“Behold the turtle . . .”

(Published in the ECCP Business Review, 2013)

FIRST THINGS FIRST. A HEARTY “Hurrah!” must go to President Benigno Simeon Aquino for staunchly championing integrity and clean government. These virtues have since become the foundations of the current economic renaissance that saw growth climb to 6.6% in 2012, and have set in train events that might yet alleviate the decades’ long illnesses afflicting the “Sick Man of Asia.”

The President’s staunch support for the aims of the Integrity Initiative, the key transformational initiative championed by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) and the Makati Business Club (MBC), is a critical reason why much of the progress in fighting corruption over the past year has occurred in government.

“At the bottom line of our strategy is ensuring a level playing field, one that is stable, rules-based and whose outcomes are predictable,” the President said during the 2^nd Integrity Summit co-organized by ECCP and MBC in September 2012.

The best laid plans, he noted, can be derailed when rules change and decisions are based on whims to benefit a few.

“This is what we are trying to change since we took over office,” he emphasized. “This is the rationale behind our agenda of integrity-based governance.”

The “Tone from the Top” has also pervaded the bureaucracy to such an extent a growing number of businessmen perceive the Philippines as a more honest and better place for business. Remarkable progress was made in just over two years in the fight against corruption, both in the public and private sectors and mainly because of the “Tone from the Top”, in government departments and in corporations.

The 2012 Survey of Enterprises on Corruption by the Social Weather Stations revealed that business executives who saw “a lot” of corruption in the public sector fell to 42% in 2012 from 64% in 2009 after having been at 60% or more since 2000. 

The “Tone from the Top” has also infected the legislature. Without doubt, the recently ended 15^th Congress was far more productive than the 14^th Congress convened from 2007 to 2010. But more important than the sheer quantity of legislation it passed is the quality of the laws enacted.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the 15^th Congress was instrumental in restoring investor confidence, achieving growth and reducing poverty over the past three years. He noted that the 15^th Congress enacted a total of 219 laws. Of the 36 priority bills listed by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), 11 have been enacted.

“We will be remembered as the House that passed the most number of historic and game-changing laws with less histrionics,” Belmonte boasted.

“From reproductive health to sin taxes to human rights compensation, long given up for dead for fear that they will disturb the status quo, these bills now end up as banner legislation for change.”

Belmonte said the House enacted the sin tax reforms; the GOCC Governance Act of 2011; the Act Further Strengthening the Anti-Money Laundering Law; the Data Privacy Act and the Act Rationalizing the Taxes on International Air Carriers, among other key legislation.

In this context, however, actions of the Supreme Court need to be watched, as the Tribunal is interfering more and more in actions taken by the Executive and the Legislative branches of government. Also of concern are the TROs regarding the Reproductive Health Law and the Cybercrime Law; decisions undermining the delivery of fiscal incentives and retroactive rulings on the 60:40 ownership provision, to name a few.

The record of purposeful action exhibited by the 15^th Congress should be carried into the 16^th Congress that will convene in July 2013. The President’s party and its allies are expected to maintain their control of both houses of Congress during this year’s national elections.

Eagerly anticipated by the business community, especially investors, are the enactment of vital bills that almost made it during the previous Congress. Should all go as the President wishes, this year could see low hanging fruit that have been ripening on the vine for a decade finally become laws of the land.

The more attainable seem to be the Rationalization of Fiscal Incentives Bill or House Bill 4935 and the Philippine Fair Competition Act or House Bill 4835. Both bills could see the President’s signature within the year. But let’s keep our fingers crossed. Both bills support the attraction of productive investment, inclusive growth and a level playing field.

It will still be an uphill fight before House Bill 4788 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act becomes a law within this year or the next. House Bill 4667 that aims to create the Department of Information and Communications Technology has been banished into the wilderness for lack of a champion among the administration.

The Foreign Investment Negative List (FINL) is expected to remain true to its name, Negative, in the next two years after the President last year expanded the list of investment areas and economic activities reserved for Filipinos. The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) are in touch with the Administration to at least improve those areas in the FINL that can be improved without legislation and amendments to the Constitution.

Investors hoping for an easing of the strict Constitutional prohibitions on ownership will have to wait that much longer before any meaningful change occurs. Malacanang has announced there will be no review of the economic restrictions imposed by the Constitution in this administration.

A long, straight road

A lot was accomplished by the 15^th Congress but a lot more needs to be done by its successor, however.

ECCP has identified four areas that need to be addressed to create the level playing field: clean business or ethical business practices; fair competition protected by anti-trust laws; equal taxation (remove unfair taxation on foreign-owned businesses) and equal opportunity for all investors (remove economic provisions in the Constitution that limit foreign ownership).

President Aquino’s “Daang Matuwid” (The Straight Road) that leads to this level playing field, however, is still marred by a few stubborn bumps that need to be smoothed out. Among the more intractable are those limiting the inflow of foreign direct, productive investments.

As someone concerned with this problem commented,” You can’t win playing football uphill.” Playing fair and competing fair should be the name of the game.

What makes enacting a single competition law or anti-trust law such a tough job is treading the fine line separating anti-competitive behavior, monopolies, the vested interests of a few and combinations in restraint of trade from legitimate business behaviors such as efficient production, aggressive marketing, technological innovations and other honest means that lead to competitive advantages.

Anti-trust or competition laws regulate and maintain market competition by prohibiting or regulating anti-competitive behavior. Three actions that anti-trust laws normally seek to prohibit are monopolies, cartel-like behavior and abuse of dominant market position. Anti-trust laws are needed to promote a freer market and more open trade and, in a Philippine setting, are key to dismantling existing dominant market positions in key industries such as telecommunications, energy, banking, media, retail, and a few others.

The century-old Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the Clayton Act are the U.S.’ premier anti-trust laws and are uncompromising in their prohibitions against business activities federal regulators deem anti-competitive.

The Philippines does not have a comprehensive anti-competitive framework similar to these two laws. What it has is an alphabet soup of laws beginning with the Constitution that address the anti-competition problem piecemeal. None of thenine existing laws dealing with anti-competitive acts provide a comprehensive solution to this problem.

The Senate in the just ended 15^th Congress had five anti-competition bills on its plate, none of which passed into law. Of this number, Senate Bill No. 123 authored by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is considered most likely to be enacted.

But more support has been received by House Bill 4835, otherwise known as the Philippine Fair Competition Act or the Competition Policy Antitrust Act that almost made it into law during the 15^th Congress.

The failure by President Aquino to certify as urgent this anti-trust bill that seeks to penalize anti-competitive agreements and mergers was seen as a key reason for the bill being carried over into the 16^th Congress.

The bill intends to establish the Philippine Fair Competition Commission to help ensure that businesses do not enter into anti-competitive agreements and anti-competitive mergers and abuse their dominant position.

“This would hit big businesses, definitely, but this would also help improve the business climate and encourage more foreign investors,” said Cagayan Representative Rufus Rodriguez.

The bill covers cartelsthat are defined as a “. . . combination of firms, providing goods in relevant markets, acting or joined together to obtain a shared monopoly to control production, sale and price, or to obtain control in any particular industry or commodity, or a group of firms that agree to restrict trade.”

The Fair Competition Commission will have the power to investigate “. . . on its own initiative or upon the complaint of any person, any and all violations of this act and other competition laws and cause the issuance of a cease and desist order prior to the commencement of a preliminary inquiry, and/or the institution of a civil or administrative action.”

Under the bill, anti-competitive agreements could be either horizontal or vertical. The former refers to agreements entered into between two or more enterprises operating at the same level in the market.

On the other hand, vertical agreements cover those at a different level of the production or distribution chain, and relating to the conditions under which the parties may purchase, sell or resell certain goods or services.

Another provision penalizes price fixing or the agreement among competitors to raise, suppress, fix or otherwise maintain the price at which their goods and services are sold.

A single competition law should assist immensely in leveling the uneven playing field advantages enjoyed by those with the resources to effect anti-competitive behavior. It could also whittle down somewhat the enormous business advantages enjoyed by the 40 richest families in the Philippines, many of them Chinese, which together control 76% of the country’s gross domestic product.

The House passed the fair competition act on third check -- second reading only -- while the Senate was working on a modified new bill, but did finish this legislation in the 15^th Congress. The Senate version will have to be reintroduced in the 16^th Congress that convenes in the second half of 2013.

Fortunately, however, President Aquino signed Executive Order 45 creating a Competition Office within the Department of Justice. Heading the Competition Office is Assistant Secretary Geronimo Sy who is creating the organization and is involved in capacity building. Working groups focusing on various regulatory areas have been created and sector studies are being undertaken that focus on sectors such as telecommunications and power distribution dominated by a few players.

ECCP is liaising with the Competition Office regularly to see to it that competition policy is fairly applied. It is also working closely with the Competition Office and both Houses of Congress to institutionalize completion policy through legislation. ECCP is reiterating that the Office for Competition needs to be institutionalized before 2016, in case no Anti-Trust law is passed.

Belmonte is confident the 16^th Congress will pass the bill in order to ensure healthy competition in all sectors.

Customs modernization

A notably notorious roadblock to fair competition is the Bureau of Customs. By engaging in patently illegal activities, some bureau personnel do serious damage to the economy by increasing the cost of doing business; depriving the economy of vital tax income and fostering an anti-competitive image of the Philippines as a haven for corruption.

The intractable and systemic corruption infesting the BOC has led its current Commissioner, Rozzano Biazon, to suggest the bureau be abolished and replaced by a professional institution run by private officials and employees.

Short of this radical step, however, the government is left with the option of pushing through with the long delayed plan to enact into law House Bill 4788 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

In an April 2012 letter to Ralph Recto, Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce of which ECCP is a member, noted the Philippines is committed to bring its customs procedures in line with the 78 other members that have ratified the Revised Kyoto Protocol of the World Customs Organization. This has not happened.

JFC continued its constructive approach and provided the Commissioner of Customs and the former chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Senator Ralph Recto, with requested changes to the CMTA very recently.

CMTA aims mainly to enhance the government’s collection of revenues through taxes and duties; provide more safeguards against smuggling or fraud and promote international trade by making import trade transactions faster, more predictable, efficient and transparent.

House Bill 4788 that seeks to prescribe the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act of 2011 was approved by the House of Representatives on Aug. 15, 2011 and was transmitted and received by the Senate on Aug. 18, 2011. It was not enacted into law during the 15^th Congress and its benefits have again been deferred.

Despite this, Customs still hopes to complete the national single window (NSW) network project in 2013 to comply with the country’s commitment to become part of the ASEAN Single Window by 2015. The ASEAN single window is an initiative to establish electronic windows that will facilitate international trade and investment through faster clearance by Customs.

The bureau is now working on the second phase of the NSW that will integrate data and services into a single portal in which 40 government regulatory agencies are connected to a network linked to the BOC.

NSW allows electronic transfer of data and documents relevant to the processing of imports between partner agencies, making it easier for traders to transact business with the government.  It eliminates the need for importers to bring documents from regulatory agencies such as import permits and clearances, the processing of which usually adds to the time and cost borne by businesses.

Biazon said the system minimizes opportunities for graft since the transfer of information is electronic.  The system also prevents the use of forged or recycled permits and clearances, a common practice under the existing system that relies on the submission of physical documents. Biazon said his goal to fully computerize and modernize Custom’s operations to curb smuggling and corruption.

DICT: sidetracked

It took an entire decade, but the Senate and the House finally passed their respective bills on third reading in February 2012 that would create a Department of Information and Communications Technology or DICT. The authors of both bills were ready to convene in bicam, but Malacanang halted the process.

President Aquino dashed hopes for the bill’s passage into law by relegating the principal tasks of a DICT (or the expanded Information and Communications Technology Office or ICTO) under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

He also discarded a provision of the Philippine Development Plan (2011-2016) that calls for the creation of a DICT. According to the plan, “The DICT should result in a thorough implementation of the national e-strategies cutting across other critical sectors such as e-education, e-health, and the country’s representation in international and regional ICT bodies.”

The President’s reason for putting the DICT on ice echoed those of the critics of a separate department: it would be an “unnecessary bureaucracy” in a bureaucracy with too many departments, most of which have their own ICT units.

It will be essential that the advantages accruing from a DICT are implemented by ICTO, which is expected to serve as the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, regulating and administrative entity of the executive branch of the government that will promote, develop, and regulate integrated and strategic ICT systems and reliable and cost-efficient communication facilities and service.

As in the case of the Office of Competition, it will be essential that offices created by the President under an Executive Order will be institutionalized before this Administration bows out in 2016.

9^thFINL: not exactly helpful

The Foreign Investment Negative List is now more negative than before. Much to the surprise of the foreign investor community, President Aquino on October 29, 2012 signed Executive Order 98 expanding the list of investment areas and economic activities reserved for Filipinos under the 9^th Regular Foreign Investment Negative List.

The latest FINL now considers real estate and psychological and respiratory therapy as professions where foreign practice is not allowed or is limited. It replaces EO 858 or the 8^th Regular Foreign Investment Negative list signed in February 2010.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Jr. said the addition of real estate, psychology and respiratory therapy is based on foreign practice limitations imposed under several newly legislated laws: the Real Estate Service Act of the Philippines (RA 9646), the Lending Company Regulation Act of 2007 (RA 9474), the Philippine Respiratory Act (RA 10024) and the Philippine Psychology Act (RA 10029).

Ochoa said that except for RA 9474 that allows foreign ownership of up to 49% in lending companies, the three others limit the practice of non-Filipinos in the areas of real estate and health care such as respiratory therapy and psychology, unless there is a reciprocity arrangement prescribed by a law.

The FINL consists of sub-lists A and B. List A specifies areas of economic activity where foreign ownership is prohibited or limited by the Constitution or by laws. These includemass media,the practice of all professions, advertising, small-scale mining and ownership of private lands.

List B enumerates limitations on economic activities regulated by law such assmall-and medium-scale domestic enterprises, defense-related industries andbusinesses that have implications on public health and morals such as gambling and massage clinics.

"For now, List B stays while the changes to the negative list covers only List A," Ochoa pointed out.

The dismay of foreign investors at the expanded 9^th FINL was revealed in a letter sent by the JFC to the government a week after the new FINL was announced. JFC urged the government to review its FINL to make it "less negative" for foreign investors.

In a joint statement, JFC said the government should review the FINL to determine whether the existing restrictions are in the national interest.

"Year after year, government departments passively apply the same legal restrictions and add new ones when Congress creates them. A review is overdue. This could be done by an inter-agency team instructed to review various restrictions on foreign equity investment in the participation in the Philippine economy of foreign equity, taking into consideration whether restrictions impede investment, job creation, and competitiveness," JFC said.

JFC noted that the Philippine economy remains more closed to foreign investments compared to its Southeast Asian neighbors.  It cited the World Bank's Investing Across Borders 2010 report that showed the Philippines and Thailand having some of the strictest foreign equity rules among the 87 countries surveyed.

"Restrictions in legislation and/or in interpretations of what should or should not be in the FINL should be easier to liberalize. Restrictions are scattered through various laws, some quite old, and most have rarely been reviewed to determine whether they remain in the national interest, especially whether they stand in the way of creating jobs.”

One of the changes to the FINL being advocated by the JFC is the removal of the restrictions on practice of all professions. JFC maintains that foreign investors can own companies that provide services covered by the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) as long as the services are provided by licensed Filipino professionals.

Foreign direct investments in the Philippines remain low, which could be partly attributed to a "Negative List that is too negative," said the JFC.

The Philippines received a trickle of Foreign Direct Investments or FDIs from 2001 to 2011. In these 11 years, only US$16.7 billion in FDIs flowed into the Philippines. In contrast, Thailand took in US$77.8 billion; Indonesia, US$64.7 billion; Malaysia, US$58.2 billion and Vietnam, US$49.4 billion.

In 2011 alone, the first full year of the Aquino administration, total FDI inflows were a puny US$1.3 billion. In this same year, Indonesia attracted US$18.2 billion; Malaysia, US$16.6 billion; Thailand, US$9.6 billion and Vietnam, US$7.4 billion.

JFC expressed hope the government would make changes to the next FINL due out in 2014.

"Throughout 2012 we have been encouraged by consistent reports of manufacturing firms of several nationalities relocating from China, Japan, and Thailand because of rising costs, floods, and political risks. Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines – the so-called VIP economies – are being considered by these firms for new and expansion manufacturing investments," the JFC said.

"The Philippine government can build on the growing optimism about improved opportunities to invest in the Philippines by making a serious effort to make the Negative List less negative."

Hopes for a more positive FINL in 2014 during the 16^th Congress seem to be dim, however.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said they have agreed to consult stakeholders in a government review of the FINL.

Purisima said, however, there will be no review of the economic restrictions imposed by the Constitution.

"We will not be reviewing lifting economic restrictions in the Constitution. That is currently off the table,” he said. “Limiting the items on the FINL will allow the Philippines to be more connected to the global economy, which will result in more business and employment for Filipinos.”

Balisacan said the Philippines needs to enhance the competitiveness of key sectors to ensure it benefits from ASEAN integration in 2015.Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said the review of the list would help the country attract more foreign direct investments.

"This process is a crucial step to attract more foreign investments that will create more quality jobs for our people and strengthen our country’s trade negotiations strategy," Domingo said.

Fiscal incentives: the pressing need for clarity

The Rationalization of Fiscal Incentives Bill pending for over a decade has to again wait in line to be enacted by the incoming 16^th Congress. The chances of this occurring look encouraging.

The bill seeks to rationalize and simplify the grant and administration of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to promote foreign and domestic investments. Its swift passage, however, has been hamstrung by conflicting proposals from the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Department of Trade.

There are also multiple versions of the bill before the Committee of Ways and Means: the DOF version; SB 2755, authored by Sen. Edgardo Angara; SB 2379 by Sen. Manny Villar and SB 2142 by Sen. Ralph Recto.Then there is House Bill 4935 supported by the JFC and the ECCP.

The Senate bill proposed by the DOF relegates the Board of Investments into a pure investment promotions agency, giving up the power to administer incentives to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

House Bill 4935, however, establishes the BOI as the central power for industry development, investment promotion, investment facilitation, policy formulation and administration of incentives that will be implemented by all other investment promotion agencies, including the Philippine Export Zone Authority.

ECCP and the JFC have always held the passage of House Bill 4935 is critical to the government’s aim of increasing Philippine competitiveness in terms of attracting foreign investments.

JFC has suggested to the Ways and Means Committee further refinements to the House of Representatives’ Substituted Bill. Among the JFC recommendations are the retention of the income tax holiday given the fierce tax competition to lure foreign investors and the granting of incentives for strategic projects.

JFC supports a draft bill presented by Sec. Purisima in March that will force incentives-giving agencies to budget incentives and argue the relevance of making incentives available.  There was not enough time to file this bill in the 15^th Congress. The bill is going to be filed early in the 16^th Congress and has a good chance to be approved.

FOI: a test of Presidential resolve

Transparency International estimates that corrupt public officials, employees, contractors and suppliers abscond with some 20% of the Philippines’ annual budget because of lack of transparency in government contracts and transactions. The country’s national budget for 2013 is P2.06 trillion and some P400 billion in public revenues will likely be lost to corruption this year.

This economic rationale for the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill failed to sway the President, however. His inaction in not certifying the FOI as urgent before the 15^th Congress ended is seen by his critics as a reflection of his ambivalent attitude towards the bill.

Malacañang confirmed the President had no plans of certifying the FOI bill as urgent. Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the President would rather see the measure debated fully, regardless of whether it is passed in the current or the next Congress.

“We want a healthy debate. . . That’s what we want and in fairness to all constituents, let’s have a healthy debate,” he said

Some analysts, however, believe the “death” of the FOI in the 15^th Congress was due more to Congress running out of time. Belmonte said the FOI was one of the priority bills of the House when Congress resumed session on January 21 but noted that mustering a quorum in the nine session days before Congress recessed proved an insurmountable challenge. The need for Congressmen to attend to their re-election bids made sure of that.

Quezon Representative Lorenzo Tañada, one of the FOI’s champions, said in December 2012 he hoped the House would at least tackle the bill in the three remaining weeks of session. The FOI bill is still in the period of sponsorship.

Once sponsored, the bill will go through the period of debate and amendments before the second reading vote. Unless certified as urgent by the President, the measure will wait for three days before it can be taken up for third reading.

Critics said the 15^th Congress’ decision not to enact the long-overdue FOI bill gives credence to suspicions the House is insincere in its support for the government’s anti-corruption campaign, and Congressmen do not truly support the “Daang Matuwid” crusade.

FOI advocates, however, can take heart in President Aquino’s statement he will strive for the passage of the FOI within his presidency.

In the end, the President and his allies are to be commended for their courage in pushing forward—albeit gingerly—with legislation heavy with long-term and true transformational benefits.

For as that old adage goes, “Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.”

The Philippines and South Korea: brothers in peace and war

THE BEST WAY to have fun as a tourist is to plan and prepare. Doing both means you’ll have more time to enjoy your limited time as a tourist in another country, and will save you a lot of money.

It also means making an effort to know more about the country you’re visiting. That’s a lot easy these days. You can go to YouTube for videos; read about your destination on the Internet and use your Facebook account to connect with your friends who’ve visited the country.

When you plan and prepare your trip to South Korea, you’ll discover that the Philippines and South Korea share a very deep historical bond. The ties that bind the Philippines to South Korea are so strong we can consider these countries as brothers, or “hyeongje” in Hangul, the Korean language.

The Philippines is the older brother or “hyung” (“kuya” in Filipino) while South Korea is the younger brother or “dong saeng.” And why is this so, you might ask? Why is the Philippines “hyung” to South Korea, a country that is today one of the 15 richest nations in the world?

It’s because of historical facts that most Filipinos don’t know about even today. South Korea, or more specifically the Republic of Korea, came into existence only on August 15, 1948. The independent state of Korea was conquered by the Empire of Japan in 1910, and for the next 35 years was ruled by Japan with a brutality that shocked the world.

The formerly independent state of Korea was divided into two by the Allies: the northern portion was a communist entity called North Korea while the southern portion or South Korea was administered by the United Nations.

In September 1947, a proposal by the Philippines at the United Nations helped guarantee South Korea’s first general election that led directly to the creation of the Republic of Korea on August 15, 1948.

Six months later or on March 3, 1949, the Philippines became the first Asian state to open diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea. The Philippines was a “ninong” (godfather) to South Korea at its birth.

In a letter to President Elpidio Quirino, Syngman Rhee, first President of South Korea, said of the Philippines:

“As a nation which courageously and with high vision stood resolutely in the forefront of the international movement to re-establish the sovereignty resident in the people of Korea, your generous and forthright extension of recognition to Korea comes as a happy augury of cordial relationships of our two peoples.”

Fifteen months later or on June 25, 1950, communist North Korea launched a massive and surprise invasion of South Korea, igniting the Korean War. South Korea asked the world for aid and the Philippines immediately responded.

The Philippines rushed food, medical supplies, tanks and weapons to South Korea in the weeks after the communist invasion. On August 7, President Elpidio Quirino announced the decision to send Filipino soldiers to South Korea to save it from communist conquest.

The Philippines became the first Asian nation to send troops to defend South Korea, and the fourth member state of the United Nations to do so.

On September 19, 1950, less than three months after the start of the Korean War, the first Filipino warriors landed in Korea at the port city of Busan. The 10^th Battalion Combat Team (BCT) was the first of five Filipino BCTs that would serve in Korea from 1950 to 1955 under the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea or PEFTOK.

In all, some 7,400 Filipino soldiers served in Korea. Of this total, 112 died in defense of South Korea; some 400 were wounded while 16 Filipinos remain missing-in-action until today. The Philippines paid a heavy price as “hyung” or “kuya” to South Korea, its “dong saeng.”

A history of the Philippines’ role in the Korean War is on the Internet at www.peftok.blogspot.com.

Never forgotten

South Koreans of today have not forgotten the sacrifice Filipinos made for them during the Korean War. And they remain thankful for our courage and humanity that helped save their nation from communist conquest.

Remember this when you visit South Korea. Be proud to be Filipino in South Korea because there would be no South Korea today if the Philippines and 15 other United Nations’ countries hadn’t sent their soldiers to the Korean War.

I discovered this first-hand during a “Revisit” to South Korea in May 2012 along with five Filipino veterans of the Korean War and the children and grandchildren of other veterans.

A husband and wife in our group said they were walking down a street in downtown Seoul when an elderly Korean woman old enough to be a grandmother approached them. The Korean noticed the identification cards both wore around their neck that said “Korean War Veteran” and that bore a symbol of the National Flag.

“Filipino?” the Korean asked.

When they replied “Yes,” the Korean began bowing and thanking them for helping her country during the Korean War.

“She kept thanking and thanking us so much we were embarrassed,” said the wife.

“It was only then we began to understand the importance of what the Philippines did for Korea,” noted her husband.

Both of them agreed it felt very good to be a Filipino that day.

Korea is for Filipinos

South Korea is a wonderful country for tourists. That’s why it was visited by over eight million tourists in 2011, a number twice that of the Philippines’.

Tourists visit South Korea for two main reasons: shopping and culture. Filipinos will find both in Seoul. The combination of shopping and culture makes Seoul, a megacity of 10 million persons, Korea’s top tourist destination. Seoul is the best choice to start your visit to South Korea.  

The Korea Tourism Organization has a list of the top 10 tourist spots in South Korea. Three of these favorites are in Seoul. One other favorite is Jeju Island.

The top tourist destination in South Korea isn’t a place. It’s an activity that women love. Yes, it’s shopping and shopping is Korea’s Number One tourist draw.

The most popular shopping sites for tourists in Seoul are the Namdaemun Market in Jung-gu (or Jung District); Dongdaemun Market in Jongno-gu; Myeongdong (or Myeong Neighborhood in Jung-gu) and Insadong in Jongno-gu.

Shopping isn’t cheap in South Korea (as I and my travel buddies found out) but Filipinos are convinced that the high quality of Korean products is a good buy despite their upmarket cost. Remember that P1.00 is worth 26 Korean Won (as of mid-November 2012).

But since only very few banks and money changers will exchange our Peso for the Won, you’ll have to bring U.S. Dollars instead. The conversion rate is generally US$1.00 equals 1,000 Won. A can of Coke costs about 1,000 Won. Blouses at the Doota Fashion Mall in Dongdaemun sell at around 30,000 to 35,000 won.

Almost always at the top of the Filipina tourist’s shopping list in Seoul is “BB Cream,” the original Korean versions. Our lovely Korean tour guide said she uses it every day and revealed it’s the main reason why many Korean women seem to have such enviable, flawless skin.

The letters “BB” in BB Cream has many meanings: blemish balm, blemish base and even “beblesh balm.” Whatever the true meaning, BB Cream is incredibly popular in Korea, accounting for some 13% of the Korean cosmetics industry’s total sales.

The other two top tourist attractions in Seoul are cultural sites:  the Korean Folk Village and the Ancient Palaces. I’ve visited both these places and they gave me invaluable insights into Korea’s glorious imperial past.

The Korean Folk Village is a recreation of a Korean village of the Joseon Dynasty that ruled Korea from 1392 to 1897. There are some 260 traditional houses in the village, which was built to promote Korean culture and folk customs.

There are Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty in Seoul. My group visited the famous Gyeongbokgung Palace located in Jongno-gu. The palace is also known as Gyeongbokgung Palace or Gyeongbok Palace.

The magnificent palace is the main and largest palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty. Today, it is also famous for the daily “Changing of the Royal Guards” ceremony that takes place at the Gwanghwamun and Heungnyemun plazas beginning 3:00 p.m.

The royal guards, or the “Wanggung Sumunjang,” had the important duty of protecting the Korean king. Posing with these stern and bearded guards is a favorite among tourists, some of whom try to make these unsmiling men smile but without success.

While in Seoul make it a point to visit and have your picture taken at two monuments that honor the Philippines’ fast friendship with South Korea.

The first is the War Memorial of Korea, a massive museum in Seoul’s Yongsan-gu district that memorializes the military history of Korea. Opened in 1994, the memorial building has six indoor exhibition rooms and an outdoor exhibition center displaying over 13,000 war memorabilia and military equipment.

Ascending the incline towards the memorial building first takes you to a hallway on whose walls are inscribed the names of the United Nations soldiers who died defending South Korea. The brass plaque for the Philippines has on it the names of the 112 Filipino soldiers who did not come home from the Korean War. Located at the second floor of the building is the hall housing the exhibit about the Korean War, including an exhibit about the Philippines’ role in the war.

The other monument is a gymnasium. The Jangchung Gymnasium in Jung-gu was built in 1963 by the Philippines for South Korea. The 7,000 seat gymnasium is South Korea’s first ever indoor sports arena. It was built during the administration of President Diosdado Macapagal as part of our economic aid to South Korea, then a third world economy.

That the Philippines could afford to send economic aid to South Korea in the 1960s underlined the Philippines’ status as Southeast Asia’s leading economic and military power and Asia’s second largest economy. Jangchung stands proud as a symbol of Filipino humanity. The 50^th Anniversary of its construction takes place this year.

It was a venue for the taekwondo (a demonstration event introduced here) and judo competitions from Sept. 17 to 20 during the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Ironically, the South Korean who won the taekwondo flyweight gold medal defeated a Filipino for the title at Jangchung.

But the most moving monument to Filipino greatness and humanity is the “Monument Dedicated to the Philippine Armed Forces in the Korean War” located in Goyang City, which is a 20 minute drive to the north of Seoul.

It was unveiled on October 2, 1974 “. . . in memory of the members of the Philippine Armed Forces who fought to defend the security and freedom of the Republic of Korea.”

The monument, now painted a glistening black, stands 17 meters tall. It is dominated by the life-sized statues of three Filipino soldiers representing the men of PEFTOK. The soldiers stand before a central column whose relief illustrates Filipino culture. The relief at the monument’s 4.5 meter long base depicts 50 Koreans portraying their country’s struggle for freedom and peace.

Wonderful Jeju

For tourists who love nature and who want an exotic adventure outside of Seoul, however, a trip to Jeju Island or the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province in the Korea Strait off the coast of southern Korea is to be considered.

Jeju receives over six million tourists (mostly South Koreans) every year making it one of the most popular domestic tourist destinations. A semi-tropical island, Jeju is a tourist island much like Boracay. Its temperature is in the high 20s (Centigrade), almost similar to that of Boracay’s.

Jeju has its own version of Boracay’s world famous “White Beach.” The white sand at Jeju’s “Hyeopjae Beach” on the island’s northwest comes from the large amounts of crushed seashells mixed in with the sand. Boracay’s famous powdery white sand, on the other hand, is powdered coral and sand.

Also called the “Island of the Gods” and “Honeymoon Island” (for obvious reasons), Jeju was voted one of the World’s Seven Natural Wonders in 2011 along with the Philippines’ Underground River in Palawan. 

Jeju has the tallest mountain (Mount Halla or “Hallasan”) in Korea. Jeju is a volcanic island. The volcano exploded long ago, tearing off its top half. What remained was a curious oval-shaped island with fertile soil and one-of-a-kind natural wonders such as Mount Halla’s crater lake called “Baengnokdam.”

Among the unique and oddest attractions on Jeju are the many “dol hareubang” or stone grandfather statues carved from blocks of basalt. The statues represent gods wearing hats that protect the people of Jeju from demons. The dol hareubang are the symbol of Jeju Island.

Filipinos that visit South Korea are visiting the home of a good friend. The Philippines has proved its friendship by nurturing the Republic of Korea at its birth and helping save it from destruction during the Korean War.

Herbal medicine: the other half of healthcare in the Philippines

(Published in Enrich magazine, 2010)

FILIPINOS ARE AVID PATRONS of herbal medicine: they spend anywhere from P75-90 billion on herbal medicines annually, according to the government. That’s about half the total amount spent by Filipinos on medicine (both synthetic and natural) every year.

It’s a massive amount that indicates a huge pent up demand for herbal medicines, which have been a basic remedy in many Filipino homes since the time of their “lolos” and “lolas” mostly because they’re cheaper than synthetics. Today, some 60 legitimate manufacturers (mostly small and medium-scale Filipino companies), small independent producers, multinational companies and a growing list of importers (legitimate and otherwise) cater to this rise in demand for traditional medicine.

Herbal medicines are defined as those that use natural herbs and plants for the treatment or prevention of diseases and disorders, and for promoting good health. The penchant for herbals is not peculiar to Filipinos, however. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80% of the world's population presently uses herbal medicine as part of their primary health care. WHO also revealed that 25% of modern drugs used in the United States are derived from plants. Over 7,000 medical compounds in the modern pharmacopoeia also come from plants, while some 35,000 plant species are estimated to have medicinal value.

The Department of Health (DOH) classifies herbal medicines as either food or herbal supplements, emphasizing these are not meant as alternatives to synthetic pharmaceuticals. Hence, the disclaimer, “No Approved Therapeutic Claims,” all herbal medicines carry on their packaging. This government concern also explains its warnings to the public to always check whether the herbal products they buy are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and carry the FDA seal of approval.

Our government’s emphasis on product safety and efficacy is matched by the natural health products industry whose members have banded together as the Chamber of Herbal Industries of the Philippines, Inc. (CHIPI). A self-regulating industry group, CHIPI consists of 60 of the leading FDA-registered companies engaged in the research and development, production, domestic and export marketing of various natural health products including herbal medicine, food supplements, cosmetics and home care products.

Beginning in the 1990s, a renewed interest in traditional medicine has taken hold in the Philippines. The government recognizes the importance of traditional medicine in providing essential health care. It notes the practice of traditional medicine (passed on from generation to generation) has gained a deep significance in health delivery since most Filipinos still cannot afford expensive western medical treatment.

A legitimate industry

Lito Abelarde, CHIPI chairman, said herbal products registered with the FDA as herbal medicine or food supplements, like products of CHIPI members, are not advertised as "miraculous" or "cure-alls.” CHIPI has taken the position that advertising any herbal product as "miraculous" and with "cure-all" claims is improper, deceptive and against FDA regulations.

“All advertising copy of CHIPI member companies are closely scrutinized and pre-approved by the Advertising Standards Council (ASC) which strictly follows the guidelines of the FDA on allowable product claims. Members of CHIPI strictly follow CHIPI's Code of Ethics that includes truth in advertising,” he explained.

Abelarde said a few "bad eggs" that operate outside of proper industry practices have managed to escape FDA supervision, creating a bad image for the legitimate herbal companies and products that adhere to FDA regulations.

He noted the natural health products industry is a legitimate industry whose growth is due to, and is regulated by a law, the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act (TAMA) of 1997. TAMA declares it a policy of the Philippines to improve the quality and delivery of health care services to Filipinos through the development of traditional and alternative health care, and its integration into the national health care delivery system. It also provides the legal framework that supports the natural health products industry.

TAMA or Republic Act No. 8423 created the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC) to accelerate the development of traditional and alternative health care in the Philippines. PITAHC’s ex-officio chairman is Secretary of Health Dr. Esperanza Cabral.

Abelarde said CHIPI is encouraged that serious efforts are now being undertaken to align FDA regulations for natural health products with the new national health policy as established by TAMA. PITAHC recently commissioned a group of PhDs in Pharmacy belonging to the National Institute of Health of UP-Manila to act as its Technical Working Group in reviewing FDA regulations on natural and herbal health products. The group will also propose for PITAHC's approval a revised set of regulations in harmony with TAMA's objectives. 

“Hopefully once approved by PITAHC, the FDA will then adopt these revisions,” Abelarde said. He expects the proposed revisions will set in place new product categories and processes by which companies producing natural and herbal health products can validate their products' therapeutic values and be allowed to make appropriate therapeutic claims. 

This then will lead to the phasing out of the disclaimer," No Approved Therapeutic Claims," the FDA requires as mandatory in labels of all food supplement products. Abelarde noted this practice prevents companies from saying what their products are for and deprives the public of the adequate information needed to make informed decisions.

Approved herbal plants

It will help consumers to know that DOH advocates the use of 10 herbal plants that have passed its "Traditional Health Program.” DOH said these 10 herbs were rigorously tested and are clinically proven to have medicinal value in the relief and treatment of various aliments. You can use the acronym “TANAY BULBS” so you can easily remember the following 10 herbs:

Tsaang Gubat. Effective against diarrhea and stomach ache. Boil the leaves in water and let the patient drink it like a tea. Remember to cool and strain the decoction before drinking. Scientific name: Carmona retusa.

Akapulko. Anti-fungal treatment for ringworm, athlete’s foot, tinea flava and scabies. Scientific name: Cassia alata L. English name: ringworm bush. Other name: Bayas bayabasan.

Niyug-niyogan. Anti-helmintic (anti-parasite) whose seeds are effective in eliminating intestinal worms. Dosage depends on the age: 5-7 seeds for children and 8-10 seeds for adults. Not to be given to children under the age of 4, however. Scientific name: Quisqualis indica L. English name: Chinese honeysuckle.

Ampalaya. Treatment for diabetes (mild non-insulin dependent). Ampalaya leaves may be boiled or blanched, or steamed and eaten. Ampalaya in pill and tablet forms are also available. Scientific name: Mamordica charantia. English name: Bitter gourd, balsam pear or balsam apple.

Yerba Buena. Used to treat nausea and fainting (apply crushed leaves to nostrils), insect bites (apply juice to affected body part) and as an analgesic for aches and pains (use as a decoction).

Bawang. Known to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels in the blood. Crush a small piece and apply to an aching tooth. Scientific name: Allium sativum. English name: Garlic.

Ulasimang Bato. Used to lower uric acid, and useful for patients with rheumatism and gout. Prepared as a decoction. May also be eaten as a salad. Scientific name: Peperonica pellucida. Other name: Pansit pansitan.

Lagundi. Commonly used to treat asthma, cough and fever. May also be used as an aromatic bath for sick persons. Scientific name: Vitex negundo. English name: Five-leaved chaste tree.

Bayabas. Pounded leaves can be used to ease a toothache. A decoction made from boiling its leaves can be used as a mouthwash. Can also treat diarrhea and as an antiseptic disinfectant for cleaning wounds. Scientific name: Psidium guajava L. English name: Guava.

Sambong. Primarily for anti-edema and a diuretic (it increases the excretion of urine). Also known to prevent kidney stones. Scientific name: Blumea Balsifera; English name: Haliban/Camphor.

A word of caution: consult with a doctor knowledgeable in herbal medicine or Philippine medicinal plants before taking or mixing any herb with prescription and non-prescription drugs. Some herbal medicines can have adverse reaction when mixed with other drugs.

In the United States, most herbal remedies are regulated as dietary supplements. Manufacturers of products in this category are not required to prove the safety or efficacy of their product. The U.S. FDA, however, may withdraw a product from sale should it prove harmful. In the European Union, herbal medicines are regulated under the European Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products.

Let it go, Mr. President. Let it go

(Published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 7 Feb. 2015)

MR. PRESIDENT, do you remember Yul Brynner?

Of course, you recall one of Hollywood's biggest stars of the 1960s and 1970s. I guess your family’s seen "The King and I" and the classic cowboy Western, "The Magnificent Seven", both of which were Brynner's most famous movies. I guess you've also seen "Westworld", the 1973 sci-fi film where Brynner stole the show as a murderous android gunfighter.

And you'll certainly recall the distinctive trademark that made Brynner world famous and a standout among other male actors of his era: his shaven head. Brynner was the first world famous shaven movie star.

Well, Brynner shaved his head for his role as the Thai king Mongkut in the stage version of The King and I. He was so successful in this role, and became so well recognized because of his shaven pate, he decided never to re-grow his hair.

Photos of Brynner reveal strength of character and a powerful masculinity magnified by his shaven head.

When he had hair, however, Brynner looked far less masculine and uncomfortably like Vladimir Putin. Come to think of it, “Vlad the Mad” Putin would look a lot more fearsome if he were shaven.

Brynner, by the way, was born a Russian in Vladivostok to Russian parents but later became a naturalized American citizen.

Which Yul Brynner looks more masculine?

What I'm saying, Mr. President, is that change can be for the better. I realize you're very much your own man and you're content with your looks. But it won't hurt if you consider a change that might--might--be to your liking.

Why not take that long-delayed decision to shave-off your hair and do a Brynner?

I'm not saying you do it now. All I'm saying is that you seriously ponder this course of action. I'm certain you've thought of shaving before. I guess people who care about you have suggested the same thing.

We're both battling Mother Nature and there's no way we can beat her. Once you hit 60, your hair will also have to contend with another foe: Father Time. I guess you'll agree no one can beat both Mother Nature and Father Time.

Hair falls. That's a fact. The average guy loses about a hundred strands a day. The only thing with guys like us is our genes won't allow our bodies to produce enough hair to cover our losses.

If we were bankers, our hair would be a losing investment. And smart bankers know the smart move is to “cut their losses”.

I took the decision to shave a decade ago. Before this, I went through the same trials with my "crowning" glory as you're going through now. We've got the same male pattern baldness we don't want but which was handed down to us anyway by the paternal side of our families.

Genetics is a b****, I grant you that. We'd rather be hirsute but, again, it’s our genetics that are the problem.

But what convinced me to shed my thinning locks is the realization it's useless to hold on to something if there's nothing left to hold on to.

Mr. President, I've seen you up close many times. I was there when you inaugurated and toured the Museum of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea or PEFTOK on March 29, 2012 at the Philippine Korean War Memorial Hall.

I would have wanted to talk to you since we are kindred spirits in a way. Our fathers were War Correspondents who knew each other and who wrote about the Korean War for their newspapers: The Manila Times (your dad) and The Evening News (my dad). We share that rare distinction of being "anakpeftok" or the sons of men that were in Korea during the Korean War.

I was there when you keynoted all the Integrity Summit conferences held at various venues in Metro Manila over the past four years. I've always been impressed by your steadfast commitment to integrity and honesty despite the manic ranting of your foes. It's this steadfastness that's one of your great strengths.

Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III

But can you shed this toughness just a bit to consider the advantages of surrendering gracefully to Mother Nature and Father Time?

Advantage 1: Shaving your head like Brynner, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Jordan et al will project two key attributes: strength and dominance. I wouldn't be wrong if I pointed out these men project an image of hyper masculinity.

A few years ago, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School conducted research on the advantages of being bald. All the tests conducted by the university showed the female participants found men with shaven heads more dominant than men with a full head of hair. These women also found shorn men 13 percent stronger than maned men.

On the other hand, the study discovered that men with thinning hair were seen as the least attractive and least powerful by these women. This is probably because women tend to associate men with thinning hair with "egghead" professors or scholars. You know, the guys some women deride as harmless.

Shaving your head will give you the best of both words: a perception of hyper masculinity and “eggheaded-ness”.

Yes, you'll say substance trumps form anytime. And that you’d rather be the real you instead of somebody else’s idea of you. I believe that, too.

But times have changed and you’re a powerful man. The word selfie means the hypernarcissism unleashed by smartphone cams compels a lot of people to value the gift wrapping more than the gift. And perception affects power, doesn't it?

Advantage 2: A shaven head shows you're badass and sexy at the same time. Most guys want to have more than what they've got. It's a guy thing like I want to be taller, irresistible to women and have a longer....

Every little bit helps in this game called romance. And there are young women who really, really love good-looking shaven men. No doubt about that.

A shaven head is cool. It's fashionable.  It's sexy.

Advantage 3: Having a shaven head makes you stand out. The shaven man is easy to spot in a room full of men with black hair.

This reminds one of Carlos P. Romulo's reaction to much taller American generals who kidded him for being a "shorty" (Romulo was 5 feet 3 inches tall).

Responding to this, Romulo told these men, "Gentlemen, when you say something like that, you make me feel like a dime among nickels".

For the shaven man, this retort would be, "Gentlemen, when you say something like that, you make me feel like a giant among midgets".

This statement isn't just hot air, mind you. Research shows a shaven head makes a man appear an inch taller.

Lesson: Disadvantages can be advantages in disguise.

Advantage 4: You're never going to have a bad hair day again, literally. And you might also have fewer bad days, figuratively.

Think about it. No moaning over falling hair. No dandruff soiling your immaculate business suit. No more frantically combing your surviving locks with your fingers after a slight breeze tosses them aloft like confetti.

No more trying to figure out if propecia is better than minoxidil for you. Or if you should consider the herbal option. Or listen to more sisterly advice.

Advantage 5. A shaven head will reveal the real you, Mr. President. An American academic who did a study on social perceptions about baldness said a shaven head "is nature's way of telling the rest of the world that you are a survivor".

He pointed out a shaven-head projects aggressiveness, competitiveness and shows a "willingness to stand against social norms".

The last trait is probably a good description of the part of your character that allows you to withstand the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Stubbornness can be a virtue in your profession.

You can do former President Fidel V. Ramos (also a PEFTOK veteran of the Korean War) one better by going the route he didn’t tread. A shaven FVR as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines would probably have changed history before the People Power Revolution.

“Tanggap ko na,” you answered when Vice Ganda asked you about your thinning hair at the start of this year. That's great news. Your views are changing.

I remember reading about you saying your hair problems were caused by stress. You're partly right but the scientific jury's still out on this one.

I urge you to shave, Mr. President, not because you're being forced to but because it's the natural thing to do.

Let it go, Mr. President. Let it go.

“Lakbay Norte 2010: Part 3"

Day 3 (Adventure Day): Sandboarding

By consensus, our day at the Ilocos Norte sand dunes was the best adventure gig in all of Lakbay Norte. Credit that to the newness of the sport: many of didn’t know sandboarding existed until we read about it in our itinerary. There was also the suggestion of danger about the sport. What happens if you fall off the board?

But, since most of my mates were in their 20s (that is, hot and “x-tremely” daring), the danger was the addiction. Dawn on Jan. 27 again found us at the sand dunes we zoomed through in 4x4s the night before. This morning, however, we headed straight for a towering sand dune.

We were met at the top by the guys who were trying to make sandboarding the latest x-treme sport in this country and Ilocos Norte the epicenter of sandboarding. It’s easy figuring out what sandboarding is: it’s surfing on sand. The tough part to sandboarding is mustering enough courage to hop onto a teeny strip of laminated wood, position yourself on the edge of a 20-foot tall sand dune and willingly plunge downwards. Visions of a broken neck dance in your head as you contemplate your immediate future.

Sandboarding appeared easier said than done until travel writer Ida Calumpang became the first to sandboard. She reached the bottom standing up and let out a loud rebel yell. A road went up from those of us left up on top. In the next three hours, more than half the group—and most of the girls—sandboarded. The consensus: nothing to it. It isn’t as scary as it looks and we should have sandboarded from a taller dune. That would have made it more exciting.

Travel writer Margie Francisco went gaga over sandboarding, and for that reason Ilocos Norte was her top destination at Lakbay Norte. “Ilocos Norte, for sure, takes the top spot in the list! I've been to Ilocos Norte before for a history class back in college and fell in love with the architecture of the buildings in the province,” she said.

“So going back to Ilocos Norte and finding something new and out of the ordinary to do is a really wonderful surprise. Who would have thought you can go to Paoay Sand Dunes, ride the 4x4 and try out sandboarding?”

Travel blogger Ferdz Decena also believes sandboarding was the outstanding adventure in Lakbay Norte. “I definitely enjoyed the Paoay sand dunes adventure. In terms or activities it’s really fun and the photographic landscape of the sand dunes early in the morning is stunning. The Cagayan Valley spelunking and river activities is also one of my faves since it's a mix of nature and extreme activities like caving, rappelling and kayaking.”

From our sandboarders and instructors, I gathered these helpful tips:

§  Sandboard at an angle and not straight down. Slicing through the sand diagonally ensures you pick up speed—which is what makes sandboarding fun. Plunging down in a straight line means sand accumulates in front of your board. That build-up will slow you down and ultimately stop you. We saw that happen more than once.

§  Keep your butt down and your knees bent. If you feel yourself falling over, simply sit down on the sand. That will stop the board and keep you safe. Put your weight on your rear foot to keep your balance. Putting your weight on your front foot will make you tumble.

§  There are other ways to sandboard apart from the “surfing style.” You can sit on the board, but that means you’ll drop straight down. No fun there. Or you can lie face down on the board. This’ll mean eating a lot of sand, however, and sand is definitely not a nutritious breakfast though it contains minerals.

§  If you’re wearing large sandals like Crocs or Crocs knock-offs, you can “sandalboard” down the dune, said one of the instructors. That takes a lot more guts, but nobody wanted to do that. I had on a pair and no, thank you. Not this time.

Those who want to try sandboarding when they’re in Ilocos Norte can contact these organizations:

• LEAD Movement (Sandboarding and 4x4 adventure)

Glenn Guerero (0908) 8853669

• Paoay Off-roaders and Adventure Group (4x4 adventure)

Gilbert Santos (0928) 9473518

Ilocos empanada

The empanada in Metro Manila is nothing like what they’ve got in Ilocos Norte. Up there it’s a meal in itself, and is also nutritious because it uses fruits, vegetables and bean sprouts. The “empanada de Metro Manila,” on the other hand, is hardened bread with cold, small pieces of meat filling. It doesn’t look delicious and most of the times I’ve tried it, it wasn’t.

Historic Batac is the home of Ilocos Norte’s version of the empanada. Batac empanada comes in many forms: ordinary (papaya, bean sprouts and egg); ordinary eggless (vegetables only); special (longganisa and egg), special eggless (longganisa without egg), special without mongo (everything except mongo), jumbo (with hot dog), double special (double longganisa and one egg), double egg (one longganisa and two eggs) and the double double (double the longganisa and egg). Best of all, Batac empanada is served hot off the wok.

It was the first time I’d eaten an empanada I liked at first bite. I started out with an ordinary empanada and finished that off in no time with a bottle of Coke. Feeling bold, I ordered a double special. I got halfway through this before I called it quits. The reason is because Batac empanada is huge: about twice the size of the cold, mass-produced versions we’re used to in Metro Manila.

The empanadas we had were lunch. That’s how “filling” they were. Wish we had them in The Metro. I guess they are in The Metro but I haven’t run into them yet. It was also fun watching the empanada made in front of you. That way you know the ingredients are fresh. Our videographer, Karlo de Leon (www.karlodl.blogspot.com), considers empanada one of his favorite foods at Lakbay Norte. “My favorites . . .  Batac empanada just because it’s comfort food for me.”

Ivan Henares, one of Lakbay Norte’s organizers and an authority on tourism and ethnic cuisine, told us beforehand Batac empanada was a complete meal in itself and he was right. He’s also an authority on old churches. You can catch Ivan and learn from his experiences at www.ivanhenares.com.

Surfing

From Ilocos, our road took us to La Union and its famous beaches. I first got to visit the La Union shoreline in the 1980s and it looks like it had hardly changed. There are more resorts this time, however, but the beach I stood on looked like it never left the 80s.

We spent the next four hours watching waves hammer the metallic gray seashore and our girls taking quicky lessons on how to surf and survive. Back in the 80s girls wore tees and shorts when they took a swim in public. Our Lakbay girls—bright, assertive fashionistas—were surprisingly as modest as the Pinays of the 80s when it came to public exposure or lack of it. No bikinis here.

After slow cooking under an intense afternoon sun, we packed up and headed for Baguio, six hours away. We got to Baguio at about 10:00 pm, which is saying there isn’t much to see of the fabled Summer Capital at his ungodly hour. The royal welcome we got at the posh Baguio Manor Hotel, however, more than made up for this disappointment.

We had the hotel garden all to ourselves. The setting was romantic; the evening temperature probably that of chilled red wine and the magnificent buffet mostly European (the chef is Irish, which seems unique in itself). I miss Baguio’s wonderfully cool climate and God, I wish we had it in Metro Manila. That alone would make this crazy city life worthwhile. The Mayor of Baguio City, Peter Ray Bautista, recited a poem, Beautiful Baguio, to welcome us.

Too much red wine, even if you’re used to it, will make your head spin in no time and I found myself constantly wiping a silly smile off my face to appear sober. But it made the night’s sleep all the much better. As we headed towards our hotel room at the storied Baguio Country Club, I thought it ironic we were toasting under the sun just hours before, and now were rubbing our palms together to keep warm. “C’est la vie.”

My roommate this night was Anton Diaz (www.ourawesomeplanet.com), a very popular travel blogger. Anton came to Lakbay to have fun and do business at the same time. After I stepped out of the shower, I found him on his notebook PC checking out his website, then on his Blackberry re-checking his business for the next day. He arranges tours throughout the country and banks on his immense travel experience and knowledge to give his guests a travel experience worth their money.

For this very well-traveled man, “. . . my most awesome (experience) was sandboarding in Paoay sand dunes because it was unique and exciting.” He also rated the Ilocos empanada as the best fare at Lakbay. “Ilocos Empanada. Sarap! You can't get the same taste here in Manila.”

Day 4: Baguio/Ambuklao

We were in Baguio because Baguio wanted to be known as something other than “The Summer Capital of the Philippines,” which is how elementary school text books consistently describe “The City of Pines.” The bright boys in Baguio’s tourism industry had decided to repackage Baguio as the jump-off point to adventure sites within an hour’s drive from the city.

We visited one of these new adventure sites, the Ambuklao Dam, on Jan. 28. The soon to be launched “Baguio Adventure Experience” will feature rappelling, kayaking, ultralights, all terrain vehicle (ATV) rides, nature treks and romantic lunches or dinners in exotic locations. Then it’s back to chilly Baguio to cool down after a hard day’s adventure. That’s the thinking behind Baguio’s repackaging.

Ida found the new Baguio Adventure Experience the second best of Lakbay after sandboarding. “Personally, I was impressed by the various adventure destinations that can be found in the north,” she noted. “I would recommend Paoay/Laoag for the 4x4 and sand boarding because it is something new and unique. My second recommended place to visit would be Baguio/Benguet for their adventure packages because they offer so much from kayaking to go-karting, mountain climbing, ATV, airsoft and even hang gliding! Even though we didn't get to experience all of these activities, I would love to go back and try them out.”

We left Baguio late afternoon and slept as our bus roared towards Lingayen City, Pangasinan and its famous Hundred Islands. We got to Lingayen at 10:00 pm but the city government was still wide awake and treated us to a tour of their renovated and imposing capitol building, which is also a tourism site. We had a midnight dinner and a few beers before calling it a night at the Islandia Hotel. Most of my mates, however, stayed up even later to party and, of course, karaoke/videoke!

Day 5: 123 Islands

The next morning saw us head for the world famous Hundred Islands National Park. This was my second time at Hundred Islands, the last over a decade ago. The tour and the onsite facilities were infinitely better this time around. And I’m glad safety is the major concern at the pier. The boats looked safe and sturdy although the freeboard of the one we took appeared too low for comfort. All of us wore life vests but these were the old Styrofoam-type.

The Hundred Islands are exactly 123 islands, of which only three are developed. The rest are off limits to tourists so you can’t plant a flag and claim an island as your own. That is past history. We stopped at two of these developed islands: Governor’s Island for photo ops and Quezon Island for lunch and snorkeling.

Over lunch, I got to talking to Melo Villareal, another famous travel blogger (www.lakbaypilipinas.com), who also makes money in that new business called “mobile marketing.” He uses his mobile phones to “text blast” his client’s gigs or products to his enormous list of contacts or potential customers. His job is to create the all-important “buzz” that leads to sales. His job is as “viral” as it gets.

Our next major destination was Subic, Zambales, famous for its Duty Free shopping but now a new center for adventure tourism. It took us five hours to get to Subic. We first stopped by the quaint seaside town of Masinloc, however, to have a look at its famous San Andres Church made out of coral stone. An hour after checking into the White Rock Resort Hotel at 6:00 pm, we were off to Subic for an evening at the tree top zip line.

I’d always thought plunging downward suspended from a metal cable would be heart pounding fun. It would’ve, but the guys at Subic decided to send us down the zip line feet first—for safety reasons since it was now late evening. So, I plunged feet first down the zip line, watching the tops of papaya trees colored pale gray by the moonlight slide lazily beneath me. It wasn’t as exciting as I’d hoped but it was still my first ride on a zip line.

But the evening’s videoke at White Rock was the wildest of Lakbay Norte. Our girls really went romantic, singing songs that told of love rewarded or gone terribly wrong. The stunning Sol Racelis, editor-in-chief of the travel magazine, Sidetrip, seemed to spend the evening holding on to the mike. Izah Morales, always lovely to behold, from the online edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, again took to the mike and was again her romantic self.

Fun-loving Ella Fortez of the Asian Traveler magazine was delightful in her selection of romantic and rock ballads. And lovely photo-journalist Monica Barretto (www.monicabarretto.com) of Smile Magazine, inflight magazine of Cebu Pacific, proved enchanting as a singer. While some of the guys did videoke, we left the singing mostly to the ladies, who were glad to oblige.

Day 6: Adventures closer to home

A trip to Subic by the sea wouldn’t be complete without a boat ride. The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority arranged a one-hour boat ride across Subic Bay on one of their search and rescue boats, the M/V Redondo. After this exhilarating cruise, it was off to the neighboring province of Tarlac at around 1:00 pm. Breakfast and lunch at the Lighthouse Marina was superb.

The Tarlac “adventure” was the most serious part of Lakbay since it saw us visit the “Ninoy Aquino Museum” where we learned more about the heroic Ninoy Aquino. We departed for Pampanga late afternoon and checked into the Holiday Inn. We toured this famous hotel; had a fantastic and massive dinner at the nearby Red Crab restaurant (the red crabs were deliciously huge!) and got to know more about Pampanga and its culture at the Center for Kapampangan Studies at the Holy Angel University.

Highlight of this fast paced evening was our taste of the nightlife at San Fernando and partaking of the famous Camalig pizza. This pizza is known for its bewildering array of toppings. There’s pizza with chicharon/adobo/white cheese; pizza with salted eggs; pizza with dilis/white cheese and that eternal favorite, pepperoni pizza, among others.

And, as has been our practice since Day 1, we let our bloggers and photographers take as many pictures of the cuisine before we plunged headlong into a gastronomic feast. I called it our version of the grace before meals or “The Pictures before Meals.”

Day 7: Goodbye to adventure

The mood at breakfast was somewhat somber: this was our last day together and some of us had that wistful air about them. It had been a grand and great six days and I really didn’t want it to end just yet. But nobody bucks Father Time.

We spent the entire morning at the nearby “El Kabayo,” a convincing replica of a small town in the U.S. Wild West. What you have here is a main street flanked by a saloon, a stable, a sheriff’s office and all those quaint shops you see on old Western movies. The main draw at El Kabayo, however, is horseback riding and most of us rode the ponies halfway to our next destination, the Paradise Ranch.

The ranch was the final adventure in our fantastic seven-day odyssey. As we got to the ranch, we were greeted by busloads of “excursionistas” from high schools in Metro Manila and Pampanga. The ranch is famous as a nature preserve and one of its most delightful sights is the Butterfly Farm where hundreds of butterflies flit around in careless abandon. It’s nature at its cutest. A late lunch at the Oasis Hotel confirmed its reputation as an oasis for excellent international cuisine. A visit to the Lakeshore in Pampanga and its enormous man-made lake and to Robinson’s Starmall were our adieu to Lakbay Norte.

It wouldn’t have been a great adventure without great organizers. In this regard, I say “That was one hell of a great job” to Vince Araneta, Charisse Anne Fernandez. Michelle Liza Co and Anthony Hapa of NPVB; Grace Ayento and Frances Dionisio of Manila North Tollways Corporation and Nixon Batarao and Reynaldo Valdez of Victory Liner.

Friendships

More than the many magnificent places we visited and the new adventures we experienced, many of us pointed to the friendships gained as the most precious possession they took home from Lakbay Norte.

“We had a very great group,” said travel blogger Nina Fuentes. “Each participant was passionate about traveling and equally passionate about life. What I'll remember most about my new friends is their gung ho attitude about every activity, their courage to try new things and their unwavering devotion to the videoke machine.”

For Ferdz, “It was a great group. Most are adventurous and enthusiastic. I think everyone gelled well.” This veteran traveler saw Northern Philippines as a “. . . different type of market as the north has something to offer that Boracay or Cam Sur don't have. If people are looking for heritage, caves and sand dunes adventure, the north has it.”

“Strangely enough, in spite of all the incredibly exciting and one of a kind experiences we had during the trip, the most memorable moments for me were our crazy karaoke nights,” said Ida. “These moments were precious to me because it was during these times that we all got to bond with each other the most.”

Karlo saw the whole trip “. . . as an unforgettable experience in itself. Having to join a bunch of people enjoying the north, sharing experiences, delightful or otherwise, for seven straight days. I think that is unforgettable enough. I think it’s because I like relating to people. Travel is about experiences and who you share it with is also important. Sometimes it’s not the journey, nor the destination, but the experience shared from journey to destination.”

“These people are definitely an adventurous bunch!” said Margie. “They're not afraid to try out new things. They go head on with whatever is in store for the trip. There was never a dull moment with them. I'm so lucky to have met these people who have made this trip so much better than I expected it to be.”

It’s about who you travel with. That’s what makes a great vacation—and great relationships.

(Published in Zest Air Inflight magazine, 2010)

"Lakbay Norte 2010: Part 2"

Day 2: relationships

The frenzied pace of our first day at Cagayan set the tone for the entire Lakbay Norte tour. From then on, it was a race against time to meet tightly woven schedules so we could see many of North Luzon’s best tourist sites in just seven days.

Without time for proper introductions on the bus as it began its 1,800 km trek from Quezon City on Jan. 24, however, each of us was left to make new friends on his own. That we were either writers or photographers—kindred creative spirits—helped us morph from seatmates into mates quite quickly.

During this tour, Victory Liner bus no. 2121 (a MAN coach made in Germany with 900,000 km on its odometer) was our “motel” where we first rested after checking out all those North Luzon destinations. The toughness of this machine made me again appreciate why the world associates the phrase, “Made in Germany,” with high quality. The bus never failed us on the trip; the worst it encountered was a leaky oil line easily fixed. Its air conditioning was sub-arctic and that was a good thing during blistering afternoons.  

We made friends with one another during our “extra vehicular activity,” mainly over deliciously alien meals (think of huge and meaty red crabs, a lot of red crabs) or exploring out-of-this-world tourist sites such as a dry river bed outside Baguio with a romantic table for two—and a butler!

But the evening “Karaoke” sessions were my mates’ most cherished memories of Lakbay Norte as I found out later on. Without these crazy sing-alongs, our 1,800 km trek would probably have been intolerable. Surprisingly, our girls were the most avid “karaokers.” And strangely for these single young ladies in their 20s both scared of, and intrigued by men, love songs—very sad love songs—were their favorite fare.

Travel bloggers

The first real chance we got to know each other beyond the polite smile stage was at the Callao Caves along the Pinacanauan River in Cagayan during the afternoon of our first field day (Jan. 25). Our previous morning stop on this tour (the Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Piat) was more of a quietly religious rather than a boisterous lay experience.

Curiously, the first three persons I got to know were fellow travel writers from other airlines. Margie Francisco is editorial assistant for Seair Inflight Magazine of South East Asian Airlines (Seair). Ida Calumpang writes for Mabuhay, magazine of Philippine Airlines while Monica Barretto is a photojournalist for Smiles, the magazine of Cebu Pacific Airlines. These ladies were also among the most daring: they weren’t scared to try out “guy things” such as a new sport called “sandboarding.” And I never expected the competition to look this great.

The photographers among us had a field day at Callao since the site is visually striking. A digital picture here is, quite truly, worth more than a thousand digital words. Following our guided tour of the cave, I noticed our sole female professional photographer, Nina Fuentes, photographing her tiny Anime plastic doll named Sayuri against a backdrop of “The Cathedral,” the largest chamber at Callao.

Nina said she does this most everywhere she goes (it’s her “signature”) and Nina has been to a lot of places in the country, Asia and Australia. An inveterate tourist, Nina records her vast journeys on her blog at www.justwandering.org. She describes herself as a “backpacker. blogger. babysitter.”

Nina goes by the Net alias “Evil Martian” or the “Evil One.” I never found out why she chose a name so diametrically opposite her real personality. Too polite to ask. Accompanying her on her many trips are her cute doll pals, among which are a cute Darth Vader, a non-menacing Star Wars’ Storm Trooper and Sabrina (another cute doll).

Callao also saw me make the acquaintance of that new breed of professional writer/photographer/adventurer/tourist/entrepreneur spawned by the Internet: the online travel blogger. Nina is one of these new media professionals. She and the other five other travel bloggers in our group (all men) had, among themselves, visited practically all the worthwhile tourist spots in this country.

Truly awesome for a group of people mostly in their 20s and 30s. And these bloggers make a living by arranging guided tours to those sites they’ve been to, offering photo seminars and creating buzz about places, events or people through mobile and online marketing.

A well traveled travel blogger is Estan Cabigas from Cebu.  His blog at www.langyaw.com shows the extent of his “conquest” of the Philippines: from a few places visited in his native Cebu and northern Mindanao in 1974, Estan’s newest map on his home page shows his having visited practically the entire country.

We first got to talk while watching a lovely Izah Morales, a reporter for Inquirer.net, online edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, rappel from a height of about 20 feet at Callao. We jokingly remarked the girls seemed the braver of the species, an observation that would be confirmed in the coming days.

On his blog, which won as Best Travel Blog in the 2009 Philippine Blog Awards, Estan describes himself as “. . . an inveterate traveler” who “. . . enjoys the freedom that going to places entails, both the trip itself and the destination, reveling in the many things that the act of travel offers: the sounds, the sights, the people and the flavors. I’m more into going off the beaten path but am equally comfortable in tourist traps too.” It’s a pretty good description for someone who’s always a willing victim of the travel bug. His business is conducting photography seminars and he takes a lot of photos wherever he goes.

We were joined later on by another famous travel blogger, Ferdz Decena. His travel blog at www.ironwulf.net is a mine of helpful information and photos about his never ending journeys. Like Estan, Ferdz came to Lakbay equipped with those four pieces of equipment essential to any pro travel blogger: a state-of-the-art digital SLR camera (Nikon, Canon or Minolta), a digital movie camera, a notebook or netbook computer with wireless Internet and a celphone or smartphone. Our bloggers lugged around this heavy gear so they could quickly update their blogs. Real time information builds click through readership at their blogs and our bloggers never stop feeding their readers’ appetite for information.

From Cagayan, we rushed to Ilocos Norte, hoping to make it by 3:00pm so we could experience first hand a new sport called sandboarding. This six-hour drive to Ilocos first saw us stop over at the famous Blue Lagoon at Pagudpud for lunch at the new Hannah’s Beach Resort. The cuisine at this refurbished resort was fantastic: giant lobster worth thousands of pesos in Metro Manila, steamed shrimp, dinengdeng and crunchy, deep fried bagnet, among other fare.

Screams in the night

We got to the Ilocos Norte Sand Dunes at Suba at around 6:00 pm. The light was fading fast and we were in unknown territory facing what could have been a terrifying first experience—in the dark! Yet, we bravely boarded four toughened 4x4 jeeps and roared towards the sand dunes, 10 minutes away.

Crowded at back of a blue and white 4x4 with me were Estan, Ferdz, Poch, Cha Fernandez and Michelle Co, two quite pretty ladies from NPVB, Lakbay’s organizers. And, as was to be expected, one of us, Ida in this case, did a Leo de Caprio, “I’m king of the world!” pose in the jeep ahead of us. Our jeep tore along a dirt road at 60km/h as it headed towards the dunes, trailing a monstrous dust cloud. I hadn’t eaten so much dirt in a very long time.

The girls started screaming their lungs off as our jeep plunged down one sand gully. We held on to the thick roll bar and its supports for dear life. The screams reached terror pitch when our jeep reached the top of a tall sand hill, then plunged almost vertically downward, still at speed. I thought to myself as the ground rose up to meet us: “Is sand as rock hard as water if you hit it at high speed?”

Fortunately, I never got to test this hypothesis as our driver steered us out of danger. The girls never stopped screaming and I knew that was a great way of easing tension. As we plunged down our second hill at speed, I decided to scream my lungs out, as well. To my surprise, the other guys with me started screaming, too. We were all laughing loud and nervously as the jeep screeched to a halt amid a spray of swirling sand. “I’m going to take a long, hot shower tonight,” I promised myself.

As we stopped, I could hear the screams of the girls in the three other jeeps. They were having the time of their lives. I looked out across the Laoag River, a glistening black ribbon beneath a brilliant Blue Moon. The race wasn’t that dangerous or else the drivers wouldn’t have taken us out on this evening joy ride. Since it was now almost pitch black, the bosses decided to continue this experience at 6:00 am the next morning. And the girls never stopped screaming as we roared along the dirt road back to the safety of Victory Liner bus no. 2121.

Poque Poque Pizza anyone?

The bus quickly took us to our next destination: the new Robinson’s Mall at Laoag City where we were serenaded by Ilocano folk songs (including “Pamulinawen”) and entertained by Ilocano folk dances. Then it was on to dinner at the nearby Saramsam Café for a taste of their famous Saramsam Pasta and other cuisine.

One customer favorite at the café is their curiously named “Poque Poque Pizza.” Poque Poque is an Ilocano dish made from eggplant. The flavor of a pizza dominated by natural foods such as eggplant, tomatoes and onions, however, takes some getting used to for persons more familiar with the oilier taste of Pizza Hut or Greenwich.

Saramsam Pasta, however, was the group’s favorite as best dish of the day. It’s basically pasta with a lot on it: shrimp, Parmesan cheese, diced green mango and peppers. Karlo de Leon, Lakbay’s official videographer and an instructor at the College of St. Benilde in Manila, became a Saramsam pasta fan. “The best food experience so far is Saramsam. The dishes were uniquely local and yet the flavors stood out,” he said.

Margie with her to-die-for legs went gaga over Poque Poque Pizza and Saramsam Pasta. “Definitely a must try when you get to Ilocos Norte! It's my first time to try it and these two dishes just made my palate long for a lot more pizza and pasta.”

Sad love songs

Poque Poque, Saramsam Pasta and all the other Saramsam dishes constituted a delicious first encounter with Ilocos Norte. What completed the great food, however, was Karaoke and our girls were first on the scene. I was surprised at the gusto with which our girls constantly attacked the mike. Surprisingly, Margie, Izah, Monica, Ida, Cha, Michelle, Ella Fortez (a writer for the magazine Asian Traveler) and Sol Racelis (Editor of the travel magazine, Sidetrip) chose to sing sad love songs. Whatever happened to light rock, MOR and disco?

It’s as if it were easier to sing about one’s personal pain in front of strangers who wouldn’t ask you why than in front of close friends and family who knew why. Or do Filipinas remain unrealistically romantic in this age of non-committal, two-timing men? Some of the men did sing, but it was definitely girl’s night out. The singing went on for hours and we had to pry the mike from the girls’ hands so we could head to the hotel at 1:30 am.

I did take that long, hot shower, and it was great seeing all that brown sand and dirt cascade off my soapy body into the metal floor drain. If there’s one thing I learned in all my other trips, it’s the therapeutic value of a hot shower. My arm and shoulders muscles kept complaining, however, but I knew a good night’s sleep and a paracetamol tablet would take care of that.

Our room at the new Mira de Polaris hotel at Laoag City had that “healthy” clean smell I always search for in strange hotel rooms. If a room “smells healthy” to me, it most always is and I can sleep well. My bunkmate for the night was Bong Bajo, a professional photographer for Sidetrip.

A handsome rake who could be mistaken for celebrity Ogie Alcasid, Bong was at Lakbay with Sol, his boss. The pro that he is, Bong cleaned his Canon, recharged its battery, took out his HP notebook and downloaded his photos before taking a shower. We talked quite a lot before calling it a night.