Butuan City - Compiled Threads [Archive] - Page 3

boybleauXx

March 15th, 2006, 10:00 AM

GEMS OF HISTORY
By BO GON JUAN

ABS CBN Interactive
GEMS OF HISTORY By BO GON JUAN (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=6793)
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The kingdoms of Butuan and Sulu are recorded as having sent the earliest missions from the Philippines to China.
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The kingdoms of Butuan and Sulu are recorded as having sent the earliest missions from the Philippines to China. Butuan established diplomatic relations with China through a tribute mission in 1003. The Sultan of Sulu paid tribute to Emperor Yong Lo in 1417 and died in Dezhou, Shandong, on his way back to Sulu.

And there was another place, called Kumalarang, whose king also led a mission to China in 1420 and also died in China on his way back in 1421. The king was buried in Fuzhou, Fujian province. However, Kumalarang is rarely or never mentioned in our history books.

According to Ming Shi (Ming History) and Ming Shi Lu (Veritable Ming Records), Kumalarang paid tribute to the Chinese emperor twice. The first was in 1420 by King Ula-itunpen, who died in Fuzhou in 1421. The second mission was sent in 1424 by King Labi and led by Batijiesan. Earlier, in 1417, Ming Emperor Yung Lo even sent a eunuch named Zhang Qian to Kumalarang to deliver an imperial edict and gifts to King Ula-itunpen.

Where is this Kumalarang, which sounds so unfamiliar but appears to be an important place vis-à-vis China?

There is a place called Kumalarang in Zamboanga del Sur, at Dumanquilas Bay. But the place did not appear—or the present name was not used—before the 1970s.

There was also a Kumalarang in Basilan, which was one of the three plains on the island. The plain appears on a map found in History of Sulu, written by Najeeb Saleeby in 1907. Moreover, there was a barangay and a resort with waterfalls in Basilan called Kumalarang.

Based on the Ming Dynasty records, Kumalarang then was a small state in Southeast Sea and the treatment accorded its king was parallel to the reception given to the Sulu king. Considering that Sulu and Kumalarang sent tribute missions to China almost at the same time and given their geographic proximity, it is safe to conclude that Kumalarang is Basilan, which was also called Taguima before.

What is more interesting is that among the three Southeast Asian kings who died in China, two were from the Philippines. Sultan Paduka Batara of Sulu died in Dezhou in 1417, and King Ula-itunpen of Kumalarang died in Fuzhou in 1421. The third was the sultan of Brunei, who died in Nanjing in 1408.

The Sulu sultan’s imperial tomb in Dezhou, Shandong, is well preserved and has been declared a national heritage site. The same can’t be said of Ula-itunpen’s tomb in Fuzhou, Fujian. It was destroyed in the 1950s and no longer exists. Nevertheless, the important role of Kumalarang in Philippine history, especially in relation to China, cannot be overlooked.

(Editor’s Note: The awarding ceremony of the Fourth Dr. Jose P. Rizal Awards for Excellence will be held on June 19, 2005, 2 p.m. at the Kaisa-Angelo King Heritage Center on Anda and Cabildo streets, Intramuros, Manila.)

FrancisXavier

March 16th, 2006, 05:10 AM

Butuan has aircon,metered taxis

theres the green taxis and the yellow Royale taxis
wow... so there are taxi royales in butuan? Are they using the new nissan sentra like here in CDO? It's nice no... Modern taxis are all over northern mindanao na.. I hope Gingoog and Iligan will also have taxi royales...
Go Mindanao!

boybleauXx

March 16th, 2006, 06:10 AM

Francis

yes, these taxis come in very handy especially during inclement weather.

they say yellow taxis are preferred by couples here especialy in the afternoons due its tint unlike the green taxis. Para sa mahilig yellow taxis sila :runaway:

Do you have any updates on the long overdue Mindanao Railway Project....seems havent heard about this project for quiet some time already...hope this will not end up with our airports who have suffered signifiacnt delays in implementation.

FrancisXavier

March 16th, 2006, 06:22 AM

huh... i guess it's another project of delays and disputes... i'm not expecting that we will have that in 2010.

boybleauXx

March 16th, 2006, 11:34 AM

2010?! thats too long...

I guess the politicians will again sing the same tune come election day with regards to this project :sleepy:

boybleauXx

March 18th, 2006, 07:14 AM

boybleauXx

March 18th, 2006, 07:48 AM

http://www.skcafi.org/gallery2/albums/userpics/10002/normal_051605%20124.jpg
red and yellow and orange

cyrusal

March 18th, 2006, 02:39 PM

^^ notice those tricycles in the street...do you also call them MOTORELA?

boybleauXx

March 18th, 2006, 04:52 PM

they are simply called tricycles here.

motorelas are only found in CDO I guess...and they are even good looking than the tuktuks of Bangkok

boybleauXx

March 22nd, 2006, 08:41 AM

http://mk23.image.pbase.com/u36/ahnise/large/40378637.10ButuanIMG_1397.jpg

KulasKusgan

March 22nd, 2006, 01:38 PM

Mindanao Express was just a 10 seater plane...

for short haul transport..

but sayang nawala ning airline company in the Mindanao skies :sleepy:

merong South Phoenix Airways din but they change their name to Orient Airlines. baka related sila sa Mindanao Express.

boybleauXx

March 23rd, 2006, 06:26 AM

c0kelitr0

March 24th, 2006, 01:06 PM

uy check out Google Earth! may hi-res na ang butuan!

Kaiser

March 24th, 2006, 01:30 PM

^^can anybody post that pic?

MarkiiBoi

March 24th, 2006, 01:44 PM

Here are some screencaps.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/MarkiiBoi4/butuan1.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/MarkiiBoi4/butuan2.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/MarkiiBoi4/butuan3.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/MarkiiBoi4/butuan4.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i83/MarkiiBoi4/butuan5.jpg

boybleauXx

March 25th, 2006, 04:39 AM

Markiiboi, thanks for these nice finds.

Unsaon man pag Google earth...naglisod lagi ko..:)

c0kelitr0

March 25th, 2006, 04:57 AM

boybleau, paki label some buildings sa photo please :D

i think that's the Gaisano sa bottom-right corner of the last pic posted by Markii

Kaiser

March 25th, 2006, 06:22 AM

^^nice :colgate:

KulasKusgan

March 25th, 2006, 06:30 AM

hello sleep,maybe they're related but I would like to see a Minadanao based airline that would link the four corners of the island and to other destinations in the BIMP EAGA.

its a good thing now that Asian Spirit is serving Davao-Palau route already.

kalami iadtog Palau.

ano kaya magandang pangalan ng mindanaoan airline, if any...

MAL - Mindanao Airlines
MAW - Mindanao Airways

btw, kung wala ka pay google earth, pwede nimo i-install for free. download ka lang sa google earth nga website. then search for images. click printscreen and paste to ms paint. unya i-upload nimo sa photobucket for posting na.

LordCarnal

March 25th, 2006, 10:03 AM

^^

wow sleepwalker, printscreen ra diay? sus karon pa ko.. mao ra diay ni solution tanan problema...

boybleauXx

March 25th, 2006, 10:44 AM

coke:

unsaon man pag label?

maybe I can photo edit it no? pwede ?

Sleep:

ayaw lang ng MAL kay murag bad. MAL is a prefix for sumthing malas or bad such as bad air or mal-aria... :)

c0kelitr0

March 25th, 2006, 11:07 AM

yup! boybleau, you can edit the pics, pagsabi lang kay markii hehe

Sinjin P.

March 25th, 2006, 11:14 AM

I only know how to add labels through PowerPoint. lol.

chymera00

March 25th, 2006, 11:17 AM

I only know how to add labels through PowerPoint. lol.
pwede man ... you can add labels sa ppt then print screen and paste sa paint or something, hehe.

Sinjin P.

March 25th, 2006, 11:26 AM

Yeah, I add labels then select all then save as picture.

MarkiiBoi

March 25th, 2006, 12:02 PM

2 more:

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/4126/butuan65uo.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/5852/butuan76th.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

boybleauXx

March 25th, 2006, 12:13 PM

ok ok guys. I do my best to do the homework and put labels to these detailed pics..... sheeez.

dili kaayo ko kabisado looking Butuan from the space :runaway:

but I will try my best ha (aside from learning how to edit the photos)... sigh.

wait lang guys

boybleauXx

March 25th, 2006, 12:51 PM

yikes! lisod man.

guess its time to consult gud old neighborhood net cafe

Sinjin P.

March 25th, 2006, 12:56 PM

^^
1.Paste the pic in Powerpoint
2.Add the labels through arrows, etc.
3.Press Ctrl+A or Select All
4.Right click the whole thing and Save as Picture..
5.Make sure to save it in photo format (jpg, png, etc.)
6.Upload

MarkiiBoi

March 25th, 2006, 12:59 PM

^^ its better in Photoshop, simpler in MS Paint. hehehe

boybleauXx

March 25th, 2006, 01:10 PM

thanks Markii and Sinjin. am studying the pics pa and identifying the roofs of the structures :)

KulasKusgan

March 26th, 2006, 01:14 AM

^^^ kaya mo yan!

c0kelitr0

March 26th, 2006, 04:00 AM

Okay, let me try to help:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d83/jafhoy2/butuan5.jpg

c0kelitr0

March 26th, 2006, 04:15 AM

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d83/jafhoy2/butuan3.jpg

KulasKusgan

March 26th, 2006, 04:28 AM

^^ Montilla Boulevard?

Sinjin P.

March 26th, 2006, 04:28 AM

Gaisano Butuan is massive!

boybleauXx

March 27th, 2006, 07:45 AM

Coke

thanks a lot for the labels !

you're my savior :angel1:

sheezz am ashamed of myself ....eheehe m))

c0kelitr0

March 27th, 2006, 07:52 AM

no prob bud ;)

i was supposed to include chowking as well but i was confused if it's across the plaza or at the corner right at the end of the bridge...

boybleauXx

March 27th, 2006, 08:14 AM

its near Rizal Park..

the first photo posted by Markiiboi looks like in Doongan and that building within the rotunda is the new city hall.

the 2nd photo looks like Barrio Obrero and Langihan districts with the Integrated Terminal at the right upper part of the photo.

:)

tigidig14

March 27th, 2006, 11:04 PM

wow nauna pa maging visible ang butuan kaysa manila :D

boybleauXx

March 28th, 2006, 06:25 AM

tigs:

could we blame it on Manila's smog ? :)

seriously, as I was looking into the Butuan Google Earth photos, I noticed that the grids of the road system are not quiet uniform in size.

I wonder how did the previous planners plot out the grids. Parang naging maze tuloy.

boybleauXx

March 28th, 2006, 06:55 AM

http://www.butuanon.org/images/bxu10.jpg
Seeing Butuan and environs from an eastern angle

http://www.butuanon.org/images/bxu9.jpg
Seeing Butuan and environs from an western angle

http://www.butuanon.org/images/bxu8.jpg
Butuan and environs as seen from northern angle ( Agusan Delta and Butuan Bay Area)

http://www.butuanon.org/images/bxu7.jpg
Butuan and environs. Top view

http://www.butuanon.org/images/bxu5.jpg
Butuan, urban to rurban built-up areas

http://www.butuanon.org/images/bxu2.jpg
Butuan and her neighbors

boybleauXx

March 31st, 2006, 03:56 AM

Friday, March 31, 2006
Butuan City celebrates 485th anniversary mass
By Ben Serrano
SUNSTAR DAILY

BUTUAN CITY -- Claiming the first Christian mass was held in Mazzaua Island here and not in Limasawa Island in Leyte, the Butuan City Government, Butuan Cultural and Historical Foundation Inc., Butuan Tourism Council together with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Butuan will celebrate the 485th year of the First Catholic Mass in the Philippines Friday.

The first Christian mass in the country held in March 31,1521 was conducted by accident since it was Easter Mass. It marked the beginning of the spread of Christianity in Asia and its biggest Christian nation, the Philippines.

Islam, a religion practiced in most parts of Mindanao in as early as 14th century at that time, was already widely practiced in Jolo, Sulu.

According to historian priest, Fr. Joesilo C. Amalia, trustee of Butuan Cultural and Historical Foundation Inc., the mass officiated by Fr. Pedro De Valderrama, chaplain of Magellan's expedition, also saw Magellan's group planting the first cross atop a hill at the Mazzaua Island, now exactly at the site of Barangay Pinamangculan.

Amalia, who traveled extensively to Spain, United Kingdom, Portugal, Rome and France, to do research work on the first mass and the first planting of the Christian Cross 485 years ago claimed it was also in Butuan where the first baptismal and Christian marriage rites were held.

At 8:00 a.m. Fr. Joesilo C. Amalia will officiate a mass celebrating the 485th First Mass anniversary exactly at the site where the First Christian Mass in Mazzaua, now Barangay Pinamangkulan, was held.

But unlike 485 years ago when crewmen from the three expedition ships of Portugese navigator Ferdinand Magellan disembarked and attended the mass, Friday's mass will be attended by local government and church officials headed by a representative of Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos.

The National Historical Institute (NHI) at present recognizes Limasawa Island in Southern Leyte as the official site of the first mass based on Republic Act 2733, a law declaring the island as official site and not Mazzaua as claimed by the Butuanons.

But according to Fr. Amalia, the current NHI Chairman, Prof. Ambeth Ocampo in his communication to the Butuan Cultural and Historical Institute Inc. has required the institute to submit an updated position paper on the claims they have raised before the National Government in the 1970's.

In 1976, centuries old Balanghai Boats were accidentally dug up at Barangay Libertad.

Several pieces of centuries-old antiques, China wares and other fossils were also dug up near the area where the Balanghai Boats were also discovered.

(March 31, 2006 issue)

Kaiser

March 31st, 2006, 04:08 AM

^^ any updates of the cable stayed bridge in butuan ?

boybleauXx

March 31st, 2006, 04:22 AM

Josh

works on the spans have commenced; while the tower is almost complete.
soon the works shal be on the steel suspension cables na daw.

a wide tract of land is now cleared along barangays Villa Kananga and Libertad. Constrction of the 13 kilometer highway is also in full blast.

the viaducts at the first magsaysay Bridge is expected to be completed early part of 2007.

the LADP-CARBDP project is almost complete...see related story below...in fact Japanese officials are in town going around inspecting these huge infra projects in Butuan.

as to the other projects like the Butuan Airport expansion; there is already a fund allocation from the government as counterpart to the ADB fund. Hope they will bid out the project soon

wth regards naman to the International Port of Magellan...I guess the study by its project consulants are almost done for submission to Manila.

boybleauXx

March 31st, 2006, 04:24 AM

March 30,2006
Group execs hold inspection of projects
By Ben Serrano
SUNSTAR DAILY

BUTUAN CITY -- Officials of the Cotabato-Agusan River Bank Development Project (CARDBP) and foreign funding institution Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) recently inspected the Lower Agusan Development Project (LADP), a pre-requisite for continuation of LADP II.

The LADP is a component project of the CARDBP, a foreign-funded project by JBIC, which converts the Agusan River water supply potential into irrigation use.

Phase one of the project is a construction of flood control system within the perimeter of the city composed of four packages or phases.

Part two of the project concerns more the construction of dikes along riverbanks and dredging of Agusan River due to siltation.

Aside from providing the biggest housing resettlement ever in Northeastern Mindanao for 500 affected families, it is also the biggest single employer hiring 2,000 workers from the region since the project started in 1996.

CARDBP officials headed by CARDBP Project Director Philip Meñez and local LADP executives headed by LADP Project Manager Rogelio Ang and LADP Project Engineer Leo Mendoza toured the Japanese officials at the ongoing flood control projects who are interested to fund the LADP II.

Meñez who conceptualized LADP I said Japanese officials of JBIC have shown enthusiasm and optimism that part two of the LADP under CARDBP pushes through.

This is based on the remarkable achievement of LADP 1 despite difficulties it encountered since start of the project such as land conflicts.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) National Standards Bureau have awarded the LADP Butuan City Project as the number one in terms of quality standards and accomplishments.

The Caraga Regional Development Council (RDC) endorsed the phase two component of the project as one of the priority infra projects in the region.

Recently officials of National Economic and Development Authority and RDC have met with the JBIC officials discussing the last stage in the implementation of LADP phase two, according to Department of Trade and Industry Caraga Regional Director Brielgo Pagaran.

"The funding is there and that what they are finalizing right now are the implementing guidelines for the project which includes inclusion of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Mines and Geosciences Bureau in the project to address the environmental issues", Pagaran said.

Meñez said LADP II is one of the biggest flood control system in the country under the CARDBP.

The project's two major program components such as the flood control is handled by DPWH while irrigation is handled by the National Irrigation Administration.

It is intended to turn huge tracts of agricultural lands within the large Agusan and Cotabato Valley into productive agricultural areas.

(March 30, 2006 issue)

ritche

April 5th, 2006, 09:29 AM

Just dropping by...

chymera00

April 5th, 2006, 03:29 PM

boybleauXx

April 9th, 2006, 04:46 AM

yeah,I think its high time fr the goverment to stimulate the potentials thispart of the country. It is expected that once all these infrastructures are put into place, the Butuan and Northeastern Mindanao area will be this countrys economic miracle, considering the potentials for tourism, mining, gas exploration, palm oil industry and agro industrial processing.

right now, this region is Mindanao's most promising economic power baby; but as soon as things are put into their proper perspective; there will be more to expect from this corner of the country. Even the figures now are very very promising....

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Chyme:

how long does it take to travel from Iloilo to Malay and Caticlan Aklan?
hows the road conditions and are there any aircon vans for hire going to that point? we're planning to have a Panay summer sweep soon thru Iloilo as entry point hopefully this time around.. :)

boybleauXx

April 9th, 2006, 05:11 AM

http://teamtnt.us/langihan.jpg
Langihan and Obrero Districts

http://teamtnt.us/airport.jpg
Bancasi Airport Runway

http://teamtnt.us/bridge.jpg
Magsaysay Bridge and Baan area

http://teamtnt.us/capitol.jpg
Capitol area and Villa Kanangga area

http://teamtnt.us/newbridge.jpg
by pass highway construction site

http://teamtnt.us/gaisano.jpg
Capitol Aveand JC Aquino junctions

http://teamtnt.us/inland.jpg
Inland Resorts and Central Bank lot

http://teamtnt.us/stjosephandurios.jpg
Montilla Blvd. and Aquino junctions

Jefferyi

April 13th, 2006, 02:29 AM

:eek2: Butuan is looking good from above, with a balance of development and greens. I also like how the streets are laid out really nicely. Thanks for posting and labeling the pics.

boybleauXx

April 14th, 2006, 07:28 AM

thanks Jeff

actually the old poblacion was not built accoeding to a plan....in this area, the grids are irregular and the roads are narrower.

the road system radiating from this old district are borne from planning.

the city is currently into developing PUDs (Peripheral Urban Districts) to spread urbanization further to the suburbs.

c0kelitr0

April 18th, 2006, 10:51 AM

Butuan circa 1949

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g138/jafhoy3/OldButuan.jpg

Urios HS Basketball Team 1951

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g138/jafhoy3/Urios.jpg

boybleauXx

April 18th, 2006, 01:24 PM

thanks Coke for the pics.

They must somethin-out-from the kaban ni Lolo he he he

the first photo must be the old Plaza Rizal then renamed to Guingona Park then now to Rizal Park with the old St. Joseph Cathedral with its two bell towers in the background.

LordCarnal

April 18th, 2006, 03:12 PM

^^

I've noticed that the old Cathedral is made of wood?

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g138/jafhoy3/OldButuan.jpg

boybleauXx

April 18th, 2006, 07:16 PM

partly wood and concrete. it was built by the Jesuits who were along with the recollects evangelized and Christianized the entire Agusan-Surigao area

boybleauXx

April 20th, 2006, 04:22 PM

Butuan City to convert river banks into productive area
PIA News

by Dave M. Suyao

Butuan City (18 April) -- Some 500 people from different sectors responded to the call of Butuan City Mayor Democrito Plaza II for a half day clean up of Agusan River banks in order to realize the mayor’s plan in turning the dump area into dining and recreation haven.

Bringing along with them garden tools, representatives from national and local government offices, private institutions and media spread along the river banks as early as 6:00 o’clock in the morning, to clear away garbage and grasses that occupy the area. When the sun started to shower its rays an hour later, a better view of the river banks became visible.

According to Mayor Plaza, the city of Butuan under his administration has already drafted plan to convert the dump and idle area into an alive and productive place where people can enjoy and do business.

“We have already sourced out funds and drafted a plan for this area. Initially, we will construct a dike as high as around four meters and elevate the area so that when waters from upland flow down here during rainy season, the place will be safe”, Mayor Plaza said.

Mayor Plaza also said he is also planning to reconstruct the old Magsaysay Bridge upon completion of the second bridge now under construction so that it will add color and beauty to the place when it become operational. He added that the place will no longer become crowded because the second bridge will cater heavy vehicles while the old Magsaysay Bridge when it will be reconstructed will only cater light vehicles.

Mayor Plaza also mentioned the construction of New Butuan City Port in Barangay Lumbocan. Mayor Plaza said funding for the construction of the port is not a problem because it will be financed by private multi national institution under build-operate and transfer scheme.

“When all these projects will start next year or in two years, job opportunities will be great that will address the unemployment problem specially in Butuan City and the neighboring towns and provinces. But this is not a short term privilege for our people. With a new port, business in our place will become more lively which means more job and income for our people. This will have chain reaction to our plan of converting this river banks into a dining and recreation haven after our people will have good income and will have time and extra money to enjoy. All these projects are in line with the President’s program and vision to alleviate the economic condition of the Filipino people”. Mayor Plaza said. (PIA)

boybleauXx

April 20th, 2006, 04:27 PM

JBIC, DAR officials visit Butuan
PIA News

by Ronald M. Cuaresma

Butuan City (17 April) -- Mr. HIROSHI TOGO, chief representative of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) together with DAR Undersecretary Gerundio "khaliq" C. Madueño and some DAR Central office personalities visited BUTUAN for two (2) days last April 11-12, 2006.

They inspected projects funded by JBIC. They were welcomed by our dynamic DAR CARAGA Regional Director, Engr. Felix B. Aguhob together with DAR Agusan del Norte Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer, Andre B. Atega.

The first project area visited by the group was Mat-i - Ambacon - Pinana-an ARC situated at Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte. They inspected the 73% completed DAR-ARISP II MAP Communal Irrigation project costing Php 125 M and the Php 9.3 M Pinana-an Bridge.

The hard and bumpy 40 km. drive from the city to the area was compensated by the very warm welcome accorded to them by the Municipal Mayor Reinario P. Rosales and the farmer beneficiaries including their families who cheerfully met them waving Philippine and Japanese flags.

"I was thankful to be with you today and saw your present situation. I'm so glad that you have the construction Pinana-an Bridge in addition to the Communal Irrigation Project. We need to help each other for the realization of our projects. Considering the covered area of about 800 hectares in your irrigation project, it would mean so much to the production of rice in the countryside," USEC. Madueño said during the consultation meeting with the farmers.

Mr. Togo, in behalf of JBIC, also expressed their willingness to extend financial support and added an encouraging advice to the farmers that success would depend on how steadfast is the people's organization.

From Las Nieves, the group rushed to Bit-os Pump Station guided by National Irrigation Administration's Regional Irrigation Manager Democrito P. Grana with Provincial Irrigation Manager Joel A. Yape. They toured the group and made a quick look at their Regulating Ponds. These facilities are the irrigation component of the Lower Agusan Development Project (LADP).

The final stop of their first day visit was at the on-going Provincial ARC Information and Marketing Center (AIM-C) Building along J. Rosales Avenue, Butuan City. This is conveniently located in front of GAISANO MALL. PARO Atega cited that it will function as marketing extension and financial intermediation services center of AR primary cooperatives to be managed by the Federation of AR cooperatives of the province. He added that it will benefit the 18,700 ARBs in Agusan del Norte. The AIM-C building was designed by ARISP II Consultant, Mr. Yojiro Sekiguchi with an estimated project cost of Php 2.1 M.

The first day visit of group was culminated by a dinner meeting attended by officials from DAR, DPWH, NIA including the local government executives at Inland Resort, Butuan City.

On the following day, April 12, 2006, the group inspected 70% completed Magsaysay Viaduct and the 2nd Magsaysay Bridge . Also they look over the city's Flood Control facilities. These are under the Lower Agusan Development Project (LADP), Stage I, Phase II estimated to cost Php 468.7 M.

USEC. Madueño and party also attended the turn-over to the local government of BASAG ARC the completed Php 17 M Basag-Taligaman FMR Improvement with 24.8 Im. RCDG Bridge. This FMR project has a length of 2.19 km and expected to serve 310 ARBs including non-ARBs in the area.

"The presence of JBIC chief representative, Mr. Hiroshi Togo, and our beloved USEC. Madueño made the ceremony very special to us", a happy remark made by Brgy. Captain Elpidio H. Mantilla II of Basag. (DAR) [top]

boybleauXx

April 21st, 2006, 07:28 AM

Sectors sign MOA for TRACES implementation in Butuan
PIA News

by Lovely Laudette D. Gamba

Butuan City (21 April) -- Representatives from the different national line agencies, Butuan Chamber of Commerce, state colleges and universities as well as local chief executives sign a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Labor and Employment on the implementation of the Training-cum-Employment Scheme for the Business Process Outsourcing Industry of the Philippines (TRACES-BPO), here in Caraga. The signing was done during the orientation of said project, recently.

Based on study, few Filipino graduates are accepted into call centers and other e-services offered by BPO because of three factors namely, poor English communication skills, low self-confidence and absence of technical skills.

TRACES is the government's response to the recent challenges to Filipino graduates. It is a 30-day training on English proficiency, technical skills and confidence building. It is competency-based, enhances employability and TESDA certified.

The project is a convergent effort of the different national line agencies with DOLE as chair and TESDA as co-chair. Other member agencies include the DTI, NEDA, CHED, DepEd and DOST. State Colleges and Universities as well as Local Government Units and PESO Managers are also members of the project.

TRACES started in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) through the efforts of DOLE-CAR Regional Director Atty. Jalilo Dela Torre. Said project is adopted by DOLE-Caraga because of its successful implementation in the CAR Region, and is one way to realize President Arroyo's ten-point program on job generation.

Nonetheless, Atty. Dela Torre cautions that before implementation of the project, there should be environmental scanning and pre selling as well as intense promotion and advocacy.

"There is also a need to select trainees who are committed to work after their training", added Dela Torre. (PIA-13)

boybleauXx

April 21st, 2006, 11:15 AM

Guys look what's featured at Yahoo:

Its the trend now in the US daw...read on

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Americans Are Fleeing Big Cities

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer
Thu Apr 20, 12:15 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Americans are leaving the nation's big cities in search of cheaper homes and open spaces farther out.

Nearly every large metropolitan area had more people move out than move in from 2000 to 2004, with a few exceptions in the South and Southwest, according to a report being released Thursday by the Census Bureau.

Northeasterners are moving South and West. West Coast residents are moving inland. Midwesterners are chasing better job markets. And just about everywhere, people are escaping to the outer suburbs, also known as exurbs.

"It's a case of middle class flight, a flight for housing affordability," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "But it's not just white middle class flight, it's Hispanics and blacks, too."

The Census Bureau measured domestic migration — people moving within the United States — from 1990 to 2000, and from 2000 to 2004. The report provides the number of people moving into and out of each state and the 25 largest metropolitan areas.

The states that attracted the most new residents: Florida, Arizona and Nevada. The states that lost the most: New York, California and Illinois.

Among the 25 largest metropolitan areas, 18 had more people move out than move in from 2000 to 2004. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — the three biggest metropolitan areas — lost the most residents to domestic moves. The New York metropolitan area had a net loss of more than 210,000 residents a year from 2000 to 2004.

Richard Florida, a professor of public policy at George Mason University, said smaller, wealthier households are replacing larger families in many big metropolitan areas.

That drives up housing prices even as the population shrinks, chasing away even more members of the middle class.

"Because they are bidding up prices, they are forcing some people out to the exurbs and the fringe," Florida said. "Other people are forced to make moves in response to that. I don't have any sense of this abating."

The metropolitan area that attracted the most new residents was Riverside, Calif., which has been siphoning residents from Los Angeles for years. The Riverside area, which includes San Bernardino and Ontario, had a net gain of 81,000 people a year from 2000 to 2004.

Riverside has grown to become the 13th largest metropolitan area in the nation. It's a short drive to several mountain ranges, and it's within driving distance of the beach. Locally, it is known as the Inland Empire.

"When you look at housing prices in Southern California, along the beaches and coastlines, you're able to obtain a very large home for a much lower price" in Riverside, said Cindy Roth, president and CEO of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce.

Homes in Riverside aren't cheap. The median price — the point at which half cost more and half cost less — was $374,200 in 2005. But they are less expensive than Los Angeles, where the median price was $529,000.

Other areas that attracted a lot of new residents also have relatively inexpensive homes, even if they are not the cheapest in the country. Phoenix, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth round out the top five metropolitan areas.

ritche

April 21st, 2006, 02:56 PM

If Butuan has to ride on the present wave of development it has to attract high-quality schools because this is the trend of the present world order, and it will only intensify. Gone are the days when what are required to industrialize are large tracts of lands and huge capital...This is the information and post information age...

I have been to Butuan and I have seen a lot of potential in the area. Maybe you could also concentrate on tourism because aside from IT and IT-enabled services, tourism is also a big and growing economic sector nowadays.

cyrusal

April 21st, 2006, 04:03 PM

^^ Urios is also one of the country's best..

boybleauXx

April 21st, 2006, 05:48 PM

yes Urios College is the only college among universities included in the top best academes in the country.

CHED has identified it as one of Mindanao's best and one of the top producer of passers in the country.

The article below provided the list of the schools cited.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
DEMAND AND SUPPLY
By Boo Chanco The Philippine Star 05/09/2005

The stalemate in Congress over the VAT measure reflects the national mood. The latest opinion poll numbers of Pulse Asia reveal a lukewarm to cold attitude towards the proposal to add two percent to the VAT rate currently being charged. A majority (54 percent) told Pulse Asia that they have little knowledge about the VAT issue. And 62 percent said they think the additional two percent would have a big impact on their family’s expenses.

No wonder the political party in power and in control of the Senate is hard pressed to get five senators to support the compromise proposals being tabled at the conference committee. Even administration senators are careful that their vote would not be politically expensive. They must be aware that the public sentiment is one of cynicism, if not outright distrust of government and people in power, in the matter of judiciously using their money.

In fact, when Pulse Asia also asked their respondents to list down conditions that would make them support the administration’s proposed tax measures, this cynicism is revealed. On top of the list is: 1. if government reduces corruption and waste in spending, or in other words, leadership by example; 2. if its negative impact on the poor is not too large; 3. if government first removes tax exemptions for favored corporations and sectors of the economy; 4. if the BIR and Customs improve their revenue collection; 5. if it is needed in order to fix the government’s fiscal situation and avoiding further borrowing.

Note that the first item on reducing corruption and waste generated a 68 percent response. The one on the need to fix the government’s fiscal problem only generated 35 percent. To me this means people are willing to sacrifice but would rather see their leaders use their hard earned money more responsibly. And yes, please collect from Richard Gomez and all those showbiz millionaires. It is scandalous that they paid nothing on the years they had recorded incomes in the millions.

On other matters of current interest, Pulse Asia also found out that a near majority of 44 percent think that the Arroyo administration will fall without military support. But only 22 percent think we need martial law to solve the many crises of the nation.

And despite everything we see and experience, a large 60 percent disagree with the statement that our country is hopeless. Only 26 percent want to migrate, a surprisingly low number given anecdotal evidence to the contrary.

If I were Ate Glo, I would take these figures very positively and use these as a basis of an honest to goodness program to reform and get moving. Pulse Asia uncovered empirical data to show that the Filipino is a patient and forgiving people and there is always the opportunity for a leader to turn a difficult situation around and get support.

That is about as positive as I could get on the Pulse Asia numbers.

Top Colleges
There is a material circulating among various e-groups that supposedly ranks the country’s top 20 colleges and universities based on a study conducted by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Commission on Higher Education(CHED). The ranking supposedly used the average passing rate of graduates of colleges and universities in the board examinations of all courses that require it for the practice of a profession.

This study is now supposed to be done every 10 years. This particular ranking is supposedly the result of the first study from 1992 to 2001. Eleven schools come from Luzon, two from the Visayas and seven from Mindanao.

My problem with this material is that I am unable to confirm it independently. I checked the website of CHED and didn’t find it there. I tried sending an e-mail to CHED, to the address published in their website, but it bounced. Still, for whatever it may be worth, I want to share this list with a wider audience if only to provoke some discussion on where one could get quality college education in this country, given problems with education pre-need companies and family finances in general.

If the basis of this listing is authentic, it tells us that one need not spend a fortune in tuition and other fees of the so called exclusive schools in Metro Manila because there are a lot of good schools out there in the countryside. This is an important consideration for parents who live in the provinces and who are probably agonizing on whether to mortgage the family home to raise the funds needed to send a child to college in Manila.

The most expensive university in Metro Manila is not even in this list. So maybe, given the difficult financial situation today, sending the kids to study in Manila is not necessarily a good idea any more. There are good schools out in the regions. I also believe good students would do well anywhere provided they have a serious desire to get a good education. There is even one college on the list from Butuan that I have not heard of, and it did better than La Salle. The better Ateneo is in Davao, not at Loyola Heights.

Of course the top university in the list is UP Diliman, which makes me feel good. I am happy to note that contrary to what I hear in many circles, the quality of a UP education is still tops. Then again, the overall standards might have gone down too, but that’s another story.

So, here it is, but with the caveat that I decided to use it even without independent verification because of the urgency of helping parents who are making up their minds now, a few weeks before school opening time. The list sounds plausible enough.
1. University of the Philippines (Diliman Campus/Luzon);
2. University of the Philippines (Los Banos Campus/Luzon);
3. University of the Philippines (Manila Campus/Luzon);
4. Silliman University (Dumaguete City/Visayas);
5. Ateneo de Davao University (Davao/Mindanao);
6. Ateneo de Manila University (Manila/Luzon);
7. University of Sto. Tomas (Manila/Luzon);
8. Mindanao State University (Iligan Institute of Tech/Mindanao);
9. Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (Manila/Luzon);
10. Saint Louis University (Baguio City/Luzon);
11. University of San Carlos (Cebu City/Visayas);
12. Xavier University (Cagayan de Oro/Mindanao);
13. Mindanao State University (Main/Mindanao);
14. Urios College Butuan City/Mindanao);
15. Polytechnic University of the Philippines(Manila/Luzon);
16. De La Salle University (Manila/Luzon);
17. Mapua Institute of Technology (Manila/Luzon);
18. Adamson University (Manila/Luzon);
19. Central Mindanao University ( Bukidnon/Mindanao);
20. University of Southern Philippines (Davao/Mindanao).

Ed Manalac, Chairman of PNOC, sent me a SMS text message in response to my text message seeking a reaction to the Malampaya developments. Manalac, who was in Houston last week, responded that he actually supports the decision of the Privatization Council not to sell anymore the 49 percent interest of PNOC-EC in the Malampaya consortium.

But, Manalac adds, he is nevertheless frustrated by the turn of events. He points out that the Privatization Council actually approved the sale two weeks before the meeting that NEDA Secretary Romy Neri attended and resulted in the withdrawal. Yet, Manalac laments, Neri was represented in the meeting which gave the approval.

It is on the basis of the prior approval that PNOC went ahead and informed Shell and Chevron. The two oil giants in turn, decided to exercise their right to match the offer of the Korean group. If they did not get the prior approval, Manalac said they would not have gone ahead with the deal. The withdrawal subjects PNOC to potential law suits and worse, loss of face.

This is the problem with cabinet members having more things on their plate than they can handle. They end up sending juniors to meetings that require their presence. In this case, it is obvious that whoever represented Neri was not qualified to represent his boss. How can anyone miss the fact that they are seeking approval to sell an asset valued at $21 a barrel at a time when the prevailing market price was in the vicinity of $55 a barrel?

Luckily Neri caught what could have been a full blown scandal. I hope he knows what to do with whoever represented him and failed to catch that one. Change Of Heart
Speaking of change of heart, here’s Dr. Ernie E’s take on it.

A young guy was complaining to his boss about the problems he was having with his stubborn girlfriend.

"She gets me so angry sometimes I could hit her," the young man exclaimed.

"Well, I’ll tell you what I used to do with my wife" replied the boss. "Whenever she got out of hand I’d take her pants down and spank her."

Shaking his head the young guy replied, "That doesn’t work. Once I get her pants down I’m not mad anymore."

LINK http://www.rbap.org/article/articleview/2537/1/20

boybleauXx

April 21st, 2006, 06:12 PM

One big handicap of Butuan's quest to industrialize is the absence of universities in the caliber of UP and Ateneo...If Butuan has to ride on the present wave of development it has to attract high-quality schools because this is the trend of the present world order, and it will only intensify. Gone are the days when what are required to industrialize are large tracts of lands and huge capital...This is the information and post information age...Even small Dumaguete nowadays is poised to overtake bigger cities because of the proliferation of the new industries.

I am speaking about this from my studies and what I have seen so far. I have been to Butuan and I have seen a lot of potential in the area. Maybe you could also concentrate on tourism because aside from IT and IT-enabled services, tourism is also a big and growing economic sector nowadays.

You could not say you can overtake Cagayan de Oro unless you put very good schools in your locality...

Butuan has good schools that cater not only to the needs of this growing city but to other neighboring provinces.

You dont really need a lot of universities for your city to be industrialized....even Dumaguete with its numerous universities could not even pull away from competition with its another small city neighbor Tagbilaran City and Dipolog City....cities that has only one or two or not even a university present.

One big handicap for Dumaguete is that despite the claimed caliber these school posses some if not most of the graduates from these universities STILL do not eventually work in Dumaguete but go to neighboring places for employment. Its only those who are in the IT related gets the usual offers as its the trend in the locality.

There may be some students from other provinces enrolled in its universities....but most of them return to their respective places after graduation....or seek employment somewhere else.

What is the probable reason thats keeping them away from Dumaguete?

I am also wondering why despite the presence of these universities in your city for decades....Dumaguete economy and population are still considered small up to now ?

boybleauXx

April 21st, 2006, 06:20 PM

One big handicap of Butuan's quest to industrialize is the absence of universities in the caliber of UP and Ateneo...If Butuan has to ride on the present wave of development it has to attract high-quality schools because this is the trend of the present world order, and it will only intensify. Gone are the days when what are required to industrialize are large tracts of lands and huge capital...This is the information and post information age...Even small Dumaguete nowadays is poised to overtake bigger cities because of the proliferation of the new industries.

I am speaking about this from my studies and what I have seen so far. I have been to Butuan and I have seen a lot of potential in the area. Maybe you could also concentrate on tourism because aside from IT and IT-enabled services, tourism is also a big and growing economic sector nowadays.

You could not say you can overtake Cagayan de Oro unless you put very good schools in your locality...

Butuan has good schools that cater not only to the needs of this growing city but to other neighboring provinces.

You dont really need a lot of universities for your city to be industrialized....even Dumaguete with its numerous universities could not even pull away from competition with its another small city neighbor Tagbilaran City and Dipolog City....cities that has only one or two or not even a university present.

One big handicap for Dumaguete is that despite the claimed caliber these school posses some if not most of the graduates from these universities STILL do not eventually work in Dumaguete but go to neighboring places for employment. Its only those who are in the IT related gets the most offers as its the trend in the locality.

There may be some students from other provinces enrolled in its universities....but most of them return to their respective places after graduation....or seek employment somewhere else.

What is the probable reason thats keeping them away from Dumaguete?

I am also wondering why despite the presence of these universities in Dumaguete for decades....Dumaguete economy and population are still considered small?

Cagayan de Oro is not a competition nor a threat to Butuan and vice versa.
It will be realized soon that the entire Northern Mndanao strip where these cities belong will the country's next economic dynamo, with Butuan, Iligan and Cagayan as batteries.

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 04:49 AM

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

P7.9-billion project up for completion this year
By Ben Serrano
Sunstar Daily

BUTUAN CITY -- The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)-funded Lower Agusan development project of the Cotabato-Agusan River Bank Development Program is to be completed before end of this year.

Its two components, particularly the 415 low cost housing and improvement of the Banza River, have been already completed since last year.

Major Drainage Project Cluster II Director Philip Meñez said private contractors of the project are expediting the completion of the Infrastructure Development/Water Resources/Mitigation project, which stands to benefit 400,000 residents of Butuan and nearby towns of the Agusan provinces.

The project ranked number one by the Department of Public Works and Highways Standards and Systems Bureau in terms of quality and accomplishment percentage, topping all other major flood control projects nationwide.

Meñez is also behind other major projects in the country that include another JBIC funded mega project Laoag River Basin Flood Control and Sabo Dam projects.

The Lower Agusan Development Project (LADP) Stage 1, Phase II involves the construction of levee embankment (14.5 km) including related structures, Magsaysay Viaduct (628 m), improvement of Banza River (6.2 km), and 90 hectares spoil bankyard.

It also encompasses the dredging of the Agusan River, improvement of Masao River, east bank drainage, provision of 415 low-cost housing units, and other land improvement works.

LADP-CARDBP is one of the major projects of the Arroyo administration.

Project Engineer Aurelio Mendoza of the Masao River Improvement and Construction of Urban Drainage System said LADP Package IV, which he heads, is now 98 percent complete.

Mendoza said the project, which involves the improvement of the Masao River and construction of the urban drainage system, is to be finished by the end of this month.

For his part, LADP Project Manager Rogelio Ang said construction of the Magsaysay Viaduct would be finished by the end of May this year.

The 628 meters viaduct is the only one of its kind in the region.

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 09:20 AM

...Even small Dumaguete nowadays is poised to overtake bigger cities because of the proliferation of the new industries.

I am speaking about this from my studies and what I have seen so far. I have been to Butuan and I have seen a lot of potential in the area. Maybe you could also concentrate on tourism because aside from IT and IT-enabled services, tourism is also a big and growing economic sector nowadays.

...

maybe Dumaguete should focus first of making sure the lights wont go off due to unscheduled brownouts so that the students from these 'calibre' universities are assured of their night studies.

or perhaps even increase its competitive edge in attracting mass based livelihoods

cyrusal

April 22nd, 2006, 09:42 AM

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 10:52 AM

cyrusal:

if I may borrow the idea and thought from the other thread...these cities cannot be on a certain leverage for comparison because Dumaguete is a small provincial component city....and Butuan is medium size and a regional administrative and economic center in Northeastern Mindanao Region at that.....sounds familiar...he he he.

Anyways I have nothing against Dumaguete....just been there in fact a month ago. That boulevard strip starting from the public playground/public outdor gym near Shakey's up to the pier gate entrance looks nice especially at night.....enjoying the sea breeze and sitting on the benches.

However beyond this area up to Lee Super Plaza Department store...Dumaguete city seems to be in slumber with scooters and motorcycles for rent everywhere wizzing up the tempo a bit of this peaceful, soothing and gentle university town.

cyrusal

April 22nd, 2006, 11:11 AM

yea.. and those statements still boil my blood...

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 11:23 AM

hmmmm......lain ra ba basta mo-boil ang blood sa ato mga taga Mindanao.. :)

those figures are NOT constant.....let our monuments of progress both built, ongoing building and to be built speak for themselves and deliver the bacon for the north.

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 11:41 AM

just uprooted this photo of the new Butuan City Hall (with green enhancements) from the old thread....

If I may repost the cool colors
http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL598/4010615/8325506/116438297.jpg

ritche

April 22nd, 2006, 11:55 AM

edit...

ritche

April 22nd, 2006, 11:59 AM

edit...

Kaiser

April 22nd, 2006, 01:59 PM

@ritche

Why, its just a mall? Butuan has malls also like Gaisano and the Otis metro mall.

no bad offense ritche.....PEACE:colgate:

ritche

April 22nd, 2006, 02:57 PM

Well, Mart One is a mall, and it is owned by a chain of national operator of commercial establishments, and they are expanding. And I'd like to tell you, as early as now, another big mall operator is scouting for a site in Dumaguete. I won't tell you the name unless there are official announcements from them. Hint: this mall operator usually comes in beside or in front of a robinsons mall in manila and luzon.

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 03:07 PM

Its just very understandable Ritche's reaction to this news.

well thats great news indeed for Dumaguete, alas they will have a taste of one of the portions of urbanity....malling

however, just as understandable their giddiness about their first ever mall if finished, it will be quiet too tempting to use it as a measure of progress.

yes....the presence of a mall signals progress, at least....but in its entirety it does not directly reflect the level or strata of the entire economy.

economics 101 taught us that there's more to the economy than just a mall.

it would be too crude and primitive to use that as a justification of nakalamang na kayo sa iba.... so to speak

the Philippines has more malls than Malaysia....but it does not mean that Philippines is way ahead of Malaysia in terms of economic performance.

there's more to the essence than just the mall structure.

if you dont agree with this.....maybe you open the textbooks on Econ 101.... :)

indeed....thats great news for Negros...and Dumaguete whose transient student population's allowance will be the target market.

in a virgin market for a mall.....its easy to brag. make some noise and cry out alleluiaaa...

that mall somehow should awaken that sleepy town and bring vibrance to its young populace.

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 03:18 PM

A little bit of Araling Panlipunan lessons: :)

DILG has classified Butuan more than 10 years ago as a highly urbanized city based on its per annum income and population growth and size.

PCCRP of AIM have classified it as a medium sized city.

Department of Budget and Management has clasified Butuan as a First Class Highly Urbanized city.

The Senate of the Philippines in 1995 has elevated Butuan as the seat of the Administrative and Economic Capital of Northeastern Mindanao.

DILG has classified Dumaguete as a component provincial city.

ritche

April 22nd, 2006, 03:20 PM

our first mall? not exactly because mart one has been there, although it is only mid-sized. it has pizza hut and expressions as anchor stores, and it is expanding. if am not wrong lee plaza is probably bigger than your gaisano because it has six levels. your gaisano, i guess, is only four? by the way, we also have a hypermart in the outskirts, not to mention cang's which will be transferring to a new location because their site will be converted into a big mcdonalds.

soon, there will be an IT park with multinational corporations, big hotels, condominiums, and commercial establishments. now that is progress...

ritche

April 22nd, 2006, 03:23 PM

edit...

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 03:39 PM

you are bragging about your physical infrastructure, but the unseen infrastructure in dumaguete which are the fiber optics is probably more expensive than an airport...and to tell you, our government officials have plans for a large airport because dumaguete plans to specialize in e-commerce, meaning you need an airport to transport goods to any point in the world...now our international airport would be very useful...again, this is not to offend you but to show you what we have been up to for the past many years.

our first mall? not exactly because mart one has been there, although it is only mid-sized. it has pizza hut and expressions as anchor stores, and it is expanding. if am not wrong lee plaza is probably bigger than your gaisano because it has six levels. your gaisano, i guess, is only four? by the way, we also have a hypermart in the outskirts, not to mention cang's which will be transferring to a new location because their site will be converted into a big mcdonalds.

i tell you in a few years we will have the real malls. and we are having this now because we're not just contented with gaisanos. by the way, many intellectuals in dumaguete (i am not in dumaguete right now but am working inside up campus in los banos) despise the idea of a mall because it would make dumaguete noisy. in other words, what cause the delay of the putting up of this mall is because of the opposition of people here.

but they are putting this mall reasonably away from the city. and soon, there will be an IT park with multinational corporations, big hotels, condominiums, and commercial establishments. now that is progress...

spare me the sugar coated descriptions kid.....I have been to Dumaguete and I have seen them all.

thats nice to hear that you guys there have infrastructures like a planned airport.....thats great! :)

however RDC Region 7 has endorsed the funding of the acquisition of the land for Panglao Airport....seems naunahan kayo ng Tagbilaran na naman

but anyway....the IT shows promise.

kid...we are not bragging here child.....

the posts are all contained in the Butuan Thread......

its you child who is bragging....you are the one whos coming here and bragging funnily how you have advanced....its you who came here child and bashed......now, if you dont know the meaning of the word bragging kid.....I
suggest you go back to your own thread and convince your provincemates your skill in advertising :)

You are a bright kid I can see, would you think your city is economically sound now that you can quit your job in Los Banos and work your way back there in your gentle sleepy town?

the per capita income?...now now kid your stirrring the cebuano nests.....dako ang per capita income sa Dumaguete than Cebu (provided true)...because your population is very small.

the city limits is just a few kilometers to the south going to Bacong and a few kilometers to the north towards Sibulan town.

sigh :sleepy:

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 03:47 PM

kid the malls are not noisy....its your unregulated motorbike/scooter and tricycles/pedicabs thats giving noise to the quiet city

this is way too below.....your Lee Plaza Department Store is just a department store.... I enjoyed eating at the top of its food hall overlooking part of the sea.

hmmmm....the dragon figurines on the narrow entrance are interesting

kindly tell the bag keeper at the entrance not to mixed up the bags again

sigh.....kid you just offended mr. Stephen Gaisano :)

ritche

April 22nd, 2006, 03:52 PM

peace, let us put all these to rest...no offense but we are just stating facts here...but again, it just shows that we could deliver. we don't want to discourage, and we are actually willing to help. in fact, i myself is proposing an IT triangle in the Visayas composed of Cebu-Dumaguete and Bacolod to come up with a stronger force and make Visayas one of the biggest IT hubs in Asia, and to challenge Manila.

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 03:56 PM

yes peace......thats nice to hear...

you have talent....I suggest you should learn how to use your tongue and know how put to ideas into motion.

I heard Dumaguete is now having frequent brownouts lately....now what would happen to the nice cool homegrown Scooby's

maybe you should investigate and apply your research skills whats causing Dumaguete's frequent brownouts....for progress sake

ritche

April 22nd, 2006, 04:00 PM

again, lee plaza is a actually a gaisano...i have been involved in the researches done to put all these in motion. i was just suggesting that butuan should put up a good school of reasonable quality, or convert urios into a university...

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 04:06 PM

how do you define 'reasonable quality'?

are you not the CHED, the PAASCU or the PACUCOA who are the authorities in determining the true quality of an academe? are you :)

university or not.....Butuan schools are keeping up.

In the face now where our youth contend with mediocrity, where they open their mouth first before they think.....

.......Butuan schools are bracing and fighting for this sad challenge of reality

ritche

April 22nd, 2006, 04:36 PM

challenges are not negative per se...it's just showing you the reality, and make you wake up to the things that you really need to do...and to prompt us to put substance in what we say.

Anyway, Butuan is the regional capital of CARAGA Region. It deserves its share of progress, and am glad that you are going all the way to make your place progressive. Go for it and strive for excellence...

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 04:37 PM

hmmm thats sweet....thank you :)

again....the moderators have reminded us that city vs city....city vs metro or city vs town or town vs city for that matter.... is banned in any thread.

should anyone feel that itch and could not resist the urge to bash and in the end make a thread hilarious....

....why not stick to each of our threads na lang and "bash" the current issues/problems affecting each citys daily life instead of bashing other threads.

I think this is more cortical way of doing it here at SSC.

ritche

April 22nd, 2006, 04:40 PM

I was just suggesting...

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 04:48 PM

you came here...then...

....you dowgraded the educational system of Butuan......that our schools are of low quality....

then you take a pot shot of Butuan tourism...

then you aimed at the indrustrialization effort of the city...

and you accused us of bragging...

ritche

April 22nd, 2006, 04:55 PM

Again, sometimes we have to be realistic...But I appreciate your passion for progress, despite your handicaps. Much as we also have a lot of handicaps in Dumaguete but we banded together and show the world that though we are small, we could take on bigger entities using our strengths, and not focus on weaknesses.

We can learn a lot from you in much the same way as you could learn a lot from us...

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 05:03 PM

thats the spirit ritche...now you're talking :)

its only the realization and recognition of these shortcomings that only we can devise the proper solution for the improvement of our societies.

we could not just stare with awe at our sturdy malls...and yet left our people in the slums in dire agony...or enroll our graduates to the airconditioned call centers and forget about our farmers sweating it out under this hot Philippine sun.

much is needed to be done and left undone.

much is needed to be learned.

In this age of globalization, it is a must to build bridges rather than divisions.....to forge strong partnerships and cooperations rather than become mere competing rivals.

At this point I must agree with you.

cyrusal

April 22nd, 2006, 05:09 PM

^^ ang sweet nyo naman...

boybleauXx

April 22nd, 2006, 05:14 PM

cyrusal...uy...kumusta naman ang akong mga silingan dinha sa Cagayan oy!

naglingaw lingaw siguro sa ma-anindot na nite cafe nato dinha ....he he he

whats with CDO thread Cy?..peace na ba ......murag init man to ganiha?

:)

cyrusal

April 22nd, 2006, 05:37 PM

nah.. gimingaw na gyud ko sa CDO.. upat na ko kabulan wala didto..
yeah murag init gyud CDO thread ganina...lisod kung bombahon ka sa isa ka mas daku nga syudad..

c0kelitr0

April 23rd, 2006, 05:31 AM

well, Butuan will soon get its Robinsons Mall...and an SM for sure...i believe SM already has a landbank in Butuan...it's just a matter of time lang naman...

boybleauXx

April 23rd, 2006, 07:18 AM

last month a city hall official disclosed that representatives of SM Prime went to the city planning office to get some detailed maps and some city profiles..I think SM will be using these data gathered in their future expansion here.

about Robinsons Land, Summit Holdings, am not yet sure, there are rumors but no official note yet.

Butuan area and the rest of the region is attractive to this market due to its big and promising catchment population.

boybleauXx

April 23rd, 2006, 07:21 AM

nah.. gimingaw na gyud ko sa CDO.. upat na ko kabulan wala didto..
yeah murag init gyud CDO thread ganina...lisod kung bombahon ka sa isa ka mas daku nga syudad..

why man gi bomba man?......na insecure cguro sila? he he he :jk:

basta ang mangga na ma-bungahon.....kanunay gina-bato :)

ritche

April 24th, 2006, 04:55 AM

boybleauXx, are you a sillimanian?

boybleauXx

April 24th, 2006, 05:32 AM

Ritche

nope I am not. why you ask? :)

I am just too familiar with Dumaguete as this heart once beat for a beautiful Negrense :(

ritche

April 24th, 2006, 05:39 AM

ah okay...i actually have a lot of friends from butuan...many butuanons in silliman, and also friends from cabadbaran. I went there to conduct a seminar for high school teachers many years back. The Butuanons were really hospitable. I wanted to go to Siargao but didn't have the time to do so.

boybleauXx

April 24th, 2006, 05:48 AM

Silliman is one of the schools in the country whose student population are from different corners of the country and the world.

In fact our past congressman here hails from Silliman.

Siargao is very accessible now considering that theres now a direct flight from Cebu to Siargao via Sea Air.

When was the last time you have visited Butuan?

Do you have a pic of Scoobys?.....this place is very memorable to me :)

and paki include also that dimsum restaurant at Matiao bldg. infront of Lee....these are my usual dating areas (in the past) he he he

ritche

April 24th, 2006, 05:54 AM

i was actually extensively involved in the move to make dumaguete one of the country's IT hubs, and it started many years back (if i remember it right dumaguete was one of those who moved early in the late 1990s or very early 2000s). while other cities were talking about it, policies were already in place, and the good thing, we were able to influence national leaders. dumaguete is a part of the original four IT hubs put up by the government, and these included only subic, clark, cebu, and dumaguete. davao was not even there. that's why as you can see, the investments and the fiber optics network of teleceommunications companies are concentrated in the cebu-dumaguete area. the new neo-IT survey about the outsource-ready cities, many people in dumaguete would say, is shallow. we should have scored higher in IT infrastructure.

regarding pictures of scoobys, i'll post it in the dumaguete thread, if you will care to visit there?

c0kelitr0

April 24th, 2006, 05:57 AM

@boybleaux, btw, is Urios applying for a university status? i really do hope so...imo, it is better than St. Paul University Surigao even if the latter has a higher PAASCU level and has an ISO certification...

Urios has more brilliant students imo. even if SPUS is trying hard to improve its facilities and infrastructure, the school's excellence still depends on its students which SPUS lacks.

boybleauXx

April 24th, 2006, 06:07 AM

hello cOke:

Urios has a pending university status reclassification before CHED and DECS; they have applied for it I think 8 years ago.....

they lack the required physical infrastructures daw (despite the Gym complex) and the needed higher PAASCU level...I think level 4?

right now....the school will be constructing its Libertad Campus.....the entire High School and Elementary will be moved to their sprawling property in Libertad.

St. Joseph has ISO Certification...naunahan pa nila Urios here in Butuan.....and St. Joseph shall be building its High School and Gymnasium complex in Villa Kanangga.

San Nicolas-Saint Paul is a standard school and one of the better Catholic Schools in the region. Maayo man ila performance....dili man sila biya

c0kelitr0

April 24th, 2006, 06:19 AM

^^ well, that's good...i think CHED only requires a level III from PAASCU (only Ateneo de Manila and DLSU has level 4 :D)...that's good news that Urios is expanding as their present location downtown seems a bit congested already. my roommate at UP was an Urios HS valedictorian.

SPUS also has a ten-hectare campus near the Surigao Airport and the HS has already moved there. i heard that the HS is already very expensive so maybe it has become the school of the local elite...it used to be a very good high school...i think it is still a good school but the brilliant kids are now enrolled at Caraga Regional Science High School so pasosyal lang mga taga St. Paul now...much like the St Paul schools here in Manila hehehe.
--------------------------------

btw, have they started the construction of that riverside palafox project?

boybleauXx

April 24th, 2006, 06:27 AM

boybleauXx

April 24th, 2006, 06:32 AM

btw, have they started the construction of that riverside palafox project?

nag ground breaking na sila.....I think, awaiting budget pa lang....its a matter of time na they will be starting the civil works.

But personally....it would be better na they will start with the airport project rather than this Palafox project...

c0kelitr0

April 24th, 2006, 06:39 AM

yes...the bright kids seems to be in the Science Shool na....

its good na nabalhin na ang high school sa San Nic....murag huut man gud to duol sa simbahan. Asa man dapit ila campus....wala ra kaabot sa bus terminal?

yeah, before the bus terminal (km 3 from downtown). the high school building is nice and huge.
-------------------------------

yeah it would have been better if they prioritize the airport but the riverbank project is less expensive so mas madali ma apil sa budget :D

boybleauXx

April 24th, 2006, 06:46 AM

speaking of our airports....have they started already improving the Sayak Airport in Siargao?....I was looking for a link re this development.

re that Palafox Riverfront project...I guess the city is going to the extent of floating some bonds to raise at least 250 Million as initial capital outlay for the plannned PUD in Ampayon and this riverfront development....basin nakalimot na sila sa airport.

MtApoStandard

April 24th, 2006, 06:52 AM

why man gi bomba man?......na insecure cguro sila? he he he :jk:

bro, i beg to disagree this is not a welcome opinion. or statement?. my reaction to statements are mine and did not represent the general sentiment of davaoenos(naulaw na ko sa ila kay nag buotbuot ra ko nga spokesperson) but i believe i did my points very objectively. and your statement is sweeping again. theres no point to be insecure bec only cities in its own league (zambo, gensan and your city butua) could feel that. vital statistics would show anyway and i challenge you to give us data that could bring down the ones i shared in our thread in another forum. i was just reacting to your posts and posts of other forumers because it was quite sweeping and misleading. the first time i set foot in cdo was when i was fscinated by stories about the place and my expectations were high. but when i get there, i was frustrated i have to return home the next day. the small city center was different from what was projected and pockets of slum colonies are in every corners alongside every business establishments. public transport route were tortuous when i learned i could have walked most points in at least 5 minutes.

we could have give credits and or appreciation of davao's performance for putting mindanao in the map of Philippine's mtropolitan cities, and in Asian league of cities. Why insecure when most of prime movers in selling mindanao to investors outside are davaoenos too. And they did it unselfishly even to the point of economic disavantage of davao. Davao swallowed the painful pill of unfair scurity perceptions on mindanao. and the excruciating fact that we are the prime target in the island of heartless people who want to make political statement and media mileage. but thanks were blessed with leaders and people that kept davao economically resilient.

basta ang mangga na ma-bungahon.....kanunay gina-bato :)

this is no doubt an insinuating follow up statement too. but yes batohon gyud. pero dili siya batohon bro ug nibunga dili tungod sa spray pampabunga.
davao binabato man pud in the posts' undertones. pero dawaton na siya ug tinuod pero in most cases tubagon gyud na kay naa may ikatubag.

And like this one, Davao is not stagnating but continue to expand at a comfortable rate. Business continue to bustle with construction activities everywhere. Investors continues to come in and pour capital and total investments continue to breach and surpass annual targets. tourists continue to populate hotel rooms and resorts and night spots and streets. and so we're happy bec it created job opportunities here and not only davaoenos enjoyed it but the rest of mindanaoans. thats why were bracing for population growth. so i hope they are happy for us too bec we share our success to everyone.

Hope you don't take this badly. Peace!

ritche

April 24th, 2006, 06:59 AM

one of your congressmen, congressman amante, was an outstanding sillimanian awardee. and there are a lot of amantes in dumaguete now.

boybleauXx

April 24th, 2006, 07:13 AM

Mt. Apo :

I was just reacting to what our fellow CDO forumer said na gina bombahan daw sila from somebody who came from another big area. I am just feeling how he felt...gina bomba as his term of description.

Butuan is secure where it stands now ( and so is CDO, Gensan and Zambo) ....though how miniscule may become this city/ these cities have stride when in comparison to yours......insecurity is out of the issue....precisely because.....wala naman kaming trono (throne / top position) to maintain....... we are just down here sweating each day to better ourselves further....I think the feeling of....I hate to say the word again......... 'na-insecure' does not rest on the ones who are below..... but to the one who is on top.....and seeing the rest below aggressively climbing up and munching up and narrowing up the leads.

again, what is development for in any corners of this verdant island is development for all....davao's growth is indirectly ours too....isnt it our roads lead to your highways and your roads leads also to us??

boybleauXx

April 24th, 2006, 07:37 AM

one of your congressmen, congressman amante, was an outstanding sillimanian awardee. and there are a lot of amantes in dumaguete now.

I think there are a lot of Vis Min leaders who are Sillimanians

boybleauXx

April 24th, 2006, 07:50 AM

Let our CDO forumers answer this issue that you have raised....

..........the first time i set foot in CDO was when i was fscinated by stories about the place and my expectations were high. but when i get there, i was frustrated i have to return home the next day. the small city center was different from what was projected and pockets of slum colonies are in every corners alongside every business establishments. public transport route were tortuous when i learned i could have walked most points in at least 5 minutes.

Hope you don't take this badly. Peace!

...theres no point to be insecure bec only cities in its own leauge (zambo,Gensan,Butuan) could feel that.... ...

I was just reacting to what our fellow CDO forumer said na gina bombahan daw sila from somebody who came from another big area. I am just feeling how he felt...gina bomba as his term of description.

Butuan is secure where it stands now ( and so is CDO, Gensan and Zambo) ....though how miniscule may become this city/ these cities have stride when in comparison to yours......insecurity is out of the issue....precisely because.....wala naman kaming trono (throne / top position) to maintain....... we are just down here sweating each day to better ourselves further....I think the feeling of....I hate to say the word again......... 'na-insecure' does not rest on the ones who are below..... but to the one who is on top.....and seeing the rest below aggressively climbing up and munching up and narrowing down your lead.

again, what is development in any corners of this verdant island is development for all....davao's growth is indirectly ours too....isnt it our roads lead to your highways and your roads lead also to us??

boybleauXx

April 24th, 2006, 04:58 PM

Pride of Place : Why not join an environmental camp?

First posted 09:38pm (Mla time) April 23, 2006
By Augusto Villalon
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Editor's Note: Published on page C4 of the April 24, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

"WILD, GREEN SUMMER" IS A perfect vacation activity that parallels Earth Day Network, an NGO that marks the month of April with environmental activities planned to inspire young Filipinos to care for their environment.

Innovative tour organizer Island Caravan introduces Wild, Green Summer, an outstanding summer program for Filipino youth ages 16-21 that combines travel, sports and environmental activities.

The environmental camps running four to six days take urban youth out of the cities to explore nature in Agusan del Norte or Sorsogon, exposing them to the stunning beauty of the Philippine countryside. It is highlighted by the interactive participation of recognized environmental or cultural resource persons, who advocate respect and care for the natural and cultural environments.

In cooperation with the Department of Tourism, Island Caravan provides guides who supervise the student activity and introduce them to local officials, environmental NGOs and technical experts from the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) who provide the learning component of the summer camps.

Camps create awareness and appreciation of the natural environment through a range of sightseeing and sports activities which include trekking, rappelling and kayaking.

There is another agenda to the camp. Youth participate in environment work. During Wild, Green Summer camps, participants plant and reforest, seed fish in lakes, clean up beaches, or perform whatever task is necessary to bring Nature and man into harmony.

Instead of classroom modules, community immersion allows participants to interact with local officials, scientists, fishermen and farmers who provide personal insights into rural life and its environmental responsibilities which ensure the continuation of the people's nature-based livelihood.

In a camp atmosphere of fun and camaraderie, participants learn factual and hard lessons on respect of Nature, ultimately evolving into environmental warriors.

Conquest

Sorsogon Conquest begins in Legazpi, then continues to the Cagsawa ruins and other cultural sites during the five-day tour, then on to the PNOC Geothermal Plant where participants are introduced to the facility. They will be billeted there.

From there, they will do forest treks together with DENR officials and visit a bat sanctuary, springs and waterfalls.

After meeting villagers at the Maharang Village Hot Springs, they will be accompanied by Protected Area Management Board officials to seed Bulusan Lake and to replant mangroves at a reforestation project.

The camp ends in Sorsogon, from where participants take the overnight bus back to Manila.

Island Caravan's four-day Agusan Adventure Feat links participants with local DENR officials who brief them on the environmental importance of the vast Agusan Marsh.

Historians introduce the cultural magnitude of the marsh area, pointing out the ancient balanghai, proving the existence of advanced pre-Hispanic civilization in the area.

Sports activities organized in the environmentally sensitive locale include trekking, camping, climbing, rappelling, caving, and lessons on the single-rope technique.

Departure is from BUTUAN after a visit to the balanghai artifacts in the museum.

Wild, Green Summer is only one of the novel tourism offerings by Island Caravan. Espousing responsible tourism, the company's offerings present an authentic view of the Philippines.

Locals (residents, students, cultural or natural experts) from the host destinations take visitors through their home grounds with first-hand familiarity. There are presentations by expert historians, cultural and environmental workers knowledgeable about the resources in the area.

Island Caravan tours are designed as personal, meaningful encounters with Philippine life, an approach that radically differentiates this company from other tour operators.

Island Caravan also organizes walking tours in urban areas (Vigan, Manila, Iloilo) or special weekend culinary-cultural-historical tours in Southern Tagalog.

Island Caravan tours are extraordinary experiences, responsible tourism offerings of specialized tours-historic, cultural, culinary, sports, environmental, trekking, or hiking.

Upon request the agency can tailor special tours to specific requirements of large or small groups.

This summer, try discovering the Philippines for what it really is. See the authentic Philippines not as a tourism product packaged in slick, commercial tourist-trap events for the mass traveler.

Island Caravan summer departures are: Sorsogon Conquest, April 29-May 3; North Luzon Rediscovery, May 13-15; Agusan Adventure, May 25-28.

boybleauXx

April 24th, 2006, 06:32 PM

first there was gold rush...then came the prized artifacts.....now OIL ?!!

read on the article below......

Oil in Mindanao? Butuan couple hopeful
By Ben Serrano
The Philippine Star 04/25/2006

BUTUAN CITY – Is Mindanao sitting on a vast deposit of crude oil?

The couple who discovered petroleum deposits on their swampy property in Barangay Pagatpatan in this city in 1982 yesterday said all foreign engineers and geologists who visited the area and made studies confided to them that the petroleum found on their land is only part of a huge fossil fuel deposit in Mindanao that extends as far south as the Cotabato provinces.

Ireneo and Antonia Bolonggaita recounted to The STAR how Canadian petroleum engineers illustrated in 1985 the extent of fuel deposits underneath their land, adding that the Canadian engineering team said they believe the Mindanao oil deposit is the source of all the petroleum deposits in the world.

The Canadians shared with the Bolonggaitas their theory that the Mindanao fossil fuel deposit is the mother lode from which other oil producing countries’ crude oil emanates.

The Bolonggaitas also said the Canadian engineers likened the Mindanao petroleum deposit to a river that serves as the water source of its tributaries.

However, the Bolonggaitas admitted they did not understand the scientific explanations for this given by the Canadian engineers.

"They were amazed with the discovery and even chuckled when they found out (using) their instruments the extent of oil deposits underneath my land," Ireneo said.

"But when local officials and even some national officials came and talked to these Canadians, we never saw nor heard of (the Canadians) again," Ireneo added.

Ireneo said the Canadians left them calling cards but added that the Canadians’ enthusiasm over the petroleum died a natural death over the 11 years since the engineers’ visit. The Bolonggaitas also lost the team’s calling cards bearing the logo of the Canadian National Oil Co.

The Bolonggaitas said many foreigners, including some Japanese and Americans, had arrived on their land ahead of the Canadians claiming to be petroleum engineers and geologists but, like the Canadians, they never returned after speaking with government officials.

These foreign engineers and geologists flocked to the Bolonggaita residence after their house was flooded in 1982 "with black, muddy liquid."

That substance was petroleum that had percolated up through the swampy ground and with it came free-flowing methane gas "that emits from the water well we dug," Ireneo said.

The Bolonggaitas also recalled that their property was featured on the television show "Travel Time" and said their land has become a regular stop for field trips by students from different parts of Mindanao.

The Bolonggaitas said they are amazed at how many rich traders and politicians are interested in buying their land now, when, before the discovery, "no one even wanted to look at it. They weren’t interested because it is swampland" on which few crops would grow and construction is difficult.

They said they wanted to share the free-flowing methane gas with their community because it is a gift from God and nature so the nearly 500 residents of low-cost, socialized housing in Barangay Pagatpatan could benefit from it.

Methane gas is colorless and odorless and is usually found in conjunction with the discovery of crude oil. Methane gas is used as an alternative to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Floripes Baria Bonite, president of the socialized housing project Ga’am Butuan, said that at P540 per LPG tank, most local homeowners could not afford cooking gas. Bonite added that if the local government will help the community to pipe the methane gas into their homes for use as cooking gas, "it will really help a lot."

Ga’am Butuan, Couples For Christ, Gawad Kalinga and other socio-civic and religious organizations are helping the urban poor affected by the CARDBP project for relocation and housing.

"If the government is serious about this discovery, it could help save our country from the soaring prices of crude oil," Ireneo said. "Is the discovery a solution to our present worsening oil crisis? Only God knows, and we hope that before we lose our last breath we can enjoy this God’s gift to us."

LINK :http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200604250402.htm

boybleauXx

April 25th, 2006, 04:06 AM

PIA Press Release
04/24/2006

BPO shows promise in Butuan

by Lovely Laudette D. Gamba

Butuan City (24 April) -- The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) posted robust growth recording some $2B surplus in the first seven months last year. It has generated a total of 114,000 jobs and $2.02B annual revenues.

"These are not just figures. They are real and it is here to stay", says Atty. Jalilo Dela Torre, Regional Director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)

Given the contribution of the BPO industry in the Philippine economy, the DOLE launched TRACES-BPO in Caraga. The project aims to enhance the employability of graduates by increasing their English proficiency, technical ability and self-confidence.

Call centers is just one aspect of BPO. Other BPO component includes e-services such as backroom operations, animation, medical transcription and software development.

Demand for Medical Transcriptionists (MT) is estimated at $16 B dollars. US outsource only 2-3 percent of its MT needs and 6,700 healthcare providers still have to convert their files. For software development, Philippines is cited by a US research group for excellent availability of skilled Information Technology (IT) workers in the country.

Meanwhile, the call center industry in the Philippines has $116 million in investments. It aims to employ 300,000 by 2009 and its expected to generate more than $1 billion annually.

Backroom operations on the other hand, include financial services, logistics management, cargo shipment management, engineering design and architectural drawings. (PIA-13) [top]

boybleauXx

April 26th, 2006, 02:31 PM

The 400 Million Peso Butuan Viaduct System, Baan, Butuan City
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/boybleauxx/viaduct.jpg

photo taken early January 2006

boybleauXx

April 26th, 2006, 02:37 PM

Ongoing Riverbanks Redevelopment Project, Bading-New Asia West Bank
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/boybleauxx/riverbanks.jpg

soon to rise, Riverfront Boardwalk and Park, Datu Silongan to Rajah Solaiman West Banks

Matteo

April 26th, 2006, 05:49 PM

The 400 Million Peso Butuan Viaduct System, Baan, Butuan City
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/boybleauxx/viaduct.jpg

photo taken early January 2006
hey whats a viaduct?

boybleauXx

April 27th, 2006, 01:43 AM

Matt

I think its an elevated system of highway or roadways over a certain terrain using posts and pylons :)

Kaiser

April 27th, 2006, 11:31 AM

Viaduct
Pronunciation: 'vI-&-"d&kt
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin via way, road + English aqueduct
: a long elevated roadway usually consisting of a series of short spans supported on arches, piers, or columns

boybleauXx

April 27th, 2006, 01:42 PM

Once completed, the elevated-viaduct system will be one of its kind in Visayas-Mindanao area

LordCarnal

April 27th, 2006, 02:29 PM

http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL598/4010615/8325506/116438297.jpg

The new city hall looks so nice and clean. :)

boybleauXx

April 27th, 2006, 02:44 PM

hopefully they can always maintain that clean look around the city hall.

every Tuesdays ata...the city hall lobby gets too crowded due to the mayor's weekly face the people program.

boju

April 28th, 2006, 02:10 AM

Dinagat residents uncover 'firestones'
By Ben Serrano
Caraga Correspondent

SURIGAO CITY -- Folks in Dinagat Island said they discovered stones in their area that burst into flames when exposed to air or sunlight.

These same residents said the stones, which had to be soaked in water to maintain a stable temperature, are part of the so-called deuterium fuel deposits found only here in Surigao del Norte at the Philippine Deep.

Congratulations to the graduates of 2006! Post your graduation experiences and greetings here.

Wilma Catoto, a Surigao City resident with relatives in the island to Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro how the stone taken out from a glass filled with water bursts into flames when exposed in a matter of seconds to thin air outside her home.

Catoto through her son, Roel, a journalism graduate from the University of the Visayas cut out a small portion of the "miracle stone" and soaked it into a glass of water.

But the stone still flared up when exposed to air.

Catoto said Dinagat residents stockpiled the stones they discovered but are hesitant to bring it along with them whenever they visit this seaport city of Surigao due to the danger it may cause during their travels.

"The danger is that when the stones are taken out from its container where it was soaked and suddenly burst into flames that it would near gasoline or alcohol," Roel Catoto said.

Catoto claimed that some government officials already have pieces of the stone, which includes Surigao del Norte Governor Robert Lyndon Barbers.

Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers said if there is truth to the reports "then Surigaonons will be much more lucky to have another source of fuel," he said.

Earlier in Butuan City, a couple named Ireneo and Antonia Bolongaita of Barangay Pagatpatan discovered "methane gas" from his water well after diggings for water supply on Holy Thursday in 1982.

The methane gas is a colorless, odorless gas and its discovery was in relation to petroleum oil found underneath earth's crust.

The Canadian engineers in 1985 confided to the couple that the crude oil discovery is only part of the huge fossil fuel deposit found in Mindanao as it also admitted the presence of "Deuterium Gas" at the Philippine Deep found in Surigao.

c0kelitr0

April 28th, 2006, 03:54 AM

^^ wrong thread...we have a surigao thread :D

boybleauXx

April 28th, 2006, 06:03 AM

deuterium is of abundance in the deeper trenches along the Pacific coastline...unfortunately our country has no existing technology to mine this fuel

other minerals of abundance within the region: Gold, Nickel, Chromite, and natural gas

boju

April 28th, 2006, 06:41 AM

^^ wrong thread...we have a surigao thread :D
Since Surigao is part of CARAGA region wherein Butuan is the regional center, pwede na rin.

boybleauXx

April 28th, 2006, 06:54 AM

hello boju;

Surigao is our pristine, idyllic beauty. :)

I presume you're from the next door, CDO?

How's things going in the thread....? seems it became a venue na for the other city to highlight their feathers.....which I think should be the other way around.

Are you FrancisXavier of CDO thread before?

Madiyaw na Pagkani Butuan Thread :)

c0kelitr0

April 28th, 2006, 06:58 AM

Since Surigao is part of CARAGA region wherein Butuan is the regional center, pwede na rin.

hehehe yeah...but to keep this forum orderly...you have to post announcements in their right thread ;) here's Surigao's thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=236129

boju

April 28th, 2006, 09:16 AM

boju

April 28th, 2006, 09:27 AM

Im not Francis Xavaier, i dunno where he is now.

boybleauXx

April 28th, 2006, 11:30 AM

I'm new here in SSC, I represented CDO.

I think our CDO thread was raid by neighbor imperialist and they are occupying now our forum. heheeee...

what could have provoked this 'raid' ?

I hope everything is going to settle down and bring to its ideal purpose what Cagayan thread is meant for....

c0kelitr0

April 28th, 2006, 11:35 AM

boybleauXx

April 28th, 2006, 11:45 AM

hello Coke

why can't they seem to understand their role?

Davao....being Mindanao's 'flagship' city....has a responsibilty and so are the rest of the cities who have economic and administrative responsibilities.

I think each of us has its own garbage pile in the backyard to clean....why not start there first instead of looking into others backyards?

:sleepy: sigh

boybleauXx

April 28th, 2006, 12:50 PM

the following text was delivered by the city mayor of Butuan during the annual State of the City Address last year.......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Intensifying linkages for the future

In the starting year of my 4th term as Mayor of the City of Butuan, I bring the same love for this job and commitment to the people of Butuan, that I had when I was first sworn-in in 1992,

This time, the commitment extends beyond the present to preparing our future. Because we have laid firm the foundation, we are not forever chasing today's crises, but are able to focus on building for tomorrow.

We could not attain economic growth without strengthening our base, our smallest government unit, which is the barangay. So we focused on building barangay halls, health centers, basketball courts, day care centers and barangay stage, all of which we required every barangay to have, so that our people can truly experience and participate being part of government.

With 95 % of our barangays now having these facilities, we are starting to build multi-purpose covered courts to be made available in all barangays.

With the work with our base almost complete, we now turn to concreting and building more roads and infrastructural facilities in the city.

We are making our rural barangays more accessible through extensive construction of farm to market roads.

We are improving public service with our new City Hall and Butuan Medical Center. We are taking dramatic and pioneering steps to eliminate informal settling with 68 homeowners associations and subdivisions, housing more than 9 thousand families. We were able to clear the riverbanks under the bridge of shanties and relocate 200 families in decent houses in Pagatpatan in partnership with Gawad Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity.

This year, we will transfer 300 more, while we begin to transform the Agusan riverbanks into a boardwalk, to become one of our prime areas for Butuanon people and tourist destinations.

I don't pretend to take all the credit for these accomplishments. My wife and former Mayor Leonides Theresa "Daisy" Plaza also had the opportunity to ably manage our city for three years. And so with our past officials and leaders of Butuan.

But all these are the accomplishments of all of us. Our dynamic group of City Councilors, businesses big and small, non-government organizations, citizens young and old, people's organizations, and an active city government with city departments, their heads of offices and staff.

We all had a hand in our success, and I thank God for His blessings. I also thank you, our people and our City Councilors for your support, years of hard work, and commitment to service.

Ladies and gentlemen, we know that our City is best served by having the courage to see what it can be, and the determination to make that vision, a reality.

We have prepared the basics in the past.

Today, we begin the path to the future.

Our first avenue is to fortify peace and order, by investing more in public safety, with a yearly P4.8 million assistance to our police office.

Our peace and order statistics say that we reduced our crime rate by 4 percent. We strived to increase police coverage and response by establishing 7 Community Police Assistance Centers (COMPAC) in critical areas of Ambago, Butuan Bus Terminal, Baan Km. 3, Ampayon, Bit-os, Ong Yiu and Butuan City Police Office.

In the meantime, for this year, we have budgeted for 6 patrol vehicles, one for each district and two for the Butuan City Police Central Office to increase our police mobility.

A safe environment invites economic growth; infrastructure makes it possible.

For more than a decade, we Butuanons, lobbied for a new bridge to support our City's fast-paced development.

Our persistent and non-stop effort, gained us our almost 2 billion, 11 kilometer 2nd Magsaysay Bridge that will link the Surigao-Butuan and Iligan-Cagayan-Butuan City roads.

On the pipeline is our Butuan-Agusan del Sur-Surigao via Esperanza road, and eventually to include the Butuan to Bukidnon Road.

Moreover, we are going to complete our circumferential roads to interlink far flung barangays.

Meanwhile, we took care of our urban streets of T. Claudio, Montalban, and Mahogany. Capitol Drive and Ong Yiu residents are free from flooded streets due to overflowing canals, with the construction of drainage systems.

We are going to follow the design of a highly-urbanized city by Architect Palafox for our walkways, roads and signage.
And I promise you this: we shall concrete all roads in Butuan City in the days to come.

Even as we begin to develop our uptown district, this year, we are going to focus on beautification of our downtown urban center. We started with the improvement of Montilla Boulevard Canal into Montilla Boulevard Walk. We will continue to introduce tiles and decorative pavers for our city sidewalks.

For this, I would like to thank once again our Sangguniang Panlungsod for backing me up on this project and all other projects we have undertaken for the improvement of our city and people.

At this point, I thank our people of Butuan for the support you have given our President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her vision for our country's development. In turn, our President has promised us another huge project - our Butuan Inland Port/Major Port.

Our President herself has instructed the National Economic Development Authority or NEDA, during her last visit, to fund the feasibility study of our soon-to be realized P7 billion peso Butuan Port, with facilities of international standards; which I hope will be started within her term.

With the 2nd bridge and the Inland Port or major port, there is no stopping our City's progress.

Finally, we are going to require 10-20 hectares of lot on the east and west boundaries of Agusan del Sur and Buenavista, to serve as terminals so that 20 to 30 years from now, we will enjoy fast, reliable and safe Light Rail Transit System and a decongested city streets.
Whether we like it or not, this will be the transportation system that we will need in the future, and we shall be ready for it.

With these infrastructure foundations underway, we focused our energy on putting more Butuanons to work; so that they will have enough income to feed, clothe, and shelter their families.

To draw in more investors, we continued to provide tax holiday to 7 new and expanding businesses.
In addition, a proposal on the operation of Call Center is being finalized with a projected 1,500 job opportunities.

Also, we allocated P3 million to be used as financial assistance to applicants for overseas employment to help them defray the cost of processing.

In support to the private sector, we shall strengthen partnerships with the Butuan City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Butuan Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and other business groups and non-government organizations for a unified development direction.

New economy investments create a path to the future, but building on core industries is the platform for producing jobs for today. That's one reason we continue to support agriculture based industries.

Right now, we are undertaking business matching for wholesaler buyers and producers of agricultural products through the City Agricultural Integrated Council.
We are currently developing the Oil Palm industry which is expected to generate additional 1,000 jobs and millions in income.

Our cassava plantation is expected to earn farmers P50,000-P75,000/hectare, with a ready market that could earn them additional income.

Our efforts on rice production have gained for us a surplus of 789 M.T in palay production, from deficit of last year. If we make this a trend, we will be supplying rice to other parts of the country.

While we endeavor to improve our economy, we do not neglect our social responsibility.

We continued to develop new neighborhoods and improve existing ones. Last year, we relocated 690 families in six new housing associations and subdivisions.

In Pagatpatan , we have a new community taking shape through Balangayan Butuan Program. 143 families transferred to their new house and lot last year.

This year, Gawad Kalinga pledges to build 50 more homes, aside from those that are donated by the private sector. Habitat for Humanity will build 60 houses. Our president has also given P2 million for the PGMA Village and so with Senator Villar who gave PI million for additional houses.

This is the fruit of our determined effort to bring in more people to support this program.
A few years back, we could not imagine this possible.

For this term, we have opened the doors and our ears to our people through our People's Day. In the span of six months, I have talked directly to more than a thousand of our constituents. I intend to meet face to face with more of our people in the coming months.

Butuan City, with our rich history should be the magnet for arts and culture. Continuing in that direction, we shall build a 12 thousand seat coliseum that shall be the venue of cultural and other activities. The structure will rest on an approximate 6 hectare lot, with facilities and amenities that shall rival those found in big cities.

Our city's health care services take care of our people from conception to old age. As a result, maternal mortality and infant mortality rates are continuously declining.

Our Satellite Medical Clinic at Dulag, granted by the Culion Foundation of Spain caters to the needs of the flocking clients averaging 120-150 persons per clinic week. The Foundation will give us another clinic to be tentatively relocated at Barangay Bilay. We will provide these clinics with facilities like ambulance and a resident doctor for emergency cases.

Working for a clean environment, we will set up the Material Recovery Facility in all barangays and we will finish our Dumalagan Landfill for a safe and environmentally sound waste disposal system.

If we are to have a truly progressive city, we must also continue to improve our workforce. We need to start with our children and improve the knowledge base all the way up to our adult workforce.

Thus, we increased our Special Education Fund which is 20% of our Real Property Tax collection by P600,000. This we used for the construction of schools/classrooms and the 40 city paid teachers' salaries and wages.

For our preschool children, we have 107 Day Care Centers for our 86 barangays, surpassing the required number by 25%.

For our street children we have , "Kangyatan hong Kabataan," a mobile school.
For child laborers, we continue our Ga'am Bata/Child Labor Program/Balik Eskwela Program.
For our children with special needs, we have the Tuloy Aral Walang Sagabal (TAWAG) which won in the League of Cities Best Practices Awards.

Another emerging priority for education is to raise community literacy rates.
134 people belonging to our Lumad community in Pianing can now count, read and write through our literacy program.

We gave support to students who cannot pay for college education through the Barangay Scholarship Program and the City Scholarship Program, graduating a total of 94 students. At the end of the current school year, 54 more scholars are expected to graduate.

We allocated P2.5 M for tuition of students working through our Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES).

Lastly, we completed the Construction of the 15.5 M Butuan City Library with funding support from Congressman Hon. Leovigildo Banaag.

Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen, Tomorrow will start today.

The challenge is to make the present a springboard for the future, where today's initiatives will build the pillars of tomorrow's generation.

So please join me in envisioning Butuan's future, a future for the children of today.

To reiterate, a few years from now, we shall see:
Circumferential roads to interlink our barangays;
A (fullly developed) urban district with fully concrete roads and paver walkways and pavements;
A New and flourishing Uptown Area to accommodate our expanding population;
A modern Butuan City Inland Port;
A 10 to 12-thousand seater Butuan City Coliseum;
An ultra modern Railway Transit System;
A fully computerized governance system;
A future of highly skilled, competent, sought after human resource able to compete with the best of the world and.....
A Butuan without informal settlers.

In the course of fulfilling our dreams and objectives for our City, we must never forget to call upon the Almighty Father, our Ultimate Provider and the source and summit of our strength in doing our roles as servants of the public.

He will be the source and center of all our endeavors and decisions.

Friends, I ask you to join me in creating our city of the future. Let us believe that we can attain our vision. Let us believe on ourselves, because if we will not, then who will?
With all of us working together, we can fulfill this vision of tomorrow, today.

Salamat Kadiyaw!

Kaiser

April 28th, 2006, 02:39 PM

^^What a nice read!:)

amras

April 28th, 2006, 03:07 PM

wow.. these are good long term development plans for Butuan, and most of them are starting now. galing!

boybleauXx

April 28th, 2006, 03:22 PM

the mayor forgot to mention the soon to be completed 7 Billion LADP Package 1 and 2 Phases 1 and 2.....probably because this is mainly a national flagship project.

however, the mayor was not able to mention the Butuan Airport Expansion Project

boybleauXx

April 28th, 2006, 03:29 PM

these are some of the pipeline projects mentioned by the mayor:
for purposes of visualization, I uprooted it from the old thread
http://pic13.picturetrail.com/VOL473/4138906/8638500/117796674.jpg http://pic13.picturetrail.com/VOL473/4138906/8638500/117796561.jpg

boybleauXx

April 29th, 2006, 12:34 PM

http://e-butuan.com/uploads/photos/36.jpg
http://e-butuan.com/uploads/photos/37.jpg

davaoeagle

April 29th, 2006, 08:52 PM

why man gi bomba man?......na insecure cguro sila? he he he :jk:

basta ang mangga na ma-bungahon.....kanunay gina-bato :)

Hey guys, you are making an allusion here, please don't drag that infamous incident here in this thread. Look closely who is "mangga nga mabungahon" and know where to train your guns.

davaoeagle

April 29th, 2006, 08:54 PM

why man gi bomba man?......na insecure cguro sila? he he he :jk:

basta ang mangga na ma-bungahon.....kanunay gina-bato :)

Hey guys, you are making an allusion here, please don't drag that "infamous" incident here in this thread. Look closely who is "mangga nga mabungahon" and know where to train your guns.

davaoeagle

April 29th, 2006, 09:38 PM

^^sa totoo lang boybleauxx, i always thought it would somehow come to that...my friend used to work for the Mindanao Business Council and he told me there's a brewing competition between Davao and CdO. hayan, nagbabangayan na sila hehehe...

Hey bro, let me set the record straight, we are not insecure with CDOs inroads as evident in these days. Any city in Mindanao can have it's own share of windfall somehow in its own time.

There is NO RIVALRY and stuff. We just rectified false calims of Burotski and never intended to bash CDO. NO NEED! Just come to our city and see for yourself and numbers don't lie. Again, snap out of it, there's no rivalry. CDO should watch out for Iloilo and Bacolod 'coz they are all in the same league.

davaoeagle

April 29th, 2006, 10:02 PM

hello boju;

How's things going in the thread....? seems it became a venue na for the other city to highlight their feathers.....which I think should be the other way around.

Are you FrancisXavier of CDO thread before?

Madiyaw na Pagkani Butuan Thread :)

Hey boyb..., i must disagree with your statement. We did not use CDOs thread to brandish what we have in Davao. I know you are very aware of this as you have been there yourself - but that's another story. Look what you did to Riche when he pointed at your city's weak spots, how did you take it? You dressed him down like a lapdog. We dabawenyos did it with facts and figures for that's the only plausible, verifiable way of refuting unsubstantiated claims like those of Burotski's.

Why cast dagger looks towards Davao man? You guys in Iligan and CDO can very much form an alliance but do it in a graceful fashion and not to put Davao down. You said you (small cities) are sweating your way down below nibbling and inching your way up and there's nothing to raise hell about that. Everyone has to start from somewhere and Davao used to be in your spot. Davao is not resting on its laurels and its still working its butt off to achieve its target too. Davao is getting all the beatings being the premier city in Mindanao and we take it because we are part and parcel of this island. We break our backs putting a good face in this deplorable island and look what we got.

For the sake of unity and real progress of Mindanao, let's veer away from crab mentality and let's be happy with what our brothers have achieved.

c0kelitr0

April 30th, 2006, 03:15 AM

LordCarnal

April 30th, 2006, 05:48 AM

Im not Francis Xavaier, i dunno where he is now.

I think he's buried here
http://www.ineszupanov.com/images/Old%20Goa/Bom%20Jesus%20front_resize.jpg

St. Francis Xavier's Relics
http://www.ineszupanov.com/images/Old%20Goa/Francis%20Xavier%20feet.jpg

http://www.ineszupanov.com/images/Old%20Goa/Francis%20Xavier%20in%20state.jpg

davaoeagle

April 30th, 2006, 05:53 AM

@davaoeagle, ano ba :bash: i only told boybleauxx what my friend told me...:sleepy:
-------------------------------------
btw, this is a Butuan thread...not a Davao and CdO battleground...let's not fan the fire furthermore okay?
-------------------------------------

You're right coke, i bet boybleau also has to recede instigating debate in his thread by alluding to Dabawenyos let alone in a bad light. Go over his thread and see for yourself what sets him apart from Valium.

I apologize to butuanons for my impropriety being a visitor in their forum and I rest my case.

boybleauXx

April 30th, 2006, 07:27 AM

davaoeagle:

I was not instigating a debate nor I was putting Davao in a bad light.

I was just making an observation by stating those statements in response to our CDO forumers who are also regular visitors here in our thread; and in the process avoid further the conflagration in the cagayan thread.

In retrospect, I do feel bad seeing our fellow forumer Cyrusal making some pleas and even an apology in an effort to bring peace to his once informative thread; yet some fellows do not seem to bother and have the ka-ikog for this plea made personally by the thread owner. And to the point 'flooding' and drowning this plea with factual multiple anaphylactic reactions from just one instigating and controversial statement made by one cdo forumer...." not one notch higher...." thing.

Burotski's claims are solely his. Whatever the degree of veracity maybe, he stated those claims within the confines of his own thread. True or false...it still his. And therefore does not reflect the sentiment of the entire cdo thread. Any points of rectification or reaction should be one to one, adressed to him and only to Him and not to the entire city which CDO thread strives to project in this information superhighway.

I do not have anything against Davao, I myself frequent the site in its earlier threads. I do recognize too that the Mindanao Thread was even started by a Dabawenyo.

We all have our own backyards to clean. As neighbors I can see your backyard from here, just as you can see mine. We got one big island neighborhood to spruce up. Let us start it now.

I apologize too, for whatever irresponsibility that came forth from thy mouth.

You are always welcome here in this thread.

boybleauXx

April 30th, 2006, 09:48 AM

as peace offering......I am giving off this t'shirt for free, he he he :tongue4: :tongue2: :jk:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/boybleauxx/tshirt.jpg

Animo

April 30th, 2006, 09:12 PM

I need your votes! Forumer for the Month of April! Please! :bow:

Thank you very much!!! :okay:

Link: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=333341&page=1&pp=25

This would be the last day!!! :)

Tabang sa wala pa naka-boto! Iboto nako ninyo karon na mahuman!!! :cheers:

boybleauXx

May 1st, 2006, 08:24 AM

Felicidades a todos senior Animo !

jameslab8470

May 1st, 2006, 04:24 PM

http://www.eightseven.com/image00_0098.JPG
Gaisano City mall scene.....for the moment enjoying the market share...with Otis Metro Mall...

but city hall sources said SM Prime group have already requested detailed maps of the city for the planned mall location.

a little excited here.... for SMs 3rd mall in Mindanao :)

I would like to inform the people of Butuan lang... According to a source, (masaligan kaau ni na source kay she works as an admin officer in SM), that they had just finished surveying Butuan city. Unfortunately, all they can suggest now is the SM supermarket. A stand - alone grocery store just like the ones in Manila and Cebu. (Cebu is in E-mall, parang nag lease lang sa e mall). But at least, it's SM.

jameslab8470

May 1st, 2006, 04:28 PM

Ei, talaga bang hindi matutuloy angrehabilitation sa airport? i heard that our runway can accomodate B737. Di ba ang Cebu Pacific, they will replace the old ladies to the new A320 and 319. Paano yan? Based on ym research, A320 and A319 will require more length for taking off and landing than the B737. So does it mean that Cebu Pacific will drop its Manila - Butuan Route? sana naman hindi...

boybleauXx

May 2nd, 2006, 04:27 AM

I would like to inform the people of Butuan lang... According to a source, (masaligan kaau ni na source kay she works as an admin officer in SM), that they had just finished surveying Butuan city. Unfortunately, all they can suggest now is the SM supermarket. A stand - alone grocery store just like the ones in Manila and Cebu. (Cebu is in E-mall, parang nag lease lang sa e mall). But at least, it's SM.

thats good news .....

their Butuan outlet might not adopt the 'SM CITY' concept but would probably be just a smaller version "Supercenter" just like the one in the SM Sucat Supercenter, where it contained a Hypermarket, a Department Store, a Food Court, an ACE Hardware, WATSONS, Surplus Shop, and SM Appliance Center. Plus some few leasable space for specialty shops and fastfood restaurants.

I can picture this planned Butuan development like that of the SM project being done at Frontera Verde in Ortigas. A scaled down SM 'mall'.

So when will they start with the project...are there any possible sites where they will build this stand- alone SM?

boybleauXx

May 2nd, 2006, 05:37 AM

the Bancasi Airport accomodates the B 737-400 class that is now being used by PAL in their Manila-Butuan-Manila haul.

it used to be the 737-300 and the smaller 737-200 as used by Air Philippines during their past operation in Bancasi.

I think the Airbuses to be used by Cebu Pacific in their reflleeting will be a little bigger than the 737-400s.

The Bancasi Airport Expansion will proceed as it is on the pipeline in lieu of the diversion of funds coming from the Zamboanga Airport project to the Butuan Project.

jameslab8470

May 2nd, 2006, 07:14 AM

thats good news .....

their Butuan outlet might not adopt the 'SM CITY' concept but would probably be just a smaller version "Supercenter" just like the one in the SM Sucat Supercenter, where it contained a Hypermarket, a Department Store, a Food Court, an ACE Hardware, WATSONS, Surplus Shop, and SM Appliance Center. Plus some few leasable space for specialty shops and fastfood restaurants.

I can picture this planned Butuan development like that of the SM project being done at Frontera Verde in Ortigas. A scaled down SM 'mall'.

So when will they start with the project...are there any possible sites where they will build this stand- alone SM?

She said that after the completion of the 2nd bridge and viaduct, they will start the project. d pa sya sure kung saan itatayo. but there's a big possibility daw na malapit din daw sa bridge. i think para dadami din ang mga tao dun. when i went there 3 wks ago, puro mga palayan, and parang ang butuan is not a city tingnan. kung dun talaga ang plano ng SM, why not? mas maganda nga para mas ma scatter ang mga tao.

jameslab8470

May 2nd, 2006, 07:20 AM

ritche

May 2nd, 2006, 07:26 AM

boybleauXx

May 2nd, 2006, 07:28 AM

mao ba...I rode one last december na B737-400
ang B 747 man cguro ang 4 exits

basin gigamit to kay ubay-ubay ang mga pasahero

any updates on that SM ?

boybleauXx

May 2nd, 2006, 07:30 AM

congrats!!! mora ug maunahan pa mi ninyo dnha sa butuan to have an sm mall...

kamo pod...congrats mora maunahan pa mi ninyo to have a Robinsons Mall hehehe

dili pa man final......lets see until earth is moved and buldozed for the civil works

ritche

May 2nd, 2006, 07:40 AM

go, go butuan!!!

boybleauXx

May 2nd, 2006, 07:46 AM

She said that after the completion of the 2nd bridge and viaduct, they will start the project. d pa sya sure kung saan itatayo. but there's a big possibility daw na malapit din daw sa bridge. i think para dadami din ang mga tao dun. when i went there 3 wks ago, puro mga palayan, and parang ang butuan is not a city tingnan. kung dun talaga ang plano ng SM, why not? mas maganda nga para mas ma scatter ang mga tao.

you mean sa San Vicente-Mandacpan Area.......I think the area is very wide and too spacious for this scaled-down SM Butuan version.....

I mean that area is too far and too big for a mere stand alone grocery store. :)

If they will just build a Supercenter just like the one in Sucat, Paranaque or like the proposed Hypermarket project in Banilad Cebu City.....it would be better in North Montilla Blvd in Bading or in Ambago along Masao Port National Road.

boybleauXx

May 2nd, 2006, 07:48 AM

go, go butuan!!!

ritche...paki post naman sa Dumaguete thread the rendering of Robinsons Land Calindagan project

can u also post a picture of Bethel House...salamat kaayo

jameslab8470

May 2nd, 2006, 11:03 AM

you mean sa San Vicente-Mandacpan Area.......I think the area is very wide and too spacious for this scaled-down SM Butuan version.....

I mean that area is too far and too big for a mere stand alone grocery store. :)

If they will just build a Supercenter just like the one in Sucat, Paranaque or like the proposed Hypermarket project in Banilad Cebu City.....it would be better in North Montilla Blvd in Bading or in Ambago along Masao Port National Road.

In BANILAD? Where in banilad? in cebu or in mandaue? nice to here that. But i think matatagalan pa yata yan. I think they prioritize the expansion of the SM City Cebu. Yung SM Annex. And base sa plan nila, yung annex, di parehas sa North Edsa na puro building, then skywalk lang ang mag coconect sa kanila. SM Cebu "annex" project is like building another mall beside the existing one. hehe...

boybleauXx

May 2nd, 2006, 11:33 AM

I think its the Banilad, Cebu city.....I heard the provincial government was able to sell this prime property to SM Prime....for a Hypermart project....I guess....hope our Cebu based forumers can shed light to this

thats nice to note that SM City Cebu is on the expansion binge too in response to the Ayala Center expansion project...

going back to SM Butuan plan, since the viaduct will be completed this year and the 2nd bridge and the highway link to that by 2008 .....as what the SM admin personnel told you.... it can be assumed that by 2008 they will be starting this project south of the city along that modern bridge and highway...

I just hope it would be sooner :)

jameslab8470

May 3rd, 2006, 08:26 AM

Ei, got any latest updates about the conversion of UC into a university status? I seen it from the institution's website that the PAASCU has finished their report last March and it was submitted to the CHED. Sabi din sa isang source na sooner or later, CHED will come to its verdict, whether to convert Urios to a university of not. But PAASCU and CHED said that they were impressed at the changes of the school since the applied for a university status last 1996. Okay din naman ang standing ng Urios in terms of board exams and employment rate of their student's graduates. So there's a big possiblity that CHED will grant the school's application. Sabi din daw sa isang source na it will be on May 25 or 26 na ilalabas nila ang report. One of the Board of Trustees in the institution told us that if ever the school will grant the university status, it will be named Father Saturnino Urios University or FSUU. Fr. Urios is a jesuit and is the founder of the biggest catholic institution in Caraga Region.

Go Urios! Good luck!

ritche

May 3rd, 2006, 09:17 AM

jameslab8470

May 3rd, 2006, 10:09 AM

Ei guys! Any latest updates sa Butuan? Post new pix daw beh. hehe.. I miss butuan already!

jameslab8470

May 3rd, 2006, 10:26 AM

Ei, just want to make things clear lang. I just read all messages in the thread. About the Bancasi Airport, does it mean that the government is really serious on rehabilitating the airport? It was also stated that Butuan can accept international flights after the project. So ibig ba yun sabihin na magiging big airport ang existing butuan airport?

Wow! that's nice. i think they should push it through. kasi Butuan is the regional capital of Caraga region and it should have at least a good airport for the region. Nice. kung magiging international airport just like in ilo ilo (project is still on going), gaganda ang economy ng butuan. ang kulang kasi ng butuan is good entry ports. ung proposed port of magellan, maganda yun. pero sana they shuld consider first the airport. Kasi mga investors prefer plane kaysa sa boat, diba?

I think magiging realistic ang dream ko. Dream ko kasi is to put up an airline company and make butuan as one of the major hubs in the country. Pwede rin gawing stop over going to and from manila, diba? hehe... Im thinking of a name nga e. pwede ba Balanghai Airlines (parang flying boat)? or Butuan Airlines? nice, diba? I made websites nga and map. pati mga airplanes ng butuan airlines, may pix. ginawa ko gamit ng photoshop hehe. target ko to be come more powerful than philippines airlines. PAL only has 34 aircrafts, i think. Pero ang BAir, 76 planes. 10 of them are A380 and 9 are B78& dreamliner. hehehe... Tapos nice tingnan na naka hilera sila sa Butuan International Airport waiting for clearance from the control tower. hehe. Ahay. libre ang mangarap. hehe

boybleauXx

May 3rd, 2006, 04:14 PM

davaoeagle

May 3rd, 2006, 07:31 PM

delete

davaoeagle

May 3rd, 2006, 07:36 PM

wrong posting!

boybleauXx

May 3rd, 2006, 07:41 PM

thats ok......

you can always fly back anytime in this thread davaoeagle :)

ritche

May 4th, 2006, 02:37 AM

wow, butuan has one of the best infra among mindanao cities, according to Manila Bulletin...

jameslab8470

May 4th, 2006, 03:00 PM

wow, butuan has one of the best infra among mindanao cities, according to Manila Bulletin...

San mo nakita? sa website ng Manila Bulletin? or sa newspaper nila? ano nakalaga dun?

jameslab8470

May 4th, 2006, 03:02 PM

james

can you share those photoshop pictures here showing the 'airline' :)

Godspeed and dream On !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once completed the airport will be of international standards.....capable of handling A 300's series type of aircraft

Ei, i cant uplaod the pics right now. mga next week siguro.. sira kasi ang monitor ko. hehe. di ko magamit ang pc kung wala ako makita. hehe. nasa cafe ako twing nag iinternet ako. :) just wait lang. hehe :) i can even post here the 'posters' of the 'airline.'.. HAHAHA! :)

boybleauXx

May 4th, 2006, 04:46 PM

San mo nakita? sa website ng Manila Bulletin? or sa newspaper nila? ano nakalaga dun?

I think what ritche's referring to is the 2005 AIM report on the competitiveness of Mindanao Mid-sized cities in terms of infrastructure

ritche

May 5th, 2006, 02:48 AM

yes the AIM competitiveness report which puts you ahead of Zamboanga in infra...

boybleauXx

May 5th, 2006, 06:15 AM

These new infrastructures are not yet fully completed and are on-going construction. Once finished, it will surely push the city further up in the competitiveness ranking.

jameslab8470

May 6th, 2006, 02:26 PM

http://www.geocities.com/jameslab8470/balanghai01poster.jpg

jameslab8470

May 6th, 2006, 02:27 PM

http://www.geocities.com/jameslab8470/balanghai02poster.gif

jameslab8470

May 6th, 2006, 02:31 PM

Sorry guys. i still have to find the edited plane pix with balanghai airlines livery.
But eto muna. ung poster and the BAir logo. Im open to comments and suggestions. :) (stil a college comEng student. sorry if pangit ang pix)

boybleauXx

May 6th, 2006, 03:16 PM

jameslab8470

May 6th, 2006, 03:28 PM

James

thats a very nice rendition you got there James. Maybe you have the potential to be a great web designer someday with airline business as your sideline :)

Ask ko favor; could you please make a banner for the proosed Butuan Thread 3.

This second thread's bannner was made by Joshua.

The Banner should contain the city's name and subcaption. You can make use of the pictures found in the first and second threads if you wish.

kindly send it to me through private message. Just click my name and send message.

Are you not going home for the Balanghai Festival this May 19?

Thank you! i'll try my best. :) May 19? Sana. But I have my summer class kasi dito sa cebu.. i have to earn advance units para underlaod na ako sa 5th yr. Im expecting to graduate on March 2007. Wish me luck.!

And about sa Balanghai Festival, i;ll try to ask my batchmates in Butuan to get some pictures about the festivities para sa banner. Thanks again for the chance! :)

boybleauXx

May 6th, 2006, 03:34 PM

as an update for you, the city seems on an ubeat mood for this celebration as hotels and inns are getting brisk bookings. Our dear Balikbayans from the US and Europe are just as eager to go back home.

you might as well invite some of our kababayans there in Cebu to join us here in the forum para mas bibo :)

jameslab8470

May 6th, 2006, 03:42 PM

oo nga eh. pero mga butuanons that i know here in cebu are all busy. i doubt that they will find time to at least check their emails. They're having reviews para sa board exam. ang iba, may mga trabaho na. but i do have some friends from davao and cagayan na taga butuan din. iniinvite ko sila sali sa forum. Honestly, ito lang ang forum ang pinakaactive sa lahat ng mga Butuan forums. more recent updates kasi unlike other forums. :) hehehe.

boybleauXx

May 6th, 2006, 03:55 PM

I just hope we will be keeping up and about always to update you.

This thread seeks to promote our city in the web and also foster ties and linkages with other neighboring city forums.

I suggest that if they want to join, they better read the forum rules first.

Kaiser

May 7th, 2006, 10:39 AM

http://www.geocities.com/jameslab8470/balanghai01poster.jpg

^^wow! so this is a butuan based airline? what aircrafts does it use?

its nice to be back at SSC:colgate:

boybleauXx

May 7th, 2006, 11:09 AM

Josh

that airline is just a rendition of James figment of imagination of his young and dynamic mind.....but it can happen :)

Jimbu

May 7th, 2006, 08:27 PM

Is this Butuan Project designed by Palafox Associates under construction?

Palafox Associates (http://www.palafoxoutsourcing.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=49)

ritche

May 8th, 2006, 03:31 AM

dream big fellows...wa'y mawala kung magdamgo ta, haha...

boybleauXx

May 8th, 2006, 06:41 AM

Is this Butuan Project designed by Palafox Associates under construction?

Palafox Associates (http://www.palafoxoutsourcing.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=49)

the government have already laid their ceremonial time capsule laying last year. Right now the clearing operations are on the way along the banks as the displaced properties and families are gradually relocated to a government housing project in the north.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1243/4295337/9035609/128097270.jpg

Kaiser

May 9th, 2006, 12:32 PM

Josh

that airline is just a rendition of James figment of imagination of his young and dynamic mind.....but it can happen :)

Ops! sorry hehehe:colgate:

boybleauXx

May 11th, 2006, 02:01 AM

600 Thousand Hectares in Caraga eyed for plantations
By Ben Serrano
The Philippine Star 05/08/2006

BUTUAN CITY — The government has found some 600,000 hectares of agricultural lands in the Caraga region suitable for abaca, oil palm, banana, rubber and coconut plantations, the Department of Agriculture said during the one-day Mindanao Investment Forum on Oil Palm and Abaca held here recently.

Of the 600,000 hectares, 140,374 hectares were found suitable for oil palm and abaca production, including 97,000 hectares in Agusan del Sur, 40,000 hectares in Agusan del Norte, and 2,970 hectares in Surigao del Sur.

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras, who represented Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban who was on an official trip to Vietnam, told the 200 forum participants said that developing more areas for oil palm production would prompt the government and the private sector to put up five more mills for oil palm in Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon, Zamboanga and North Cotabato.

At present, Agusan del Sur, which accounts for 47 percent of the total Caraga land area, has two oil palm mills in the towns of Rosario and Trento, operated by Filipinas Palm Oil Plantations Inc. and AGUMIL Philippines, respectively.

Since 1981, 16,101 hectares in Agusan del Sur have been planted to oil palm, with an additional 1,000 hectares being eyed for oil palm production.

At present, oil palm fetches a price of nearly P5,000 per ton.

There are two types of oil which oil palm produces — the crude palm oil and palm kernel oil, commonly referred to as CPO and PKO, respectively. CPO is a deep red liquid mainly comprised of fatty acids, nearly 52 percent of which are glycerides.

Palm oil is a semi-solid oil rich in vitamins. The major fatty acids present in it are oleic, palmetic and linolec. Its somewhat unusual triglyceride structure gives it a high degree of versatility compared to other edible oils.

Palm oil owes its deep red color to the presence of carotene, making it a potent source of vitamin A.

Among the food uses of palm oil are for household cooking, industrial frying, margarine, shortening, ice cream, and non-dairy creamers.

Its non-food uses are in the making of soap and detergents, oleochemicals, fatty alcohol, glycerol, methyl testers, fatty amines, and cosmetics.

As of March 2005, about 29,000 hectares of agricultural lands in the country were used in oil palm production.

The agriculture department is targeting a total of 49,000 hectares of oil palm plantations by 2006.

Based on the department’s forecast, 12,000 to 18,000 hectares have to be planted to oil palm every year to achieve self-sufficiency in palm oil.

Because of its rich and fertile land resources, Mindanao has some 350,000 hectares as potential areas for oil palm production.

ritche

May 11th, 2006, 02:55 AM

palm oil is probably rising as an engine of growth...many localities are going into it, from cotabato to bohol, etc...very timely as scientists have found out other uses for coconut and its oil by-products. we would rather use palm oil as substitute for cooking, freeing coconut oil for other economic and exporting activities to diversify the edible oil sector...i read in the news that butuan is promoting the cultivation of palm oil...this is good news.

boybleauXx

May 11th, 2006, 04:58 AM

:cheers:

Kaiser

May 11th, 2006, 08:07 AM

^^boyblu: double posting:colgate:

boybleauXx

May 14th, 2006, 07:27 AM

http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/trailer/10010072/trailer_77.jpg

http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/trailer/10010072/trailer_63.jpg
X-Men III The Last Stand

guys, though off topic, I am just fascinated how Magneto demolished this wonderful skyscraper in just a few seconds :)

boybleauXx

May 16th, 2006, 07:06 AM

http://www.mb.com.ph/images/header.jpg

TOURISM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROAD TRIP
Tue May 16, 2006

From Ilocos to Davao

Travelers in search of the ultimate adventure can take a road trip that spans Luzon to Mindanao, offering the most wonderful sight-seeing experience of a lifetime. Ilocos to Davao, a vast inter-island adventure that will cover 3,000 kilometers of Philippine roads, and that’s only one way.

Many are not aware that you can go from Laoag to Davao City by car, by taking the Philippine Tourism Highway formerly Maharlika highway. The Philippine Tourism Highway is the longest single road network in the country. It starts from the north in Laoag City and winds way down south to Davao.

From this highway, it is possible to reach most of the famous tourist spots in Luzon, the Leyte-Samar Islands in Visayas, and most of eastern and southern Mindanao (with the option to reach as far as Zamboanga.

The distance of the Philippine highway stretch is actually only 2,580 kilometers. But in order to travel from the beginning to the end of the highway from Manila, you have to get to Laoag first, and that’s an additional 490 kilometers.

From Manila, you travel to Laoag. You might want to tour Vigan first before finishing this leg. The idea is to go to the most number of tourist spots along the way as permitted by your budget and time. The itinerary you will take will totally depend on you.

Your tourism highway trip starts from Laoag to Cagayan Valley. You will pass by Pagudpud, the coastal road in Patapat, some beaches in the northern Philippines, and finally, you can go caving in Penablanca. Then from Cagayan, it's back to Manila. Along the way, stop over the Salinas Salt Springs and Dalton Pass in Nueva Vizcaya, Biak-na-Bato and Bustos Dam in Bulacan.

The next leg will take you down southern Luzon to the towns of Laguna, Quezon and the Bicol region where you can visit the majestic Mayon Volcano. Legazpi City is a recommended stop before going all the way to the port in Matnog, Sorsogon. From here, a ferry will take you to the Visayas, and will land on Allen or San Isidro in Samar. Some interesting spots in the Leyte-Samar leg is the MacArthur landing memorial in Palo, the famous San Juanico Bridge that connects Samar to Leyte. Tacloban is the last place with the most amenities so you can stay here for the night.

After Tacloban City, is the trip to the port in Liloan, Southern Leyte, where the jump-off point to Mindanao is located. A two-hour ferry ride will take you to Lipata in Surigao del Norte. Be alert for playful dolphins who may be swimming alongside your ferry, this is one of the highlights of the trip.

One possible side trip destination you might want to take is Butuan City, one of the major centers in Mindanao. Just a 15-kolometer deviation from the highway (taking the road to Cagayan de Oro) will bring you there. This could be your last stopover before finishing your journey. From Butuan, you will pass by Lake Mainit before finally reaching your last stop, Davao City. At least, now is the time to relax and enjoy the interesting sites of this bustling metropolis.

And finally, by the end of your trip, your car, passengers and you are all tired from this arduous adventure. But of course, nothing can still compare from the ultimate high of having been able to accomplish this amazing feat. Although this kind of trip is still rarely done, successfully completing the journey makes you one of those who were up to the challenge and bravely embark as pioneers in this type of tourism.

The Automobile Association Philippines (AAP), formerly Philippine Motor Association (PMA), strongly advocates the promotion of Philippine touring as one of its mandates. The oldest and most respected auto club in the country, AAP has always been in the forefront of tourism for 75 years now. One of its many initiatives to encourage the growing number of eager tourists and travelers is to assist them as they embark on their journey to the country’s intricate network of islands through various modes of transport.

The AAP celebrated its 75th anniversary recently with various events such as the first-ever AAP Auto Show held at The Forum at the PICC. Other activities include upcoming conferences on road safety and alternative fuels plus the launch of AAP’s book on the history of motor sports in the Philippines.

boybleauXx

May 17th, 2006, 04:34 AM

CITY of CULTURE
Butuan Festivals

http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/boybleauxx/th_abayan1.jpg
Abayan Festival (last Sunday of July; Butuan City)

Day-long festivity of baroto race, fluvial procession, and games in honor of St. Anne, patroness of the Agusan River.

http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/boybleauxx/th_adlaw.jpg
Adlaw Hong Butuan (August 2; Butuan City)

Charter Day celebration of Butuan City. Highlighted by a thanksgiving mass, motorcade, Palagsing Festival, street parties, and the Recognition of Outstanding Butuanons & City Employees Night
http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/boybleauxx/th_cultural.jpg
Cultural Festival / Tourism Consciousness Week (last Sunday of July up to August 2; Butuan City)

Tourism-related activities include nightly cultural shows, Laro ng Lahi, Speak Butuanon Drive, photo exhibit, mountain bike and motorcross competitions, and BMX exhibitions. http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/boybleauxx/th_trademission.jpg
Butuan Trade Mission to China (March 17; Butuan City)

Annual commemoration of the first Butuan Trade Mission to China which took place on March 1001.
http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/boybleauxx/th_kahimunan.jpg
Kahimunan Festival (third Sunday of January; Libertad, Butuan City)

Butuan City’s version of the Sinulog Festival of Cebu, it is celebrated to pay homage to the city’s patron, Sto. Niño. Kahimunan is the Lumad term for “gathering.” The annual fest is a mixture of Christian and folk elements celebrated with pomp and pageantry

cyrusal

May 17th, 2006, 08:59 AM

^^ aha naman ang picture..hehe

boybleauXx

May 17th, 2006, 06:05 PM

Cy. naa naka dire sa Pilipinas?.....nilarga daw ka abroad?

cyrusal

May 19th, 2006, 03:23 AM

.. yep.. gikan lang ko Islamabad for two weeks.. para mag assist sa training.. sayang.. wala jud koi time mag browse sa ssc dadto..

boybleauXx

May 19th, 2006, 04:20 AM

.. yep.. gikan lang ko Islamabad for two weeks.. para mag assist sa training.. sayang.. wala jud koi time mag browse sa ssc dadto..

hmmm....a training in Pakistan huh? ...

I was thinking that you were enrolled in some terrorist training camp in time for that recent virtual war here in SSC he he he...... :runaway: :jk:

unsa imo gi train didto cy?

boybleauXx

May 19th, 2006, 04:41 AM

Investing on Knowledge and Intellect........the New Butuan City Library Building in Doongan

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/boybleauxx/City_Library_2.jpg

sugbuanon

May 19th, 2006, 05:04 AM

http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/trailer/10010072/trailer_63.jpg
X-Men III The Last Stand

guys, though off topic, I am just fascinated how Magneto demolished this wonderful skyscraper in just a few seconds :)

gitrain siguro si magneto sa al-qaida.. gigamitan na ug c4.. hehe

boybleauXx

May 21st, 2006, 10:30 AM

BUTUAN ONE STOP SHOP BUSINESS PROCESSING FLOW

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j97/boybleauxx/bossprocess.jpg

Kaiser

May 21st, 2006, 01:26 PM

^^boyblu: :redx: :colgate:

boybleauXx

May 21st, 2006, 04:56 PM

Butuan strengthens economy for sustainable growth
PIA News

by Robert E. Roperos

BUTUAN CITY (May 18) –- Butuan City Mayor Democrito Plaza II laid down foundations that will ensure sustainable growth in the city giving more focus on the economic aspect, an hour before he delivered the State of the City Address (SOCA).

According to Mayor Plaza, by strengthening public safety, by lifting up children and families, and by building up infrastructure, the city has been laying the foundation for the growth of the economy and the creation of jobs.

Plaza added that the city is rich in resources and has bear many natural assets, boasted by well-educated, diverse workforce while serving the transportation corridor for Northern Mindanao, and by maximizing their use, these assets serve as the concrete budget towards greater prosperity and opportunities for Butuanons.

Plaza further stressed that the goal of the city government is to create a strong local economy, where financial stability and fiscal responsibility are key components, to competitively attract new jobs, and ensuring that basic needs are met without compromising other important projects and services, and to invest appropriately on people’s welfare.

With this, Plaza said, the local government is conducting activities to achieve the goals by strengthening revenue generation, giving favorable business climate for local and foreign investors, while creating job opportunities in support to the ten-point legacy program of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. (PIA-13) [top]

cyrusal

May 21st, 2006, 07:00 PM

hmmm....a training in Pakistan huh? ...

I was thinking that you were enrolled in some terrorist training camp in time for that recent virtual war here in SSC he he he...... :runaway: :jk:

unsa imo gi train didto cy?

haha..i was hoping for that.. too bad i could not find any institution for that in Pakistan.. :jk:

btw..ang among training kai multimedia related stuff.. hehe..

boybleauXx

May 22nd, 2006, 06:56 AM

guys....this as not to cause any udue debates....we will go beyond the title of the article.The author who is based in Davao has articulated his direct observations along his travel along Iligan-CDO-Butuan-Davao loop.....I think he was able to give partly but quiet substantial physical observations among the cities he travelled.

the link is aken from :http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2006/05/22/oped/jun.ledesma.sunbursts.html

Monday, May 22, 2006
SUNSTAR Davao
By Jun Ledesma

PANGIL Bay is calm even as typhoon Caloy was battering Visayas and Luzon. If the sea is calm, so is the prevailing peace and order condition in Lanao del Norte towns.

In my previous travels in these parts, the towns of Tubod, Kolambogan, Maigo, Bacolod and Kauswagan looked like ghost towns. These days, private vehicles and passenger buses travel here day and night.

Many displaced families during the armed conflicts in the area have been resettled by the government with the aid of the United Nations Development Program (for Internally Displaced Peoples) and have resumed farming and other economic activity.

Iligan City being near to these towns is presently bustling with activity. The landscape changed with the prospects of peace accord in sight. Even the Union cement logo has been changed by Holsim although engine of the National Steel Corporation is still idle to date despite the promise and hope for its resuscitation.

I brought the kids to Maria Cristina Falls. The majestic waterfalls never fail to impress guests who are received congenially by the NPC personnel manning Agus 6 and 7. The kids were given a quick education how water runs a generator, which in turn provide electric power to nearly all of Mindanao.

Cagayan de Oro City or for that matter Northern Mindanao, beats the south in gross products. That is why maybe the malls here seem to be growing bigger and with more shoppers than Davao. Even the hotels are more expensive than Davao City's despite the fact that they pale in comparison when it comes to amenities, function rooms and accessibility to mountain and beach resorts.

Right now Cagayan de Oro is in a monstrous traffic gridlock owing to the repairs of Carmen Bridge. The work is at snails pace and nobody seemed to mind. City Hall authorities, despite the fact that their offices are just at the foot of the bridge, are not even angry the workers are using crude equipment to do the repairs. In four occasions that I crossed the one-way bridge I only counted four people working while the rest are sitting on the ledge leisurely smoking cigarettes and gossiping.

There's a new hotel, Mallberry Hotel, that's right beside Robinson's that is setting a new trend in Cagayan de Oro. It was fully booked when we got there.
Right now part of the hotel is still under construction. It's going to be the prime destination in this city.

In Butuan, they have what they dub as resort hotel right in the heart of the city. Probably meant to justify the expensive rates. But Dotties Place is excellent. Big rooms with a swimming pool just right across your room, is a big come-on. Progress on the reconstruction of the Maharlika Highway is on high gear in some, but very slow in others. But there has been a big improvement since I last travel there about two months ago.

The Bayugan-San Francisco stretch is almost completely cemented. They are now working on SF-Rosario. The Daewo Construction has finished concreting the Trento portion while they are about to pour cement to the remaining unpaved link towards Rosario. If President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo shows herself more often in Agusan, you can be sure that before Christmas Day Butuan and Surigao City will just be less than 3 hours away (from Davao)emiss though if I will not give credit to Secretary Jesus Dureza for the peace that is prevailing in Cotabato and Lanao and for the progress and faster pace of infrastructure development in Mindanao.

Back home we all agreed there's nothing like Davao City where we can live in peace and quiet knowing fully well that our city mayor, Rodrigo Durterte, is awake while the rest of us are in deep slumber.

jameslab8470

May 23rd, 2006, 10:36 AM

Any updates? Wala any news about butuan city? I'll be in Butuan by June 6. Ill take pix siguro then post it here in the forum. :) I still have not found my edited pix sa balanghai airlines. huhu.. parang na delete ng kapatid ko. Il make another one nalang. And mga pix about other destinations ng Balanghai.

boybleauXx

May 24th, 2006, 05:00 AM

Butuan City Library: Faith in the Power of the Intellect
By Vicente C. de Jesus / Mindanews / 21 May 2006
http://www.mindanews.com/2006/05/21vws-dejesus.htm

BUTUAN CITY -- The new Butuan City Library is a product of the same driving force that created the great libraries of the world, e.g., the Library of Congress in Washington DC, the Ambrosiana in Milan, the Vatican, the British Library in London. That force is the belief the human intellect can transform this world.

In the Philippines, our new library (located just a block away from City Hall in Doongan., a few blocks away from the Iglesia ni Kristo Church and is on the same street where Gaisano, the DBP, and the Provincial Capitol building are located) is probably the best looking building that is a cut above the rest. The libraries of Quezon City, Marikina, Manila, Makati all pale in comparison.

But a building does not make a library. It's possible the other Local Government libraries have better holdings. But in terms of Mazaua historiography, no library--without exception-- can compare with Butuan City's. It is the most complete, even comparing it with the Lopez Foundation Library, the National Library, Ateneo Library and U.P. Library.

It has all the extant manuscripts of the Antonio Pigafetta account of the Magellan expedition: Robertson's two editions (The Philippine Islands series, and the three-vol. special edition purely on the Pigafetta account), the Jean Denuce and Leonce Peillard's editions of Manuscript 5,650, R.A. Skelton's English edition of Nancy-Libri-Phillipps-Beinecke-Yale codex, the English translation by Lord Stanley of Alderley of MS 5,650; Mario Pozzi's edition of the Ambrosiana; Dr. Theodore J. Cachey's latest English edition of the Ambrosiana based on the English text of Robertson and the Italian of Mariarosa Masoero.

It has the Francisco Albo text of the Madrid copy of his account and the London copy (the significance of which lies in the fact that the London copy has the right latitude of Albo). It has as well the Genoese Pilot's account, both in the Portuguese (which is a copy of a lost original) and the English translation by Lord Stanley. There are several copies of the Gines de Mafra account whose critical chapters, XI and XII, were translated by Ray (Raymond John) Howgego, a British exploration historian who's a co-member in our list Discoverer Web eGroup.

There is a book (xerox copy), the only one in the Philippines which contains all the eyewitness accounts of the Magellan expedition translated into Portuguese. This was a gift to me by Dr. Karl Heinz Wionzek.

Just about everything written on Mazaua can be found in our library, works of Peter Schreurs, Miguel Bernad, John N. Schumacher, Duke Sanchez, Dr. Sonia Zaide, etc.

You can also find the NHI-Gancayco Panel report of 1998 which upheld the Limasawa claim by dismissing the Gines de Mafra account, ignoring all other accounts that tended to show Mazaua cannot be Limasawa, and came up with navigational observations that can only be termed the product of abyssal ignorance (it said Magellan could anchor anywhere he wished because his ignorance allowed him to do so. No sane navigator will ever do that).

A local library is of course valuable primarily to the residents of the place. But a library that is able to address the need of scholars and researchers worldwide can attract a global clientele. I have visited the U.S. Library of Congress (where I read a paper on Mazaua before the leading navigational/exploration historians of the world), the British Library of London, the Library in Macau and it's obvious the whole world are its readers. You can see scholars of all races from all over the world doing research there. The Butuan City Library can attract scholars from all over the globe if it is able to show to them that there needs can best be met here.

There are still many things it lacks, e.g ., original copies of Gian Battista Ramusio, Antonio de Herrera, Joao de Barros, etc. The members of Butuanon@yahoogroups.com who spread out all over the globe--London, Madrid, Lisbon, Paris, Washington DC.--could do well concentrating their book purchases on navigation history with an eye towards ultimately donating these to the City Library.

Someday the books you donate will be the main motivating force that will compel a scholar somewhere on this planet to visit Butuan. And researchers are no ordinary tourist who stay in a place two or three days. The scholar tourist could stay weeks or months at a time. They are the best kind of tourists! They don't cause trouble, and they spend more.