THE PHILIPPINES 4-MINUTE REPORT WRITTEN BY: CHARED Q. BALLO AUGUST 5, 2004 VIDEO/GFX/MUSIC
AUDIO/INSERTS SRMP ON CAM: WELCOME TO MY COUNTRY – THE PHILIPPINES! WHERE THERE ARE MORE THAN SEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED ISLANDS… MORE THAN SEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED FESTIVALS… MORE THAN SEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED REASONS TO SMILE… MORE THAN SEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED REASONS TO GO… THE PHILIPPINES… [QUICK CUT TO CUT OF ‘WOW PHILIPPINES’ SIGHTS] VOICE OVER: THE APHORISM ‘BIG THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES’ CANNOT HAVE FIT THE PHILIPPINES MORE THAN ANY OTHER ADAGE. BARELY THE SIZE OF ARIZONA AT ONLY THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND SQUARE KILOMETERS FOR BOTH LAND AND COASTAL AREA, THIS SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATION PACKS WITH IT LONG, WHITE SAND BEACHES, AN IMMENSE VARIETY OF MARINE LIFE, RARE AND EXOTIC FLORA AND FAUNA… GORGEOUS WATER AND LANDSCAPES, THE MOST EXCITING DIVING AND SURFING DESTINATIONS AND DIVINE DESTINATIONS WHERE TRADITIONAL MEETS EXOTIC, MODERN MEETS MYTHICAL, EAST
MEETS WEST. BEING THE THIRD LARGEST ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, THE PHILIPPINES HAS A RICH HISTORY OF ASIAN, EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN INFLUENCES. IT HAS THREE MAIN ISLAND GROUPS WHICH CAN ALL BE EXPLORED – LUZON, VISAYAS AND MINDANAO. LUZON IS THE LAND OF CULTUREISM. IT CONTINUES TO HOLD THE FORT FOR SPANISH SETTLERS WHO CAME WITH A LIFESTYLE THAT IS STILL VIVIDLY DRAWN TODAY BY HERITAGE VILLAGES AND BAROQUE CHURCHES… LIKE THE ‘OLD WALLED CITY OF INTRAMUROS’ AND THE VIGAN CITY HERITAGE VILLAGE. THE HISTORIC AND BREATHTAKING ‘WALLED CITY’ OR INTRAMUROS IS FOUND RIGHT AT THE HEART OF THE CAPITAL THAT IS MANILA. CONSTRUCTED AT THE HEIGHT OF SPANISH COLONIALISM IN 1571, IT BOASTS OF WELL-BUILT EUROPEAN BUILDINGS AND ORNATE CHURCHES AND IS NOW ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST PRESERVED MEDIEVAL CITIES. ONE OF THESE CHURCHES IS THE SAN AGUSTIN CHURCH – THE OLDEST STONE CHURCH IN METRO MANILA – AND ONE OF THE FOUR PHILIPPINE BAROQUE CHURCHES
INSCRIBED IN UNESCO’S WORLD HERITAGE LIST. IN INTRAMUROS, DUNGEONS AND CHURCHES SHARE SPACE WITH ART GALLERIES, ANTIQUE SHOPS AND THE CELL OF FILIPINO MARTYR DR. JOSE RIZAL. HERE, MODERN CARS RUN ALONG HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES ON WELL-PRESERVED COBBLED STONES. THE HISTORIC TOWN OF VIGAN WAS INSCRIBED IN UNESCO’S WORLD HERITAGE LIST IN NOVEMBER 1999. THIS CITY, HAVING BEEN ESTABLISHED IN THE 16TH CENTURY, IS ONE OF THE BEST PRESERVED EXAMPLES OF A PLANNED SPANISH COLONIAL TOWN IN ASIA. ITS ARCHITECTURE REFLECTS THE COMING TOGETHER OF CULTURAL ELEMENTS FROM ASIA, AMERICA AND EUROPE. LUZON ALSO PRIDES ITSELF IN HOUSING BAGUIO CITY AND TAGATAY, THE COUNTRY’S SUMMER CAPITALS; PALAWAN, THE ‘LAST FRONTIER’; AND THE TWO MOST POPULAR VOLCANOES IN THE COUNTRY – MT. MAYON, OF ITS PERFECT CONE AND TAAL, THE SMALLEST ACTIVE VOLCANO IN THE WHOLE WORLD. TRAVELLING SOUTH, YOU WILL NOTICE VISAYAS’ ENIGMATIC CHARM DRAWN BY ITS NATURAL WONDERS.
CEBU IS ITS QUEEN CITY. A COMBINATION OF BUSTLING METROPOLIS, THRIVING URBAN CENTER, WHITE SANDY BEACHES AND CRYSTAL BLUE WATERS, ONE CANNOT AVOID THE ALLURE OF THIS ISLAND. BOHOL IS ITS DIADEM. FROM THE CHOCOLATE HILLS AND THE TINY TARSIER – THE SMALLEST PRIMATE IN THE WORLD – TO 16TH CENTURY WATCHTOWERS AND JESUIT BAROQUE MISSION CHURCHES, BOHOL DOES NOT FAIL TO LEAVE YOU WANTING FOR MORE. BORACAY IS ITS PLAYGROUND. MADE FAMOUS IN THE 1980’S, THIS PALM-STUDDED ISLAND – WITH ITS WHITE, TALCUM-FINE BEACH, BALMY WEATHER, WARM, CRYSTALLINE WATERS AND MAGNETIC SUNSET – IS LIKE A PENDULUM IN MOTION, HYPNOTIZING ANY VISITOR WHO WOULD DARE TAKE A LOOK. IN THIS TINY, BUTTERFLY-SHAPED ISLAND ALSO TAGGED AS HAVING THE ‘FINEST BEACH IN THE WORLD’, DAYS CAN BE SPENT SIMPLY LAZING ON THE BEACH WHILE NIGHTS ARE FOR INDULGING IN THE TROPICAL PARTY LIFESTYLE. ALSO BLESSED WITH MORE THAN THE FAIR SHARE OF NATURE’S BOUNTY, SPORTS TOURISM IS REDEFINED IN MINDANAO.
IN MISAMIS ORIENTAL, ONE IS TREATED TO THE EXHILIRATING WHITE WATER RAFTING, HEARTTHUMPING WALL CLIMB AND THE CANOPY WALK. IN ILIGAN CITY, MAJESTIC WATERFALLS THAT ARE A GREAT SOURCE OF POWER COME ALIVE. IN MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL HOWEVER, THE CITY OF TANGUB OFFERS A DIFFERENT INDULGENCE. THIS CITY COMES ALIVE AT CHRISTMAS AS THE ‘CHRISTMAS SYMBOLS CAPITAL OF MINDANAO’. THE PHILIPPINES IS ACCESSIBLE FROM THE TRAVEL CAPITALS OF THE WORLD WITH THE COUNTRY’S FLAG CARRIER THAT IS THE PHILIPPINE AIRLINES WHICH DIRECTLY LINKS MANILA TO FOURTEEN CITIES AND EIGHT COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE. THE NINOY AQUINO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ALSO CALLED ‘NAIA’, IN MANILA IS THE PREMIER LAND SITE OF MORE THAN THIRTY AIRLINES WHICH FLY TO DIFFERENT CITIES AROUND THE WORLD. WITH SIXTEEN REGIONS IN ALL OF SEVENTY-NINE PROVINCES AND MORE THAN SEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED ISLANDS, THE PHILIPPINES OFFERS A LOT OF ROOM FOR EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY. WHOEVER SAID IT IS THE ‘PEARL OF THE PACIFIC’ COULD NOT HAVE BEEN WRONG.
SRMP ON CAM: WITH SEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED SEVEN ISLANDS OF MESMERIZING BEAUTY AND ENCHANTING MAGNIFICENCE, YOU WILL SURELY FIND ONE THAT YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH IN THE PHILIPPINES. SO COME FOR A VISIT AND WE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU. BIYAHE NA! #