Duterte signs laws declaring 4 new tourist destinations

NEW TOURIST SPOT. Photo of Pinsal Falls in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur which was declared new tourist destination under Republic Act No. 11409. President Rodrigo Duterte signed the new law on Aug. 22, 2019. (Contributed photo)

MANILA -- President Rodrigo Duterte has signed four laws declaring new tourist destinations, including three in Ilocos Sur province.

All four laws were signed by Duterte on Aug. 22 and copies of the documents were released to reporters on Thursday (Aug. 29).

Duterte declared Candon city ecotourism zone in Candon City, Ilocos Sur a tourist destination through Republic Act 11407.

He also signed RA 11409, declaring Pinsal Falls in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur a tourist destination.

Santiago Cove in Santiago, Ilocos Sur was also declared as another tourist destination of the province under RA 11408.

Duterte signed RA 11406 declaring Mount Bulaylay in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija a tourist destination.

Under the laws, the Department of Tourism (DOT), in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways and other concerned agencies of the government will be tasked to prepare a tourism development plan “involving the construction, installation, and maintenance of such appropriate facilities and infrastructure.”

These facilities and infrastructure must “improve the overall feature of the area” to ensure accessibility and security of tourists.

The said development plan must ensure the "preservation and conservation of the historic significance of the area."

Any activities and developments to be carried out in the area should conform to the concept of ecotourism as provided in the National Ecotourism Strategy jointly issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the DOT.

The DOT and its concerned attached agencies are tasked to take immediate steps to implement the tourism development plan and incorporate the same in the National Tourism Development Plan.

The funding from the act will be included in the annual General Appropriations Act. (PNA / By Azer Parrocha )

DND chief eyes new Navy ship to guard Palawan, Sulu waters

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)

MANILA -- Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Tuesday he prefers to deploy the newly-acquired BRP Conrado Yap of the Philippine Navy to guard the country's waters off Palawan or Sulu, once it is ready.

"Kung ako siguro, (As for me) maybe Palawan and the Sulu seas it depends on the Navy how soon they can bring (the ship) to the south," Lorenzana said on the sidelines of the welcoming ceremonies for corvette BRP Conrado Yap (PS-39) at Pier 13, Manila South Harbor.

Lorenzana also lauded President Rodrigo R. Duterte's instruction to all foreign vessels to get clearance before passing through the country's waters.

"That is a very good development because now we have some authority to enforce our laws with (in) our territorial waters," he said.

Duterte’s order came after the repeated passing of foreign vessels, particularly Chinese warships, through Philippine waters without notifying the government.

The Western Mindanao Command earlier reported that five Chinese naval vessels passed through Sibutu Strait in the waters of Tawi-Tawi -- four were recorded in July and the last on August 4.

Meanwhile, PN flag-officer-in-command Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad called the arrival of BRP Conrado Yap a momentous occasion for the seafaring nation of the Philippines.

"We welcome home with pride, our newest and easily the most powerful man-of-war, BRP Conrado Yap, PS-39, manned by 60 well-trained, highly capable, and extremely dedicated officers and crew," he added.

Empedrad also thanked the South Korean government for its donation, adding that the PN will take good care of the ship, considered as its most heavily-armed unit, and hopes that it will get two more "Pohang"-class corvettes in the near future.

The BRP Conrado Yap is the former "Chungju" of the Republic of Korea Navy. Pohang-class corvettes, especially those designated as Flight II, are optimized for anti-submarine warfare missions.

The ship is armed with two 76mm Oto Melara automatic guns, two Oto Breda 40mm light cannons, depth-charge racks, and two triple torpedo tubes and surveillance systems like radar and sonar.

BRP Conrado Yap was formally turned over and commissioned to the PN last August 5 during short ceremonies at Jinhae Naval Base in Changwon City, South Korea. The corvette and her escort, the BRP Davao Del Sur (LD-602) departed the South Korean facility last August 12 for their voyage home which ended early morning of August 18. (PNA /By Priam Nepomuceno  )

CDO industrial summit to promote Mindanao economic zones

Atty. Franklin Quijano, president of PHIVIDEC Industrial Authority. (PNA file photo by Che Palicte)
 

DAVAO CITY--The Philippine Industrial Summit in Cagayan de Oro City on Nov. 26-27 is expected to provide more exposure for economic zones in Mindanao, an official said on Monday.

Lawyer Franklin Quijano, president of PHIVIDEC Industrial Authority (PIA), said the summit seeks to entice more investors to look for potential business ventures in the island.

Quijano said the summit is also a good venue to tell investors that the existing martial law (ML) has no effect on Mindanao's trade potentials, adding some businesses in the island are even expanding.

He said the summit will focus on the state of industrialization in the country, and the government's initiatives to raise the economy.

"There is a need for the industrial key players to convene and make the Philippines an industrialized country," he said, referring to the upcoming summit.

The PHIVIDEC chief underscored the need for an "industrial revolution that will set the nation forward on a global economic platform."

He said the summit promises to be a "gathering of champions and tycoons from various industries, as well as leaders from private and public sectors, government agencies, and policymakers."

It is also expected to maximize collaboration and meaningful linkages among champions of industries, private sectors, government agencies, policy makers, general public and media practitioners, he said.

The summit is organized by PIE-MO Industries Association Inc. in partnership with PHIVIDEC Industrial Authority.

PIA is a government-owned and controlled corporation responsible for industrial estate development throughout the Philippines.

PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental (PIE-MO) is a 3,000-hectare Special Economic Zone that encompasses 13 barangays within the municipalities of Tagoloan and Villanueva. (PNA / By Che Palicte )

MOTC-BARMM Minister puts an end to issues hounding Marina Tawi-Tawi provincial office

MOTC-BARMM Minister Dickson Hermoso conduct his first ocular visit in Bongao port to settled issues and fix any problems for the better BARMM governance. During his visit he closely coordinated to  Lt. General Cirilito Sobejana, Commander of AFP’s Western Mindanao Command (WESMINCOM),  Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi, 2nd Marine Brigade, Phil. Navy’s Naval Station Juan Magluyan (NAJM), Phil.Coast Guard and Phil. National Police in Tawi-Tawi are also in full support. ( Photo by Mark Navales.}

Bongao, Tawi-Tawi - Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) provincial office in Tawi-Tawi has been in confusion in terms of leadership that prompted an immediate ocular inspection last  Tuesday, 6 August just earlier.

Minister of Transportation and Communications (MOTC)-BARMM, Dickson P. Hermoso conveyed a strong message to put an end the  issues of leadership of this office.

Minister Hermoso said, "The confusion of leadership in this office has to stop. no one can  assumes office without any proper legal authority that comes from the BARMM   Interim Chief Minister Alhaj  Murad Ibrahim, he said.

Before the turn-over of authority from the former ARMM to BARMM, this has been the prevailing concern in the Southwestern Island province of the Bangsamoro government.

Alonto A. Sahiron, MPA, Regional Officer-in-Charge of MARINA-BARMM said "this ocular visit of Minister Hermoso  settled once and for all the issues on bogus personnel pretending to be employees who are actually  connected with MARINA-BARMM."

"We were already directed by the Interim Chief Minister Alhaj Murad Ebrahim to look in to  this bogus operation of MARINA in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi until  the  new minister appointed he  vigorously sustained efforts to solve every problems and  issues in order to have a good and better governance. 

Sahiron said that he do his  best to serve his people religiously to avoid issues and problems. 

He added that  all types of sea vessel regardless of tonnage are obliged to register and to be recognized by MARINA-BARMM before they conducts their business operation like commercial sea vessels, may it be small wooden banca, medium size or large passenger and cargo container ships, should get their permit to operate.

(Photo by Mark Navales)

The MARINA and Regional Ports Management Authority (RPMA) they  should be working hand and hand as brothers to monitor each sea vessel plying and docking along the seas and rivers within the BARMM area of responsibility.

During the turn over  Gary Abbas, Regional Officer-in-Charge of RPMA said, "So far our ports suffers congestion problems and we were look in a proper solution about this,  The fact that there are so many sea vessels now docking at our ports, we can hardly accommodate them.", he said.

"Bongao and Jolo ports are under renovations to be able to handle bigger ships and we can cater some international hub like international cargos and passenger ships from neighboring Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Sabah and Brunei." Abbas conveyed.

“The revival of the barter trade among our Asian neighbors such as Malaysia and Indonesia is underway as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision about the cross-border trading under the President Duterte's Executive Order No. 64 in October 2018 that created the Mindanao Barter Council (MBC), has identified the ports of Siasi and Jolo in Sulu and Bongao in Tawi-Tawi as the barter ports, he added.

The said ocular visit of Minister Hermoso was in close coordination with Lt. General Cirilito Sobejana, Commander of AFP’s Western Mindanao Command (WESMINCOM). The Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi, 2nd Marine Brigade, Phil. Navy’s Naval Station Juan Magluyan (NAJM), Phil.Coast Guard and Phil. National Police in Tawi-Tawi are also in full supports of some other government line agencies like Bureau of Customs and Bureau of Immigration as well as the local chief executives were also there to support the proper flow of operation in the Bangsamoro island provinces. {By Mark Navales/with reports by Andy Orobia)