An Italian company which manufactures ultra-light aircraft has relocated its base of operation in this premier free port to take advantage of Subic’s ideal position as product distribution center.

Ramphos Corporation, owned and operated by Italian designer Enos Gaiga, has been in the business of making ultra-light aircraft in Italy since 1998. However, seeing the huge potential of Subic in transhipping product to other parts of the world, Gaiga brought the business to Subic in 2015 and made his first ultra-light flying boat here last year.

A Ramphos amphibious ultra-light flying boat takes off in Subic Bay last week, demonstrating the versatility of the leisure craft.

“The reason we relocated here is the potential of transhipping our product to other parts of the world without much hassle,” Gaiga explained. “Moreover, Filipinos are great craftsmen when it comes to manufacturing boats and vehicles.”

Gaiga said the firm’s first ultra-light flying boat, which was called Ramphos amphibious, was made in 1998 for recreational use. The next year the model saw commercial production.

According to Gaiga, Ramphos flying boats are easy to fly and can be used for sight-seeing tours, fishing, adventure trips, search and rescue operations, sea and river patrol, light cargo delivery and even special military operations.

In 2003, Ramphos won the best trike of the year award at the Sun and Fun air show in Florida.

So far, Ramphos products have been sold in 32 countries worldwide, with the Ramphos amphibious priced at around P1.9 milion.

The flying boat has been certified under different civil aviation authorities, among them in Europe, United States, Australia, China, Canada and Mexico.

As a registered investor in the Subic Bay Freeport, the Ramphos Corporation plans to sell its ultra-light flying boats to resort owners and sports enthusiasts here.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the company is a welcome addition to the growing number of investors in Subic, and expressed optimism that more ultra-light flying boats are made in the Subic Bay Freeport.

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Another white lion was born at the Zoobic Safari animal theme park here recently, the third time that such birth was recorded in this free port.

Zoobic Safari owner Robert Yupangco said the white lion was born last April 3 and is now one and a half months old.

Christian Amando, a white lion cub born at Zoobic Safari in the Subic Bay Freeport and the first white lion cub to be bottle-fed by animal keepers at the park, sucks on the finger of a visitor.

The lion cub was named Christian Amando as a tribute to former Zoobic Safari staff Christian Hon, who died before its birth, and Australian ambassador to the Philippines Amanda Gorely, who visited the theme park recently.

Currently, Christian Amando consumes some 72 ounces of kitten milk replacer (KMR) every day to complete the prescribed food for nursing kittens.

Yupangco said that lion cubs need supplemental feeding after being breastfed by their mothers for the first three days. They also need colostrum for strengthening of their immune system.

“If ever, Christian Amando will be the first white lion bottle-feed survivor,” said Noe Pasilan, the park’s zoology supervisor, who helped deliver the cub at Zoobic Safari.

Amando’s parents, Tisay and JB, both came from a white lion family imported from the Middle East.

The white lion is a rare color mutation of the lion. They were thought to have been indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest recorded sighting in this region was in 1938.

White lions in the area of Timbavati are of the same subspecies as the tawny Southeast African lion (Panthera leo krugeri) found in some wildlife reserves in South Africa, and in zoological parks around the world.

Until 2009, when the first pride of white lions was reintroduced into the wild, it was widely believed that the white lion could not survive in the natural environment. It is for this reason that a large part of the population of white lions now reside in zoos.

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The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has welcomed the scheduled staging here of the Subic Ecotourism Festival, which will bring together a powerhouse cast of international experts in the field of ecotourism to discuss global best practices.

SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma said the festival is slated on May 29 to June 1 at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center under the aegis of the International School of Sustainable Tourism (ISST) and the Department of Tourism.

Subic Bay Freeport, a leading eco-tourism destination in the country today, which will host the 2017 Subic Ecotourism Festival

“We’re very much delighted in hosting this event, because we take pride in the Subic Bay Freeport being one of the few remaining places with very high biodiversity in the country today,” Eisma said.

“We will be happy to share with the participants in this forum the challenges and successes that we have experienced in the field of ecotourism since Subic was established as a free port in 1992,” she added.

According to ISST president Mina Gabor, the event will be biggest of its kind in the country as it will bring together the leaders of the Global Ecotourism Network (GEN) and its regional subsidiary, the Asian Ecotourism Network (AEN).

“The event will be a rare opportunity for delegates to learn from and network with the best practitioners in the industry,” said Gabor, a former Tourism Secretary who pushed ecotourism during her tenure, making it a byword in the industry years later.

“Given the fact that the Philippines’ tourism industry is driven largely by its natural attractions, it is important to balance economic benefit, conservation and respect for local communities which the GEN board members are greatly recognized for,” she added.

The festival has been scheduled here in line with the declaration by the United Nations World Tourism Organization of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

The event will gather together ecotourism experts like Glenn Jampol and Tony Charters, GEN chair and vice-chair respectively, and general board members Robert Holmes of Australia, Hitesh Mehta of Kenya, Masaru Takayama of Japan, Nabil Tarazi of Jordan, and Albert Teo of Malaysia.

Other foreign speakers are Lizzie Corke of Conservation Ecology Center Australia, Paul Niederer of ASSOB International, Tan Thi Su of Sapa O’Chau (Vietnam), Imtiaz Muqbil of Travel Impact Newswire, Kaetwa Muangasame of Mahidol University International College, Greg Duffel of Bond Asian Ventures Limited, Ary Suhandi of Indecon Indonesia, and Randy Durband of Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

Meanwhile, local speakers will include DENR Biodiversity Management Bureau director Teresa Mundita Lim, National Commission on Culture and the Arts-School of Living Traditions executive director Rico Pableo Jr., National Commission on Indigenous Peoples socioeconomic and special affairs director Marie Grace Pascua, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity executive director Roberto Oliva, Cebu provincial tourism officer Boboi Costas, Philippine Airlines SVP for operations Ismael Augusto Gozon, and El Nido Resorts head of sustainability Mariglo Laririt.

Gabor said the event is designed for government policy-makers, infrastructure development executives, tourism, travel and hospitality professionals, and faculty and students. Festival participants also conduct a case study for the development of an ecotourism project in the Subic Bay Freeport area.

The Subic Bay Freeport, which sits on a large portion of the Subic Forest and Watershed Reserve, is touted to be one of the few places in the Philippines with high biodiversity. It has a total of 745 plant species belonging to 429 genera and 122 families, and a total of 122 wildlife vertebrates from 99 genera and 57 families.

The Subic Freeport is also home to several rare animals that include seven bird species like the Philippine Fairy Bluebird (Irena cyanogaster), two mammal species like the Striped Shrew Rat (Chrotomys minbdorensis), one reptile specie, and two amphibian species.

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The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is closely working with law enforcement agencies to strictly monitor incoming vessels here against the possible entry of illegal drugs in the country via the Port of Subic.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is closely working with law enforcement agencies to strictly monitor incoming vessels here against the possible entry of illegal drugs in the country via the Port of Subic.

Just recently, elements from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region III, Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Olongapo City, SBMA Seaport and SBMA Law Enforcement Department (LED) conducted a joint operation following intelligence reports that a ship arriving here was carrying illegal drugs.

According to a report from the SBMA Law Enforcement Department, the ship in question was a Panamax vessel carrying a cargo of soya from the United States. It arrived at the port of Subic early in May and anchored outside the limits of the SBMA Seaport.

Upon its arrival, government law enforcers led by PDEA, PCG and the Philippine National Police (PNP) Maritime Group boarded and search the vessel using K-9 drug sniffing dogs, with SBMA Seaport and LED representatives observing the operations.

The search turned out negative and the operation was terminated on Tuesday, authorities here said.

Administrator Eisma said the recent inter-agency operation was a clear sign that the agency will not tolerate the entry of illegal drugs through the Port of Subic.

She said there are strict procedures and safety nets in place to ensure that no contraband, especially illegal drugs, could enter the country through the port of Subic.

“The SBMA is also implementing random checks for illegal substance that might be on board any of these incoming vessels,” Eisma added.

The administrator also issued a stern warning against those who are even thinking of shipping illegal drugs into the country and using Subic Bay as the port of entry, saying they will be harshly dealt with the full force of the law.

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The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is looking forward to the arrival here of more cruise ships under its “Tourism Star” development agenda to promote Subic’s tourism potentials and maximize its attractiveness as a world-class tourist destination.

SBMA Administrator and CEO Wilma Eisma made this announcement on Monday following the arrival here of MS Bremen, an expedition ship operated by the German tour giant Hapag Lloyd Cruises.

SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma receives a ship memorabilia from MS Bremen captain Roman Oprist, following the arrival of the Bahamas-registered Hapag Lloyd Cruises vessel at the Subic Bay Freeport on Friday.

“With the recent port call of the MS Bremen, we have proven once again that the Subic Bay Freeport can easily be a preferred destination for cruise ships,” Eisma said.

“This is really fortuitous for us, because under our Tourism Star program, the SBMA seeks to promote Subic as the next cruise ship playground, alongside other objectives like creating a Subic tourism brand and expanding existing tourism programs,” she added.

The 111-meter long MS Bremen docked at the Alava Wharf last Friday, bringing more than 150 tourists, as well as a complement of ship crew that included some naturalists.

The visitors were welcomed at the dock by the SBMA brass band, as well as tourism staff waving flaglets. SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma was also around during the reception and gladly received a ship memento from Ship Captain Roman Oprist.

“This is the first time that we had docked in Subic Bay Freeport,” Oprist told Eisma. “We have already travelled to Java and Borneo, and this is our next stop.”

Oprist said the MS Bremen is a cruise ship operated by Hapag Lloyd since 1993. He said the ship is an expedition ship of a special kind because it was designed to navigate where other cruise ships fail — on thick ice or in shallow waters.

He added that the four-star vessel carries only a maximum of 160 guests during its cruise.

During its Subic Bay visit, some passengers of MS Bremen visited the Pamulaklakin Forest Trail where they witnessed demonstrations of jungle survival techniques by the local Ayta tribe, while others went to the Zoobic Safari theme park.

Eisma said that with plans to upgrade the ports and wharves inside the Subic Bay Freeport, the Agency is working to attract more cruise ships to this premier Freeport and tourism center.

“Subic has got what it takes to be a cruise ship playground. And the arrival of Bremen is a good sign,” Eisma added.

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