Bohol tourism council urges temporary closure of Chocolate Hills view deck area

"Citing safety reasons, the Bohol provincial tourism council on Monday urged the temporary closure of the view deck area of the famous Chocolate Hills.

The province also noted a reduction in tourist arrivals in November, a month after a magnitude-7.2 quake hit Central Visayas, state-run Philippine Information Agency reported.

According to the PIA report, the provincial tourism council noted the structure had collapsed during the quake, and has yet to be cleared for operation.

Bohol is one of the areas hit hardest by the Oct. 15 quake.

November tourism arrivals down

Meanwhile, the PIA reported said provincial tourism council chairman Atty. Lucas Nunag noted a reduction in tourist arrivals by up to 50 percent in November.

However, the Bohol tourism council also cited "indicators" that show tourist arrivals might increase slightly this Christmas season.

On the other hand, the PIA also noted the nine-day dawn Masses started Monday, even in areas where the churches had been destroyed or damaged"


http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/stor...ary-closure-of-chocolate-hills-view-deck-area

Which viewing deck are they referring to? The old one has been totally destroyed and is set to open this month. We were there a few weeks ago and there is a private viewing deck albeit not as panoramic as the old one.

They don't say, do they. But it is a 16th December report.

How was the visit, by the way?

Maybe the old one opened already and they are still needing more repairs?

Visit was very very good, still not a lot of local tourists and mostly Caucasian ones. The roads are mostly passable except for some around the area where the Churches were destroyed.

It's about high time that the tourists come back. Bohol is beautiful

Bohol won't see tourism in any numbers until the electricity supply is fully-restored. That might have happened by now but for Typhoon Yolanda which not only brought-down power pylons on the island but also on Leyte from where the island gets most of its supply.

When we were there, end of November until early December, Panglao and Tagbilaran city has electricity already

Did you checkout the new faultline displacement?

Gloomy Christmas for Bohol tourism spots



BOHOL - "What used to be a merry season for Bohol has become gloomy, two months after a massive quake hit the province.

Resorts in Panglao Island are struggling to fill up their rooms even during the holiday season, which normally is the peak season for tourists.

The Bohol Tourism Council estimates tourist arrivals are down 50% in November compared to last year. Low occupancy rates hit not just luxury resorts but all hotels in Bohol."




http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/regions/12/20/13/gloomy-christmas-bohol-tourism-spots

That's a shame, there were tourists when we were there but not a lot of locals. We spoke to the owner of the car we are renting and he said that it is very slowly picking up.

We went there because we love Bohol and we want to show everyone that it is ok. Bohol needs all the help we can.

Yes, the island has been ripped apart, literally. I imagine it will take less time to mend in terms of visitors, though it might take longer in terms of investors or those making it their home.

Lessons learned ought to be, don't build your house next to the beach and avoid quake prone zones. Or if not then build to a much higher and appropriate spec.

You know John, there are times when you demonstrate crass insensitivity and this is one of those occasions. Many in this country barely earn enough to feed themselves and their families and the most they can afford is a shack made from coco lumber, a few sheets of pre-used plywood and a few sheets of rusting corrugated steel to form a roof. Since Aquino imposed a logging ban at the start of his presidency, all constructional grade lumber is now imported and priced well beyond the means of the poor Filipino hence he is forced to use the inferior and fibrous coco lumber which may last a year or so before being eaten and turned to dust by bugs. Many can't even afford the few square metres of land on which to sit their home which means they are forced to squat next to rivers and by the sea.

And there's a distinct whiff of "pot, kettle, black" about your comment seeing as you live in a country where people build houses close to rivers that regularly burst their banks, on flood plains and cliff tops exposed to soil erosion. And Britons are better educated and considerably wealthier than many Filipinos, so there's no excuse.

Maybe if you climbed down from your ivory tower and spent a few years living here, you might actually have some empathy for Filipinos and understand their problems from their point of view.

Hey. I am not talking about the Filipinos. Its the expats...LOL The ones that leave the UK, retiring to paradise that build their house next to that idyllic beach. Or the expat that wants to make a buck out of building in a similar setting.

You are so adept at twisting other peoples words around.

Anyone in the UK that builds or buys a house on a river bank is taking a risk too and I would never say different. Again, you are making other peoples words up as you go along.

Don't you think there ought to be logging restrictions? Had you not noticed that the rate of deforestation was / is untenable?

Of course I have an empathy with the plight of the innocent Filipino. What absolute sh1te you write. Though it doesn't mean that lessons can't be learned.

Oh how smugly you sit in your little tax haven dispensing your words of "wisdom"(?) to all and sundry - but not actually making it clear about whom you're speaking. Are we supposed to be mind-readers?

How many expats do you know, or know of, who have built homes "next to that idyllic beach"? Your statement further demonstrates your lack of knowledge about this country and those who live here. Very, very few Expats buy land here and for various reasons: they're visitors or only planning to be here a year or two, or simply because they can not own real property in their own name. Then there's the fact that you can not build within 30 metres of the high water mark as the government owns the foreshore. It is possible to lease foreshore land from the government but it's expensive and short term (10 years or less). But I do know of a couple of Expats who have built near a beach including an Australian whose house is 50 metres from the sea just south of Da'anbantayan in the far north of Cebu: his house was unaffected by the typhoon. Expats who do build tend to do so to (building) standards they're familiar with from their homeland. But the overwhelming majority of permanent resident expats buy read-built homes which, if they're modern, are to a reasonable standard.

Gloria Arroyo imposed logging restrictions because of deforestation concerns. Aquino's logging ban - so I'm told by my timber supplier - came about following a spate of fatal accidents of tree fellers. Whereas before the ban one could buy 4x6 constructional grade timber for about 5 - 7 Pesos a metre in 4 metre lengths, that increased to nearly 50 Pesos a metre post the ban. The timber for my house all came from New Zealand.

I've done no word-twisting, I've simply taken you to task for your crass, idiotic pronouncement.

There is nothing wrong with my earlier statement. It is purely how you choose to read between the lines. I stand by my statement that there are lessons to be learned regardless of how you choose to interpret them.

On the principle of a logging ban. It makes perfect sense. The sense of which no doubt eludes you. You obviously have no idea what led up to the logging ban.

Let me know once you have discovered the real reasons behind and the history of the logging ban and including why a move inland, on your part, might not be such a great idea. I don't need you to enlighten me, I just want to see if what you know matches up with reality.

Yet again you make the wrong assumptions. I am very well aware of what led up to Arroyo's 2004 ban on logging and that Estrada failed to impose one even though he claimed he would. If you were to check, you'd discover that Philippine forests have actually increased in area since 1990. So I don't need any homework assignments from you, thank very much.

I have no intention of moving away from where we live so I see little point in worrying about Mr Prophet of Doom, Gloom and Despondency's one-in-a-billion freak events of nature.

Thats strange. I swear you said you were moving into a house you were building / having built.........

You say you are aware, but you only appear to be aware of some the political decisions rather than the reasoning and sense behind them. You appear to disagree with the ban.

So Filipino forests have increased in area since 1990? So its okay to go ahead and plunder them again?

Thats what they said in Bohol until recently.

Do check out the Davao Trench and regional faults in your backyard and in addition to that I gather it is also prone to earthquake induced landslides.

Heres an interesting article on Davao. Notice they talk about management plan for hazards. They would of course include lessons learned.


City’s top hazards: Floods, landslides, storm surge


"Brochures and fliers hype about Davao City’s being outside the typhoon belt, with its chain of mountains protecting it from strong winds, certainly among the “good reasons” for investors to pour in capital and tourists to come and savor the warmth of its hospitality and enjoy its many natural attractions.
True, the city itself may be typhoon-free, but in recent years there have been calamities occurring when least expected.
According to the Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment Report on Davao City, an ongoing joint climate change adaptation program by the city government, UN-Habitat and World Food Program, the city’s top environmental hazards “that may intensify in the coming years” are floods, landslides, storm surges and sea level rise.
The report says vulnerable to flooding, sea level rise and storm surges are the areas located along the waterways and coastlines where a large number of informal settlements are deemed to be at risk.
The top seven hotspot barangays in this regard are Bucana, Ma-a, Matina Pangi, Tigatto, Talomo, Matina Crossing and Matina Aplaya. These barangays are located along the major water ways of the city---the Davao River, Talomo River and Matina Pangi River.
“The severity of the impact of these hazards on various sectors and the physical framework and infrastructure are non-quantifiable. However, an emerging pattern seems to point that the intensification of these hazards will likely occur in the coming years. It is encouraged that the city will include policies and programs that will make the city climate change resilient in the coming century,” the report says."

http://www.edgedavao.net/index.php?...s-storm-surge&catid=68:the-big-news&Itemid=96

Yes indeed, John, but we won't be far from where we are right now. In fact as the crow flies it's just 10 kilometres WNW from where we are presently and our plot is 200 metres above sea level, whereas our present home is just 6 and the coast is less than 2 kilometres away. That plot is situated well away from rivers and land that might be subject to slippage due to heavy rains. I am planning that we will be "off grid" as far as electricity and water are concerned - the cost of connecting the property to mains electricity are broadly the same as installing a solar system electricity and hot water and we're digging a deep well. We'll almost certainly have a separate solar hot water system in addition.

I do know exactly why Arroyo implemented her logging ban and why Aquino considerably strengthened it. And in fact, I'm broadly in agreement but what you have to remember is that there were three principal types of logging: crop-logging with replantation on a 1 for 1 or 2 for 1 basis, logging for agricluture and illegal clearance logging. The first two are, in my view acceptable and desirable, the third is not and it was in the illegal sector where the accidents occurred which gave Aquino no option.

But I do see some positive steps, albeit baby-steps, being made. There is a former Forestry Commission guy who, together with a couple of Canadian forestry experts, is engaged on a project with DENR to establish a trial plantation of Pitch Pine high in the mountains above Davao. If it is successful - and the indications are that it will be - larger plantations will be created and the trees will be cropped for constructional timber. That variety is naturally resistant to termites, is strong and an excellent building material. And of course, there's the prospect of employment and income for the tribal mountain folk for whom there are few other opportunities.

No, please don't put words into my mouth. I simply sought to point out that the situation isn't quite as bleak as you may think.

I detect a noticeable change in stance here. A slightly different cap on to the one you were wearing earlier. Yes, no longer plundering them at unsustainable rates. But they ain't "out of the woods yet" or so I am told by those who know.

My plot is almost on the crest of a hill and is nowhere near any of the seven Barangays mentioned, all of which are within the city proper and, in the case of Matina Apalya, very close to the sea.

But you know what, there's no where on this planet that is 100% safe from all risks. You might equally criticise me for having a house in Fishguard due to the risks from Radon gas and Atlantic gales.