Duterte sings ‘Ikaw’ with Loboc Children’s Choir

By the time you are reading this corner, the holiday season must already be in full swing. Christmas is the most exciting time of the year.

VRS wants to hear and see your best, most spectacular story and images of Christmas where you live.

What is Christmas like for you? What do your decorations or lights look like this year? What holiday traditions do you celebrate? Will you be attending particular Christmas events such as Simbang Gabi? If you do not celebrate Christmas, how will you spend the holidays?

Send your story and favorite images of your Christmas celebrations to leoudtohan@yahoo.com for a chance to be featured in VRS.

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Over the years, our province of Bohol has had its share of presidential visits.

Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte was invited as a special guest during the inauguration of the new Bohol Panglao International Airport.

President Rodrigo Duterte listened to the Loboc 

Children’s Choir during the inauguration of the Bohol Panglao

 International Airport. Photo by  Leo Udtohan

When the Mr. Duterte arrived at the airport from Carmen town, the word-class Loboc Children’s Choir headed by  their conductress Alma Taldo sang “Ikaw.”

Mr. Duterte stopped.  He was seen smiling while hearing the music but eventually came closer and joined the children in singing the song.

This was not the first time Duterte was seen singing “Ikaw” in public. Duterte also sang the same song  during the gala dinner for the guests at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit front of regional and world leaders and during his visit abroad particularly during his meeting with the Filipino community in other countries.

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My friends forwarded these tips traveler should do at the airport:

1) Arrive early at the airport. It is advised that you arrive at least 3-4 hours before your flight unlike before at the small Tagbilaran Airport that you could come 45 minutes before the flight.

2) Make sure you have all your travel documents with you.

3) Always check airport security guidelines to avoid hassle.

And, some friends forwarded these tips and reminders (they culled from Facebook) for passengers while at the new airport (for the meantime):

1.) Before leaving home, please bring your own food and drinks or you may buy those in Tagbilaran City as food stalls are scarce. (Drinking water are provided but bring your own empty bottles to refill)

2.) Automatic Teller Machine (ATM)  and money changer are not yet available so please bring cash before going to the airport.

Former provincial board member and AirAsia Capt. Jaja Jumamoy 

 (with Helen Castano) was the first female pilot to fly

 a jet to the new airport.  Photo by Leo Udtohan

3.) Accessibility is very limited to public utility vehicles. A private bus company is providing a ride to/from the airport terminal via Integrated Bus Terminal in Dao, Tagbilaran City near Island City Mall (ICM) for a cost: Regular pax: Php50.00 / Senior Citizen and Student Privilege discount: Php40.00. 

BUS TERMINAL- AIRPORT TERMINAL
First trip: 4:00AM 6:00AM
Last trip: 5:00PM 6:00PM
Interval: EVERY 30 MINS.
Travel time: 30-45 minutes

4.) No evening flights were added and flights schedules were retained from old TAG Airport.

5.) Public Wi-Fi is good for 30 mins only. (#SmartWifi@PIIA)

6.) Please be in the airport at least 3 hours before the SCHEDULED TIME OF DEPARTURE (STD) to avoid missing your flight.

*Online check-in (at least 4 hours before STD) is highly suggested.*

7.) Triple check the items inside your baggage if its allowed for check-in and hand carry inside the cabin. Please refer to the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) and your airline for
baggage policies.
- http://www.ots.gov.ph/images/memos/mc-2015-02.pdf
- https://www.cebupacificair.com/pages/plan-trip/conditions-of-carriage/cebupacific-general-terms-
and-conditions-of-carriage
-https://www.philippineairlines.com/TravelInformation/BeforeYouFly/BaggageInformation/RestrictedItems
- https://support.airasia.com/s/article/What-items-are-prohibited-en?language=en_GB

Mr. Duterte joined the Loboc Children’s Choir 

in singing the song “Ikaw.” Photo by  Leo Udtohan

8.) TERMINAL FEE :DOMESTIC FLIGHTS - included in tickets
INT'L FLIGHTS - Php500.00

TRAVEL TAX - pax with international flights only. Please refer to Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) counter or website.
- http://tieza.gov.ph/

PASSENGER RIGHTS COMPLAINTS - please refer to Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) desk or website.
- https://www.cab.gov.ph/

Enjoy your new experience in the first eco-airport in the Philippines. Bon voyage!

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Thanks for your letters, all will be answered. Comments welcome at leoudtohan@yahoo.com, follow leoudtohanINQ at Twitter /Facebook.

The Bohol Panglao International Airport is now a reality

Many people think that the airport as a community's front door as it helps an individual’s overall perception of a destination.

Over the past few years, Bohol’s economic landscape has greatly improved. A new era for Bohol’s tourism is emerging, with the opening of high-end luxury hotels and resorts in Panglao Island, enticing more visitors to bask in indulgence and relaxation.

Tourism makes up 90 percent of Bohol’s industry and tourists are expected to swell with the new airport.

After three decades, the once “airport in the sand” is now a reality.

The P7.8-billion Panglao Island International Airport, renamed Bohol Panglao International Airport, is set to open on Nov. 27, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr). It will replace the small Tagbilaran Airport, the current Bohol gateway and the 11th busiest airport in the Philippines.

DOTr said the airport would be the country’s first eco-airport to be dubbed “Green Gateway to the World.”

Your VRS with provincial Ae Damalerio at the
 new airport during a media tour last August.  

Bohol officials consider the new airport an economic landmark and a game changer for the province’s progress.

“An airport acts as a driver of economic growth and development across all sectors. This will expand the production possibility frontiers of Bohol, the region and the country,” Gov. Edgar Chatto said.

The benefits of an international airport far outweigh its perceived challenges, Chatto said.

It serves as a backup facility to Mactan-Cebu International Airport, especially if flights need to be diverted during emergency.

As another entry point to the country, it helps ease airport operations in Manila and other cities while boosting Bohol’s connectivity to other destinations in the country and abroad.

Chatto said the new airport would attract more investments, particularly those related to tourism, and generate local jobs and livelihood.

“If a farming family is able to sell their produce to a hotel or restaurant, is that not a benefit to ordinary Boholanos? If the members of Tubigon Loomweavers Cooperative are able to sell their products to foreign buyers, is that not good for the local economy? If our drivers, boatmen, tour guides, room service staff, masseurs and reflexologists are able to secure sustained employment, is that not a benefit to ordinary Boholanos?” he asked.

Chatto described tourism as “one of the world’s largest and most resilient industries with 10 percent of global workforce.”

 “Its multiplier effect on various industries stimulates the local economy, which results in reduction of poverty,” he added.

Having an international airport has been the dream of five Bohol governors—Contancio Torralba, David Tirol, Rene Relampagos, Erico Aumentado and Chatto—and six presidents—Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III and Rodrigo Duterte.

The project idea started in the late 1980s, during Torralba’s term, but public interest somehow waned. It was revived during the time of Aumentado that drew the support of Arroyo though it had only a P1-billion budget.

On May 8, 2008, Arroyo laid the time capsule for the P4.2-billion airport in Panglao. The project went in limbo after the event.

It was only during the term of Aquino that it finally moved.

On Sept. 4, 2012, the National Economic and Development Authority gave the green light for the airport’s construction in a resolution.

Funding would come from the Official Development Assistance instead of the public-private partnership, a government program for infrastructure-building that allows the private sector to participate in any of the schemes authorized under the build-operate-transfer law.

On March 27, 2013, the Japan International Cooperation Agency signed an agreement with the Philippines to build Panglao Island International Airport at 10.78 billion yen under the project name New Bohol Airport Construction and Sustainable Environment Protection Project.

Construction began in June 2015.

When then President Aquino visited the project site on March 4, 2016, he said he was looking forward to coming back to Bohol no longer as the Chief Executive but as a tourist. He might just be able to do that soon.

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Thanks for your letters, all will be answered. Comments welcome at leoudtohan@yahoo.com, follow leoudtohanINQ at Twitter /Facebook.