TRAVEL | Escaping Winter for Bantayan Island

A lot of tourists from Europe are in Bantayan Island to escape the winter.

Looking like it's summer the year round, Sta Fe in Bantayan has stretches and streches of white powdery sand. The beachfront is such a delightful sight early in the morning and late in the afternoon.The sea is tantalizing as waves smash against the pristine shore. It's a common sight to see couples frolicking in the sand.

At night, the bars are busy with Italians, Russians, French, Swedes having fun. The food is cheap and so is the drink. Chicken is plenty and cheap as it is one of the island's produce. Beer, too, is cheap at P50.00. White men prefer our Tanduay. The ladies go for cocktail drinks.

Tourists are not the only visitors from Europe and Russia. There are also the migratory birds coming from as far as Siberia. A flock of white ducks flying is a sight to behold. Native birds also abound in the island which means there are still endemic trees there as well as they thrive living off endemic fruits.

POLITICS | Political realignment in Cebu

How Cebuano congressmen voted during Chief Justice Corona's impeachment in the lower house show sinister signs of possible political realignments in Cebu. Voting to impeach Corona were Del Mar, Quisumbing, Durano and Salimbangon. Gullas, PJ Garcia and his father, Pabling voted against impeachment. Osmena and Radaza both failed to cast their votes.

The Garcias' vote most probably ended the Garcia family's tactical alliance with LP in the lower house. Gullas' vote was probably a protest vote against LP's move to oust the Gullases from Cebu's First District come 2013. Durano's vote was the most surprising coming at the heels of  LPs open courtship of Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale to run with Junjun Davide in 2013.

The coming months would be very interesting.

DOSSIER | Interview with Rep. Tomas Osmena (Updated)

(Photo from Freebase.com)

Sometime in February this year, J.D. Velez interviewed Congressman Tomas Osmena for a book project. Here are a few excerpts from that interview.

J.D. VELEZ: What would be the defining achievement of your administration? You served five terms as Mayor of the City.

CONG. TOMAS R. OSMENA: You name it. I don't know. You tell me. Mactan Bridge I've done that.

JDV: The Second Mactan Bridge?

TRO: Yeah.

JDV: Your father sir, also pushed for the development of the area around the city.

TRO: Hmmn. When Lito was governor and I was mayor of the city, we really worked well together. I took care of problems which were urban in nature. The widening of AS Fortuna, the circumferential road of Mactan, even the trees going to the airport, those were all from Cebu City, F. Cabahug, MJ Cuenco in Mandaue, those were my projects, the road from old Mactan Bridge to Marigondon...

JDV: In a lot of your projects, you had synergy with Gov. Lito Osmena at that time.

TRO : He (Lito) was able to get national attention to the investment climate in Cebu. He started when he brought in Ayala.

JDV:  Ayala created a new urban center which also spurred development in the Banilad area.... The province got a lot of properties in the Banilad area which were once part of the Franciscan friar estate.

TRO: Not only Banilad but everywhere..... When the city was formed, the province retained ownership. The one you can ask more about this is Atty. Ben Militar.

JDV: The province just chose what property it will retain?

TRO: When the US Govt. took over the Philippines, what was once friar lands was transferred to the Philippines, and then it was transferred to the province.

Read the rest of the interview here... soon...

HISTORY| Not so rosy picture of the Mestizos: a page from an unpublished book

Known as pacto de retroventa, the Parian Mestizos lent money to Indio farmers when they needed it or if they didn't, convinced them into borrowing. But since Spanish law limited the Indio's debt to twenty-five pesos, in order to give a bigger amount, the Mestizo would buy the land granting the Indio an option to repurchase later. Practically, the Mestizo became landowner and the Indio mere tenant of his own land. When the Indio had the money to repurchase the land, the Mestizo would often say, "Unya na lang na Noy. Diha lang usa na imong kwarta."

Growing up in Minglanilla, I heard the story of Noy Liloy who died in the middle of the field he was tilling one noontime under the sweltering heat of the sun, his hand holding on to his plow. He had a heart attack thinking about what the Mestizo-Sangley money lender had told him earlier that day. He told him the land he was tilling was no longer his.

Forced to borrow money for the care of a man he had injured, Noy Liloy entered into a pacto de retroventa deal. But when he had the money to pay off his debt, the money lender won't take it and kept saying, "Unya na lang na Noy. Diha lang usa na imong kwarta."

Noy Liloy's descedants stayed on some of the land claimed by the moneylender, entering into a long court battle that saw all their money spent and properties sold to pay for a legal battle they were ignorant of. As expected, the moneylender won the case in court.

Noy Liloy's son cried when his house was demolished to enforce the court's decision. Never expecting it would happen, he had to be carried away from the site. That night, he and his family slept In a makeshift, roofless house, near the ricefields which a sympathetic friend offered to them. His son sobbed himself to sleep.

Shortly after, Noy Liloy's son died. Few weeks after, his wife too, died; their children orphaned.

Moving the urban center

Cebu City reaffirmed it is Southern Philippines' premier city after the end of the Marcos regime and some five decades after the end of world war 2. 

Lito Osmeña, first Cebu Grovernor after Marcos left, made tremendous impact on the city, although, he never served as chief executive, just like his grandfather, Pres. Sergio Osmena. His conversion of non-productive provincial lots, into real estate ventures during his lone term as governor from 1988-1991, paved the way for Cebu City's radical transformation.

To fund infrastructure projects in the province, the provincial government which owned a five-hectare property in Banilad, entered into a joint venture with Ayala Land, Inc. and formed the Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corporation (CPVDC), the first of its kind in the country. With land as its equity contribution, the province owned 74.8 percent of CPVDC, the first purely corporate venture by a Local Government Unit in the country.

Osmeña stirred Cebuano pride with Ceboom. Both an economic phe nomenon and a marketing driver, Lito Osmeña gave a new face to the promdi image. He came out on national television and marketed Cebu or Cebu Equity BondUnits, the first such move by any Local Government Unit (LGU).

The partnership with Ayala land moved the urban center from the historical yet decaying port to Cebu Business Park and I.T. Park in the erstwhile unproductive golf course and airport in Banilad and Lahug. The conversion made the area the city's prime real estate and most modern urban development. In 1990, Cebu City incorporated Cebu Business Park development features in its zoning ordinance.

Before the Asian Financial Crisis hit the country, the provincial government under Pablo Garcia was able to sell the province's share to Ayala Land, Inc raising some P1 Billion. The crisis caused the development of the Cebu Business Park (where the golf course was) to come to a halt for years.

The recovery was slow but steady. Years later, Cebu City would recover from the crisis and experience another era of unprecedented growth which continues to this day.

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The Terraces in Ayala Center Cebu (above), recognized for outstanding achievement in marketing and design development from the International Council of Shopping Centers. It is Cebu City's favorite hangout. It's great for nightlife with a variety of shops, bars, cafes, delis and restaurants.