By Hugh Morris, travel news editor

Boracay is reopening for a 10-day trial period CREDIT: GETTY

Visitors to a newly reopened Boracay will be subject to a set of stringent rules to avoid the Philippine island paradise from returning to the “cesspool” state that led to its closure earlier in the year.

After a six-month clean-up operation, the tiny outcrop in the Sulu Sea has reopened for a “dry run” of 10 days, during which only local tourists will be allowed entry while authorities assess the island’s “rehabilitation”. On October 26 Boracay will open officially to all nationalities.

As well as an overnight visitor cap of 19,000, new regulations to be imposed on travellers include a ban on smoking and drinking on White Beach and a temporary restriction on all watersports.

What is Boracay and why was it shut?
The Philippines has experienced a surge in tourists in recent years. Just over one million went there in 1990 – last year it was 6.6m. And almost a third of those tourists – more than two million – visited Boracay, which measures just 3.98 square miles and has a resident population of just 30,000. That’s all the more remarkable when you consider that the Philippines has 7,640 other islands to choose from, according to the most recent estimate from the country’s National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.

A decade ago, Boracay certainly was worth visiting. The magazine Travel+Leisure declared it the best island in the world back in 2012, thanks largely to the powder soft sand of White Beach. But back in April President Rodrigo Duterte called it a “cesspool”. His verdict came after a video showing sewage flowing directly into Boracay’s blue waters went viral. The controversial leader castigated local authorities for permitting unchecked development and dispatched an emergency government taskforce to save the island from an ecological catastrophe. Inspectors found over 800 environmental violations. Figures showed that rubbish generated per person on Boracay was more than three times higher than in the capital, Manila.

The island is under-going a three-phase ‘rehabilitation’, authorities say CREDIT: GETTY

Is the island ready to be reopened?
According to local authorities it is, but officials from the Boracay Inter-agency Task Force (IACT) have asked the public to “manage expectations” ahead of returning to the island.

Tourism secretary Benadette Romulo Puyat told CNN that the public needs to understand that returning the island to its optimal state will be done in phases and that the “full rehabilitation” will not be complete until next December.

Authorities have said that issues with the sewage infrastructure – which led to the “cesspool” description – have been resolved, with bacteria levels in the water on a par with international standards. There are, however, still road repairs taking place.

In September, president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines Jose Clemente said “rehabilitation is just 50 per cent”, adding: “If [tourists] insist on visiting, don’t expect a fully restored Boracay as it is still a work in progress.”

There will be restrictions on beach parties, as well as drinking and smoking CREDIT: GETTY

What new rules will be in place?
A cap of 19,000 overnight visitors will be in place, while tourists may be required to present their hotel bookings to authorities before entering the island. The hotel capacity on the island is being reduced from 12,000 rooms to as few as 6,000.

A number of other recommendations by the task force will also be adopted, including a ban on “LaBoracay” parties that used to attract as many as 70,000 tourists. Last year’s LaBoracay party left 10,000kg of rubbish, authorities said. Casinos will also be banned, apparently scuppering plans for a $500million complex funded by Chinese firm Galaxy Entertainment.

Drinking, smoking and dining on White Beach will be prohibited, while there will be a temporary suspension of diving in surrounding waters as well as water activities such as banana boating and parasailing. The building of giant sand castles will also be regulated.

Souvenir shops and electric lights will be prohibited from the beachfront, and there will be a restriction on firework displays after 9pm. The hot-coal roasting of meats will be banned.

Single-use plastics will also be banned from the island, with any hotel, resort or restaurant caught breaching the policy three times to lose its licence. Visitors have been told to “bring your own straw”, and that plastic bags will be prohibited.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

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The Ultra Lotto 6/58 jackpot, which has exceeded P1.18 billion, has already been won.

(screengrabbed from PTV-4 / MANILA BULLETIN)

The Sunday night draw resulted in the winning number combination: 40-50-37-25-01-45.

Around 9:35 p.m., Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Board Member Bong Suntay announced that two winners will split the total jackpot prize of P1,180,622,508.

Although the winners now hold the record of hitting the biggest jackpot prize in Philippine lottery history.

Each of the two winners will only claim a cash prize of P590,327,764.

The single biggest jackpot prize winner in the PCSO lotto draws is still the “balikbayan” who won over P741 million in the Grand Lotto 6/55 when he placed his winning bet in Subic Bay in November, 2010.

Math experts and analysts say there are over 40 million possible number combinations in the 6/58 Ultra Lotto and a bettor who places one bet only has 0.00000274-percent chance of guessing the right number combination.

Despite the slim odds, long lines had been observed at lotto outlets nationwide as Filipinos had been mesmerized by the chance of becoming a billionaire overnight.

Meanwhile, the Super Lotto 6/49 draw produced the winning combination: 34-06-11- 49-03-45.

PCSO officials said no one guessed the winning number combination which carries a prize of P15,840,000

Source: Manila Bulletin

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By: Maricel Cruz

Photo Credit: aviationnewsphilippines.wordpress.com

A panel in the House of Representatives on Wednesday approved two measures renaming Clark International Airport in Pampanga to Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in honor of the late President Diosdado Macapagal.

In 2001, the Board of Directors of the Clark International Airport Corp. named the airport after Macapagal.

But 10 years later, the same corporation adopted a resolution reverting the name of the airport to Clark International Airport in 2011.

The House committee on transportation, chaired by Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento, approved House Bills 2274 and 8289, authored by Representatives Aurelio Gonzales of Pampanga and Rodante Marcoleta of SAGIP party-list, respectively.

The two bills noted that CIA should be named after Macapagal, the ninth President of the Philippines, known as “the poor boy from Lubao,” given the vital role of the airport in aviation and transportation. The late President Macapagal is the father of Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

“[Macapagal] is a Filipino with sterling legacy and incomparable distinction as a respected leader, champion of the poor, true statesman, and a nationalist of unquestionable integrity,” HB 8289 said.

In 2001, the Board of Directors of the Clark International Airport Corp. named the airport after Macapagal.

But 10 years later, the same corporation adopted a resolution reverting the name of the airport to Clark International Airport in 2011.

Earlier bills filed in the past Congresses noted it was the Americans who renamed Clark Air Base in honor of a foreign aviation pioneer Major Harold Clark of the US Army Signal Corps who died in a seaplane crash in Panama Canal in 1919.

Other installations named after Americans have been changed in honor of Filipinos.

Republic Act 9400, also known as “An Act Amending Republic Act No. 7227, As Amended, Otherwise Known As The Bases Conversion And Development Act Of 1992, And For Other Purposes,” this officially recognized the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.

“Under this law, Clark was turned into a Freeport [Section 15] with the same investment incentives enjoyed by investors at the Subic Bay Freeport, with Clark Development Corp. as administrator of the Clark Freeport and its subsidiary, Clark International Airport Corp. [CIAC] which is running the DMIA by virtue of Executive Order 193, series of 2003,” the House transportation committee said.

source: manilastandard.net

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By Jonas Reyes

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Five Filipino fishermen were rescued by the non-commissioned dry cargo ship Wally Schirra while conducting a routine mission in the South China Sea on Monday after the crew spotted a makeshift vessel.

A makeshift boat filled with minimal supplies is adrift in the South China Sea, Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. Five Philippine fishermen survived for five days aboard the craft after their boat sank at sea. They were rescued by the crew of USNS Wally Schirra. (Photo courtesy of US Navy)

The crew of the USNS Wally Schirra saw five men waving their arms and flashing lights when the ship passed by a makeshift vessel. According to the USNS Wally Schirra Captain Keith Sauls, the Filipino fishermen’s boat sank seven days before they were rescued after a blue marlin punctured their hull.

“The fishermen salvaged what they could from the rapidly sinking boat, removing the outriggers and planks to turn it into a raft with floats and barrels underneath for flotation,” civilian mariner Leon Hadley, the Wally Schirra’s chief mate, said in the statement.

Search-and-rescue team of the USNS Wally Schirra used an inflatable boat to pull the fishermen to safety. “We’re lucky we found them when we did,” said Hadley, who added that the men had no water.

The Wally Schirra later transferred the fishermen to the Philippine Coast Guard in Subic Bay, Philippines, Sauls said in the statement.

Source: news.mb.com.ph

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By Jonas Reyes

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — A former local newspaper publisher was found murdered inside a housing area here on Monday. Zambales Todays News publisher and US Navy retiree Sonny Almazan was found dead inside his home in Binictican on Monday Morning by his driver Renato Barbadillo

According to the Investigation Division of the Law Enforcement Department of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA-LED), two women were identified as the suspects in the murder of Almazan. The two women were believed to be the companions of the victim the night when he was killed.

Barbadillo told investigators that the two females were the same persons whom the 69-year-old Almazan asked to fetch from Kalaklan Gate at about 9:00 pm Sunday night. Barbadillo disclosed that he transported the two women to Almazan, who was waiting at the Breadtime bakery near Ayala Mall.

He also said that after taking the two to Almazan, the victim told the driver to leave them as Almazan drove the Toyota Fortuner SUV back to his home in Binictican. When the driver reported for work on Monday, he saw that the front door of the house was unlocked. Barbadillo reported that there were bloodstains on the floor leading to the victim’s bedroom, prompting him to call law enforcers.

Responding officers found the victim’s body slumped in a sitting position, soaked in blood. The officers stated that the victim sustained head injuries caused by a blunt instrument. They also noticed bloody footprints on the bedroom floor, a golf club and a metal cane with bloodstains, and broken liquor bottles. They added that there were no forced entries in the house.

Almazan’s cellular phone and a sling bag believed to contain cash were reportedly missing.

During investigation, Barbadillo confirmed that the two females caught on CCTV footages at Kalaklan Gate at about 9:25 pm were the same persons that he had fetched at the instruction of the victim. He further told the police that one of the females who visited Almazan, the one with a tattoo on her right thigh, had been in the company of his employer for about three or four times previously.

Meanwhile, CCTV footages also revealed that Almazan’s Toyota vehicle entered Binictican housing at 9:47 pm. This tallied with the account of a witness that Almazan arrived in his quarters with two female companions at 10:00 pm that Sunday night. The SBMA-LED said the investigation of Almazan’s death has been assumed by the Philippine National Police office in Morong, Bataan, which has territorial jurisdiction over the Binictican area.

SBMA Chairman Wilma T. Eisma said, “In light of this, we condole with the family of the victim and commit the assistance of the SBMA Law Enforcement Department to help in the investigation by the Morong Police Office so that the perpetrators of this crime might be arrested and put to justice.”

source: Zambales Herald Newsweekly FB Page

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