ISTAMBAY SA MINDANAO

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Walter I. Balane's Notes on Peace Processes and Development in Mindanao, Southern Philippines

Released Philippine eagle killed in Mt. Kitanglad

Three-year-old Philippine Eagle “Kagsabua” was killed by a local airgun shooter near the village where
he was released just four months ago inside the Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park, an environment official said.

Felix Mirasol, community environment and natural resource officer, confirmed to MindaNews Wednesday that witnesses have identified the culprit described as a young man who failed to attend information
drive on the Philippine Eagle (pithecophaga jefferyi).

Mirasol is the Mt. Kitanglad Protected Area superintendent.

Kagsabua was last sighted on July 7 and was known to be missing between July 8 and 10, Mirasol said. He said a search operation was immediately launched. Read the rest of this entry »

Inihanay sa:Agriculture, Bukidnon, Crime, Environment, Every Day Mindanao, Governance, Indifgenous Peoples, Local Governance, Lumads and Mindanao, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Philippines, Reporting Mindanao, Safety, Tourism

PAL says lower airfare got the firm more passengers

The Philippine Airlines’ decision to lower the fare for travel to and from Mindanao has actually earned their firm more passengers as those who used to travel by land and sea could now afford to fly.“We got a portion of that market because our airfare is now almost equal to that of surface travel,” Philippine Airlines’ vice president for Mindanao Dominguo Duerme said. Read the rest of the report on MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:Business, Davao, Economy, Every Day Mindanao, Mindanao, Philippines, Tourism, Travel and Transportation

Resource projects dominate EAGA biz matching

Business interests mainly on biodiesel, palm oil plantations, and mining dominate projects eyed for business matching at the first ever BIMP-East ASEAN Growth Area investment conference here.

About 28 of the 39 projects were clustered under the natural resource development sector, according to a list provided by the conference secretariat to reporters.

Only 11 were classified under tourism development, transport, infrastructure and communication. Four of the projects are into mining, including another mining project in Zamboanga Sibugay, two in Compostela Valley under the Philippine Mining Development Corporation, and another one on coal in West Kalimantan in Indonesia.  Read the rest of the report on MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:BIMP - EAGA, Business, Davao, Economy, Events, Every Day Mindanao, Investments in Mindanao, Mindanao, Mining in Mindanao, Philippines, Tourism, Travel and Transportation

Participatory tourism

I coined the title just to strike a point.

While waiting for a ride out from SM City Davao last Wednesday, I sat in in one of the meetings held at the mall’s Entertainment Plaza in time for the tourism week celebration.

That’s when I heard an officer of the Filipino Communities Association of Australia addressing the general assembly of the Davao City Tourism Council.

He spoke of involving the communities in tourism planning so they will not be left out and be out of synch in attending to tourists coming their way. Read this report on MindaNews.com for more details.

Another way of looking at it, however, is to engage the communities as partners and not just as sit-in guests in meetings just to receive tourism briefings. Read the rest of this entry »

Inihanay sa:Bukidnon, Business, Davao, Economy, Governance, Human Rights, Local Governance, Lumads and Mindanao, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Philippines, Tourism

ARMM traders: immediate peace agreement, please

The business community in conflict-affected areas are sounding off their stand: enough to conflicts, sign the peace agreement and start developing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Datu Haron Bandila, chair of the ARMM Business Council, said the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) must stay focused on the peace process for an immediate signing of the peace agreement.

He told MindaNews Thursday the biggest concern of the business community in the ARMM is the ongoing conflict.

He said they are calling on the government and the MILF to stick to the peace process and never to allow any more delays. Read the rest of the report on MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:ARMM, BIMP - EAGA, Business, Economy, Environment, Fisheries Industry in Mindanao, Food in Mindanao, Food/Health Related, Governance, Investments in Mindanao, Jobs in Mindanao, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Peace Process, Philippines, Safety, Security, Tourism

Traders as peacemakers in Mindanao

Business that is more responsive to the peace process in Mindanao is among the key issues to be discussed in the 6th Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Business Congress next month, an ARMM Business Council official said.

Bai Sandra Basar, president of the Muslim Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kutawato (Cotabato), told MindaNews Tuesday afternoon that they are batting for the business sector to play a bigger role in achieving and eventually sustaining peace in Mindanao.

Basar is a board member of the ARMM Business Council composed of at least 10 business chambers and industry associations in the provinces of Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-tawi and Lanao del Sur and the cities of Cotabato and Marawi.

Read the rest of the report on MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:ARMM, Agriculture, BIMP - EAGA, Business, Economy, Food in Mindanao, Governance, Investments in Mindanao, Jobs in Mindanao, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, News, Peace Process, Philippines, Security, Tourism, Travel and Transportation

In the drawing board: Shanghai– Davao flights

After the launching of the four arches to the city’s Chinatown weeks ago, and the call of Councilor Pete Laviña for the opening of a consular office of the Chinese embassy, here’s more.
Talks are underway for the opening of hartered flights between this city and the bustling Chinese city of Shanghai, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano told MindaNews Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »

Inihanay sa:BIMP - EAGA, Business, Davao, Economy, Governance, Investments in Mindanao, Mindanao, Philippines, Social Security, Tourism, Travel and Transportation

DOT puts up visitors’ lounge at Eagle camp

DAVAO CITY (MIndaNews / August 10) – A new, more visitor-friendly lounge will rise at the Philippine Eagle Center this year, to help attract more visitors and raise consciousness on the conservation effort to save the Philippine Eagle.

The Department of Tourism has promised P5 million to construct it and Secretary Joseph Ace Durano has urged tourism operators attending the opening ceremonies of the Second Mindanao Travel Exposition Thursday to include the eagle conservation camp among their destinations.    

The Philippine Eagle Foundation will be the second institution to receive a DOT infrastructure funding, Durano told MindaNews. 

Durano said the eight-month construction will start by September. PEC volunteer architect Francis Hidalgo designed the new lounge that Durano described as “modern and close to nature.” Read the rest of the report on MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:Business, Davao, Economy, Environment, Mindanao, Philippines, Tourism

KADAYAWAN 2007: Calendar of Activities

All roads lead to Davao City for this year’s Kadayawan Festival. The whole month of August is festival fever in the city. Visitors from other places in Mindanao, the country and the world are expected to troop to Dabaw.

Organizers speak of this year’s focus on returning to the city’s indigenous ancestry. Will it bring in new energy for the booming city? Or it will hurt the tourism sector as some people feared?

Take Davao by yourself. Experience the festival to find out the excitement with this guide: Read the rest of this entry »

Inihanay sa:Business, Davao, Economy, Events, Feasts in Mindanao, Governance, Mindanao, Music and Mindanao, News, Philippines, Tourism, Travel and Transportation

Davao can do even better!

From Ferdie Ciento: “… I enjoy learning things about Davao and Mindanao. Suggestion lang, kung sana may picture tour din sa famous ninyong Davao International Airport na ma-ifeature dito sa site mo, kita ko kasi ang exploreiloilo.com at maganda ang presentation nila lalo na sa updates about their place including business and tourism prospects. Sana lumago pa ang Istambay sa Mindanao…mabuhay kayo!”

Big Thanks to Ferdie C!

Honestly, I hopped by www.exploreiloilo.com and I liked the site. It’s maintained by a 19-year old nursing student. It contains beautiful images of Iloilo City, including old churches, malls and their new “airport of international standard.”

Even if, however, I find Iloilo City via exploreiloilo’s appeal surprisingly attractive and also memorable since it was my city from 1994 to 2000, I still think Davao City, can do far better. Read the rest of this entry »

Inihanay sa:BIMP - EAGA, Blogging and Mindanao, Business, Davao, Economy, Every Day Mindanao, Governance, Investments in Mindanao, Mindanao, Philippines, Tourism, Travel and Transportation, Trips - Adventures - Escapades

NEDA regrets Neri’s exit but “all is well”

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/1 Aug) – The National Economic Development Authority would have wanted Secretary Romulo Neri to stay on in the agency but a NEDA official said there is nothing they can do about his transfer to the Department of Education in a string of cabinet revamp during the last two months.

Nicasio Angelo Agustin, NEDA Southern Mindanao regional director, told reporters in an interview Wednesday Neri’s transfer was a great loss to the government’s development agency.

But he expressed confidence NEDA will overcome the loss with the appointment of Neri’s deputy, Augusto B. Santos, as replacement.

Read the rest of the report on MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:BIMP - EAGA, Business, Davao, Investments in Mindanao, Mindanao, Tourism

Davao’s Chinatown getting dressed up

I was nosebleeding with Mandarin this afternoon at the unveiling of the proposed “Arch of Unity” in the city’s Chinatown district. I covered the event and once again encountered a familiar crowd.

The program was said in English but was translated to Chinese every now and then.

When I was still in Iloilo in the late 90s, this was the crowd I crossed –what with Chinese employers. But I didn’t learn or try to learn their language (s).
So when the translations came for Chinese, I started to nosebleed.

The Chinatown in Sta. Ana, one of two only in the Philippines, is getting dressed up.The other one being in Manila, the Davao Chinatown is the only one in Mindanao. Read the rest of this entry »

Inihanay sa:Business, Davao, Economy, Governance, Investments in Mindanao, Mindanao, Safety, Tourism

Blog Events in RP

2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit

Looking Back: Mindanao Under Martial Law

"But there are many things that have not yet come to pass. As I walk the mountain trails, I am still confronted by sad images of massive poverty, landless peasants with limited tools, emaciated old people, malnourished children with bloated stomachs, houses ready to collapse and roads that are also the riverbeds," Bro. Karl Gaspar, CSsR, in "Up in the mountains, I still remember." Pages 116-117 of the book Turning Rage into Courage: Mindanao Under Martial Law Volume 1. The book was published in 2002 by Mindanao News and Information Cooperative Center, the publisher of MindaNews, not only to simply remember Martial rule after 30 years but also to "take a stand, about sacrificing personal dreams, and even lives, for causes larger than ones own" during the Martial Law years.

Eyeing ahead: On constitutionality of ban on aerial spraying

"After a very extensive review and careful evaluation of the voluminous records submitted, arguments and complicated positions from the parties, the court cannot sustain the theory and position of the petitioners in assailing the validity and constitutionality of the subject City Ordinance," Regional Trial Court Branch 17 Judge Renato Fuentes said as quoted by a press statement of a pro-ban group on his September 22 decision to uphold the constitutionality of the Davao City government to pass the law. Three months earlier, Fuentes issued a preliminary injunction stopping the city government from implementing the law passed in March 2007. The ban came following complaints against dangers of the chemicals in spraying using airplanes to the health of the people and the environment surrounding at least 5,000 hectares of export banana plantations in Davao City. But this legal battle could extend to the Court of Appeals and up to the Supreme Court --- something to watch for a long time.

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Blogging from Bukidnon in Mindanao, Philippines