INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—Maria Venus Raj was excited about her homecoming as a beauty queen that was planned for after the Holy Week, but before she could even set foot on her hometown in Bato, Camarines Sur, she was stripped of her Binibining Pilipinas title.
Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. broke the news of the dethronement in a text message to media organizations this way: “Today March 29, 2010, Bb. Pilipinas Charities, Inc. decided, with a heavy heart, to let Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 2010 Maria Venus Raj go, after the organization discovered inconsistencies contained in her birth records, in contrast to her personal account of her birth.”
Thus, the Indian-Filipino Raj will no longer represent the country in the 59th Miss Universe pageant in August.
“Yesterday (Monday), I cried when I learned that I would no longer be Bb. Pilipinas-Universe. I felt I was left with no other options but to wake up the next day without a crown,” the 21-year-old Raj told the Inquirer in a calm and gloomy voice.
She intentionally did not answer phone calls and text messages that day but she said the support she has been getting was overwhelming.
“Realizing there were countless people who believed in me, it gave me strength and hope,” Raj said in a mobile phone interview.
She said she could not thank her supporters and fans enough.
“I could only be so grateful that people are there to stand by me. My family has been praying for me,” Raj said.
She said two of her sisters cried with her. While her mom appeared to be tough, she knew she was hurting, too.
The Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. (BPCI) has yet to issue an official document about the dethronement. Raj said she has not yet received anything.
“I am leaving this in the hands of the lawyers. For the meantime I could only thank those who have supported me from the beginning,” Raj said.
“Kahit naman mahirap ka lang, pero may pinag-aralan, alam mo pa rin ang tama at mali. Alam mo ang mga karapatan mong dapat ipaglaban (Even if you’re poor, but if you’re educated, you would know what is right and wrong. You know what rights you have to fight for),” Raj said.
Raj lives in a nipa hut in the middle of a sprawling rice field in Bato town. Her mother is a farmer and a dressmaker.
Raj said that walking on rice paddy dikes was early training for walking on fashion runways.
On the social networking site Facebook, hundreds of her friends and fans expressed frustration and anger at the pageant organizer’s decision to take back the crown from Raj.
“The Bb. Pilipinas Foundation should have made the decision when it was till screening the candidates,” said one Facebook “friend” of Raj.
An online petition to return the crown to Raj has already been created.
The Facebook page was meant to send a message to the Bb. Pilipinas Foundation that its decision to dethrone Raj was a mistake.
“These are not fair. She has all the potential to win the crown in Miss Universe 2010. So what if she is half Indian? Obviously, the second runner-up is favored by the charity,” said a post on the newly created site.
“To Stella Araneta of BPCI, God forgive you for the injustice that you brought not only to Venus but [to] the whole nation. By dethroning [her], you gave up the only chance of taking back the Ms. Universe crown to the Philippines,” said another post.
Still another post said Raj should seek assistance from the government to settle the issue. “Ask for a certified memo that will state her citizenship. According to the Philippine Constitution, if one of the child's parent is a Filipino, then he or she is a Filipino citizen. Her mom is a Filipina. [It] just happened that Venus was born in Doha, Qatar.”
Several of the newly created page’s 286 members also called for flooding the BPCI with e-mails asking the reinstallment of Raj as BB Pilipinas-Universe.
In Naga City, the executive committee of Ms Bicolandia passed a resolution expressing support for Raj and disapproval of BPCI’s decision.
Nene De Asis, chair of Ms Bicolandia executive committee, said they would extend legal and financial assistance to Raj.
“We are giving her financial assistance because we know that she was also stripped of her prize. We believe in Venus’ integrity and qualification. We are supporting her all the way,” said De Asis.
Raj was Ms Bicolandia 2007.
De Asis hinted that the decision of the BPCI was also an invalidation of the rules of Ms Bicolandia, which also do not admit non-Bicol natives as candidates.
Meanwhile, Albay Governor Joey Salceda expressed dismay at the ouster of Raj and her replacement by her second runner-up.
Salceda said he would ask the organizers why Ms Diane Samar Necio, the first runner-up, did not automatically take the place of Raj.
“I know, this is very parochial, even trivial to some, but I am asking the organizers why the first runner-up, Ms Diane Samar Necio, my townmate, did not automatically take the place of Ms Binibining Pilipinas-Universe, Ms. Venus Raj, who was ousted,” Salceda said.
“Typically, we send a morena to Ms Universe, and Ms Necio was a morena beauty and she was proclaimed the first runner-up,” he said.
Over the past three years, Albay has had a bountiful harvest of beauty trophies. Last year, Melody Gersbach first won as Ms Magayon 2009 before becoming Binibining Pilipinas-International and a semi-finalist in China.
Necio, the Bb. Pilipinas Universe first runner-up, was a runner-up to Gerbasch in the Mutya ng Magayon Pageant.
Another Albay beauty, Ms Jane Bañares, won as Mutya ng Pilipinas 2009 even after losing in Mutya ng Magayon but winning Ms Polangui.
Salceda said these titles are a source of local pride and, to a certain extent, a uniting force for Bicolanos.
“We provided assistance to three candidates in this year's Binibining Pilipinas (Raj, Necio and Santos from Daraga who was actually the winner of Ms Magayon 2009). We sent a delegation to China to support Ms Melody Gersbach,” Salceda pointed out.
Raj won the title from last year’s winner, Pamela Bianca Manalo, in a glittering four-hour pageant at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on March 7.
She was voted Miss Friendship by fellow candidates and also won the Best in Long Gown and Best in Terno awards.
She graduated cum laude with a degree in Communication Arts from Bicol University last year.
GMA 7 contract artist Krista Kleiner was proclaimed Binibining Pilipinas-International and named Best in Talent and Best in Swimsuit.
Czarina Catherine Gatbonton from Malolos, Bulacan, was the winner of the Binibining Pilipinas-World title.
The three titleholders bagged a prize package that included a P250,000-contract with Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc., accident insurance worth P2 million, wardrobe and accessories from Cumbia worth P150,000, as well as cash and products from Natasha worth P50,000.
Raj’s fellow Bicolana, 17-year-old Dianne Necio, was first runner-up, while Pampanga’s Helen Nicolette Henson was second runner-up. Henson was also named Miss Photogenic, Miss Fit n’ Right and Miss Philippine Airlines.
Broadcaster Mike Enriquez, boxing champ Nonito Donaire and 1970 Miss International Aurora Pijuan were among the judges of the competition televised on GMA 7. Reports from Ephraim Aguilar, Jonas Cabiles Soltes and Mar Arguelles, Inquirer Southern Luzon
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 06, 2010
'Jueteng' whistle-blower laid to rest
By Ephraim Aguilar, Mar S. Arguelles
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 18:50:00 03/06/2010
INQUIRER.net
DARAGA, Albay, Philippines—Illegal gambling scam whistle-blower Wilfredo “Boy” Mayor, 54, who was shot dead last Sunday, was laid to rest in a simple interment rites here Saturday afternoon.
More than 500 people, mostly family members, friends and supporters, brought him to his grave at the Pristine Memorial Gardens in nearby Legazpi City.
Speaking for the bereaved family, Mayor's daughter Maybell said they were leaving his father's murderers on the hands of God for justice.
“Bahala na saindo an Dios. Maabot man an panahon nindo (May God deal with you. Your time will come),” she said with trembling hands in her eulogy at the Tagas Chapel.
“I know that my father has already forgiven you. But you have given the Lord no choice but to deal with you just as your conscience is dealing with you now,” she added.
Maybelle added that his father was not perfect but she asked the people who had nothing good to say about him to respect his memory.
No politicians were seen in the burial, except for the writhes they had sent.
One of the bouquets came from Senator Panfilo Lacson, the one who brought Mayor to the Senate to reveal the alleged involvement of the First Family in “jueteng” payoffs.
Lacson is currently hiding, shunning his pending arrest in relation to the Dacer-Corbito murder case.
Not even Mayor's friend and fellow whistle-blower Sandra Cam was present in the event.
Mayor's supporters from Barangay (Village) Tagas, where he lived and once served as barangay chairman, wore black shirts with Mayor's face printed on them.
“Tagas” literally means tough in the local dialect, and they used it to describe their former leader.
“Talagang matagas ka (You are really tough),” the T-shirts bore.
Words written on a ribbon on Mayor's silver-grey coffin read, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept my faith.”
A task force that was formed by the Philippine National Police arrived here Tuesday to gather leads about the murder.
Chief Supt. Cecilio Calleja, Bicol police director, said the task force had been interviewing people related to Mayor and had also been verifying statements released by Cam to the media.
Cam, who visited the wake of Mayor at his residence in Daraga, Albay, on Thursday, said she believed that Mayor’s planned exposé on public works projects triggered the plot to kill him, but she did not rule out the jueteng and casino debt angles.
She added that she was not accusing businessman Zaldy Co and his brother of masterminding the killing of Mayor. In a previous radio interview, Cam said Mayor mentioned Co as the biggest contractor in Bicol, cornering most of the public works projects in the region.
A successful businessman and a philanthropist, Co incidentally owns the Pristine Memorial Gardens.
Cam said that in her conversation with Mayor, he told her about a P40-million public works project he was pursuing at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and that a public works official told him to shell out a 20-percent SOP (standard operating procedure), a euphemism for commission in order to get the project.
Cam, however, did not name the DPWH official.
Running a local construction firm, Mayor has shifted to the construction business after the “jueteng” scam controversy.
Archbishop Oscar Cruz supported Cam's claims in a statement made through the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.
Cruz, who spoke to Mayor four days before his death, said Mayor was about to identify eight or nine lawmakers involved in the public works scam had he not been liquidated.
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 18:50:00 03/06/2010
INQUIRER.net
DARAGA, Albay, Philippines—Illegal gambling scam whistle-blower Wilfredo “Boy” Mayor, 54, who was shot dead last Sunday, was laid to rest in a simple interment rites here Saturday afternoon.
More than 500 people, mostly family members, friends and supporters, brought him to his grave at the Pristine Memorial Gardens in nearby Legazpi City.
Speaking for the bereaved family, Mayor's daughter Maybell said they were leaving his father's murderers on the hands of God for justice.
“Bahala na saindo an Dios. Maabot man an panahon nindo (May God deal with you. Your time will come),” she said with trembling hands in her eulogy at the Tagas Chapel.
“I know that my father has already forgiven you. But you have given the Lord no choice but to deal with you just as your conscience is dealing with you now,” she added.
Maybelle added that his father was not perfect but she asked the people who had nothing good to say about him to respect his memory.
No politicians were seen in the burial, except for the writhes they had sent.
One of the bouquets came from Senator Panfilo Lacson, the one who brought Mayor to the Senate to reveal the alleged involvement of the First Family in “jueteng” payoffs.
Lacson is currently hiding, shunning his pending arrest in relation to the Dacer-Corbito murder case.
Not even Mayor's friend and fellow whistle-blower Sandra Cam was present in the event.
Mayor's supporters from Barangay (Village) Tagas, where he lived and once served as barangay chairman, wore black shirts with Mayor's face printed on them.
“Tagas” literally means tough in the local dialect, and they used it to describe their former leader.
“Talagang matagas ka (You are really tough),” the T-shirts bore.
Words written on a ribbon on Mayor's silver-grey coffin read, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept my faith.”
A task force that was formed by the Philippine National Police arrived here Tuesday to gather leads about the murder.
Chief Supt. Cecilio Calleja, Bicol police director, said the task force had been interviewing people related to Mayor and had also been verifying statements released by Cam to the media.
Cam, who visited the wake of Mayor at his residence in Daraga, Albay, on Thursday, said she believed that Mayor’s planned exposé on public works projects triggered the plot to kill him, but she did not rule out the jueteng and casino debt angles.
She added that she was not accusing businessman Zaldy Co and his brother of masterminding the killing of Mayor. In a previous radio interview, Cam said Mayor mentioned Co as the biggest contractor in Bicol, cornering most of the public works projects in the region.
A successful businessman and a philanthropist, Co incidentally owns the Pristine Memorial Gardens.
Cam said that in her conversation with Mayor, he told her about a P40-million public works project he was pursuing at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and that a public works official told him to shell out a 20-percent SOP (standard operating procedure), a euphemism for commission in order to get the project.
Cam, however, did not name the DPWH official.
Running a local construction firm, Mayor has shifted to the construction business after the “jueteng” scam controversy.
Archbishop Oscar Cruz supported Cam's claims in a statement made through the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.
Cruz, who spoke to Mayor four days before his death, said Mayor was about to identify eight or nine lawmakers involved in the public works scam had he not been liquidated.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Business booms while waiting for big bang
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY--With more than 75,000 volcano-watchers flocking into Albay province this month alone, there were no vacant tables at the Small Talk Café on Sunday.
The Hotel St. Ellis, an expensive establishment that opened only this month, had just one room left on Tuesday night. Hotel Venezia was fully booked for five days until the 29th.
Taxi drivers say they’re averaging only three hours of sleep and car rental services are on round-the-clock operations.
Business is booming in Albay as thousands of adventure-seeking tourists are drawn to the restive Mayon Volcano with many even risking their lives to get close to the spectacular flowing lava, according to provincial authorities.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said 2,400 tourists a day had been pouring into the area since the famously active volcano started oozing lava on Dec. 14, compared with about 200 a day before.
“All the hotels are fully booked, even the cheapest ones,” Salceda said.
He said the tourists typically only stay overnight to view the crimson lava oozing from the volcano’s crater in the dark.
“It is like a slow-moving meteor show. You really feel awe when you see it,” he said.
Courting danger
However, Salceda said many tourists were also slipping past security patrols to enter the 8-kilometer danger zone around Mayon to get a close-up experience of the slow-moving lava column.
“There are enough thrill-seekers and, when you combine them with some enterprising local guides, they find their way in,” he said.
The military heightened security around Mayon on Monday after two foreign tourists were seen over the weekend riding all-terrain vehicles toward the volcano.
Salceda warned that although the lava was slow-moving, there was still a danger from volcanic ash that could mix with rainwater to form a lethal, fast-moving mudflow.
Such a confluence had claimed hundreds of lives in the past, most recently in 2006.
“It’s a big problem. I think the first violation of the zero casualty [record] will be a dead tourist,” said Salceda.
“At the moment of eruption, the local guides will have a better chance of getting out. The hapless tourist will be left behind,” he said.
Businesses here claim that their revenues have increased by as much as 30 percent since Mayon started becoming restive as tourists are drawn to the volcanic show.
Soaring revenues
At the Small Talk Café, diners came nonstop on Sunday. Café owner Bernadette Peralta said it was like Valentine’s Day, the only time of the year when sales would triple.
“We have even surpassed last year’s December sales when there was less competition,” said Peralta, noting that the café experienced similar high sales in 2006, when the volcano last erupted.
One of Small Talk’s specialties, Pasta Mayon, has also become some kind of attraction. The dish is made from the triangular ravioli pasta arranged to resemble Mayon’s nearly perfect cone. It is topped by a sizzling red sauce that looks like flowing lava.
Round-the-clock service
There is round-the-clock demand for car services from tourists asking to be driven to Ligñon Hill whose deck affords a full view of Mayon as well as a 360-degree vista of the city and neighboring Daraga town.
Harvey Santos Mayores, manager of the Early Riser Taxi Services, who drives one of his own units, said he is usually on the road until 2 a.m.
Edward Belda, a driver for the Benmar Transport Services, has been hiring himself out to media organizations covering the natural disaster by day and to lava-watching tourists by night.
The flag-down rate for taxicabs here is P30. Car rental rates range from P3,500 to P4,500 per day, depending on the length and duration of travel.
Tour guides
On ordinary days, 60-year-old Benny Rodriguez is a golf course caretaker in Barangay Padang. Now he earns extra as a tour guide.
He said many tourists wanting a closer view of Mayon would negotiate the rough climb to the Legazpi Golf Course, which is inside the 8-km extended danger zone. The course is just within the 5-km radius of the volcano.
Not being a regular guide, Rodriguez, whose clients include media people, tourists and celebrities, does not charge a fixed rate and accepts whatever the customer is willing to give.
He said local tourists tend to be more generous. Recently, a famous golf-playing television host paid him P1,000.
Chopper rides
Misibis Bay Raintree, a luxury island resort in the Albay Gulf and the Pacific Ocean, has noted a significant increase in revenues from its A-list market.
The resort on Cagraray Island offers to high-end clients a volcano adventure tour package, which includes a one-hour chopper ride or an ocean cruise to view Mayon from a safe distance.
Manager Ian Varona said there are precautions to take to ensure the safety of tourists but Mayon, one of the world’s wonders, should not be feared.
He said letting tourism thrive will help boost the local economy, generate more jobs and bring long-term benefits.
Losses suffered
Political economist Carl Ala of the University of the Philippines-Manila, who is now based in Bicol, said that increased business revenues because of the Mayon eruption were still nothing compared to the losses suffered.
“We should also see the calamity’s damage to crops. Many farmers were not able to harvest. The government’s relief spending amounts to P1.5 million daily,” Ala said.
Salceda, who earlier said that disaster tourism was not one of his government’s development strategies, estimated that 75,000 tourists came to Albay in December alone.
This one-month figure has already surpassed the number of tourists that arrived in the province in 2008, he said. With a report from Agence France-Presse
Inquirer Southern Luzon
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY--With more than 75,000 volcano-watchers flocking into Albay province this month alone, there were no vacant tables at the Small Talk Café on Sunday.
The Hotel St. Ellis, an expensive establishment that opened only this month, had just one room left on Tuesday night. Hotel Venezia was fully booked for five days until the 29th.
Taxi drivers say they’re averaging only three hours of sleep and car rental services are on round-the-clock operations.
Business is booming in Albay as thousands of adventure-seeking tourists are drawn to the restive Mayon Volcano with many even risking their lives to get close to the spectacular flowing lava, according to provincial authorities.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said 2,400 tourists a day had been pouring into the area since the famously active volcano started oozing lava on Dec. 14, compared with about 200 a day before.
“All the hotels are fully booked, even the cheapest ones,” Salceda said.
He said the tourists typically only stay overnight to view the crimson lava oozing from the volcano’s crater in the dark.
“It is like a slow-moving meteor show. You really feel awe when you see it,” he said.
Courting danger
However, Salceda said many tourists were also slipping past security patrols to enter the 8-kilometer danger zone around Mayon to get a close-up experience of the slow-moving lava column.
“There are enough thrill-seekers and, when you combine them with some enterprising local guides, they find their way in,” he said.
The military heightened security around Mayon on Monday after two foreign tourists were seen over the weekend riding all-terrain vehicles toward the volcano.
Salceda warned that although the lava was slow-moving, there was still a danger from volcanic ash that could mix with rainwater to form a lethal, fast-moving mudflow.
Such a confluence had claimed hundreds of lives in the past, most recently in 2006.
“It’s a big problem. I think the first violation of the zero casualty [record] will be a dead tourist,” said Salceda.
“At the moment of eruption, the local guides will have a better chance of getting out. The hapless tourist will be left behind,” he said.
Businesses here claim that their revenues have increased by as much as 30 percent since Mayon started becoming restive as tourists are drawn to the volcanic show.
Soaring revenues
At the Small Talk Café, diners came nonstop on Sunday. Café owner Bernadette Peralta said it was like Valentine’s Day, the only time of the year when sales would triple.
“We have even surpassed last year’s December sales when there was less competition,” said Peralta, noting that the café experienced similar high sales in 2006, when the volcano last erupted.
One of Small Talk’s specialties, Pasta Mayon, has also become some kind of attraction. The dish is made from the triangular ravioli pasta arranged to resemble Mayon’s nearly perfect cone. It is topped by a sizzling red sauce that looks like flowing lava.
Round-the-clock service
There is round-the-clock demand for car services from tourists asking to be driven to Ligñon Hill whose deck affords a full view of Mayon as well as a 360-degree vista of the city and neighboring Daraga town.
Harvey Santos Mayores, manager of the Early Riser Taxi Services, who drives one of his own units, said he is usually on the road until 2 a.m.
Edward Belda, a driver for the Benmar Transport Services, has been hiring himself out to media organizations covering the natural disaster by day and to lava-watching tourists by night.
The flag-down rate for taxicabs here is P30. Car rental rates range from P3,500 to P4,500 per day, depending on the length and duration of travel.
Tour guides
On ordinary days, 60-year-old Benny Rodriguez is a golf course caretaker in Barangay Padang. Now he earns extra as a tour guide.
He said many tourists wanting a closer view of Mayon would negotiate the rough climb to the Legazpi Golf Course, which is inside the 8-km extended danger zone. The course is just within the 5-km radius of the volcano.
Not being a regular guide, Rodriguez, whose clients include media people, tourists and celebrities, does not charge a fixed rate and accepts whatever the customer is willing to give.
He said local tourists tend to be more generous. Recently, a famous golf-playing television host paid him P1,000.
Chopper rides
Misibis Bay Raintree, a luxury island resort in the Albay Gulf and the Pacific Ocean, has noted a significant increase in revenues from its A-list market.
The resort on Cagraray Island offers to high-end clients a volcano adventure tour package, which includes a one-hour chopper ride or an ocean cruise to view Mayon from a safe distance.
Manager Ian Varona said there are precautions to take to ensure the safety of tourists but Mayon, one of the world’s wonders, should not be feared.
He said letting tourism thrive will help boost the local economy, generate more jobs and bring long-term benefits.
Losses suffered
Political economist Carl Ala of the University of the Philippines-Manila, who is now based in Bicol, said that increased business revenues because of the Mayon eruption were still nothing compared to the losses suffered.
“We should also see the calamity’s damage to crops. Many farmers were not able to harvest. The government’s relief spending amounts to P1.5 million daily,” Ala said.
Salceda, who earlier said that disaster tourism was not one of his government’s development strategies, estimated that 75,000 tourists came to Albay in December alone.
This one-month figure has already surpassed the number of tourists that arrived in the province in 2008, he said. With a report from Agence France-Presse
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tourists look for best view of Mayon
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 01:24:00 12/28/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY—Hotel Venezia is fully booked until Tuesday.
When tourists—from Asia, America and Europe—come, they would ask the front desk which part of Legazpi would give them the best view of the erupting volcano, especially at night.
Gail Narramore, a British-South African missionary, has found Mount Mayon a stunning sight when evening falls.
“It looks like a Christmas tree,” said Narramore, who founded the Albay-based charity group Tiwala Kids and Communities.
Front desk officer Pearl de Guzman told the Inquirer that guests checking into the 40-room hotel had increased since the 2,460-meter mountain started spewing lava two weeks ago.
Digvijay Ankoti, 29, came all way from India just to see the eruption. He drove from Manila to Legazpi with two other Indian friends, one of them married to a Filipino.
It was Ankoti’s first time to see a volcano on the brink of a possibly hazardous blast.
He and his companions have gone lava-watching, going to the top of Ligñon Hill, which offers a full view of the volcano when the sky is clear. The hilltop also offers a 360-degree view of this city and neighboring Daraga town.
Barred from danger zone
Marian Lacson-Singh, 32, one of Ankoti’s companions, said the lava trail was “magnificent,” which made their long drive from Manila worthwhile.
Ankoti said his group once tried to venture into a danger zone—an area within an 8-kilometer radius from the volcano’s flaming mouth—hoping they could get a closer look of the eruption.
The military barred them.
Other tourist sites
Manuel Montiero, 57, from Luxembourg, who also went Mayon-watching at the observatory, said he had seen the Taal, Pinatubo and Bulusan volcanoes but found Mayon most captivating.
Montiero voted for Mayon in the 7 Wonders of the World online search.
Tourism department offices were closed for the holidays and the exact number of tourists, foreign and domestic, who have come to Albay to watch the spectacle of an erupting volcano were not immediately available.
Aside from Mayon, other tourist destinations in Albay are the Misibis resort, Embarcadero commercial complex, and the Tiwi and Manito geothermal sites. Neighboring Sorsogon province offers whale shark-watching in Donsol town.
Disaster tourism
While tourists may have been drawn to the sight of lava cascading down the slopes of Mayon, the provincial government is not keen on encouraging “disaster tourism,” Gov. Joey Salceda said in an earlier interview.
“Disaster tourism is certainly not within the contemplation of the provincial development strategy, even if disaster risk reduction and tourism are integral components,” he said.
Salceda said the sudden surge of tourists was an unintended consequence of a volcanic eruption.
He said the increased tourist arrivals were reflected in the number of visitors Mayon-watching at the observatory (where the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or Phivolcs is located), in increased visits by nongovernment organizations and sociocivic groups to evacuation centers, and in wider media coverage of Albay.
Bicol Tourism Director Nini Ravanilla described Mayon as a timeless tourist attraction.
The volcano has erupted 49 times since records began, claiming thousands of lives. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa.
Deceptive calm
Alert Level 4 remains hoisted over Mayon, meaning a hazardous eruption is possible within days.
Volcanologists yesterday reiterated that while Mayon might be showing less visible signs of unrest, this could be a deceptive calm before a deadly eruption.
“Do not become complacent. The people only see what is coming out of the crater and that is often cloud covered. It is not just the observed phenomenon that matters. We also look at the quakes, the gas emitted and the swelling of the volcano,” warned Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum.
“We are telling the people, ‘Do not just count the number of quakes or what you see from the crater.’ It may look calm but it is not calm. It can still explode,” Solidum said in a radio broadcast.
“You might think it is taking a break but the volcano is still swelling,” he said, after the restive volcano produced fewer ash emissions on Sunday than in previous days.
2006 pattern
Solidum said the volcano could stay active for as long as two months, similar to its last eruption in 2006 when it simmered for months, dumping tons of ash on its slopes.
No one was killed by the eruption itself but in December of that year a passing typhoon dislodged the ash from Mayon’s slopes, turning it into a fast-moving mudflow that covered villages and killed about a thousand people.
More than 47,000 people have fled to 29 evacuation centers, although some villagers are known to defy Army security, sneaking out to periodically return home for supplies.
Still restive
Phivolcs said that based on observations over a 24-hour period, Mayon was still in a state of high unrest, unleashing nine ash explosions accompanied by rumbling sounds.
The blasts produced dirty white to brownish ash columns, with lava fragments, that reached heights of up to 1,000 meters above the summit. Forty-four volcanic earthquakes were recorded.
The sulfur dioxide emission rate has decreased from the previous 8,993 tons per day to 2,304 tons per day.
Communications equipment
As part of intensified preparations for a major eruption, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) regional office has issued additional communication equipment to Task Force Mayon (TFM).
According to Capt. Razaleigh G. Bansawan, TFM spokesperson, a total of 900 Motorola handheld radios with complete accessories have been issued to the task force.
The radios were distributed to nine military checkpoints within the danger zones.
Officials said forced evacuation of villagers seemed to be working, especially in view of government assurances to residents that their property would be protected during their absence. With reports from Rey M. Nasol, Inquirer Southern Luzon, and AFP
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 01:24:00 12/28/2009
INQUIRER.net
LEGAZPI CITY—Hotel Venezia is fully booked until Tuesday.
When tourists—from Asia, America and Europe—come, they would ask the front desk which part of Legazpi would give them the best view of the erupting volcano, especially at night.
Gail Narramore, a British-South African missionary, has found Mount Mayon a stunning sight when evening falls.
“It looks like a Christmas tree,” said Narramore, who founded the Albay-based charity group Tiwala Kids and Communities.
Front desk officer Pearl de Guzman told the Inquirer that guests checking into the 40-room hotel had increased since the 2,460-meter mountain started spewing lava two weeks ago.
Digvijay Ankoti, 29, came all way from India just to see the eruption. He drove from Manila to Legazpi with two other Indian friends, one of them married to a Filipino.
It was Ankoti’s first time to see a volcano on the brink of a possibly hazardous blast.
He and his companions have gone lava-watching, going to the top of Ligñon Hill, which offers a full view of the volcano when the sky is clear. The hilltop also offers a 360-degree view of this city and neighboring Daraga town.
Barred from danger zone
Marian Lacson-Singh, 32, one of Ankoti’s companions, said the lava trail was “magnificent,” which made their long drive from Manila worthwhile.
Ankoti said his group once tried to venture into a danger zone—an area within an 8-kilometer radius from the volcano’s flaming mouth—hoping they could get a closer look of the eruption.
The military barred them.
Other tourist sites
Manuel Montiero, 57, from Luxembourg, who also went Mayon-watching at the observatory, said he had seen the Taal, Pinatubo and Bulusan volcanoes but found Mayon most captivating.
Montiero voted for Mayon in the 7 Wonders of the World online search.
Tourism department offices were closed for the holidays and the exact number of tourists, foreign and domestic, who have come to Albay to watch the spectacle of an erupting volcano were not immediately available.
Aside from Mayon, other tourist destinations in Albay are the Misibis resort, Embarcadero commercial complex, and the Tiwi and Manito geothermal sites. Neighboring Sorsogon province offers whale shark-watching in Donsol town.
Disaster tourism
While tourists may have been drawn to the sight of lava cascading down the slopes of Mayon, the provincial government is not keen on encouraging “disaster tourism,” Gov. Joey Salceda said in an earlier interview.
“Disaster tourism is certainly not within the contemplation of the provincial development strategy, even if disaster risk reduction and tourism are integral components,” he said.
Salceda said the sudden surge of tourists was an unintended consequence of a volcanic eruption.
He said the increased tourist arrivals were reflected in the number of visitors Mayon-watching at the observatory (where the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or Phivolcs is located), in increased visits by nongovernment organizations and sociocivic groups to evacuation centers, and in wider media coverage of Albay.
Bicol Tourism Director Nini Ravanilla described Mayon as a timeless tourist attraction.
The volcano has erupted 49 times since records began, claiming thousands of lives. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa.
Deceptive calm
Alert Level 4 remains hoisted over Mayon, meaning a hazardous eruption is possible within days.
Volcanologists yesterday reiterated that while Mayon might be showing less visible signs of unrest, this could be a deceptive calm before a deadly eruption.
“Do not become complacent. The people only see what is coming out of the crater and that is often cloud covered. It is not just the observed phenomenon that matters. We also look at the quakes, the gas emitted and the swelling of the volcano,” warned Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum.
“We are telling the people, ‘Do not just count the number of quakes or what you see from the crater.’ It may look calm but it is not calm. It can still explode,” Solidum said in a radio broadcast.
“You might think it is taking a break but the volcano is still swelling,” he said, after the restive volcano produced fewer ash emissions on Sunday than in previous days.
2006 pattern
Solidum said the volcano could stay active for as long as two months, similar to its last eruption in 2006 when it simmered for months, dumping tons of ash on its slopes.
No one was killed by the eruption itself but in December of that year a passing typhoon dislodged the ash from Mayon’s slopes, turning it into a fast-moving mudflow that covered villages and killed about a thousand people.
More than 47,000 people have fled to 29 evacuation centers, although some villagers are known to defy Army security, sneaking out to periodically return home for supplies.
Still restive
Phivolcs said that based on observations over a 24-hour period, Mayon was still in a state of high unrest, unleashing nine ash explosions accompanied by rumbling sounds.
The blasts produced dirty white to brownish ash columns, with lava fragments, that reached heights of up to 1,000 meters above the summit. Forty-four volcanic earthquakes were recorded.
The sulfur dioxide emission rate has decreased from the previous 8,993 tons per day to 2,304 tons per day.
Communications equipment
As part of intensified preparations for a major eruption, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) regional office has issued additional communication equipment to Task Force Mayon (TFM).
According to Capt. Razaleigh G. Bansawan, TFM spokesperson, a total of 900 Motorola handheld radios with complete accessories have been issued to the task force.
The radios were distributed to nine military checkpoints within the danger zones.
Officials said forced evacuation of villagers seemed to be working, especially in view of government assurances to residents that their property would be protected during their absence. With reports from Rey M. Nasol, Inquirer Southern Luzon, and AFP
Sunday, December 27, 2009
‘Damayan’ spirit alive amid threat of big Mayon eruption
By Ephraim Aguilar
Inquirer Southern Luzon
LEGAZPI CITY—In a world that has gotten smaller for the 47,000 evacuees from Mayon Volcano, everything has to be shared—from food to sleeping mats, from bathrooms to the air they breathe.
And they are living together after escaping a common danger—a possible major eruption of Mayon that, scientists Saturday warned, remained a real threat because of the buildup of magma, clogging the volcano.
In their now smaller world in an evacuation center at Albay Central School, 367 displaced families from Barangay Matanag receive the same amount of food from relief agencies—regardless of the size of each family.
It is in such situations that the damayan (sharing) culture among Filipinos comes to the fore, sociologists say.
“Smaller families would share what they have with bigger families. We would help one another,” evacuee Cynthia Aydalla, a mother of four, told the Inquirer.
“We would buy vegetables from other evacuees. They would bring their harvests here in the evacuation center rather than sell them in the market,” she said.
Sharing little they have
Matanag is one of more than 30 villages within the 8-kilometer danger zone whose residents had to flee their homes to escape the threat from Mayon.
Once it happened that the Aydallas received six kilograms of rice, four packs of noodles, eight canned goods, and a 25-gram pack of coffee that were supposed to be good for three days.
That was also the same ration that Alex Abellena and his family of seven children received—an amount that wouldn’t last them more than two days.
Such a discrepancy has fostered a feeling of generosity among the evacuees.
One big family
In the cramped classrooms of San Roque Elementary School, lack of a comfortable sleeping space was also a problem.
The solution: The evacuees put together, like jigsaw puzzle pieces, whatever mats they had. In the absence of mats, they shared cardboard cartons to shield themselves against the cold floors.
“All evacuees would sleep together like one big family,” said Josie Perez, 41, of Barangay Mabinit.
Since a classroom houses as many as over 100 people, some would sleep in the hallways, Perez said. Others, including a one-month-old baby, slept on a stage.
Upon waking up, over 1,000 evacuees would form long queues to the only two functional bathrooms in the evacuation center.
“Some of us would wake as early as 1 a.m. to avoid the long queues. Others found it more convenient to go back to their houses in the danger zones to clean themselves up,” Perez told the Inquirer.
Culture of generosity
Dolly Laguilles, a sociology professor from Bicol University in Daraga, Albay, said: “It is true that crisis creates a political climate for giving. But in the evacuation centers, it may be more than that.”
She said the tales of generosity from crowded evacuation centers were real and deeply rooted to the Filipino way of life.
“Generosity is a Christian deed. Filipinos are innately generous people,” Laguilles said. “Calamities like this would simply test generosity, a value that has always been there, though, at times, it just has to be revived.
She added: “The damayan culture becomes a source of strength for the refugees. It helps them cope and stand strong.”
Uniquely Filipino
Laguilles said Filipino sociologists have unique terms to describe similar rural values of sharing—“pakikisama, damayan, and bayanihan.”
“These are unique Filipino values deeply embedded in the Filipino’s familial culture.”
She said the damayan culture preserved in rural communities was something urban Filipinos could learn from.
“Urban Filipinos value their space and privacy so much more than the rural folk,” Laguilles said. “That is why the refugees could adapt in crowded evacuation centers and could easily share what they have with one another.”
The sense of being faced with the same danger—that posed by an angry mountain—may have reinforced that communal feeling.
Buildup of magma
Volcanologists on Saturday said that while fewer earthquakes had been recorded from the volcano in recent days, magma continued to build up inside and any lull in activity could be followed by a bigger eruption.
A hazardous eruption remains possible within days, and residents who live near the volcano’s slopes should not be misled into leaving the evacuation centers and venturing back to their homes, warned volcanologist Ed Laguerta.
“The number of volcanic earthquakes has gone down, but this is just part of the eruptive cycle of Mayon,” he said.
1984 lesson
The number of quakes decreased from 871 recorded during the 24-hour period ending Friday morning to 406 recorded during the next 24 hours, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
Laguerta said instruments showed the volcano remained inflated despite having spilled more than 20 million cubic meters of lava over the last two weeks. That means the lava being released is being replaced by magma coming from beneath the volcano.
“We are looking not only at what Mayon is presently exhibiting because that fluctuates. We are also looking at its past characteristics,” he said, recalling that in 1984, a four-day lull was followed by a sudden, big eruption.
He added: “What is becoming clear is that (the volcano) is getting clogged. That is when the lava is rising but cannot get out.”
“Just because the volcano looks calm … it does not mean its activity is decreasing. We cannot be off our guard. After this calm period, it could explode with even more force,” Laguerta said.
Hissing, rumbling
Showing no letup in its “high level of activity,” Mayon hissed and rumbled, ejecting ash columns a kilometer high from its summit, Phivolcs said.
It said the rumblings continued to be heard at the Lignon Hill Observatory in Legazpi. A total of 406 earthquakes also shook the mountain and emissions of sulfur dioxide remained high at 8,993 tons per day.
Alert level 4, meaning a hazardous eruption is possible within days, remains enforced and no one is allowed to venture within the 8-km danger zone from the summit, it said.
“Areas just outside of this (danger zone) should prepare for evacuation in the event hazardous explosive eruptions intensify,” Phivolcs said.
Gov. Joey Salceda is offering P100,000 in cash to any barangay affected by the continuing eruptions that doesn’t suffer any casualties.
“If we achieve the zero-casualty target, then it would entice investors to come in because it is proven that we can move on in the mid of calamities, yet Albay is still worth investing,” Salceda said.
The 2,460-meter has erupted 49 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa. With reports from Alcuin Papa, AP and AFP
Inquirer Southern Luzon
LEGAZPI CITY—In a world that has gotten smaller for the 47,000 evacuees from Mayon Volcano, everything has to be shared—from food to sleeping mats, from bathrooms to the air they breathe.
And they are living together after escaping a common danger—a possible major eruption of Mayon that, scientists Saturday warned, remained a real threat because of the buildup of magma, clogging the volcano.
In their now smaller world in an evacuation center at Albay Central School, 367 displaced families from Barangay Matanag receive the same amount of food from relief agencies—regardless of the size of each family.
It is in such situations that the damayan (sharing) culture among Filipinos comes to the fore, sociologists say.
“Smaller families would share what they have with bigger families. We would help one another,” evacuee Cynthia Aydalla, a mother of four, told the Inquirer.
“We would buy vegetables from other evacuees. They would bring their harvests here in the evacuation center rather than sell them in the market,” she said.
Sharing little they have
Matanag is one of more than 30 villages within the 8-kilometer danger zone whose residents had to flee their homes to escape the threat from Mayon.
Once it happened that the Aydallas received six kilograms of rice, four packs of noodles, eight canned goods, and a 25-gram pack of coffee that were supposed to be good for three days.
That was also the same ration that Alex Abellena and his family of seven children received—an amount that wouldn’t last them more than two days.
Such a discrepancy has fostered a feeling of generosity among the evacuees.
One big family
In the cramped classrooms of San Roque Elementary School, lack of a comfortable sleeping space was also a problem.
The solution: The evacuees put together, like jigsaw puzzle pieces, whatever mats they had. In the absence of mats, they shared cardboard cartons to shield themselves against the cold floors.
“All evacuees would sleep together like one big family,” said Josie Perez, 41, of Barangay Mabinit.
Since a classroom houses as many as over 100 people, some would sleep in the hallways, Perez said. Others, including a one-month-old baby, slept on a stage.
Upon waking up, over 1,000 evacuees would form long queues to the only two functional bathrooms in the evacuation center.
“Some of us would wake as early as 1 a.m. to avoid the long queues. Others found it more convenient to go back to their houses in the danger zones to clean themselves up,” Perez told the Inquirer.
Culture of generosity
Dolly Laguilles, a sociology professor from Bicol University in Daraga, Albay, said: “It is true that crisis creates a political climate for giving. But in the evacuation centers, it may be more than that.”
She said the tales of generosity from crowded evacuation centers were real and deeply rooted to the Filipino way of life.
“Generosity is a Christian deed. Filipinos are innately generous people,” Laguilles said. “Calamities like this would simply test generosity, a value that has always been there, though, at times, it just has to be revived.
She added: “The damayan culture becomes a source of strength for the refugees. It helps them cope and stand strong.”
Uniquely Filipino
Laguilles said Filipino sociologists have unique terms to describe similar rural values of sharing—“pakikisama, damayan, and bayanihan.”
“These are unique Filipino values deeply embedded in the Filipino’s familial culture.”
She said the damayan culture preserved in rural communities was something urban Filipinos could learn from.
“Urban Filipinos value their space and privacy so much more than the rural folk,” Laguilles said. “That is why the refugees could adapt in crowded evacuation centers and could easily share what they have with one another.”
The sense of being faced with the same danger—that posed by an angry mountain—may have reinforced that communal feeling.
Buildup of magma
Volcanologists on Saturday said that while fewer earthquakes had been recorded from the volcano in recent days, magma continued to build up inside and any lull in activity could be followed by a bigger eruption.
A hazardous eruption remains possible within days, and residents who live near the volcano’s slopes should not be misled into leaving the evacuation centers and venturing back to their homes, warned volcanologist Ed Laguerta.
“The number of volcanic earthquakes has gone down, but this is just part of the eruptive cycle of Mayon,” he said.
1984 lesson
The number of quakes decreased from 871 recorded during the 24-hour period ending Friday morning to 406 recorded during the next 24 hours, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
Laguerta said instruments showed the volcano remained inflated despite having spilled more than 20 million cubic meters of lava over the last two weeks. That means the lava being released is being replaced by magma coming from beneath the volcano.
“We are looking not only at what Mayon is presently exhibiting because that fluctuates. We are also looking at its past characteristics,” he said, recalling that in 1984, a four-day lull was followed by a sudden, big eruption.
He added: “What is becoming clear is that (the volcano) is getting clogged. That is when the lava is rising but cannot get out.”
“Just because the volcano looks calm … it does not mean its activity is decreasing. We cannot be off our guard. After this calm period, it could explode with even more force,” Laguerta said.
Hissing, rumbling
Showing no letup in its “high level of activity,” Mayon hissed and rumbled, ejecting ash columns a kilometer high from its summit, Phivolcs said.
It said the rumblings continued to be heard at the Lignon Hill Observatory in Legazpi. A total of 406 earthquakes also shook the mountain and emissions of sulfur dioxide remained high at 8,993 tons per day.
Alert level 4, meaning a hazardous eruption is possible within days, remains enforced and no one is allowed to venture within the 8-km danger zone from the summit, it said.
“Areas just outside of this (danger zone) should prepare for evacuation in the event hazardous explosive eruptions intensify,” Phivolcs said.
Gov. Joey Salceda is offering P100,000 in cash to any barangay affected by the continuing eruptions that doesn’t suffer any casualties.
“If we achieve the zero-casualty target, then it would entice investors to come in because it is proven that we can move on in the mid of calamities, yet Albay is still worth investing,” Salceda said.
The 2,460-meter has erupted 49 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa. With reports from Alcuin Papa, AP and AFP
Saturday, December 26, 2009
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