experience you’ll never forget!

Rates: Chico River Quest offers complete whitewater rafting packages, including equipment, accommodations, and transport. Prices range from P4,000 per person for a 2D/1N trip on beginner-level rapids, to P8,500 per head for a 3D/2N adventure.

3) Minalungao National Park, General Tinio, Nueva Ecija

Looking for a sweet escape from the city’s madness? Head to Minalungao National Park, a hidden gem (that probably won’t stay secret for long) in Nueva Ecija. The park houses the Peñaranda River, a crystal-clear stretch of water bordered by towering limestone cliffs. Bask under the sun by the river, or explore the park’s sights—either way, you’ll never run out of things to do.

Rates: The park has a registration fee of P20 per person and another P20 for each vehicle, tricycle or car. Hire a local guide (prices are negotiable) to show you around the park’s sights and avoid getting lost.

4) Masungi Georeserve, Tanay, Rizal 

Just a short road trip away from Metro Manila lies the 1,500-hectare Masungi Georeserve, a haven for nature explorers. Get the whole group and climb limestone peaks, relax on a gigantic hammock, see various plant and animal species, and gain a new appreciation for the world around you along the way!

Rates: It’s P1,400 per person from April 2016 onwards for a group of seven to ten people. Slots get filled up real fast, so book early—like months before your trip!

5) Apo Reef, Sablayan, Mindoro Occidental 

This is one of the country's best dive sites, and the second largest contiguous coral reef in the world next to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Getting there is tricky, but this underwater beauty’s worth it. Needless to say, if you’re planning to take scuba diving lessons, this is a great destination!

Rates: The reef itself is a two-hour boat ride away from the town of Sablayan. Chartering a boat will cost you P7,500 for a snorkeling trip (for 10 people) and P8,000 for a diving trip (for six people, maximum of four dives).

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6) Canyoneering in Southern Cebu 

The quiet town of Alegria in Southern Cebu is the gateway to an adrenaline-packed canyoneering adventure where you’ll be leaping off waterfalls, swimming in crystal-clear waters, clambering up boulders, and basking in lagoons. You’ll eventually emerge at Kawasan Falls in the nearby town of Badian. Not for the faint-hearted, a day here will leave you in awe of Mother Nature’s beauty.

Rates: Many tour groups offer canyoneering packages, starting at around P1,200 per person. It’s cheaper if there are more of you, so get the whole barkada to join in!

7) Sohoton Natural Bridge National Park, Basey, Samar 

If caving’s more your thing, head to Sohoton National Park, where you can explore a number of magnificent caves teeming with stalactites, stalagmites, and in some cases, natural pools (cave swimming, anyone?). You can also go kayaking on the Sohoton River to see the Sohoton Natural Bridge up close!

Rates: There’s a mandated P25 entrance fee and a P50 environment fee per person, plus a P300 lighting fee (for a maximum of 10 people) so you could see inside the caves. The rest, as with several other tourist attractions in the Philippines, would depend on your haggling skills. Chartering a pumpboat to the park would cost you anywhere from P500 to P1,500, while hiring a tour guide would be P300. Kayak rental, meanwhile, costs P50, while a kayak guide would cost P150.

8) Dahilayan Adventure Park, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon

Channel your inner Superman at Dahilayan Adventure Park, where you can test two ziplines (including Asia’s longest dual line zipline!), a canopy glider, a zipride, a freefall ride, and a base jump ride, plus a rope course perfect for team building activities. Complete the group bonding experience by staying at the Pinegrove Mountain Lodge, which offers reasonable rates for overnight stays.

Rates: A ride on the 840-meter zipline costs P500, while the shorter zipline costs P250 (you can also ride on both ziplines for P600). Other rides range from P250 to P750. You can also avail of the park's packages, which range from P1,200 to P2,500 per person inclusive of transportation to and from Cagayan de Oro City. 

9) Aliwagwag Falls, Cateel, Davao Oriental

Avid waterfall chasers shouldn’t miss Aliwagwag Falls, the highest waterfalls in the Philippines. Towering at 1,100 feet, with 84 curtain-like cascades, it resembles a stairway to the skies when viewed from afar. You can also cross the monkey bridge over the falls and ride the zipline across the cascades.

Rates: Entrance to Aliwagwag falls costs P50 for adults and P10 for kids.

10) Enchanted River, Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur 

Crystal-clear turquoise waters beckon visitors to take a dip in the mystical Enchanted River, which, according to local lore, is the haven of fairies and other mystical creatures. This river flows into the Pacific Ocean, but its source remains unknown until now. More mind-bogglingly, no one—not even the most skilled swimmers—have been able to reach the bottom of the river.

Rates: Entrance fee is P30 per person, and you can rent life jackets for P15 an hour.

Images via Kingscourthotel-laoag.com, Ambot-ah.com, Manongunyol.blogspot.com, Masungigeoreserve.com, Triptheislands.com, Freedomwall.net, Jontotheworld.com, Zamboanga.com, Philstar.com, Islandsofthephilippines.com

Bulawan Festival Youth Day 2016

Cong. Wes Gatchalian graces Comval youth

Compostela Valley Province---- Party list representative of “ALAY BUHAY” Wes Gatchalian who represents Hon. Win Gatchalian graced the Summer Fun sa Bulawan (Youth Day) during the 9^thBulawan Festival and 18^th Founding Anniversary celebration of Compostela Valley on March 5 at the Capitol Ground.

Governor Arturo T. Uy, gives the welcome message and thanked the young leaders present for their active participation in all of the province's undertakings and urged them to continue being helpful and active.

“When I became governor in 2007 my first priority also is education, alam ko kung gaano kahalaga ang maging edukado at edukada,” said Gov. Uy.

He added that “I am inviting our speaker because he is one of those who responded to us during Typhoon Pablo. We have the same advocacy to prioritize education.” The governor also expressed his deepest thanks for giving him the “opportunity to help and serve you.”

Congressman Gatchallian in his message, shared that he feels happy and excited for it is his first time to be in ComVal. He urged ComVal youth to get involved in activities for sports and community development being the chairman of Youth and Sports in Congress.

“Wag po kayong matatakot na tuparin ang iyong mga pangarap especially on sports dahil kayong mga kabataan ay may malaking halaga sa ating bayan,”  Gatchalian said.

He also stressed out that his brother is the author of the House bill no. 5905 or the “Free Higher Education Act”. “If we can make free for our High School and Elementary, gawin na po nating libre ang ating kolehiyo.”

Meanwhile, Ma. Lourdes Eudela- SSEYAP Facilitator gives inputs on the youth leadership in disaster preparedness and risk reduction through a power point presentation and discussion.

The Summer Fun sa Bulawan (Youth day) is an annual event for youth leaders coming from the different youth organizations in the province to honor them for their active involvement in community development. These are the Pag-asa Youth Association of the Philippines (PYAP), Prov'l Youth Development Council (PYDC), Comval Scholarship Program (CVSP)/SPES, and other youth groups. (Rey M. Antibo, PGO-IDS Comval)

 

 

Bulawan fest 2016: drumbeats “Kasikas sa Kapitolyo”  

 

Compostela Valley Province  -  Kiss the sun rays, hear the loud noise of percussions and sway with the rhythm as the 9^thBulawan Festival features “Kasikas sa Kapitolyo” 2016 at the Provincial Capitol, Cabidianan, Compostela Valley on March 6, 2016.

Kasikas sa Kapitolyo is a Drum and Bugle Competition of public and private elementary schools and high schools within Compostela Valley Province.

Prior to the competition, Miss Josie T. Bolofer, Officer-in-Charge, Assistant School Division Superintendent, ComVal shared a quote from Howard Cosell, “The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give.” And added, “Let us all remember this, because this competition is not a competition against each other.” This reminds the participants about core value of competition and winning it.

 

There are seven (7) competing entries for both Elementary and High School categories. Among the 7 competitors in Elementary, Mawab Central Elementary School bagged the first place. Cabinuangan Central Elementary School of New Bataan got the second place. And, third place went to Langtud Elementary School of Laak.

 

In addition, this year’s Kasikas sa Kapitolyo adds enthusiasm with special awards. For elementary, Best production design goes to Cabinuangan Central Elementary School; Best Majorettes to New Sibonga Elementary School of Nabunturan; Best in synchronization music & choreography goes to Mawab Central Elementary School, and; Best Band Major to Monkayo Central Elementary School.

         

On the other hand, the fiery red costumes of the Municipality of Nabunturan represented by Manat National High School made their way to earn the first place. Second place is Monkayo National High School and Assumption of Academy of the municipality of Compostela in the 3^rd place.

 

Whereas, in High School category, Manat National High School garnered the Best production design and Best in synchronization, music & choreography. Best Majorettes goes to Assumption Academy of Compostela and Best Band Major to New Bataan National High school.

 

Meanwhile, cash prizes for the first place is Php 50,000.00, second prize is Php. 40,000.00 and third is Php. 30,000.00. While, special awards for the Best production design (uniform, props, color, costume) is Php.10,000.00; Best Majorettes is Php. 5,000.00; Best in synchronization, music & choreography (Garnered the maximum total points for the criteria: On quality of music and mastery of piece) is Php. 7,000.00; Best Band Major (pupil) is 3,000.00. All these are given with plaque. Also, other competing entries receive Php. 15,000.00 as consolation prizes.

 

All awards and plaques are given by Bulawan Festival Action Officer Senior Board Member Jayvee Tyron Uy together with OIC-PHO Dr. Mary Cyrel Pasaol and the working committee.(Honeylyn T Sayson, ids comval)

 

 

Photos:

 

Elementary and secondary students vie it out in the “Kasikas sa Kapitolyo” 2016 drum and bugle competition in the continuation of the 9^th Bulawan Festival of Comval on March 6, 2016. (a. dayao/ids comval)

 

 

It’s the Compostela youth who won the Caribbean dance-inspired contest during the Youth day of the 9^th Bulawan festival of ComVal on March 5, 2016. (a. dayao, m. lasaca/ids comval)

 

"TINDOG COMVAL! WALANG IWANAN!"

Young Filipino Designers Show Audacity at London Fashion Showcase 2016

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By: Marian Pastor-Roces,Philippine Daily Inquirer

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THIAN Rodriguez’s leather strips with grommets made of bullets

Four young designers were selected by the Philippines’ Center for International Trade Expositions Missions (Citem) to represent the Philippines’ next-generation creative force in the London Fashion Showcase.

The 2016 edition of International Fashion Showcase (IFS) opened Feb. 18 at the British capital’s stately Somerset House.

It challenged all participants to think through the lens of utopia, in the spirit of the London-wide celebration of the 500th anniversary of the book of this title by Sir Thomas More.

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Citem took up the challenge of presenting a fashion exhibition following this brief, by its careful selection of four young designers of noteworthy skill, and putting them under the guidance of veteran curators.

The designers work in footwear, jewelry and clothing.

They are Maco Custodio, whose family owns the footwear concern he is innovating on; second-generation jeweler Micki Olaguer; and self-taught, street-smart clothing designers Jarred Servando and Thian Rodriguez.

Each commands material and process with knowledge beyond their youthful years. And, as a group, they are, in the view of Citem, vital signs of a burgeoning fashion scene addressing young clients with a taste for the audacious statement.

Shoemaker

Challenged to think of the defeats, successes and other U-turns of utopian longing in the Philippines, Custodio thought to work with ideas of refiguring bodies torn asunder. As a footwear designer and manufacturer, after all, Custodio is familiar with leather—that is to say, skin and its reconstruction.

For IFS 2016, he took waste tetrabrick packaging, made them into bands for suturing excellent but waste (off-cuts of) leather, and thus fashioned shoes that elegantly summarize dismemberment and refiguration.

During his experimentation, Custodio extended this idea of reconnecting body parts in shoes by molding a latex nose off a dearly departed dog and incorporating the member in an act of literal re-membering.

That he can throw himself at such edgy projects is, to the exhibit curators, wholly supported by his consummate skill as a bespoke shoemaker.

Abaca

Servando chose to take up the material ubiquitous in his southern Philippine home province: the bast fiber abacá [Musa textilis Neé].

The toughest fiber in the world—used historically for ship cable through centuries of global maritime trade, and culturally for some of the finest ikat-dyed textiles in the world—is the material Servando wholly owns by sheer pluck at hand-wrangling it to conform to his ideas of glamour.

In his hands, the fiber retains its tough look without detracting from wearability and statement-making. Too, the fiber yields to his authority, as Servando yields to its natural tendencies to be stiff and prickly.

In homing in, so to speak, on this material, the beautifully tattooed Servando takes the stiff and prickly bits of homeland history and culture, and wrested wild beauty out of them.

Rodriguez was drawn into discussions during the predesign workshops led by the curators, particularly concerning the transformability of brass from ammunition to music-making gongs.

These kinds of pendulum swings between aggression and seduction captivated him, and directed him to leather design with metal grommets and bullet finials.

His mastery of enwrapping the human body in outlines that cling, served him thoroughly in his IFS-occasioned adventure into utopia/dystopia.

His IFS presentation, informed by evocations of pierced skin, plunged him into unfamiliar intellectual territory that he resolved ably with sheer craftsmanship.

Olaguer was led by the workshops into considering the utopian and dystopian stories in which gold and silver mining is embedded.

She detoured into dystopic mining practices that involve nefarious use of labor, and decided to juxtapose mother-of-pearl with silver in her IFS exhibit.

Mother-of-pearl has no known underside, indeed is a material that demands an absolutely pristine marine environment to prosper. Olaguer’s juxtaposition of the evocative mining panning pan shape and silver, with the “calming” mother-of-pearl became her resolution to the contradictions—rich in creative ideas—between utopia and dystopia.

The designers proved unafraid of difficult terrain in design. They were teased out of their youthful comfort zones by curators who for decades have regularly inhabited knife’s edge domains, and these youth learned quickly to walk that knife’s edge and come out on the other side with gritty, well-crafted fashion.

Citem’s choice of curators for IFS London 2016 is hence strategically vital: The choice meant that two generations are brought together in one exhibit. That older generation came out of avant-gardes in conceptual art and critical theory, and the young generation comes out of an emergent Philippine prosperity that nevertheless maintains an intimate knowledge of catastrophe.

Curators of IFS 2016 are the founders of Tao Inc, a museum and exhibition development corporation, this writer (the institutional critic and curator);  and its adjunct curator Judy Freya Sibayan, academic and pioneering performance, installation and conceptual artist.

They worked on this project with the Philippines’ veteran culture and arts manager Glenda Puyat. The exhibit is provided with a Manila soundscape constructed as a score by Tao Inc adjunct curator, the public art coordinator Adrian Jones.

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