Intramuros named Asia's best tourist draw

(UPDATE) INTRAMUROS, the Spanish-era walled city in Manila, regained its title as Asia's Leading Tourist Attraction at the 29th World Travel Awards (WTA) 2022 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Wednesday.

The Philippines was also named Asia's Leading Dive Destination and Asia's Leading Beach Destination at the same event.

"The Philippines is a beautiful country and you [WTA] having given these awards is such an affirmation to all of our tourism stakeholders and workers who have greatly sacrificed throughout the pandemic," Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said.

"We look to the future with hope that through our combined efforts under the Marcos Administration that has identified tourism to become a major pillar for economic recovery, not only will we survive the pandemic but we will thrive, we will endure and we will get back stronger than ever," Frasco said.

The Philippines has won the WTA title of Asia's Leading Beach Destination for the sixth time, defeating India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The country has also been named Asia's Leading Dive Destination for four years in a row, beating Malaysia and Thailand.

In winning the best tourist attraction award, Intramuros outshone other destinations like the Angkor Temples in Cambodia, Borobudur Temple Compound in Indonesia, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, Sengan-en and Shoko Shuseikan Museum in Kagoshima, Japan, the Taj Mahal in India, teamLab SuperNature in Macau, The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, and Terracotta Warriors in China, Tokyo Imperial Palace in Japan and Victoria Peak in Hong Kong.

"We are ready to receive you in the Philippines. We look forward to your visit, and I invite each and every one of you to visit our beaches, our dive sites and our tourist destinations," Frasco said in a pitch to tourists.

"May this recognition remind us that all of us have a shared responsibility towards the success of the tourism industry, not only in our country but in Asia and the world. We remain committed to purveying the Filipino brand of hospitality and to heralding the Filipino brand to the world," she added.

Tourism stakeholders urged to innovate

The London-based World Travel Awards, known as the "Oscars" of the travel industry, was founded in 1993 to recognize achievements in the travel and tourism sector at national, regional, and global levels.

The truth amid our unavoidable biases

 

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

HOW can we see the truth amid our unavoidable biases and other conditionings that affect how we see, judge and react to things? The simple answer is to be like Christ who himself said that he is “the way, the truth and the life.”

Thus, in the gospel (cfr. Lk 6,39-42) Christ said: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Won't both fall into a pit?” And then he gives a clue on how to resolve that predicament by saying, “No disciple is superior to the teacher,” somehow pointing to the fact that for one to know the truth, he has to follow the teacher who is Christ himself.

That we have unavoidable biases and other conditionings that affect how we see, judge and react to things is somehow alluded to when Christ said, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?” 

We have to be constantly aware of this constant predicament of ours and try our best to deal with it properly by trying to be like Christ, that is, to see, judge and react to things the way Christ sees, judges and reacts to them.

In this raging controversy about alleged historical revisionism now still ongoing in our political scene, we should remember that the truth about the issues involved does not depend solely on facts that supposedly the parties involved can cite. Facts and data can be cold, that is, they can only be external appearances of things without the proper spirit of truth and charity that should animate them.

Truth is not simply about facts and data. It has to have the proper spirit. It cannot simply be historical, since many things considered as historical are only facts and data that can be understood, interpreted and used by people according to the spirit that motivates them.

The Bible itself is not all historical. It is not simply a litany of facts. It has historical facts, of course, but it also uses all kinds of literary devices to proclaim the truths of our faith. Christ, for example, used parables, similes, metaphors and hyperboles to convey precious lessons which are truths.

Thus, unless we see things through Christ who said that he is the light of the world (cfr Jn 9), we actually cannot see things as they ought to be seen. If we simply rely on our senses and even on our intelligence, but without Christ through the exercise of our faith, we actually are blind. This we have to acknowledge.

We need to be more aware of this predicament of ours and start to develop and use the appropriate means to correct, if not avoid, that delicate situation. We need to be humble and to always feel the need to be with God even in our most intimate thoughts, let alone, our words, deeds and public interventions.

There is actually no other way to correctly and properly understand and react to things and events in our life. We have to be wary of our tendency to rely solely on our human estimations of things, quite independent, if not contrary to the way God understands them.

In fact, not only should we be guarded against this tendency. Rather, we should also actively fight it, converting it into what is our proper way of thinking, judging and reasoning. And that is to do all these spiritual operations with God as the main guide and inspiration.

That way, we can see the truth always in charity, which is how truth should be!

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprises (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

The Nativity of Our Lady

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

THE Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady on September 8 is a great cause for joy and thanksgiving in the Catholic Church, for it celebrates the birth of the one who is the prototype of a human person in her original and ultimate status as a child of God, a perfect image and likeness of God, as God wants us to be.

The feast reminds us that man indeed is meant to be like God, a tremendous and incredible truth of our faith to which we should try our best to conform ourselves with our relentless efforts and God’s grace. We should just learn to overcome whatever disbelief and awkwardness we may have to accept this truth of our faith.

Let’s try to analyze and understand this truth of our faith.

Mary, as the mother of Christ, can be considered also as the mother of God (Mater Dei), since she is not only the mother of Christ as man, but also and first of all as a divine person.

And since God is a triune God, Mary can be considered as the perfect daughter of God the Father, the perfect mother of God the Son, and the perfect spouse of the God the Holy Spirit. That’s how she is related to God. Her relation with God cannot be any better. She has attained the fullness of dignity as an image and likeness of God.

And when Christ gave his own mother to us through St. John while Christ was still hanging on the cross just before his death—remember Christ’s words, “Woman, behold your son…behold your mother” (Jn 19,26-27)—it’s clear that Mary too is now also our mother. (Mater Dei, mater nostra).

The figure of Mary should reinforce our belief that we indeed are children of God, made in his image and likeness, meant to share his life and his very own nature. Yes, while every creature has a certain degree of connaturality with God who, as creator of all things, shares something with his creatures, we, of all the creatures and together with the angels, share the highest degree of connaturality with God.

This truth of our faith should impel us to develop a deep and working sense of divine filiation, of being children of God, so we would really know who we are and, thus, also know our true dignity and the great responsibility we have to be worthy of that dignity and to live it out.

We should try our best in every moment, and in all our thoughts, words and deeds, in all our understanding and reactions to things and the different situations of our life, we should always remember that we are children of God and try our best to truly be like God.

This, of course, is a tremendous if not an impossible challenge, but at least we can always try to be so. We know that we, with our own efforts alone, cannot attain the fullness of our dignity as children of God. Only God, with his grace, can do that. But we should always do our part.

The fact is that many of us do not realize this basic truth about ourselves. And so we easily fall into all kinds of disorders that actually are unnecessary and are avoidable if we simply would be more conscious of who we are!

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THOSE WERE THE DAYS...

"Those Were the Days" is a song credited to Gene Raskin, who put a new English lyric to the Russian romance song "Дорогой длинною" (literally "By the long road"), composed by Boris Fomin (1900–1948) with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevsky. It deals with reminiscence upon youth and romantic idealism. It also deals with tavern activities, which include drinking, singing and dancing.

Mary Hopkin's 1968 debut single of "Those Were the Days", which was produced by Paul McCartney of the Beatles, and arranged by Richard Hewson, became a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart and on the Canadian RPM Magazine charts. The song also reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, behind "Hey Jude" by the Beatles.

McCartney also recorded Hopkin singing "Those Were The Days" in other languages for release in their respective countries:

In Spain, Qué tiempo tan feliz;in West Germany, An jenem Tag; in Italy, Quelli erano giorni; in France, Le temps des fleurs.

Yes, time flew by. I think about sitting in a jet plane.September again. Wow!

Do you always count the days up to the next legal holidays without being on duty? Or do you start as early as September longing for Christmas? And do you wish the weeks or months hopefully pass by like an assault up to the next possible salary increase?

Many times, we are really in too much of a hurry while feeling uncomfortable if we notice how time flies. We have no time for someone or something or even for ourselves.

When I was still a teenager, I was longing to be an adult already. Later, I enjoyed listening to my grandmother's stories such as "Once upon a time" or "When I was young" from her "yesterday's life"... .

After a couple of years, especially while observing that time really flies like a racket to the moon, I also got the same question in mind: Are the present hours and days less valuable?

Of course, each day has its own set of happiness and trials. But it also holds very high possibilities of us taking the initiative to do or to move something, if... !

Many of us retreat into the past and forget their present existence. A possible topsy-turvy world of a golden youth tries to let us forget that also the past has had its share of disappointments, pains, tears, darkness, tricky as well as desperate days... yes, lost days, irretrievable time... .

Without having achieved anything, we dream our impossible dreams from last to future and vice versa. We forget that between yesterday and tomorrow is our valuable present. Well, now well then - if we know just how to fulfill this period.

Diplomatic balancing

by Former Senate President Manny Villar

OF TREES AND FOREST

Last Sunday, Sept. 4, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. left the country to embark on his first ever state visit as the Philippines’ chief diplomat. Or, as he mentioned in his departure speech “mangangapitbahay muna para sa ating bansa at para sa ating ekonomiya.” His first overseas trip will bring him to Indonesia and then to Singapore. And then, as I understand it from the announcement of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), PBBM will also fly to New York to speak before the United Nations General Assembly.

These are very important foreign trips for the President and for the country not just because these will set the tone of the foreign policy directions of this administration but also because it will allow the country to strengthen ties in the region as we collectively face the challenges facing the world.

Just like his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, President Bongbong has chosen to visit our allies in the Southeast Asian region. As the DFA pointed out, this is important because as “close neighbors and founding members of ASEAN, the Philippines enjoys active engagement with both Indonesia and Singapore in terms of myriad areas including security and defense, trade and investment, people-to-people exchanges and more.”

The President is expected to meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo as well as Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. I am sure that while many geopolitical issues will be discussed, President Bongbong will emphasize the need to protect the welfare of Filipinos working in these two countries. These foreign trips are good opportunities to strengthen bilateral efforts to protect our OFWs worldwide.

In fact, based on statements made by the DFA, Presidents Marcos, Jr., and Widodo are scheduled to discuss the case of long-detained overseas Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso who has been on death row for over 12 years in Indonesia.

These state visits will also provide an opportunity for the President and his economic team to strengthen economic cooperation and promote the country as an investment destination. I am certain that the business delegation will meet with various business groups in Indonesia and Singapore in order to entice them to do business in the country.

Geopolitical issues will, of course, be the centerpiece of the visit. There are two items in the agenda that I think are very crucial: the West Philippine Sea conflict and counterterrorism. According to the foreign affairs department, there will clearly be discussions on key regional issues of mutual interest, including the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea issue, cognizant that all three countries actually have the common goal to maintain peace and stability and prevent incidents in this particular part of the world.

This visit will give us the first clear indication of how President Marcos, Jr. intends the handle this geopolitical landmine that has been hanging like Damocles’ sword in the region. I find it interesting that PBBM seems to be cautiously balancing the benefits of strong relations not just with China but also the United States. In early July, China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, became the first foreign envoy to visit to the Philippines under the new Marcos presidency. And now, in late September. PBBM will visit the US first via his trip to the UNGA.

The President has emphasized the need to strengthen bilateral relations with Beijing but he also insisted on avoiding a myopic view of this relations: “One of the ways I’ve consistently suggested is that we have our relationship not only on one dimension, not just all about the West Philippine Sea. Let’s add to that – cultural exchanges, educational exchanges, even military if that will be useful.” In other words, the Manila-Beijing historic ties go beyond the conflict. The imperative of course is how to work around this controversy so both countries work on economic and cultural ties.

This is going to be a diplomatic balancing act for President Marcos, Jr. that will test his diplomatic and political skills. I have no doubt that the President will pass this test with flying colors. He has demonstrated his deep understanding of foreign policy issues but more importantly, he has proven that the overriding factor shaping his foreign policy is the national interest.

Davao med students infected with Covid

By Ruth Palo, Manila Bulletin

DAVAO CITY: Fifteen students from various medical schools here have been infected with Covid-19, two weeks after the resumption of face-to-face (F2F) classes on all academic levels, City Health Office (CHO) head Dr. Ashley Lopez said.

According to the CHO, most of the infected are fourth-year students, who are required to take RT-PCR tests before being allowed to attend F2F classes.

The number of cases makes up less than 10 percent of the entire student population of Davao City. These students either have shown no symptoms or manifested very mild ones.

"These are seemingly asymptomatic to mild cases so they do not require hospitalization. And most of them will only need to undergo seven days of isolation in their homes or quarantining, then after that, they can go back to class," Lopez said.

Lopez, however, said the cases detected since the reopening of F2F classes on August 22 are no cause for alarm, adding there is no need to suspend the F2F modality of classes.

The CHO renewed its call to Davaoeños, especially students, to get vaccinated, although she said vaccination remains voluntary.

The city vows to continue to mobilize its vaccination campaign in all public and private schools.

Lopez admits that vaccination is not mandatory, which is why she said they cannot impose this as a requirement in schools.

The city's vaccination hubs will be operational daily even on Sundays for September.

Manila prepared to curb Covid spread

At least 600 free tests per day are done by the CHO as part of the city's Covid surveillance measures.

The city is also monitoring infection cases following the successful staging of the Kadayawan Festival last month.

'No reason to hike price of sardines'

By Bella Cariaso

FISHERFOLK'S group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Tuesday accused big fishing firms of floating the short supply of tamban to justify the increase in the retail prices of canned sardines and to allow their vessels to enter the municipal waters.

The group maintained that there is no reason to increase the price of sardines.

Pamalakaya National Chairman Fernando Hicap said that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) reported a 222.58 percent sufficiency level of tamban in the first quarter of this year.

"Based on the data from BFAR, we have no shortage in the supply of tamban. There is no reason to increase the prices of sardines in the markets," Hicap said.

Hicap added that the government should not allow the commercial fishing operators to enter the municipal waters.

Commercial fishing vessels, or those weighing 3.1 gross tons and above, should be restricted within the 15-kilometer municipal fishing grounds from the coastline, he said.

"The BFAR should remain vigilant against this fabricated tamban shortage that will only favor the big fishing firms and operators over the interests of small fishers and consumers," Hicap added.

In a separate interview with The Manila Times, BFAR spokesman Nasario Briguera agreed that there is no reason to increase the prices of canned sardines as he also denied a shortage.

"There is no reason to increase the prices of canned sardines since we have sufficient supply of the raw materials used for the manufacture of canned sardines," Briguera said.

He added that based on the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, the country's sufficiency level of tamban is pegged at 200 percent and 400 percent for the first and second quarters of 2022, respectively.

At the same time, he said BFAR has no jurisdiction on calls to allow commercial fishing vessels to enter the municipal waters.

"While a group is calling to allow commercial fishing vessels to enter municipal waters to address the shortage of tamban, which is contrary to the data that we have, we would like to mention that under Republic Act (RA) 8550, zero to 15 kilometers from municipal waters is exclusive for municipal fisherfolk," Briguera added.

Briguera said that while RA 1064 allows small and medium commercial fishing vessels to fish from 10.1 to 15 kilometers from the municipal waters, they should secure permits from local government units.

BFAR exec denies shortage of sardines

"An ordinance and consultation with the stakeholders should also be conducted before allowing the small and medium commercial fishing vessels in the municipal waters," he added.

Briguera said the retail price of tamban ranges from P70 to P100 per kilo.

For those who've lived in the Philippines, what are some things...

 outsiders don't understand about Filipino culture?

By: Selwyn Clyde M. Alojipan

 · 

Filipino, resident of Quezon City, collector of trivial information

Filipinos like to be inclusive. If they see a stranger, they will say hello and ask him to eat with them or ask him questions where he’s from and where he’s going. Then they’ll try to help him with tips and directions. They will feel happy that their small community has been visited by a foreigner who had to come so far to see their place.

A foreigner with Filipino roots, one who has spent some time in the country, knows how to speak a few words in the local language or dialect, or has a Filipino spouse is automatically considered an “honorary Filipino.”

Any celebrity or VIP with Filipino ancestry who has made a successful career abroad will be the target of the phenomenon known as “Filipino Pride” or “Pinoy Pride” in which Filipinos from all over the globe and in the country will feel proud of him for being a part of the global Filipino community and for enhancing the Filipino identity.

People with Filipino ancestry who grew up overseas without learning about Filipino culture and who may have considered themselves Americans, Australians, Canadians, British, French, Italian, etc., will be curious why they are being automatically included in this all-inclusive and ever-growing Filipino community.

They don’t understand why they automatically belong to a club that they may not have known about in their entire lives. It will take them some time of living in the Philippines or among a group of Filipino expats abroad to get an inkling why they are considered members of a vast extended family.

There’s no particular reason why this happens. Filipinos just like to belong in a group and like expanding the size of that group. They will feel sad if a person goes away for a while and they will be happy if they see that person again. That’s just how it is among Filipinos.

What country do the Filipinos feel more close culturally?

Joseph Solis Alcayde Alberici

political scientist; political and economic analyst; and historical buff

Freelance Columnist at SunStar Cebu2013–present

B.A in Political Science & Political Theory, University of San CarlosGraduated 2015

Lives in Cebu City, Philippines2010–present

Most Filipinos feel cultural affinity with the United States and white Anglophone countries like Canada and Australia but Americans, Canadians, and Australians don’t reciprocate them much because core Filipino cultural values and Anglo-Saxon values are fundamentally different from each other and most Filipinos in the Philippines are in fact not capable of adopting many traits of white Anglophones like individualism, self-accountability, sense of guilt, representative democracy, and others.

The core cultural values of the Filipino people are mostly laid down by Spanish colonizers and most of cultural, ideological, political, and religious aspects of Filipino society have had been derived from Spain and Mexico. The preexisting family oriented values of the Filipino people before Spanish colonization was further strengthened and institutionalized by the Spaniards and may remain such in the foreseeable future.

Lufthansa-Piloten beschließen zweiten Streik

 

Fünf Tage nach dem Letzten: Lufthansa-Piloten beschließen zweiten Streik. Hunderte Flüge fielen dem Streik der Lufthansa zum Opfer. Mittwoch droht das gleiche Schicksal. Die Piloten haben einen weiteren Streik bei der Airline beschlossen. Das Unternehmen könne den für Mittwoch geplanten zweitägigen Ausstand aber noch mit einem „ernstzunehmenden“ Angebot abwenden, teilte die Gewerkschaft Vereinigung Cockpit in Frankfurt mit. Dazu sei für den Dienstag ein weiterer Verhandlungstermin angeboten worden.