Sports in 2022: World Cup-bound Filipinas keep making history

As they continue to scale new heights, the Filipinas seized 2022 as their year. 

Luisa Morales - Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine women's national football team kick-started the year on the highest possible note, clinching the country's first-ever berth in the FIFA Women's World Cup in January.

Alen Stajcic had just been appointed head coach for a couple of months by the beginning of 2022. He then he steered the Filipinas to the 2023 FIFA WWC —  set in Australia and New Zealand next year — after the team beat Chinese Taipei 1-1 (4-3) on penalties in the quarterfinals of the AFC Women's Asian cup in Sydney.

The Filipinas sent the Philippine football community on high as they punched their ticket to the elite tournament.

But that was only the beginning for what would be a monumental year for the Filipina booters, who broke ceiling after ceiling in the months that came.

In May, they out with their best performance in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, taking home the bronze medal with a 2-1 win over Myanmar.

It was the program's first podium finish in the biennial tournament since 1985 when the squad also ended up third in the competition.

Worth noting is the fact that there were only three nations that participated in the women's football competition of the SEA Games that year.

The Filipinas didn't stop there as they ruled the AFF Women's Championship in July.

Marking the first ever championship for any Filipino side in football, the Filipinas first dethroned Vietnam before beating powerhouse Thailand in a thrilling final, 3-nil, in front of a packed home crowd at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Pumping life into the ever-budding football community in the country, the Filipinas quenched the thirst of fans who have long been waiting for a crown in Manila.

Though the Filipinas capped off competition with the AFF Women's Championship, the team continued to be busy until the end of the year.

In preparation for the World Cup, the Nationals figured in multiple training camps and international friendlies against the likes of Ireland, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Chile, among others.

Coming up with positive results all throughout the year, the vision is optimistic for the Filipinas' campaign in the World Cup slated in a couple of months.

They also end the calendar year with a program-best No. 53 in the FIFA Women's World Rankings.

As they continue to scale new heights under the watchful eye of Stajcic, the Filipinas seized 2022 as their year. 

With a historic campaign to build momentum on, the Filipinas can only hope to bring the energy into the new year.

The Filipinas return to action as early as February when they compete in the Pinatar Cup 2023 in Spain against higher-ranked European teams.

1 dead, 3 missing in Davao landslide

By Ruth Palo

December 30, 2022 30

DAVAO CITY: A resident was killed while three others were missing after being buried in a landslide caused by heavy rains the past two days in Barangay Don Salvador Lopez, Mati City in Davao Oriental on Wednesday, December 28.

The Mati City Information Office reported that the landslide happened around 11 a.m. at Purok Sangay, leaving a village road impassable to vehicles.

The landslide isolated seven other districts — Upper Cangusan, Lower Cangusan, Cangusan Proper, Tabon-Tabon, New Camotes, Sta. Cruz and Biasong.

Teams from the local disaster risk reduction and management office, police, military, Bureau of Fire Protection, and City Social Welfare Development Office are in the area to conduct search and rescue operations.

The victim was identified as Cristituto Magmusa Paglanson, 62.

Welcome 2023 with a super divas sing-off this New Year Sunday on ‘ASAP Natin ‘To’

by Manila Bulletin Entertainment

Let’s kick off 2023 with a bang, as your favorite Kapamilya stars and guest artists bring you the freshest world-class acts on stage, featuring a must-watch Super Divas sing-off, a pop collab from Darren and Alamat, Andrea and Maymay’s dance-off, plus treats from Sarah G, Moira, Nobita, and much more this New Year Sunday only on “ASAP Natin ‘To” on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, and TV5.

Welcome the new year with a showstopping Super Divas sing-off from Morissette, Nina, Klarisse de Guzman, and Regine Velasquez alongside Elha Nympha, Fana, and Lara Maigue as they belt out the best birit hits of 2022. Plus, tune in to Sarah Geronimo’s fresh performance in the latest edition of “Sarah G Specials.”

Keep the party vibes flowing with a highly requested P-Pop collab from Alamat and Asia’s Pop Heartthrob Darren, plus a sizzling dance showdown from Andrea Brillantes and Maymay Entrata in the latest edition of “Clash Dance.” 

Meanwhile, celebrate the unstoppable spirit of Filipino talents as we usher in the year with a mix of upbeat acts from Alexa Ilacad, KD Estrada, Kice, Enchong Dee, Jameson Blake, Angela Ken, and the whole ASAP family with special guest performer Nik Makino. Also joining the all-star New Year’s celebration is Janine Gutierrez.

Say hello to 2023 anew with a fierce solo K-Pop dance cover from ASAP’s Queen of the Dancefloor herself, Kim Chiu.

Don’t miss a senti hits medley from Moira dela Torre alongside Anji Salvacion, Jeremy G, Ryssi Avila, Ann Raniel, Bryan Chong, Janine Berdin, plus balladeers Ogie, Martin, Jed Madela, and Jason Dy. More fresh musical treats come your way from OPM band Nobita, plus a collab from Gary Valenciano and Khimo Gumatay.

And usher in the year with more stellar duet performances from ASAP icons Gary Valenciano, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Martin Nievera, Erik Santos, Morissette, Ogie Alcasid, and Regine Velasquez with Sheena Belarmino, Jason Dy, JM Yosures, Klarisse de Guzman, Sam Mangubat, Reiven Umali, and Darren in “The Greatest Showdown.” 

Let’s welcome 2023 the right way with a star-studded afternoon party from the country’s longest-running musical variety show, “ASAP Natin ‘To,” this Sunday, 12 NN on local TV via Kapamilya Channel, Jeepney TV, A2Z, and TV5, online through Kapamilya Online Live and iWantTFC, and worldwide via TFC.

Viewers who use any digital TV box at home, such as the TVplus box, only need to rescan their device to watch “ASAP Natin ‘To” on TV5 and A2Z.

Jose Rizal: The words of this Philippine hero live on

by Alexa Basa

• Rizal grew up to be skilled in both arts and sciences, and is better known as the author of his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
• Rizal also contributed to La Solidaridad, a newspaper that pushed for reforms. His famous essays in the newspaper were the Sa Mga Kadalagahan Sa Malolos, Bulakan, Filipinas Dentro De Cien Años (The Philippines Within a Century), and Sobre La Indolencia de los Filipinos (On the Indolence of the Filipinos).
• Other written works of Rizal are Mi Retiro (My Retreat), Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell), and an annotated edition of Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.
• The country continues to pay tribute to his heroism through the many monuments, shrines and places that are named after him.
• No one can miss Rizal in a regular day in the Philippines, starting with his face on the one-peso coin, a main avenue in any city or town named “Rizal Street,” major sports venues, university, elementary and high schools, even hospitals that carry his name.

PHILIPPINE HERO – Dr. Jose Rizal, who used nonviolent means for advocating reforms, was executed by a firing squad on Dec. 30, 1896 after being convicted of rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy.
(Photo by Library of Congress website/Manila Bulletin file photo)

Jose Rizal, a Philippine hero who stood up against Spanish colonizers by choosing the pen and not the sword to fight injustice, is the focus of tributes as the nation commemorates his 126th death anniversary on Dec. 30, a non-working holiday.

Rizal’s life was short. At the young age of 35, Rizal was executed by a firing squad on Dec. 30, 1896 in Bagumbayan after he was found guilty of rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy.

I first “met” Rizal through a small, thin book that I read when I was a kid. The book—titled Talambuhay ng mga Bayani—tells the short biographies of Filipino men and women who contributed to the country’s independence from Spanish colonizers. I learned the story about the hero from a summary of his life from his birth to death. I was very young then and I remember trying to memorize the details, especially his complete name. 

Rizal (Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda) was born on June 19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna. He was the seventh among 11 children—two sons and nine daughters—of Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso.

RIZAL MONUMENT -The Rizal monument stands at the Rizal Park, more popularly known as Luneta Park, in Manila. 
(Manila Bulletin File Photo)

He grew up to be skilled in both arts and sciences, and is better known as the author of his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

Rizal also contributed to La Solidaridad, a newspaper that pushed for reforms in the country. His famous essays in the newspaper were the Sa Mga Kadalagahan Sa Malolos, Bulakan, Filipinas Dentro De Cien Años (The Philippines Within a Century), and Sobre La Indolencia de los Filipinos (On the Indolence of the Filipinos).

Among Rizal’s popular written works are Mi Retiro (My Retreat), Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell), and an annotated edition of Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.   

Rizal’s written works are proof that the pen and paper are powerful tools to influence opinion and to bring reform as they inspired people to take action. He chose the pen as a peaceful way to advocate reforms without causing bloodshed.

Rizal’s talent and skills exceeded what is expected from one person. Aside from being a writer, Rizal was an “architect, artist, businessman, cartoonist, educator, economist, ethnologist, scientific farmer, historian, inventor, journalist, linguist, musician, mythologist, nationalist, naturalist, novelist, opthalmic surgeon, poet, propagandist, psychologist, scientist, sculptor, sociologist, and theologian,” according to joserizal.ph website.

The country continues to pay tribute to his heroism through the many monuments, shrines and places that are named after him. No one can miss Rizal in a regular day in the Philippines, starting with his face on the one-peso coin, a main avenue in any city or town named “Rizal Street,” major sports venues, university, elementary and high schools, even hospitals that carry his name. There have been many essays and stories published about him, and films and television shows produced about his life.

In Manila, Rizal Park, popularly referred to as Luneta Park, is the main venue for family gatherings, festivals, shows, exhibits, and dozens of tree planting activities held every so often to celebrate any occasion.

It is also at Rizal Park where a 12.7-meter monument stands with honor guards 24-hours a day.

Near that monument, in a small corner of Rizal Park is the site of where the national hero was executed on Dec. 30, 1896.  A diorama of the execution showing Rizal and the soldiers stand in that plot of land to remind locals and foreigners of our hero. 

If you want to pay your respects to our hero today, visit Rizal Park.

Unique New Year's traditions around the world

New Year traditionsShutterstock.com

by Asaël Häzaq

Whether with family, friends, or on your own, the transition to the new year is a unique and often awaited moment. From South Africa, France, China, to Spain, each country has its own traditions and its own way of celebrating the New Year's eve. But does everyone celebrate the New Year on January 1? Between customs, challenges, rituals and history, here is an overview of some unique New Year traditions.

Canada's polar bear plunge 

In Canada, the passage to the new year is no less than a challenge. Following the example of the polar bear dive, the most daring people will be kicking off the year by running into freezing cold lakes, oceans and dive into the Canadian icy waters (temperatures are close to 0 degrees or barely positive). After the cold plunge, the most courageous ones take part in a 100-meter race. Then comes the reward: a hot drink.

New Zealand's New Year with a fanfare

In New Zealand, the changeover to the new year can be heard in every street. As soon as midnight has passed, New Zealanders take to the streets with pots and pans and other kitchen utensils to make as much noise as possible. A popular and cheerful fanfare to celebrate the transition to the new year.

Denmark' carousel of plates

In Denmark, they don't take out the pots and pans, but the crockery. Plates, cups, saucers, etc., everything works, as long as the dishes are chipped or damaged. They will end up smashed against the door of the house on the evening of December 31. This ritual is believed to bring happiness and success and to chase evil spirits. The more broken plates there are, the more effective the ritual is said to be.

Colombia's traveler's instinct

Get your suitcases out, the Colombians say! In Colombia, one of the New Year's traditions is all about those who love to travel. At midnight, Colombians go around their neighborhoods carrying an empty suitcase. Besides being a call to discovery, this small nocturnal tour is supposed to herald a prosperous year of travel and adventure.

Spain's 12 midnight grapes

Do you have grapes? 12, to be precise. In Spain, the tradition is to eat 12 grapes when the clock strikes midnight: one grape for each month. Eating the 12 grapes is believed to bring luck and happiness for the whole year. The tradition is so popular that it is broadcast on national TV networks. Thousands of Spaniards also gather at the Puerta del Sol, Madrid's iconic square, to celebrate the arrival of the new year by eating the lucky grapes. But keeping up with the 12-second limit is a challenging task. The one who manages to eat the 12 grapes in rhythm will have good luck for the whole year. The smartest ones opt for seedless grapes, which are easier to swallow.

France's midnight kiss

At midnight on December 31, according to French tradition, people toast and kiss their beloved under a mistletoe tree. This custom, however, rarer nowadays, can still be seen in romantic movies. One can be satisfied with a simple kiss or more if both feel like it, and toast to the new year.

Poland's twelve midnight dishes

On the New Year's eve, Poles prepare a generous meal made up of twelve dishes in reference to the twelve months of the year. The carp has a special place among all the dishes; it is the staple of the traditional meal, and its scales are also a sign of good luck. According to the custom, you should keep a few scales in your wallet. They are believed to bring luck throughout the year.

The year in Ecuador goes up in flames

In Ecuador, the bad things of the past year end up in smoke. Ecuadorians make human-sized puppets, some with the faces of unpopular personalities. At the stroke of midnight, the puppets are burned, taking with them all the bad things of the past year, according to tradition. This custom helps to turn the page of the past and start a new year.

Brazil's 7 lucky jumps

This tradition will delight swimmers and intrepid people. On New Year's eve, Brazilians gather on Copacabana beach. At midnight, they jump into the water fully dressed and try to hop over 7 waves. With each hop, they make a wish or express their gratitude. At the water's edge, the tradition requires that one dresses in white (a symbol of luck and peace) to offer offerings to the goddess of the sea. Wicker baskets containing mirrors, jewels and sweets are sent to float on the water. If the baskets return to the shore, it is a bad sign, meaning that the goddess has refused the offering. The unfortunate rejected ones would then face 12 months of misfortune. If the baskets continue their journey on the sea, then the good news is that they will have 12 months of prosperity.

Russia's wishes go into bubbles

In Russia, people write their wishes on a small piece of paper which is then burned. However, be wary not to throw the ashes away. Instead, you are advised to recover and sprinkle them in your glass of champagne. Then, at midnight, you must drink the glass in one go. The ashes thus ingested are said to ensure that the wishes will come true in the year.

The New Year is not always on January 1st

New Year's Eve does not always fall on December 31. In some countries, celebrations take place on some other day of the year.

South Africa's great January 2 Carnival 

It is called the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival. Back in the 19th century, when slavery was still rife in Cape Town, black people were not allowed to celebrate New Year's Eve on December 31, the day reserved for whites. The then slaves used their day of rest, January 1, to celebrate the New Year. This holiday used to be known as Coon Carnival or Kaapse klopse. But the term is no longer used in South Africa as it is considered disrespectful. The Cape Town Minstrel Carnival brings together thousands of people. Singers and dancers parade in festive and colorful costumes. Trumpets, banjos and drums echo through the streets of the city.

Thailand's April Water Festival

In Thailand, there is no holiday on December 31 as the new year is celebrated on April 12. Songkran is a festival celebrating the Buddhist New Year and the beginning of the rainy season, 3 days before the beginning of the year (in April, therefore), it's the water festival. According to tradition, water is said to have purifying virtues and to repel bad luck. On that day, Thai people zealously spray each other with water cannons and other water pistols. Tourists are also sprayed, as well as temples and Buddha statues.

China's January 22, 2023, New Moon

The NongliXinnian (Lunar New Year) will take place on January 22, 2023, with celebrations between January 21 and February 5. The new year will be under the sign of the water rabbit and will last until February 9, 2024. Among the traditions surrounding the celebrations are 7 traditional dishes: fish, Chinese ravioli, spring rolls, glutinous rice cakes, sweet rice balls, longevity noodles, and lucky fruits (orange, mandarin oranges, grapefruit, amongst others). The particularity of all these foods is that their pronunciation is synonymous with luck, happiness, and abundance. For example, the word "fish" (yú) sounds like the word "abundance". In the Chinese tradition, eating these foods would mean good luck for the whole year.

Article translated from Tour du monde traditions atypiques pour le Nouvel An

The importance of a healthy family life

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

WITH the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we are reminded of our duty to make our family life as healthy as possible. And by healthy, we mean that we animate our family life with the love that reigned in the Holy Family.

Lest we think that animating our family life with love is something purely theoretical if not impracticable, we have to realize that there are specific and concrete things we can do to make our family life vibrant and healthy. 

Obviously, a healthy family life means that time is spent with the family. There have to be customs and practices where the family can be together. It would be good if, for example, all the members can take some meals together, like dinner, after which a little family get-together can take place. 

This is important because that’s the way all the members can truly know each other and monitor developments as they come. Life offers endless situations, conditions, challenges, trials, etc. Everyone in the family, but especially the parents, should help one another go through these varying circumstances properly.

With time together, they can see each other’s strengths and weaknesses, peculiarities and idiosyncrasies, and would be in better position to help in some way for the proper growth of each one.

One of the things we can do is first of all to teach everyone as early as possible to be always thoughtful, mindful and caring of one another in the family. This will require some training that ideally should start when the children are still small. Of course, the parents take the primary role in this regard.

Let’s remember that the child is the father of the man. How the child is, how he is trained, will show the kind of man he will be when he grows up. Thus, virtues should be imparted and learned as early as possible. 

Children, for example, should be taught how to serve the others, how to deal with the unavoidable differences and conflicts among themselves. They have to learn how to educate their emotions and effectively blend the different faculties and powers they have, so they can attain some degree of inner harmony and move toward human maturity.

Most important, of course, is to train them to develop a working life of piety. As early as possible, children should learn how to pray and how to maintain an intimate relationship with God that is also translated into their proper relationship with others. Obviously, some practices of piety have to be inculcated in them in a way that is most attractive and that befits their conditions.

There has to be a way of regularly assessing how each one is growing. It should be a way that is clear about what criteria, standards and norms to use. With the many confusing things that are at play in the world today, it might be prudent to seek professional and expert advice in this regard.

What is clear also is that to make family life healthy, we have to use both human and supernatural means. Everyone has to be taught to use both reason and faith, feelings and intelligence, study and work on the one hand, and prayer, sacrifice, recourse to the sacraments, ascetical struggle on the other. 

The natural and the supernatural, the material and the spiritual, the temporal and the eternal have to blended properly!

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

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

29 RIDOs in Davao de Oro complete DdOT-KD program

On Wednesday, December 28, a total of twenty-nine (29) former Illegal Drug Offenders for Reforms (IDORs) who are now Reformed Illegal Drug Offenders (RIDOs) successfully graduated from the Davao de Oro Transformative Programs Kontra Droga (DdOT-KD). They received their certificate of completion during the Culmination Ceremony at the Activity Hall, Provincial Capitol, proving that they have changed and no longer use illegal drugs.

Of the 62 IDORs, only 29 RIDOs enrolled in the 2nd batch of the program and completed it. The other 33 dropped out, some were arrested, tested positive for illegal drugs, or passed away as a result of accidents, shootings, and other tragedies. The 2nd batch beneficiaries started their intervention last November 8, 2019, during the kick off ceremony at the Social Hall, Provincial Capitol. The delay of the culmination ceremony was due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Governor Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga, represented by Executive Assistant III Fr. Nick Consencino, stressed to the RIDOs the significance of continuing to abstain and stay away from illegal drugs and setting an example for those people who are still in the situation to also reintegrate into the society.

Assistant Provincial Health Officer/ Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) Secretariat Dr. Mary Cyril G. Pasaol also underscored to the RIDOs to avoid the people contributing to the triggers for them to go back to the dangerous deeds. She added that the government is always willing to help in improving their quality of life.

Alyas Karen, a RIDO, expressed gratitude in her speech to the  local and national government units and various stakeholders for the support provided to change their outlook on life, enabling them to return to the folds of the community and no longer use illegal drugs.

Aside from the Certificate of Completion, the 29 RIDOs also received a TESDA certificate on Mushroom making as well as 25 kilos of rice assistance and an emergency kit.

Further, a total of 58 RIDOs, out of 60 IDORs enrolled in the first batch that commenced on July 5, 2019, also completed the program during the culmination ceremony at the Social Hall, Provincial Capitol on December 19, 2019. This sums up a total of 87 RIDOs that completed the intervention since the program started in 2019 up until this year.

The DdOT-KD program of the provincial government, administered by the PADAC chaired by Governor Gonzaga, is a six-month community-based treatment for Plea Bargaining Cases or IDORs. Such provisions include rehabilitation, reformation and reintegration, through structured activities and sessions including psychosocial interventions, restoring family relationships, spiritual guidance and counseling, among others. (Jaynus Fernandez, Photos by A. Dayao)

We Found A Seafood Oasis! A Secret To Many Locals

In This Video We Found A Seafood Oasis! A Secret To Many Locals, thanks to a subscriber we were taken to a seafood hub outside Iloilo City Philippines. About Us, Two years ago we made a plan we Sold Everything & Now Living In The Philippines On A Budget in 2022, we had paid our debts, sold everything and made a budget. Its been a crazy journey from Cambodia to Albania then here in Boracay, check out why we moved to the Philippines and specifically why Boracay Island.

The Years Between

The Years Between (1946) is a British film directed by Compton Bennett and starring Michael Redgrave, Valerie Hobson and Flora Robson in an adaptation of the 1945 play The Years Between by Daphne du Maurier. It was shot at the Riverside Studios.

"Evocative details about family, friends, writers and landscapes make Lynn Cohen's Between the Years vibrant and moving. Her landscapes are filled with memories that balance between nostalgia and revelation, as we journey with the poet through the cycle of searching, finding, losing, and recovering. Loss and aging dance with youth and fulfillment, creating poems of lyrical intensity and surprise. Look for "Affairs are not for the Faint Hearted," "Gretchen," "Colossus," and "City of Glass." Lynn's poems remind us that an epic unfolds between birth and death."

New Year's Day is the pause between the past and the future -- after the grand retrospectives of Hanukkah and Christmas but before the resolutions and predictions kick in. This is one of the few moments in the year when we are almost forced to contemplate the strange propulsion of time that carries us along through life. You can choose your own metaphor. Do the years feel like combers rolling onto the beach, one after the other? Do you feel as if you're swimming downstream with the current of a mighty river? Or does this winter-shift from one year to the next feel like a portage through dark woods between two lakes?

From time to time most of us aspire to episodes of timelessness, if that isn't a contradiction in terms. Parents look at their children, or we look at our parents, and there is a horrifying thrill in how rapidly they change, a thrill that makes us want to stop time, as much for ourselves as for them. There are days so beautiful, so productive, so happy that we would like to fix them in our minds for good as the prototype of all days -- while knowing that what makes those days so memorable is also the fact that they slide past as if by their own momentum. But the momentum is ours, too. It's tempting to believe on New Year's Day that we are standing still while the world rushes on, as if we were passengers in one of Einstein's thought experiments. But who is to say that we aren't the ones rushing onward, and the world is trying desperately to keep up? Time's arrow is embedded in the very nature of this universe, and it's a good thing, too, because otherwise everything would be so disorganized.

Many times we are really in too much of a hurry while feeling uncomfortable if we notice how time flies. Yes, my late grandmother was right, when she said: The older you become, the faster time passes by. My late mother told us the same. Yes, I am 69 now. I can only strongly agree with her.

When I was still a teenager, I was longing to be an adult already. Later, I enjoyed listening to my late grandmother (born 1898!) stories such as "Once upon a time" or "When I was young" from her life yesterday's life... .

After a couple of years, especially while observing that time really flies like a racket to the moon, I also have 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 how we take the initiative to do or to move something, if ...! Yes, the luring term IF lets us look into the future  with an overblown "glistening" eye: IF I will finish my studies - IF my children become adults - IF I might become rich and win in the lottery, yes IF! And then?

Christmas is gone, if you might read this. The next turn of the year is just around the corner. For most of us it's time to come to our senses. The future prospects smile at us already. What might the New Year bring us? Is life in the future easier, nicer, more charming and more fulfilled compared to the present or the almost finished 2022? The thoughts fill me with horror, because tragicomic future visions can easily blur away our present day.

A possible topsy-turvy world of a golden youth tries to let us forget that also the past has had its shares of disappointments, pains, tears, darkness, tricky as well as desperate days... yes, lost days, irretrievable time... .We dream our impossible dreams from last year, this 2022 to the future and vice versa. We forget that between yesterday and tomorrow is our valuable presence. Well, now well then - if we know how to fulfill this period.

I will be taking a short break from many tasks and appointments. I will be trusting in God, because He takes care of me and my future.  Don't allow the daily hectic and stress of this season kill your senses.

Bright prospects in tourism sector seen in 2023

Published December 29, 2022, 12:02 AM

by Manila Bulletin

If the number of arrivals in our airports last Christmas Day is an indication, then we would see an uptrend in the tourism sector in 2023. This bodes well for an industry which was very much affected during the pandemic, as flights, events, conferences, etc. were all cancelled. This led to the closure – temporary or otherwise – of tourism establishments such as hotels, resorts, events venues, and even allied businesses such as restaurants, bars, car rental firms, events companies, security agencies, etc. The tourism industry casts a wide net that its impact is far-reaching and consequential to the lives and livelihood of many Filipinos.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said that almost 30,000 travelers, including Filipino passengers, arrived in the country on Christmas Day. This figure is way much higher than in previous years, partly credited to the relaxed restrictions for those entering the country. At the end of this month, the BI projects 3.2 to 3.5 million passengers using the airport terminals.

With these positive trends not only in domestic tourism, but more so for worldwide tourism, there is wisdom in preparation. For starters, there is a need for more world-class airports. This has been mentioned by the President in his speeches. It would, however, take some years before this becomes a reality. 

In the absence of such infrastructure, there are many programs of the government, led by the Department of Tourism (DOT), to attract more tourists.  In fact, the DOT has revealed that it is targeting 4.8 million foreign tourists in 2023 – double than the 2022 arrival numbers, which is currently pegged at around 2.5 million.

“We look at it with optimism in a sense that our goal is to exceed our conservative projections in the same way that we have been able to exceed it this year,” said DOT Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco. “We feel that we would be able to exceed our pre-pandemic numbers way earlier than the 2025 year that was told to us when we assumed office with the improved policies under the Marcos administration.”

The DOT had initially projected 1.7 million tourist arrivals this year, but the actual count recorded 2.46 million as of Dec. 19, 2022.  The tourism chief hopes that the year will close with 2.5 million visitor arrivals, which accounts to close to 30 percent of the industry’s pre-pandemic arrivals data when the Philippines recorded 8.3 million arrivals in 2019. This is a far cry from the 164,000 recorded in 2021.

The DOT has also revealed its priority goals for next year, which include stronger collaboration between national government agencies and LGUs in developing the country’s tourism portfolio, and exemplifying the Filipino Brand of Service Excellence (FBSE). This will highlight the training of 100,000 tourism workers, the highest record set by far for the industry. 

Among the new tourism programs include the “Philippine Travel Experience,” which would give tourists a window to discover the country’s tourism gems; and the “Bisita, Be My Guest Program,” where the DOT will give away condo units, cars, and other prizes for returning Filipinos who can bring home acquaintances, friends, and family members to the country.

With all these in the pipeline, there is no way to go but up for the tourism industry. It is high time as it has experienced its lowest morale during the pandemic. We ought to give our all-out support and become the unofficial “tourism ambassadors” in our own little way because in the end, no one will help Filipinos but fellow Filipinos.