Here’s an updated rendering of CENTRIO TOWER by Ayala Land  which will rise next year right beside Centrio Mall and Hotel along Corrales Avenue.



First photo above shows the day shot while the photos below show the night shot.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is increasing the number of flights to 11 domestic destinations including flights bound for Cagayan de Oro City in anticipation of an influx of travelers during the two long weekends ahead.


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Here’s the perspective of the proposed 21-storey Avida Tower Centrio Residential Condominium project of Ayala Land to be located at the back of the under construction Centrio Mall and Hotel.

The proposed high-rise building is set for construction in September 2012. By that time, the Mall and Hotel are already completed. The proposed site is currently occupied by the field office and workers canteen located at the back of the complex.

Dahilayan Adventure Park will soon launch its most Extreme Ride – Drop Zone.

Drop Zone is said to be safer than a Bungee Jump, but equally thrilling, super scary daredevil sky dive into a crocodile lagoon. Accordingly, this is the Philippines’ first monster tandem swing from 120 ft above the ground! Watch the trial run on the link below:
Meanwhile, Dahilayan Adventure Park will be building a series of cable ropeways that will transport guests between different venues. Among them will be Swiss made chairlifts and gondolas (cable cars) which will shuttle riders above the forest canopy. This will be the first in the Philippines to be used in an eco adventure venue.

The tourist police units, except the existing Boracay Special Tourist Police Office, will be patterned after the Bohol Tourist Police Unit, which has seven-member police teams assigned to tourist destinations on the island.

Tourist assistance centers staffed by a composite team from the PNP, the DOT and the local government will also be set up in the tourist destinations.

In police stations at the 14 tourist sites, tourist assistance desks will be organized to provide assistance to tourists.

The tourist police units will be organized from the existing police units and later transformed into a separate structure as the National Operational Support Unit.

The policemen will undergo training on tourism and dealing with tourists. The training would include lectures on peace and order and tourism, tips on acting as tourist guides, customer service, cultural sensitivity and language courses.

The tourist police will wear light blue collared shirts and dark blue pants or shorts for beach destinations.

The PNP and DOT launched the program last December through the signing of a memorandum of agreement.

Whether this city’s name comes from the Malayo-Polynesian word ag (water) or from the ancient local word karayan (river), locals takes pride in having Cagayan de Oro River or as some would describe it, river of gold. And indeed, even centuries after early gold mining activities in the area by Spanish explorers, the river continues to provide livelihood to the communities where it flows.

Whitewater rafting, for instance, started here as a hobby for a group of outdoor sports enthusiasts. This pastime for adventure seekers now directly employs hundreds and provides income indirectly to probably a thousand more. Among the pioneers in this hobby-turned-business enterprise is Rupert M. Domingo of the Cagayan de Oro Whitewater Rafting Adventure that initially organized group trips to popularize this activity.

Consequently, it grew into a thriving business attracting other entrepreneurs before being aggressively promoted by the government’s Tourism department. Having the distinction of being the pioneer rafting outfitter in the city, the Cagayan de Oro Whitewater Rafting Adventure, now known as Rafting Adventure Philippines (RAP), targeted a bigger market. Its leaders, who eventually became investors, painstakingly surveyed the river and perfected the taming of the wild rapids in the river’s head waters.

RAP started with only a couple of rafts and one guide. Today, it rents out 22 rafts with 30 guides and paddlers. It holds certifications from the International Rafting Federation for safety and river handling techniques as well as from the Philippine National Red Cross on the application of first-aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Business was good for years until two years ago when rogue Moro rebel units attacked civilian communities in nearby Lanao del Norte, less than two hours away from this city. Tourists arriving in Northern Mindanao dropped significantly and with it, the number of whitewater rafting guests even as new outfitters opened businesses in the city. “I don’t worry too much because we already have a name in the rafting industry,” Mr. Domingo said. “We are not new to this situation anymore.”

The industry has been recovering since last year, although actual figures in number of guests as well as revenues were unavailable. Unaffected by the drought that caused problems on the island’s power supply and agriculture in the first six months of the year, the whitewater rafting industry did well with its peak season running from December to May. Another entrepreneur from a relatively newer whitewater rafting firm said that even as the rapids may not be as strong as the normal runs during the dry spell, the river never really slacks.

“Our well-trained guides know how to maneuver the rafts so that even if there are few rapids, they make sure they’ll hit the big and exciting drops,” said Roldan Kaamiño, owner of Kagay Whitewater Rafting. “Guests would get bored without those exciting plunges,” he said.

Kagay, like the bigger groups into this business, also actively takes part in the protection of the river even as some of its river guides used to be into illegal logging. Part of its briefing before trips is an orientation on the rivers in Lanao provinces and in Bukidnon that all connect to the Cagayan de Oro River.

“We document illegal cutting of trees if we chance on these and send reports to the DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] and the local media,” said Mr. Kaamiño.

The age-old adage that “water is life” has gone beyond its traditional meaning in this city notwithstanding previous experiences where flash floods destroyed houses built along the banks of Cagayan de Oro river.

With six rafting outfitters registered with the City Tourism Office, whitewater rafting is a source of income for many families. SEE RELATED POST

article by Louise G. Dumas of Business World

The 7,700-seat capacity Cagayan de Oro International Trade and Convention Center located at Taguanao, Indahag is slated for completion soon and due to be opened in 2012.

This after Cagayan de Oro City Second District Concgressman Rufus Rodriguez secured the release of additional P200 million for this year 2011. Photo below shows Cong. Rodriguez and some local officials posing with the scale model of the Convention Center. The P758-million convention center is due for completion in 2012. DPWH Regional Director Norma Gironella said they will prioritize the function rooms, water and electric systems of the convention with available funding of P385 million as well as the additional P200 million.

The convention center building, which will accommodate at least 7,700 people, will be an ideal place for international, national and trade exhibits, seminar and conventions. It will be operated and managed by the Philippine Tourism Authority. Based on the schedule, the facility would be usable by December this year.

Accordingly, the plan is to have a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) game as an inauguration activity. The convention center would be operated by the Department of Tourism (DOT) but Rodriguez said he would insist that barangay officials of Indahag and Macasandig should be given a hand in managing its day-to-day operations.

Meanwhile, Singson ordered DPWH here to start the expropriation proceeding for properties that would be used in the widening of the road leading to the convention center in Taguanao. Singson told Gironella that the road leading to the convention center should be at least be six lanes wide.  Rodriguez welcomed Singson’s move, saying that this plan would ease traffic in the area once the convention center becomes operational.

The P7.853-billion ($167.09- million) international airport in this municipality is 65-percent complete and will be closer to completion once the new Aquino administration takes office. The Laguindingan International Airport is set for completion by year- end 2011 and should be operational by January 2012. Ryan B. Gico of the Laguindingan Airport Development Project (LADP-PMO) Project Management Office, said that civil works and building construction were already 65-percent complete as of May 14.

“We have already reached, as of May 14, a 65-percent completion rate of the airport’s civil works,” he said in a recent interview at the LADP-PMO located above the airport site. Gico said other requirements for the full operation of the airport, such as access road, were completed in January. “Land acquisition for the main airport area is 99.24-percent accomplished, with 390.95 hectares already acquired,” he said. The main airport, he said, requires 393.94 hectares of land.

The Laguindingan Airport Development Project is a priority concern under the 2004-2010 Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan. He said occupants of the airport site have already been relocated to brand-new houses. Each family was also given relocation fees. He said 370 families have been relocated: 134 families at Phase 1 resettlement site in barangay San Isidro and 236 families at Phase 2 resettlement site in barangay Tubajon, both in Laguindingan.

Gico said the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is now acquiring the needed navigation facilities and equipment component of the project. Funds for their acquisition are provided by the Korean Export-Import (Kexim) Bank through a loan, he added. The airport sits on a 4.17-square- kilometer site in barangay Moog in this municipality. It is 46 kilometers from the existing Lumbia Airport in neighboring Cagayan de Oro City.

Once completed, it will be the fourth International airport in Mindanao, after Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City; Zamboanga International Airport in Zamboanga City; and General Santos International Airport in General Santos City. It will also have the distinction of being the first international airport in Northern Mindanao.

The airport is the flagship project of the Cagayan de Oro-Iligan Corridor Special Development Project, which covers both cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, as well as five coastal towns in Lanao del Norte and  22 towns of Misamis Oriental’s first and second congressional districts.

The airport will primarily replace the existing Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City, and also expected to replace Maria Cristina Airport in Iligan City. It was learned that on May 18, a five-person team from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) appraisal mission on LADP-Air Navigation Aid System Supply Project visited Northern Mindanao for a site survey and to conduct fact-finding activities for the subproject. The team visited the Lumbia Airport Control Tower in barangay Lumbia, Cagayan de Oro City, to appraise the airnavigation system equipment there.

The team, composed of Chang Young-hoon, mission leader and director of EDCF Department, Kexim Bank; Yi Ji-Eon, deputy director, EDCF Department, Kexim Bank; Woo Binnah, manager, EDCF Department, Kexim Bank; Chai Seung-su, technical consultant of Inha University; and a specialist of Air Navigation Aid System from MLTM (Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs) were accompanied by Felicisimo C. Pangilinan Jr. of DOTC’s Air Transport Planning Division.

In Photo: Rolando G. Tungpalan (center), deputy director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), watches as Transportation Assistant Secretary for Planning Ildefonso Patdu Jr. (left) exchanges copies of the Laguindingan airport air-navigation system and support facilities supply project agreement with Korea Eximbank mission director Chang Young Hoon (right), who also represents the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF). The agreement was signed on May 21 at the Neda. The proposed inancing plan, which is partly a loan from the EDCF, has a total cost of $15.82 million.

Written by Bong D. Fabe / Correspondent  Business Mirror

With construction of the Laguindingan Airport project in Misamis Oriental on schedule, the builders of the proposed hotel and beach resort of Club South Pacific Philippines in nearby Gitagum town are now processing all necessary licenses to start the first stage of its development. The airport at Laguindingan, a town next to Gitagum, is now approaching 50 percent of its completion, with the access roads now completed.

The development of the resort hotel will be in two stages and expected to be operational in 2011-13. Stage one of development will be 118 luxury rooms and is estimated to be completed in the year 2011. The rooms will have an area from 40-, 60-, 64-, 80-, 140- and 160-square meters. There will be high-standard restaurants, lounge, coffee shop, conference rooms, function rooms, spa, state-of-the-art fitness center and aqua sports facilities. Stage two of the project includes development of 350 luxury rooms and is estimated to be completed in 2013. The most exquisite amenities include hotel accommodations, residential condos, swimming pools, conference rooms, convention rooms, function facilities, business center and music rooms. The magnificent design and relaxing view of Marina will highlight the project.

The founder of Club South Pacific Phils. Co., Inc. who happens to be the same person who founded Terrace Downs High Country Resort in New Zealand, will handle the development in Mindanao. And the resort that will be built will become another destination for members.

As soon as the resort hotel gets operational in 2011 it is expected to boost tourism in Mindanao and also in the country as card-bearing members come to enjoy the company’s services.

A growing number of Cagayanons and other domestic tourists have already visited De Oro Sagatech Resort in Bulua, just a stone’s throw away from Land Transportation Office (LTO). Aside from the swimming pool, the resort owners are also constructing the hotel component.

The site was formerly the De Oro Tropical Fruits Corp., which produced mango puree, until it was converted into a resort a few years ago. Photos below show the progress of the hotel construction. Work stopped for some time until it was resumed just a few weeks ago.

Expect the resort to be booked in summer. Admittance fee is P40 per head. Children below 11 years old are charged P25 per head.

There was no info as to when will the hotel be operational. But surely, it will be open to the public soon…