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Survivor' filming full blast in Gota

Filming of the TV series “Survivor” is now going on full blast around Gota beach in Caramoan, Camarines Sur but except for five helicopters hovering daily above the town proper no one knows what is happening within the heavily guarded resort area.

Residents said that on one occasion trigger-happy guards fired warning shots when excursionists from a Naga City school tried to land on one of the islets.

Neither do municipal officials know what is happening except that tourists and residents themselves are barred from the resort area. A signboard near Talisay Port at San Jose, Camarines Sur, the jump-off point to Caramoan nearly two hours away, says Gota Beach is temporarily off-limits to visitors while installation of facilities is going on. The prohibition is expected to last long after the town fiesta on May 7 and 8 when many visitors will be in the remote coastal town to take a dip at Gota Beach and other fabulous beaches and islets aside from fulfi lling their religious vows.

The Camarines Sur provincial government, which has a stewardship agreement with DENR on around 300 hectares of the Caramoan National Park including Gota Beach, has built nearly a hundred units of cabanas and other accommodation facilities near Gota Beach and the adjoining Honongan Beach in time for the filming of the TV series with a cast of scores of Europeans and Americans. It is not known what other facilities will be put up by the Capitol which recently borrowed an astronomical P2.050 billion from the DBP purportedly to finance tourism projects.

Local officials however lamented that no coordination has ever been made by the provincial government with them. They said they could not give any answer everytime residents, piqued by the inconvenience of not being able to get to Gota Beach, ask what benefits will accrue to the town from the present filming activities at Gota Beach.

Some said the provincial government will receive a hefty sum from the “Survivor” producers but as usual no announcement has been made on the expected windfall. The provincial government has been characteristically secretive on financial ventures and has not even disclosed numerous calamity aids to the province coming from government entities and the private sector and even government auditors are mysteriously mum on such issues which the public ought to know under the imperative principle of transparency in governance.

Source:Peninsula Monitor (CRANE)

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Travel to Bicol: Top 10 Things to do

Bicol is one of the top tourist destinations in the country. Bicol is known to be the home of the famous Mount Mayon, a volcano with a perfectly shaped cone. Bicol is situated in the southern most part of the island of Luzon. This region has many things to offer to tourist such as natural attractions, fine dining and delicious cuisine and the rich cultural and historical heritage of Bicol.

Bicol hs beautiful scenic and enchanted views that includes beautiful beaches, world-class diving sites, centuries-old churches and religious relics, famous landmarks and many historical places. Visitors and tourist will enjoy a range of leisure and recreational activities like diving, snorkeling, swimming, or trekking. The beaches of Bicol including the exotic Sogod Beach in Bacaycay, offer ideal conditions for beach activities.

Now that you have an idea what are the tourist attractions in Bicol, but still you don’t know where to start or where to go. Bicol Region has six provinces namely Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Catanduanes, and Masbate and theres a lot of scenic and beautiful places that is waiting for you to be explored. So here are the top places that you can start with.

1. Mayon Trekking: a trek to Mayon is an exciting outdoor adventure because you will see how perfect the symmetrical cone of this Volcano. Not only that you will have a chance to see the magnificent view of the Albay gulf. You will discover the proofs of Mayon Volcano’s destructive fury that buried Cagsawa the only evidence today is the Cagsawa church belfry that is still standing.

2. Pilgrimage to the Basilica Minore in Naga: The home of the miraculous image of the Patroness of Bicolandia, Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia. Every September, in the feast of Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia, thousands of devotees and pilgrims visit this place to venerate the Virgin Mary.

3. Gold digging in Camarines: Paracale, Camarines Norte has very rich deposits of gold, iron, uranium, copper, zinc and lead and this place is known as the gold country of the province. People here are known to worked the mines even way back to the pre-Spanish period. Paracale, Camarines Norte is the center of the jewelry-making industry and is still regarded as a good place to purchase fine gold jewelry.

4. Food Tripping in Legazpi: When you feel hungry and want to try rich and spicy dishes that are mostly cooked using “gata” or coconut milk and flavored with “siling labuyo” then you are looking for a Bicol cuisine. Stop by in Legazpi City and taste the Bicolano specialties such as bicol express, pinangat and laing.

5. Go Surfing in Catanduanes: The Puraran beach is a popular surfing site in Catanduanes and is popularly known in the international surfing circuit as “Majestic”. The waves here are spectacular because Catanduanes province is located along the typhoon belt area, northeast of Legazpi City, bounded on the north and east by the Pacific Ocean, which explains the magnificent surf breaks.

6. Historic shrines in Daet: This is the place where Philippine’s National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal’s first monument was built in honor of him. The statue was unveiled on Dec. 30, 1898. The effort was initiated by Lt. Col. Antonio Saez of the Revolutionary Army.

7. Island hopping in Masbate: Masbate is an island that has many beautiful beaches. You can go island hopping from one island to another and discover the beauty of each island. You can enjoy your weekend picnics with your family and friends in one of the islands that are sorrounded by giant trees and luscious vegetation. Masbate is also famous from its unique festival called the Rodeo Festival.

8. Wakeboarding in Camarines Sur Watersports Complex: This is the first world-class watersports complex in all Asia. Many international wakeboarders and tourist all over the world come here in Camarines sur to experience the ride of their life that they have never experienced before. Camarines Sur Watersports Complex offers you the chance to learn wakeboarding, wake skate, water ski and knee board.

9. Whale Shark Interaction in Donsol: This is one of the most popular tourist attraction in the region. This massive but gentle denizen of the deep waters of Donsol, locally known as butanding, are more visible during the summer. Not only that, you can experience the enchanting firefly watching in Donsol when you cruise the river at night.

10. Build homes for Habitat: If you have nothing to do want to do some charity work then become a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity then you can sign up and help build homes and rebuild the lives of some 2,000 families who were displaced by typhoons Milenyo and Reming last year. The resettlement site is located in Daraga, Albay.

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Bicol now on top 10 tourist destination in RP

NAGA CITY -- Tourist arrivals in Bicol continued to be upbeat through the months of 2007 and as the year closed the Department of Tourism (DOT) is expecting to breach a 1-million mark.

        DOT Director Nini Ravanilla expressed optimism the tourist arrivals of one million at the end of the year could be achieved for the first time.

        “If this happens, Bicol will formally be enlisted as an emerging choice tourist destination in the country, as it joins the elite club of tourist drawers of one million and over on a year-round basis,” Ravanilla said.

        DOT records show around 694,733 tourist arrivals during the third quarter period, a significant increase of 51 percent from last year’s period, a record of 458,737.

        The upswing of tourist arrivals this year peaked during the second period with a 37 percent growth and it accelerated by 14 percent during the third quarter period.

        Consequently, the latest regional gross receipts earned from tourist arrivals increased to P364 million from P255 million at the end of June this year.

        Still, according to the latest DOT statistics, among the six Bicol provinces, Albay continues to lure most foreign tourists at 36,000 arrivals, even though Camarines Sur consistently shows a remarkable record of foreign tourist arrivals of 28,851 at the end of the third quarter period.

        The Camsur Watersports Complex (CWC) remains to be a favorite destination of foreign tourists and the celebration of Naga City’s Peñafrancia Fiesta as it recorded arrivals from 12,864 to 28,861 tourists at the end of September in Camarines Sur.

        In the first nine months, the upbeat trend of tourist arrivals in Bicol has been led by Camarines Sur, including the chartered Naga City, with a record of 350,944 tourists visiting the province, which comprised 51 percent of the regional total of 694,733 tourist arrivals.

        On a year-on-year basis, 2006-2007, Camarines Sur has posted phenomenal growth rate of 114 percent as the island province of Catanduanes emerged the second fastest, achieving 66 percent growth rate.

        Some 17,064 foreigners have been lured to visit the island province of Catanduanes in the northeast of Bicol peninsula, with as many as the 19,439 visiting local tourists who came here from January-September.

        Tourist arrivals in Catanduanes increased to 36,503 this year from 21,940 of last year’s third quarter period.

        Another island province in Bicol, Masbate, is catching up in the number of tourist arrivals as it posted a growth rate of 44 percent, making it in the third rank tourist destination in the region.

        But unlike Catanduanes, Masbate’s tourist arrivals is composed mainly of locals with 80,335 on the record while the number of foreign tourists at 2,304 is the lowest in the region.

        Sorsogon province continues its record decline in tourist arrivals, from -18 percent in the second quarter period to -26 percent in the third quarter period.

        Its tourist arrivals were down to 38,851, of which domestic arrivals pulled down the annual growth rate with a decrease of some 6,520, from the 48,308 of last year’s record to 31,788 of this year.

        Albay province, the top rank tourist drawer of Bicol until 2005, has still to get over the slowdown of tourist arrivals with only an 18 percent growth rate achieved during the third quarter period.

        The province of Camarines Norte continued to slump with only a five percent growth rate from last year’s total tourist arrivals of 55,964 to 59,899 at present; its foreign tourist arrivals, the second lowest in the region.

Source: Bicol Mail