ORNAMENTAL PLANTS. The NegOrense Ornamental Plant Vendors Association (NOPVA) is holding a "Kabulakan Festival" at the Freedom Park in Dumaguete City for two months. The activity is seen to boost the income of plant sellers who were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. (File photo courtesy of Provincial Tourism Unit chief Myla Mae Abellana) DUMAGUETE CITY - An ornamental plants and flowers display at the Capitol grounds here is seen to help residents resume their businesses after the more than two years of restrictions due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Provincial Tourism Unit (PTU) chief Myla Mae Abellana told the Philippine News Agency on Wednesday about 40 members of the NegOrense Ornamental Plant Vendors Association (NOPVA) are participating in the event, dubbed "Kabulakan Festival". It is being held in cooperation with the provincial government through the PTU and the Provincial Tourism Council. "They are from the same group that is dis
Carmel Bonifacio-Garcia, Catanduanes tourism officer (Photo from Garcia's Facebook page) LEGAZPI CITY - Declaring Catanduanes as the abaca capital of the Philippines is a "very timely gift" for the people in the province as it celebrates the 6th Abaca Festival this month and as the country's tourism industry gradually recovers from the pandemic, according to the Provincial Tourism Office. "Since we are gradually but surely restarting, (the) conservative forecast for the expected tourists: let's just say 500 to 700 arrivals but with a long night stay, it will contribute more to the economy as this would imply more spending," the province's tourism officer Carmel Bonifacio-Garcia said in an interview on Sunday. Catanduanes account for 89.4 percent of Bicol Region production and 36.2 percent of the country's total abaca supply as of 2020, data from the Catanduanes provincial agriculture office indicate. Aside from abaca, the province is well-known f