Solenn Heussaff tapped to promote Samar tourism sites

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar, March 21  -- The provincial government of Samar is counting on the popularity of actress and social media influencer Solenn Heussaff to help promote the province’s natural wonders to tourists.

Heussaff, who have nearly five million followers in both her Instagram and Facebook accounts, is the first celebrity endorser of the Spark Samar tourism campaign since its launching in 2015.

Her athletic and sporty personality captivated the provincial government’s interest to tap her as model of less known destinations in Samar province, said Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan on Tuesday.

“We want somebody who can do adventure type of tourism. She’s the kind of actress who is athletic, who loves nature, and who is not fussy and can do extreme activities,” Tan said.

Before the provincial government tapped Heussaff as its celebrity endorser, the actress had already experienced what Samar Island offers to tourists during her visit to Biri Island in Northern Samar province.

She toured the Northern Samar’s picturesque rock formations last year to do the travel blog video for the digital ad of a giant telecommunications company.

The digital ad posted on Youtube and Facebook had more than three million views.

During Heussaff’s first visit to Samar province, she went to the town of Basey to explore the Sohoton Natural Bridge and Natural Park through caving and kayaking.

She also joined women mat weavers inside the Sa-ob Cave before heading to San Juan by the Bay in Sta. Rita town to dine at a floating restaurant overlooking the San Juanico Bridge.

She also visited the Lulugayan Falls in Calbiga town, dubbed as the Little Niagara of Samar, and experienced the nearly one kilometer trek to the waterfalls.

Her first visit ended through the Extreme Torpedo Boat Ride water adventure in Ulot River in Paranas town. Like other tourists, she also jumped at the river’s Deni Point.

She also visited Catbalogan City, the capital of Samar to taste some native delicacies and cuisines like Tamalos, a traditional dish in the capital made up of pork-belly and peanut butter wrapped in banana leaves.

Heussaff is bound to post her Samar adventures on her Instagram account at least twice a month to support the Spark Samar campaign.

With this, the provincial government hopes to lure more tourists to visit and experience what Samar province offers.

After the launching of Samar’s campaign, tourist arrival figures nearly doubled to 207,709 in 2016 from 118,018 in 2013. (RTA/PNA)

Malacañang kicks off ‘Yolanda’ project consultation

TACLOBAN CITY, March 20  -- The Office of the President has renewed its promise to address all the needs of Super Typhoon Yolanda survivors that have not been addressed in more than four years.

Presidential Assistant Wendel Avisado, the official assigned by President Rodrigo R. Duterte to oversee post-“Yolanda” rehabilitation efforts, said the implementation is not perfect but the central government is doing its best.

“We promise that we will find solutions to all your concerns, such as the lack of water, electricity connection, drainage system, and livelihood,” Avisado said during the first round of the grassroots consultation held at a relocation site in San Isidro village here Monday.

“Rest assured that we will bring your concerns to President Duterte. His directive to me is to be mindful of your needs and continue to support relocated families,” he added.

On the concern on water, he said they have been coordinating with the Local Water Utilities Administration to fast-track the long-delayed PHP565-million water supply project for resettlement sites after failure of biddings.

With the city taking control of the Leyte Metropolitan Water District, the official is positive it would be easier to address the short- and medium-term water needs of families.

The national government will also provide subsidy to facilitate the connection of electricity to houses built by the National Housing Authority.

“For livelihood, we don’t have to put up factories, but focus on improving the production of home-based industries. Government agencies are here to enhance your product and link with the market,” said Avisado.

Mayor Cristina Romualdez thanked Duterte for hastening the transfer of families from danger zones to permanent relocation sites in the northern part of the city since his first visit here late 2016.

“This means a lot to us that key officials are here to find solutions to all these many problems,” Romualdez said.

The first leg of the series of consultations was held in relocation sites in Tacloban City on March 19-20.

It will be followed by dialogues in Guiuan, Eastern Samar (April 3); Balangiga, Eastern Samar (April 4); Basey, Samar (April 10); Carigara, Leyte (April 11); Isabel, Leyte (April 12); Naval, Biliran (April 17); and Silago, Southern Leyte (April 19).

The activity gathers issues and concerns encountered by survivors in resettlement sites and convene concerned government agencies to identify interventions that will ensure sustainability of resettlement projects and improve their quality of life.

After the consultation, the Office of the President expects to formulate the multi-year post-resettlement program for submission and approval of the President and the inter-agency task force.

The consultation, which was recently completed in Western Visayas, includes reporting of the status of projects for every cluster, open forum, and ocular inspection of resettlement sites.
The central government has already released PHP146.15 billion for areas ravaged by the 2013 monster typhoon as of end of last year. (SQM/PNA)

Leyte eyes near completion of P70-M sports center rehab

PALO, Leyte, March 20  -- The PHP70-million rehabilitation work on the Leyte Sports Development Center (LSDC) after it was badly damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda, will be completed in June.

“We are very hopeful that repair works would be finished before the city’s fiesta on June 30 since the LSDC would be the venue for dance rituals and competition of the provincial government-sponsored Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival,” Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla said Tuesday.

The project, being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways with funding support from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, covers the repair of roofing, bleachers, track and field, and swimming pool, Petilla said.

The project began late last year.

Aside from being tapped as a site for special events, the complex also houses the Leyte Sports Academy, envisioned to look for sports scholars.

The center was the main venue when the provincial government hosted the national school-based sports event Palarong Pambansa in 2009.

The sports complex also served as the command center after the 2013 killer typhoon by the national government, international non-government organizations led by the United Nations, and military forces from different countries. (RTA/PNA)

Officials laud plan to make Samar as alternative destination

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar, March 19  -- The city government welcomed the announcement of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to make Samar province one of the alternative tourist destinations in the country due to the planned closure of the world-famous Boracay Island.

Catbalogan City Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan said the recent announcement of DOT Undersecretary Kat de Castro will help many Samar families, who suffer from extreme poverty.

“We are happy with the announcement, but this is a big responsibility and we need to be ready, like improving our basic utilities and facilities like ports and airport, water system, and waste disposal,” Uy-Tan said.

The mayor is optimistic that if investors would learn that Samar is already a tourist haven, they would not hesitate to build hotels and other tourism-related businesses in the province.

Samar, with its 24 towns and two cities, is one of the provinces in the country endowed with natural wonders such as picturesque beaches, majestic waterfalls, cave system, and rivers.

“However, a lot of things has to be done before this could happen to ensure the satisfaction of tourist and protection of these natural attractions,” Uy-Tan added.

The mayor recalled that when the city government started promoting Buri Island as an eco-tourism destination, it was already very keen about protecting the environment for the sustainability of the city’s tourist destination.

The promotion of Buri Island as an eco-tourism destination is not only centered on adventure tourism and ecological protection, but also anchored on community development and sustainable eco-tourism principles.

“If the national government decides to divert tourists to Samar, the local government and the community have to prepare for it,” Uy-Tan said.

The operation of Catbalogan airport located on Buri Island will greatly help the tourism promotion campaign of Catbalogan, the capital of Samar province.

Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan-De los Santos also welcomed this announcement from DOT to promote less popular destinations.

“Probably they can consider us as an alternative for a meantime. Boracay is Boracay, and they have been established already. Making us one of the alternatives is good, but we are not praying for the total closure of Boracay because this will displace thousands of workers dependent on the tourism activities (there),” she said.

Rather than marketing the beaches of the province to tourists, the provincial government will exert more effort in promoting caves, waterfalls, and rivers.

“This is to distribute the development since our neighboring provinces in Samar Island have more beautiful white sand and pink beaches,” Tan said. “We don’t want to compete with each other, but we want to complement each other.”

The provincial government, in its goal to get wider attention, launched the Spark Samar tourism program at SM Megamall last week, focusing on market-ready tourist destinations.

These destinations are the tourist and market-ready places such as the Sohoton Cave and Natural Bridge Park in Basey town, rock formations in Marabut, Extreme Torpedo Boat Ride in Paranas, Lulugayan Falls in Calbiga, and the San Juan by the Bay in Sta. Rita. (RTA/PNA)

Air Juan launches Cebu-Catbalogan route

CATBALOGAN CITY, March  19  -- Domestic airline, Air Juan Aviation Inc., opened a new route to Samar province, its fourth destination since it started operating in the Eastern Visayas region last year.

Air Juan chief executive officer John Gutierrez said during the maiden flight for the Cebu-Catbalogan route on Saturday that the company wants to become competitive with the ferry system in the country.

“We want to become competitive with our ferry system. But we also want to make our passenger understand the value of time,” Gutierrez said, referring to the hours wasted by Catbalogan travelers to get to Cebu via the ferry system and other means.

From Catbalogan City to Cebu via the Calbayog City airport, a passenger needs at least three hours of travel time, including the waiting time at the airport.

If one will use the Tacloban Airport, a passenger has to spend four hours from Catbalogan to Tacloban and to Cebu.

But for those who will use fast-craft in Ormoc City in going to Cebu, passengers have to allocate at least eight hours, traveling from Catbalogan to Tacloban then to Ormoc City using vans, then fast-craft to Cebu.

“That is very tiring, especially for those who are seeking medical attention. That is why we urge passengers from Catbalogan to travel by Air Juan because it will only take them less than an hour to reach Cebu,” Gutierrez said.

Currently, Air Juan has twice weekly flights to Catbalogan every Monday and Saturday. The nine-seater plane leaves Mactan Cebu International Airport 11 a.m. and reaches Biliran Airport after an hour. After a stop-over in Biliran, the plane will fly to Catbalogan Airport to deplane passengers.

But if it is fully booked in Catbalogan, the plane will no longer make a stop-over in Biliran to pick up passengers, according to Gutierrez.

He assured that if there is an increase in demand, they would add more flights to the capital of Samar province.

Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan considers the operation of airline companies at the Catbalogan City Airport as long overdue. For several years, the mayor has been pushing for commercial flights at the city's community airport built in 1995.

“This is one of the elusive dreams of the people of Catbalogan that is for the airport to operate. This first commercial flight is everyone’s aspiration for many decades now. The challenge was overwhelming and it seems that it was impossible,” Uy-Tan said.

The city mayor thanked those who helped achieve their dream for the city’s airport. Among those she mentioned was the late Philippine News Agency stringer Vicky Arnaiz, who provided contact details of the airline firm.

She recalled that Arnaiz was the first one who talked to Air Juan officials and convinced them to consider flying to Catbalogan.

The city mayor also thanked President Rodrigo Duterte, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade, Presidential Management Staff Undersecretary Ferdinand B. Cui, and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Director-General Jim Sydiongco for helping the city government to achieve their goal after their talks with the airline executives.

“This Catbalogan City Airport project is a necessity from the national government standpoint, not just from the standpoint of tourism development, but equally important for disaster risk reduction and management,” Cui said.

“The more access point we have for tourism purposes and for post-disaster response, overall that is highly beneficial to the Eastern Visayas region,” he added.

Aside from Catbalogan, Air Juan also services the Cebu-Biliran route since it opened in June 2017, the Cebu-Maasin-Tagbilaran route in August 2017, and Cebu-Ormoc route last week.

With a direct flight from Cebu to Catbalogan and a plan to open a direct flight from Manila to Catbalogan, this will help investors to reach the city easier and faster to see the city’s investment potentials.

The city mayor added that the Cebu-Catbalogan flight will also help the Spark Samar Development Agenda of the provincial government that pushes for tourism as the main driver of countryside development.

Cui added that with the opening of the first commercial flight in Catbalogan, the DOTr will fast-track the airport’s improvement as promised by Tugade.

Tugade visited the Catbalogan Airport in August 2017 with plans to expand it by 2018, being one of DOTr's priority projects.

The airport development project will include the expansion of the present runway from 800 meters to 1.5 kilometers, and the construction of circumferential road on the island for residents to stop using the runway as their access road in going in and out of villages. These projects will be completed in 2021. (RTA/PNA)