The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has started training employees to help in guiding the growing number of tourists from large cruise ships that now frequently call in this free port.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said that the agency, in cooperation with the Department of Tourism, rolled out a Basic Tourist Reception and Guiding Program to keep up with the rising demand for more tour guides.

An SBMA tour guide snaps pictures of disembarked tourists from the MS Ovation of the Seas cruise ship

“So far, the SBMA had trained three batches of new tour guides since February this year when cruise ships began regularly plying the Subic Bay Freeport route,” Eisma said.

“With each cruise ship bringing in from 2,000 to 5,000 tourists at each port call, and with about 20 cruise ship arrivals scheduled this year, we really need all the help we can get to manage this unprecedented influx of visitors,” she also said.

The employee-tour guides will be on-call for the part-time work. “They won’t be earning huge amounts of money, as they are doing it out of ‘malasakit’ for the SBMA,” Eisma explained.

An SBMA tour guide shepherds newly-arrived cruise ship passengers during a tour of the Subic Bay Freeport

The SBMA tour guides are picked from various departments that serve as frontline customer-service units and are asked to undergo a two-day training program to enhance their oral communication skills.

The training includes delivery of spiel and a mock tour where trainees are given situations that required fast thinking and effective delivery, said SBMA tourism head Jem Camba.

Camba said that with each cruise ship arrival, a minimum of 20 tour guides are called on for duty. Bigger cruise ships like the MS Ovation of the Seas, the biggest in operation in Asia, require around 45 tour guides who would accompany Mandarin-speaking interpreters assigned to tour buses.

Tourists listen to an SBMA tour guide’s spiel on local culture during a visit at the Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar museum and heritage site in Bagac, Bataan

The SBMA tour guides, who are well-versed on Subic Bay and its environs, are tasked to provide precise information about local tourism destinations that will be passed on by interpreters to the mostly Chinese passengers of cruise ships arriving here.

Thompson Gatdula, an SBMA employee-tour guide, described the work as fun and educational.

“I get to know more about other people and their culture, as they get to know more about the Subic Bay Freeport and other local communities,” said Gatdula, who had accompanied tourists to as far as the Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, an open-air museum and heritage site in Bagac, Bataan.

“We’re doing this out of ‘malasakit’ for the SBMA and the country. Whatever we do here would reflect on us as Filipinos, so we have to be our best each time we interact with cruise ship visitors,” he added.

Like Gatdula, the on-call tour guides get a message each time their services are needed. This gives the full itinerary for the day and identifies the areas that the tourists are scheduled to visit.

“The job usually entails working and being on the road the whole day, but believe me, it is worth it,” said Gatdula. “When you make visitors smile, when you make them fall in love with the Subic Bay Freeport, that gives you a deep sense of accomplishment.”

A total of 13 cruise ship arrivals have been recorded in Subic Bay since February this year, and seven more arrivals are scheduled until October 2018. Eisma said that by then, an army of SBMA tour guides would be ready to make international cruise ship passengers appreciate Subic Bay Freeport and the Philippines more.

source: subicnewslink.blogspot.com/

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After 14 years of bargaining, and hoping and praying, the Magbukun Ayta tribe of Sitio Kanawan in Morong, Bataan finally got approval on their claim for ancestral domain over some 12,000 hectares of land straddling parts of Morong town and the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

During the third and final hearing on the Magbukun tribe’s petition at the Subic Park Hotel here on June 18, the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) en banc found their claim valid and passed approval of the same.

Members of the Kanawan Ayta tribe of Morong, Bataan celebrate with SBMA Chairman Wilma T. Eisma following the approval of their Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title

The application was approved by the seven NCIP commissioners: Chairperson Leonor T. Oralde-Quintayo, Basilio Wandag, Norberto Navarro, Ramcy Astoveza, Dominador Gomez, Boi Era España, and Roy Dabuit.

The NCIP officials met with the Magbukun tribal council here to deliberate on the latter’s long-standing application for a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT), which would formally recognize the rights of the indigenous community over their ancestral land.

According to Rodelio Tamundog, tribal chieftain of the Magbukuns, they started applying for a CADT way back in 2004.

“It feels good,” an elated Tamundog said. “Now we have the freedom to decide on the land that we inherited from our forefathers and determine our own future.”

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma Eisma, whose agency has operational control over a good part of the Magbukun territory, described the approval as a historic occasion for Subic Bay.

“It was also in June, 27 years ago, that most of the Ayta tribes in Zambales, Bataan, and Pampanga, were displaced and dispossessed by the disastrous eruption of Mt. Pinatubo,” Eisma noted.

“But despite their sad plight, they were with us in protecting and preserving Subic when the Americans pulled out of this former US Naval Base,” she added.

Eisma also called for further assistance form the NCIP in the processing of a similar title for the Ayta tribesmen of Barangay Cawag in Subic, Zambales, whose land also form part of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

The Magbukuns of Kanawan now has ownership of a total of 12,301.354 hectares. Of this, 11,769.054 hectares consist of hills and forests, while the remaining 532.300 hectares are water bodies.

NCIP officer in charge for Bataan Michael Baldonado said that a lot hard work went into the Magbukun CADT. He recalled the years spent on preparing the claim, presenting proofs, producing evidences, as well as researching the tribe’s genealogies and checking available historical archives.

Betty Fielder, who heads the Subic Indigenous People Assistance Group (SIPAG) which is assisting the Kanawan Aytas, said she foresees better prospects for the tribe now that the NCIP has recognized their right over ancestral lands.

SIPAG, Fielder added, will be helping the Magbukuns in formulating a joint management agreement with the SBMA for the development of Ayta lands covered by the Subic Freeport.

The SBMA has entered into a similar agreement with the Pastolan Ayta tribe in Hermosa, Bataan, which was the first indigenous community within the confines of the Subic Freeport to be given a CADT.

The Pastolan tribe is now earning revenue for the use of their land by Subic Bay Freeport investors through remittances from the SBMA.

source: subicnewslink.blogspot.com

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Opposition Sen. Leila de Lima has urged the Duterte administration to enforce mechanism that would promote sustainable fishing grounds off Zambales province and improve the plight of Filipino fishermen.

Senator Leila de Lima (REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco / MANILA BULLETIN)

De Lima made the call after calling for an investigation into the reported harassment of Filipino fishermen by members of the Chinese Coast Guard in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal which is more than 200 nautical miles off Zambales.

“The administration should champion the economic situation of our fisherfolk by standing up for their losses, enforcing mechanisms that boost their profit, and promote sustainable fishing in the disputed area,” she said in filing her Senate Resolution (SR) 766.

“With fisheries being a major industry in the country, it is incumbent upon the government to take positive action to preserve this trade and take a stand in protecting our fisherfolk from any untoward action,” she said.

Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc, located in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), falls within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

\Concerns about the plight of Filipino fishermen in Panatag Shoal were raised after a television report showed a mobile phone video of the Chinese Coast Guard boarding a Filipino vessel to take some of their catch.

Based on media reports, the Chinese Coast Guard personnel have been habitually taking the catch of Filipino fishermen in Panatag Shoal in exchange for noodles, cigarettes and water.

In an interview, one of the fishermen said they were always defenseless and could not do anything every time the Chinese would check their containers and pick their best catch.

The de Lima resolution stated that the Duterte administration should ‘’prioritize the well-being of its own people first before favoring yet again its foreign master that is China.’’

She reminded her fellow government leaders from the present administration that “upholding national interest is the essence of preserving democratic institutions.

“While diplomacy remains an important component of foreign policy, government should unquestionably put the welfare of our Filipino fishermen at the forefront and be steadfast in asserting their rights at any circumstance,” she added.

De Lima noted that the UN arbitration ruling invalidated China’s claim to almost the entire sea.

The ruling also stated that both China and the Philippines have “traditional fishing rights” to Panatag Shoal.

source: news.mb.com.ph

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A Filipino-American who is now serving in the US Navy has credited his father and his childhood experiences in Olongapo City in the Philippines for his successful career.

“My dad taught me to be on time and be prepared for everything,” said Seaman Recruit Eldridge White. “It helps me in the Navy because it is important to get the job done in a timely matter.”

A graduate of Saint Joesph High School, white works as a yeoman, or someone responsible for administrative duties, aboard the amphibious USS Makin Island operating out of San Diego.

White has military ties with family members who have previously served and is honored to carry on the family tradition.

“My dad was in the Navy,” he said. “He influenced me to join. I always thought he was so fly, hearing the stories he had to share.”

The US Navy describes Makin Island as one of its most advanced and largest amphibious ships. It is designed to deliver Marines and their equipment where they are needed to support a variety of missions ranging from amphibious assaults to humanitarian relief efforts.

The ship, which resembles a small aircraft carrier, is longer than two football fields at 847 feet, is 106 feet wide and weighs more than 41,000 tons when fully loaded. It has gas turbine engines and two variable speed electric motors that can push the ship through the water in excess of 20 knots. It can carry more than 12 helicopters and six fixed-wing aircraft.

source: gmanetwork.com

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ABUCAY, Bataan — Three persons were arrested the other night after they were caught in the act of dumping toxic waste materials in the remote Sitio Tamoto road, Mabatang this town.

Photo credit: National Geographic

Sr Inspector Jennifer Cruz, chief of police, reported to Sr Supt Marcelo Dayag, Bataan police director, that one Isuzu Truck bearing Plate No. DOF526 with three men identified as Cecilio Punzalan, of Mt. View Mariveles; Reynaldo Apollo, of Purok 7 Sitio Mambog Hermosa, and Delfin delis Santis Jr of Purok 2 JRC Mandama Hermosa, were then dumping wastes into the area when someone tipped them off to the police.

“We received a telephone call from a concerned citizen informing this station that one Isuzu Truck bearing Plate No. DOF526 was dumping waste plastic material along the wayside of the road in Sitio Tamoto Road Brgy Mabatang, Abucay,” said Captain Cruz.

Cruz then dispatched her PNP personnel led by SPO1 Bonifacio Corpuz and caught one Isuzu Truck bearing Plate No. DOF526 and three persons dumping waste plastic materials, cartoons and socks along the wayside of the road.

A case for Violation of Section 48 Paragraph 1 of Republic Act 9003 “Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000” is being prepared against the suspects, said Cruz.

source: news.mb.com.ph

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