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11/06/07 04:20 PM Full Story

Philippines’s second-highest peak is getting bald

The peak of Mount Pulag. (Photo from www.peakware.com)

BY ACE ALEGRE | Bulatlat

Mount Pulag is the second highest peak in the Philippines. It is home to 528 species of plants, and 33 species of animals including the endangered Philippine deer, giant bushy-tailed cloud rat and the long-aired fruit bat. It is revered as a mecca of nature lovers and mountain hikers. But now it is being ravaged.

7/08/07 12:59 PM Full Story

Foreign chambers welcome hike in Philippines tourist arrivals, cite problems

The Foreign Chambers of the Philippines warmly welcome the increasing tourist arrivals in the Philippines, which in 2006 grew at an annual rate of 14% (twice the regional average). If fast growth continues, we believe the government’s target of five million visitors by 2010 is achievable.

7/05/07 10:59 PM Full Story

Philippiens cites importance of RoRo system in boosting interisland farm trade, domestic tourism

MANILA — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cited today the importance of the administration’s Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH) and Roll-on, Roll-off (RoRo) Ports system in spurring interisland farm trade, improving distribution of basic goods, reducing travel time and transportation costs,and promoting domestic tourism.

7/05/07 10:48 PM Full Story

Whale sharks transforming sleepy town of Donsol

The Age: Once hunted for its soft white meat, known throughout Southeast Asia as “tofu shark,” the whale shark is now protected and has transformed this sleepy corner (Donsol, Sorsogon) into a major eco-tourism centre. (Photo by Agence France-Presse) Full Story Read the story

7/02/07 06:32 PM Full Story

Government to promote Philippines as a world-class tourist destination

The Arroyo administration is strengthening the country’s collegiate education program to promote the Philippines not only as a world-class tourist destination but also as a topnotch center of higher education.

6/29/07 07:35 PM Full Story

Philippines’s Boracay, one of world’s best beaches

Notwithstanding the algae that covers the waters of Boracay in the summer (March to June, we were told) that can discourage a tourist from wading in, the island resort remains a top tourist destination in the world. Yahoo! and Askmen.com, in a recent poll, ranked Boracay as the 7th and 8th best beach in the world, respectively. (Photo by Carlos Conde/pinoypress.net)

6/25/07 09:52 AM Full Story

LATEST STORIES FROM DAVAOTODAY.COM

Duterte-Nograles tiff over park prelude to 2010?

Urban poor group hits Arroyo on housing mega-sale

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San Isidro town govt to penalize cacao felling

Boston villagers recount tales of military abuses

STORIES BY CARLOS H. CONDE

40 die as Philippine ferry capsizes

Asia, too, feels the pain

As the MOA Unravels, What Now?

Peace process fraught with peril for Arroyo

Islamic separatists kill 28 in Philippines rampage

THE NEWS IN PICTURES

Spawn. This photo, taken by photojournalist Sonny Espiritu, won the Best Single Photo award in the recent annual PopDev Awards. The photo was first published by the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project with this caption: "An urban poor woman feeds her youngest child while washing clothes for a living and looking after other children. Modern contraception advocates say having fewer children would help fight poverty and hunger, but the predominent Catholic Church says there is no link between poverty and population, of which the Philippines has now almost 90 million."

End The Violence. Members of the women's group Gabriela make known their sentiments about violence against women. They commemorated yesterday, Nov. 25, the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. (Photo courtesy of arkibongbayan.org)

Anti-GMA Protest in LA. Members of GABNet, the progressive Filipino women's group in the United States, outside the LAX Sheraton in Los Angeles last week to protest the persecution and killing of political activists in the Philippines. The protest was timed for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stopover en route to Peru for the Apec summit. (Photo courtesy of Ninotchka Rosca/GABNet)

Tagaytay on a Sunday. Kite-flying has become a favorite activity at the Picnic Grove in Tagaytay. On an overcast but generally pleasant afternoon last Sunday, dozens of kites colored the skies, complementing the view of Taal Volcano in the background. (Photo by Ayi Muallam)

Downed. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front released Friday this photo of some of its members playing with what the group claimed was an unmanned spy plane that crashed earlier this month. The front said the alleged drone was a property of the US military. More details here.

Hunger Amid War. This child refugee is one of the thousands affected by the war in Mindanao. The situation in North Cotabato and Maguindanao has deteriorated since renewed fighting between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) broke out in Aleosan and Midsayap, North Cotabato last Aug. 8, according to groups that held last month the National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission in North Cotabato and Maguindanao. (Photo courtesy of Kalinaw Mindanao/arkibongbayan.org)

Another Bayan Muna Leader Killed. Danny Qualbar, an officer of the Compostela Farmers' Association and coordinator of Bayan Muna was on his way to Compostela town Thursday afternoon to buy fish for his family when assassins in motorcycles shot him. Qualbar was the second Bayan Muna member killed this year in Compostela Valley. Top photo shows Qualbar’s eldest child grieving his death. (Photo by Jonald Mahinay/davaotoday.com)

Stairway to Heaven. Found in the middle of the forest, the cascading waters of Aliwagwag waterfalls in Cateel, Davao Oriental, looks like a descending stairway. No wonder it is considered one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Mindanao. (Photo by Grace S. Uddin / davaotoday.com)

Stop Militarizing Communities! Members of farmer's group Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas in Southern Mindanao Region held a rally October 8 in front of the headquarters of the Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Panacan, Davao City. The group called for the pullout of troops conducting massive military operations in Tamayong in Davao City, Talaingod in Davao del Norte, Monkayo in Compostela Valley and in the towns of Baganga, Cateel, Boston in Davao Oriental and Lingig Surigao Del Sur. (Photo by Jonald Mahinay/davaotoday.com)

Land and Peace Concert. Students from Tribung Bayanga National High School perform before the crowd at Gaston Park in Cagayan De Oro City on October 23 night during the Yuta ug Kalinaw Concert. The two-hour concert was part of the Integrity of Creation Solidarity week that kicked-off last October 19. The week-long activity was a gathering of mining affected communities and support groups to discuss the issues affecting their communities. (Photo by AKP Images / Keith Bacongco)

Full Capacity. Normally, passenger vans are allowed to carry 14 people. But this one is apparently beyond its carrying limit as it negotiates the zigzag road in Sulop, Davao del Sur, a known accident- and landslide-prone area. (Photo by Keith Bacongco / AKP Images)

The Child as Vigilante. A 10-year-old boy carries a firearm and joins members of the Ilaga, an infamous anti-Moro militia, in its camp in Aleosan, North Cotabato. The child's father leads the dreaded vigilante group in the area. (Photo by Romy Elusfa/Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project)

Under Repair. A "Skylab," the most common mode of transportation in the Agusan provinces and elsewhere in Mindanao, undergoes a repair at a shop in Butuan City. The motorcycle is fitted with wooden "wings" on both sides -- hence the moniker -- and is capable of carrying up to eight passengers. (Photo by Keith Bacongco / AKP Images)

Free At Last. Pastor Berlin Guerrero of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines, shown above with wife Mylene, was released after 15 months in police detention. He had been abducted and went missing for days before the police came out to say that he was arrested on a murder charge, which his family and colleagues said had been fabricated. A court ordered him released on Sept. 11. (Photo by arkibongbayan.org)

TOP STORIES

Philippine Airlines Cancels Bangkok Flights Due to Political Tension

Selling People Overseas to Save the Economy At Home

Arroyo Survives as House Allies Junk New Impeachment Case

‘No Election’ Plot Revived; Arroyo Vows to Veto It

In Major Rebuke, UN Faults Philippines for Killings

Worsening Storm for Philippine Economy?

Smart to Junk Thousands of E-Load Dealers?

With Guns Blazing, de Venecia Testifies, Links Arroyo to ZTE Bribery Scandal

As US Economy Tanks, Philippines Gets Set for Downturn

Philippine Airlines Reports P5.7-Billion Loss in 6 Months

Davao Villagers Battle World’s Largest Mining Company

SPECIAL COVERAGE

The ZTE-NBN Bribery Scandal

The Spratly Islands Dispute

The Rice Shortage Crisis

The Arroyo Presidency

OFWs and the Pinoy Life Abroad

Human Rights in the Philippines

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BLOGS & COLUMNS

Right of Reply, Wrong Premise
November 28, 2008, 10:36 AM

PRESS FREEDOM By Carlos H. Conde | A Right of Reply law will undermine the Bill of Rights. It will intimidate journalists and prevent them from performing their watchdog functions because the potential cost of doing their job is rather high – fine, imprisonment or closure.

Save the Refugees in the Eastern Congo
November 27, 2008, 11:43 AM

Click for more posts by this blogger-columnist

HUMAN RIGHTS By Fr. Shay Cullen | A stronger, better-armed UN force is urgently needed to protect the hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children and youth in the Eastern Congo. Five millions have died over the past several years and the world hardly noticed.

Politics, Philippine Style
November 26, 2008, 02:15 PM

POLITICS By Benjie Oliveros | What do the Senate coup, the fertilizer and Euro generals scams, and the continuing extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and filing of trumped up charges against activists have in common? These show the rottenness of politics in the Philippines.

Aspartame: Sweet, Sweet Poison
November 25, 2008, 11:49 AM

HEALTH | BUSINESS By Carlos H. Conde | What convinced me that aspartame is not safe are not just the studies that have found its link to cancer but also the efforts of Donald Rumsfield and the biotech giant Monsanto in ramming this product down our throats.

Caterwauling About Hillary Clinton
November 25, 2008, 10:28 AM

POLITICS By Ninotchka Rosca | Semantical analysis will show it’s all driven by fear of a strong intelligent woman. Will she take orders? Whose foreign policy will it be – hers or Obama? Will she be working for him or for her own political interests? Blah, blah, blah.