NATIVE MASSAGE. Guests enjoy a traditional "kolkolis" or foot massage during the re-opening of the Mt. Data Hotel in Bauko, Mountain Province on May 5, 2022. Department of Tourism-Cordillera Administrative Region Director Jovita Ganongan on Wednesday (May 18, 2022) encouraged businesses to include more of the Igorot culture in the services they offer to tourists. (PNA photo by Liza T. Agoot) BAGUIO CITY - The Department of Tourism in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DOT-CAR) wants the Igorot culture to be promoted more to tourists visiting the region. "We should offer a very unique experience, very Igorot, to tourists so that they see the beauty of the culture of the people in the Cordillera," DOT-CAR regional director Jovita Ganongan said in an interview on Wednesday. Ganongan said tourists should be made to experience and appreciate the rituals, chants, dances, attire, and food of the Cordillera. Among the famous Cordilleran attire are the tapis and the G-str
Iloilo City(File photo) ILOILO CITY - The Iloilo Business Club (IBC) is appealing to the Western Visayas Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) to look into the financial realities of the region and reevaluate the impact of the newly approved daily minimum wage on the local economy. IBC executive director, lawyer Eunice Guadalope, said in an interview Tuesday that the hike is ill-timed as businesses, mostly micro, small and medium enterprises, have not recovered yet from the Covid-19 pandemic. She said there are fears that they will be forced to shut down or suspend operations, if not reduce their workers. "It' a loss not only for employers or employees but our city because the economic recovery that we gradually built up since the effect of the pandemic has lessened or will be lost," she said. The RTWPB, chaired by lawyer Sixto Rodriguez Jr., Department of Labor and Employment - Western Visayas director, announced last week the approved minimum wage for
'OPLAN KAKAS'. Personnel deployed by reelected Bacolod City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran start removing his posters on Wednesday (May 11, 2022). On Thursday (May 12), outgoing Mayor Evelio Leonardia said he has formed a body for the immediate removal of campaign materials installed by candidates during the campaign period.(Photo from Vice Mayor El Cid M. Familiaran Facebook page) BACOLOD CITY - Outgoing Mayor Evelio Leonardia has formed a body for the immediate removal of campaign materials installed by candidates during the campaign period. Leonardia himself chairs the post-election clean-up committee (PECUC), which is provided in Executive Order No. 24. "Those involved in the committee must ensure the cleanliness of the city after removal operations," he said in a statement on Thursday. He noted that a large number of campaign materials have been put up and directed the committee members to ensure the speedy removal in coordination with the presidents of the Liga ng
HOPE FOR UNITY. Incumbent Governor Gwendolyn Garcia faces the Cebu media after her proclamation as the winner on Tuesday night (May 10, 2022). Garcia said the hope of the Filipinos for unity and continuity in the gains of the Duterte administration resulted in the overwhelming support for the BBM-Sara tandem. (Screengrab from Cebu Capitol PIO video) CEBU CITY - Reelected Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said the hope of the Filipinos for unity and continuity in the gains of the current administration has resonated throughout the country and became the basis of the overwhelming support for the tandem of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (BBM) and Davao Mayor Sara Duterte. Garcia told reporters shortly after her proclamation Tuesday night that the "too much polarization, bickering, and fighting" have achieved nothing for the Philippines, stressing that the Marcos-Duterte administration will bring the country to greater heights. "That is why so many Filipinos, you call the
PROCLAIMED. Capiz Provincial Election Supervisor lawyer Salud Milagros Villanueva reads the certificate of canvass of votes and proclamation of Capiz (2nd District) Rep. Fredenil "Oto" Castro who won the gubernatorial race over his opponent, incumbent Governor Esteban Evan Contreras, on Wednesday (May 11, 2022). Villanueva said voter turnout in Capiz reached as high as 87 percent.(Photo courtesy of Atty. Salud Milagros Villanueva) ILOILO CITY - Amid the pandemic, the turnout of voters in Capiz reached as high as 85 to 87 percent during the last May 9 polls, when compared with the around 80 percent in the past elections, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec). "People are more eager to exercise their right of suffrage and become active in political exercises in our country. Meaning the people are really aware that they need to use the power of their vote in choosing who they want to really represent them," said lawyer Salud Milagros Villanueva, Capiz Prov