Philippines cleans up after Typhoon Nesat

 

Teams are gradually clearing the streets of debris left by the typhoon

A huge clean-up operation is under way in the Philippines after Typhoon Nesat battered the capital Manila and the main island, Luzon.

The death toll rose to 18 with 35 still missing after heavy rain and powerful winds triggered storm surges.
Most deaths occurred in and around Manila, officials said.
Nesat is now in the South China Sea with 120km/h (75mph) winds and due to reach China's Hainan Island on Thursday evening or early Friday.
Power supplies were gradually being restored to central Manila on Wednesday, officials said, and services on the Metro resumed.
However, more than a million people in Luzon remained without power.
Emergency teams were clearing away fallen trees, debris and broken-down cars while schools and offices reopened.
Civil defence chief Benito Ramos said crews were also repairing and clearing 61 road networks across Luzon damaged by landslides, debris and flooding.
Some areas are still under water including Manila Ocean Park and Taft Avenue. The US Embassy, which was flooded on Tuesday, remained closed.
City Mayor Alfredo Lim said huge waves had breached the sea wall allowing water from Manila Bay to engulf wide areas.
"This is the first time that this kind of flooding happened here," he said.
Flooding in Luzon was made worse when the government released water from four dams that had reached critical levels in Bulacan province.
Meanwhile, another tropical storm brewing in the Pacific Ocean could hit the Philippines within the week, the state weather bureau warned.
"We need to finish emergency work in the aftermath of Nesat before this storm comes," Mr Ramos said.
"We are praying for the skies to clear a little bit today."
Nesat, which had a diameter of 650km (400 miles) and carried gusts of up to 170km/h (105 mph), made landfall just before dawn on Tuesday on the Pacific coast.
The Philippines suffers frequent typhoons but Nesat is thought to be the largest this year.
It comes almost exactly two years after Typhoon Ketsana killed more than 400 people.

Powerful Typhoon Nesat hits Philippines

A powerful typhoon has struck the Philippines, triggering floods and cutting power in the capital Manila and throughout the main island, Luzon.

Typhoon Nesat also forced the closure of the Philippine Stock Exchange and the US embassy, and the ground floor of Manila's main hospital was flooded.
At least seven people have been killed, including several children.
As Nesat approached, the authorities ordered the evacuation of more than 100,000 in central Albay province.
The typhoon is expected to continue slowly across the country, before blowing across the South China Sea towards southern China on Thursday.

There has been really heavy rain and wind here since last night. The typhoon seems to have been moving from east to west of the island of Luzon and affecting large parts of it. And when you think that Luzon is home to more than half the Philippine population it means that a lot of people have been affected.
There are a lot of very poor people in the country, and I was filming in some of the poorer areas of Manila yesterday, in low-lying slums. There was a little rain during the day and already the homes were being flooded.
Now we're a day on and it's been raining solidly since then. There must be real fears for people living in those kinds of areas.

Crushed

Nesat made landfall just before dawn on Tuesday in the eastern Isabela and Aurora provinces on the Pacific coast.

The storm - with a diameter of 650km (400 miles) and wind gusts of up to 170km/h (105mph) - is now making its way across Luzon, Kate McGeown in the central Luzon province of Zambales reports.
Many roads have been flooded and flights cancelled, and local media are urging people against non-essential travel, our correspondent says.
An adult and three children were crushed to death as a building collapsed in a northern Manila suburb on Tuesday, AFP news agency quoted the Office of Civil Defence as saying.

 

Two men were said to have died north of the capital in a landslide and weather-induced accident.
There is waist-deep flooding in parts of the capital.
Reporters described huge waves crashing into Manila Bay's seawall, with water overflowing into Roxas Boulevard and flooding streets and parks around the US embassy, which was evacuated.
The ground floor of Manila hospital was flooded, and staff were forced to move patients to the first floor.
"We've heard of Manila Hospital being flooded, but we're struggling to reach the area even though we've co-ordinated with them already to help in an evacuation plan," Philippine National Red Cross secretary general Gwen Pang told AFP.
A five-star hotel was also evacuated, reports said.
Meanwhile, thousands of residents living inland along the Marikana river were evacuated as it threatened to overflow.
Government offices, schools and universities were closed.
In Isabela province, four coastal towns under threat from storm surges have been evacuated.
Four fishermen are missing, and more than 50 more have been rescued after their boats capsized in rough seas.
There are fears that the death toll may rise further.
Late on Monday, the first reported casualty of the typhoon was a baby who fell into a swollen river in the eastern province of Catanduanes.

 

Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated in Luzon

Earlier, about 110,000 people in several towns of the Albay province were ordered to leave their homes and seek shelter elsewhere.
"We can't manage typhoons, but we can manage their effects," provincial Governor Joey Salceda was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
The Philippines suffers frequent typhoons, about 20 a year, but Nesat is thought to be the largest this year.
It comes almost exactly two years after Typhoon Ketsana killed more than 400 people.

DENR, local execs vow to protect Boracay

MANILA, Philippines—Environment and local officials on Friday vowed to keep Boracay on the top of the country’s list of most attractive destinations amid competition from other destinations.
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje and Boracay Mayor John Yap said measures have been put in place to keep the resort-island’s beachfront clean and litter-free.
“We will never allow Boracay to fall. We will never allow Boracay to be dirty,” Paje said in a media interview.
Paje said Boracay officials and establishments should make sure that the island’s fine powdery white sand stays pristine.
Local officials should also guarantee that garbage and sewerage are disposed of properly and developments should be environmentally sustainable, Paje said.
“We are encouraging tourism. We have to put sustainable measures that will not destroy the environment,” he said.
Paje noted that Boracay still has the capacity to handle more tourists. He said the beach destination could still double the 800,000 tourists it attracts every year.
“We are still small compared to Phuket and Malaysia,” he said.
Recently, Boracay banned smoking on the beaches and instituted an anti-litter campaign. “We have to maintain the beachfront because that is the main attraction,” he said.
Yap also noted that the island will launch a massive greening project. According to the town mayor, each of the 4,000 grade school students of the island will plant seedlings. This is part of the government’s national greening program, he said.

Sex strike brings peace in Mindanao Island

Manila, Sept 19 Women in a village in the Philippines are being hailed as the heroines after they successfully brought peace to their community. Wives of feuding men in Dado village which is located near the troubled island of Mindanao used sex as the means to get their husbands back on the peace track.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced on Friday that the women embarked on sex strike to demand peace in the community. The strike started last July and the UNHCR says some peace has returned to the land and the community has started making some progress.
The global agency has denied any involvement in the decision of the women stating that the women came up with the idea on their own.
The National Officer of the UNHCR in the Philippines, Rico Salcedo told the AFP that, “The area is in a town which is subject to conflict, family feuds, land disputes. The idea came personally from the women.”
It is believed that a group of women engaged in sewing came up with the idea because it was hampering their business. One woman who took part in the strike narrated that she warned her husband that if he ever gets to the war front, he wouldn’t be accepted back in the house and it worked.
In 2009, a similar move by Kenyan women resulted in the end of the political standoff in the country.

Philippine 'running priest' takes on corruption

 

Fr Reyes is currently campaigning for a former senator to become a whistleblower on corruption

The Philippines has got more than its fair share of problems - poverty, corruption, environmental degradation, political tensions - and one man has taken it upon himself to cast light on all of them.

Father Robert Reyes is a Catholic priest, but he is better known for putting on his running shoes and jogging around the country promoting different causes.
"People don't know my name anymore," Father Reyes says, smiling. "They see me and say: 'That's the running priest'."
It all began in 1995, when he decided to do something special to mark the centennial of the Philippine revolution against Spain.
"I wanted to do something unique that will effectively communicate the message and tell everyone about the need for an ongoing revolution.
"This funny suggestion just came to my head," he says. "Why don't I run across the country?"
So that is exactly what Father Reyes did. Three years later, on the exact day of the Philippines' liberation from Spanish rule, he achieved his goal.
He did not stay still for long, though. "I said 'This is end of my running days.' But in a few days I was running again, because people were asking me to run with them and for them, for their causes."
Sixteen years and several thousand miles later, despite being jailed several times for his activities and even losing his parish, he is still going strong.
Friend to justice On a typical sunny Manila morning, Father Reyes has come to visit Manila's Department of Justice before he starts his latest run.
Standing in the corridor in his jogging clothes, he is easy to spot among the smartly dressed ministers and their assistants.

 

Since losing his parish Fr Reyes has had to perform impromptu services in public buildings

 

They all seem to know him well. "I'm now treated as a friend of the Department of Justice. I come here very often," he says.
Despite the thorough security check which other visitors have to go through at the gate, he is allowed straight inside, carrying a large stick - which was given to him by one of the many people he has helped, a woman whose son has disappeared.
This time, he is here to hand in a petition highlighting alleged political corruption.
A senator has recently resigned amid evidence that he was only elected because the vote was rigged.
The senator denies any wrongdoing but the priest wants him to become a whistleblower for what went on during the previous government's administration.
Father Reyes hands in a typed letter, then - on a spare table in the corridor - takes out some felt-tip pens and a large piece of coloured paper and constructs a banner with the message: 'Thank you Senator Migz Zubiri for resigning, but it is not enough. Tell all!'
With that he leaves the office, holds his banner aloft to address the waiting media and sets off down the road, waving at passing motorists, who honk their horns in recognition.
Even some passing policemen encourage him on his way.
Sedition and seduction It has not always been like this though. Father Reyes has frequently been in trouble with the law, and several times he has ended up in jail.
"A few presidents were my enemies and if the president wants you behind bars, you land behind bars. During the term of the last president, I was imprisoned twice and had five cases filed against me," he says.
"They're all political cases like rebellion, sedition, libel. What is seditious about my running?"

 

The 'running priest' has attracted a great deal of press attention for his various causes 

 

Then a broad smile comes over his face. Maybe my legs are seditious, he says.
"We make a joke [that] it's not sedition but seduction. I should be in prison for seducing people to do things for their country!"
With comments like that, it is obvious that Father Reyes is no ordinary priest - and over the years he has come into conflict with members of Catholic hierarchy.
"Churches are churches. They put on a front of propriety, piety, holiness. It is easier for a priest to stay indoors in his little church," he says.
"When it was 2006, time for our reshuffling, my bishop said he didn't like what I was doing.
"He asked if I wanted a parish, and I said yes of course. Then he told me: 'I will only give you an assignment if you keep quiet, stop running'. But there are things I just can't keep quiet about."
So Father Reyes did not get a parish, which meant he also lost his income.
He now relies on donations - and he says that God somehow always makes sure he gets enough to survive and keep running.
Man of the cloth He certainly has plenty of supporters. "I talk to a lot of people who tell me that, thanks to my efforts, they think there is hope for the country - because there is one crazy priest who won't say: 'I give up'."
A bit breathless, but still smiling, Father Reyes arrives at the end of his anti-corruption run. The finishing point is the Commission of Elections, where once again he is surrounded by media asking questions about the run and Senator Zubiri's resignation.
Inside the building, some plastic chairs have been set up for an impromptu service.
Father Reyes disappears behind a pillar, dons a long white robe, and re-emerges to take charge of the mass.
It is something he does at the end of every run - and a reminder in this staunchly Catholic country that as well as being an activist, he is also a man of the cloth.
But even in his official vestments, Father Reyes still cannot help discussing his causes.
The topic of the sermon is no surprise - corruption and the resignation of Senator Migz Zubiri.

Giant crocodile Lolong not eating 'due to stress'

Lolong the crocodile is being monitored for signs of stress.
A saltwater crocodile that could be the world's largest in captivity has not eaten for six days since being captured in a creek in the southern Philippines. Wildlife official Ronnie Sumiller, who led the hunt for the 20-foot (6.1 metre) crocodile, nicknamed Lolong, said the reptile was under close observation for signs of stress. He said it was normal for crocodiles to be stressed after being trapped and handled. Even in the wild, they do not normally eat daily, and a crocodile as huge as Lolong can go without food for up to six months. Lolong has been placed in an 800-square metre pen, secured by concrete walls topped with wire in Bunawan township, where he was caught last weekend. "We came here to take a look, because it was reported that on the first few days of his capture … there were big crowds and some would throw stones to make him move, so we were afraid he might become stressed," Theresa Mundita Lim, the director of the government's Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, said. She flew from the capital to the southern Agusan del Sur province to talk to local officials about guidelines for onlookers and to inspect the crocodile's new home. The Bunawan mayor, Edwin Cox Elorde, said Lolong did not budge when a dead chicken was laid nearby to whet his appetite. He said that although officials had tried to restrict the public viewing of the crocodile, small groups of visitors who travelled long distances had pleaded to be allowed to see the reptile. Lolong is estimated to be at least 50 years old, and wildlife officials were trying to confirm whether it was the largest such catch in the world, Lim said. The crocodile was caught after a three-week hunt, easing some fears among the locals. A child was killed in the same township by a crocodile two years ago, and Lolong had been suspected of killing a fisherman who has been missing since July. But Sumiller said he had found no human remains when he induced Lolong to vomit. Another search was being arranged for a possibly larger crocodile that he and residents had seen in the town's marshy outskirts.

Dwarves in Philippines plan to build colony where they can live in peace

Alejandro Doron Jr, left, hopes that the Philippines government will help with his plans to create a colony that would also become a tourist attraction.

With his jet-black hair, golden skin and hazel eyes, Alejandro Doron Jr is the sort of man who regularly stops people in their tracks. He may be good-looking, but he knows why people stare. He's small – 117cm (3ft 10in) small, in fact.
As one of Manila's many unanos or dwarves, Doron hopes to end the harassment he faces daily by starting the Philippines' very first little people colony.
The 35-year-old bartender works at Manila's only "dwarf bar", the Hobbit House, where he and his colleagues, ranging in height from 76cm to 135cm, serve tourists Hefeweizen beer and New York ribeye steaks, as dwarf comedians and Elvis impersonators perform on stage.
Just a 10-minute drive away, in the red light district of Makati, other dwarves don gold-and-black Speedos to perform in oil wrestling matches. Still others undress for fascinated sex tourists.
While there are no official figures for the Philippines, dwarfism – of which there are more than 200 distinct varieties – is generally defined as being 147cm or shorter.
The most common condition, achondroplasia, is thought to affect around one in 25,000 people.
Manila's community of little people are highly visible because many of them have come to the capital to find both work and each other, says Doron.
"Otherwise, they are like me: the only dwarf in their village," vulnerable to both physical and verbal abuse.
Critics have questioned whether dwarf-specific jobs such as Doron's are exploitative, but for many little people in the Philippines, such work can be a godsend.
While Filipinos are, on average, of short stature (163cm for men and 152cm for women), a minimum height requirement of 157cm exists for many jobs.
"I'm a computer programmer by profession, but even if you have a good resumé and meet the job qualifications, [potential employers] say there's a height restriction, so they can't hire you," says Jonathan Cancela, 30, who, at 142cm, has worked for the past few years as an oil wrestler at the Ringside bar.
The Philippines has had a longstanding fascination with little people, popularised in the 1970s by TV shows and films on dwarf boxing, wrestling, comedy and kung fu.
Even today, if a little person is the only dwarf in the immediate family, which occurs in about 80% of cases worldwide, popular Filipino legend dictates that the mother must have been watching "dwarf TV" while she was pregnant.
Such an interest in little people means that many of them, at least in Manila, have plenty of work. Doron often dons fancy dress to play leprechauns and monsters for TV shows, children's parties and even so-called Snow White weddings. He also recently starred as a cross-dressing, papal-robed shaman in the film Son of God.
At the three-storey squat he shares with 11 others – including his own family and that of his sister's – Doron slowly sips a glass of cola while his partner Olivia Fernandez, 38, who is 157cm, rocks their one-year-old baby in her arms. Of their five children, two are dwarves. Fifteen-year-old Rina has taken the day off from school for fear of bullying.
"Some boys wanted to cause a rumble, so I am home," she says quietly, standing at 86cm.
"It is hard for me – people say I'm small, they shout at me. But I just go to school to learn more about life."
Fernandez says she has faced opposition from both friends and family over her relationship with Doron; and seven-year-old daughter Glysdi, also a dwarf, gets so much verbal abuse that "she is always crying".
"I told them, if people talk about you, don't listen to what they say," says Doron, who left secondary school early due to harassment.
"But it's hard. It's the natural attitude of the people ... I prayed that all my kids would be normal, but I have no choice – this is what God gave me."
Being free from this constant abuse, says Doron, is the reason why he and about 30 other dwarves are planning to establish a colony.
An investor has donated 16,000 sq m of land near Manila, though the fields still have to be cleared, the houses built, and the businesses started.
But money is tight, and Doron hopes that local politicians will help with funding and that the colony will one day become a tourist hotspot.
So-called dwarf towns have existed in the past – in Coney Island at the turn of the century and more recently in Kunming, China – but not everyone agrees that they help in the long run.
"The answer is not segregation," says Gary Arnold of the charity Little People of America.
"The answer is raising awareness about differences and doing all we can to promote communities that embrace and are inclusive of all differences."
Dressed in children's jeans and a T-shirt, Doron slowly winds his way back to work through alleys crowded with caged roosters and stray dogs.
A neighbour, wiping away the afternoon's heat with a handkerchief, cackles loudly as he passes. "Ooooh!" she laughs. "There goes the dwarf!"
Doron turns and smiles at her, then continues deliberately on his way.

Philippines' new tourism slogan out before Christmas

Manila - A new branding campaign to sell the Philippines to the world is in the works and will be ready before Christmas.
Newly appointed Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez said that all it needs is a catchy slogan.
Jimenez told the Senate finance subcommittee scrutinizing his department's 4 billion pesos (US$94.3 million) proposed budget for 2012 that his other major plan is to involve all Filipinos in the effort to attract tourists.
"There are many well-meaning suggestions as to what the slogan should be. Even journalists are giving their inputs. We're getting strong encouragement and inspiration from interested people," Jimenez told reporters in Filipino in an ambush interview after the Senate hearing.
He refused to elaborate, however.
"Bear with us about our plans," Jimenez earlier told members of the subcommittee. "We will show you when our new branding campaign (is ready). The possibilities are very real and well within our grasp. Our best estimate is in about two months, we will be ready to talk to people about our new campaign," he assured.
This prompted subcommittee chairman Senator Ralph Recto to say he expects something "better than Chickenjoy," a popular fast-food product whose promotion was handled by Jimenez's own advertising agency.
"The lack of money has never been a serious obstacle for...Filipinos," Jimenez said, noting his department's relatively small budget.
"We are creative. I said (during a meeting with Department of Tourism officials) that the Thais, the Malaysians are already worried because of what we are about to do in tourism," Jimenez said.
"We have beaten them before with a whole lot less in resources and we can do it again," Jimenez added.
Jimenez also said the effort to lure travelers also requires the concerted effort of all Filipinos who need to believe in the product first.
"Tourism is a national activity. I cannot overstate the importance of Filipinos talking about it on Facebook. Brag about your country, talk about it. Sometimes, it is one's face that betrays whether you have confidence in your country. We must not be squeamish about competing with the rest of Asia. Selling is a delicate exercise and it shows on your face if you do not believe it," he explained.
In its presentation, the Department of Tourism said it plans to attract 4.1 million foreign and domestic tourists next year and earn 1.2 billion pesos (US$28.3 million) from tourism-related industries. Hopefully, the increase in arrivals would generate jobs for 4.4 million Filipinos.
Tourism Undersecretary Daniel Corpuz said the Philippines had a measly 3 percent share of the 3.5 million tourists that went to Southeast Asia in 2010.
A tourist in the Philippines spends US$700 on the average and stays 8.2 nights in the country. Koreans constitute the biggest market.

The 16th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

A boy covers his ears as a Darth Vader ballon takes off at the 16th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, Philippines 

A motorised paraglider approaches a hot air balloon taking flight

Dancers perform during the start of the 16th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

Philippines catches 'largest crocodile on record'

• A photo taken on on September 3 shows a wildlife hunter subduing a giant 6.4-metre saltwater crocodile.

A monster 21-foot (6.4-metre) saltwater crocodile, believed to be the biggest ever captured, has been trapped in the southern Philippines after a spate of fatal attacks, officials said Tuesday.
The 1,075-kilogramme (2,370-pound) male is suspected of eating a farmer who went missing in July in the town of Bunawan, and of killing a 12-year-old girl whose head was bitten off two years ago, crocodile hunter Rollie Sumiller said.
The hunter examined the crocodile's stomach contents by forcing it to vomit after it was captured Saturday, but there was no trace of human remains or of several water buffaloes also reported missing by locals.
"The community was relieved," Sumiller said of the capture, but added: "We're not really sure if this is the man-eater, because there have been other sightings of other crocodiles in the area."
The local government of the impoverished town of 30,000 people has decided against putting down the reptile, and will instead build a nature park where it will go on display.
Josefina de Leon, wildlife division chief at the Philippines environment ministry, said the beast was likely the biggest crocodile ever captured anywhere in the world.
"Based on existing records the largest that had been captured previously was 5.48 metres long," she told AFP.
The Philippine specimen would easily dwarf the largest captive saltwater crocodile, which the Guinness World Records website lists as Cassius, a 5.48-metre (18-foot) male which lives at an Australian nature park.
Press reports also describe other huge crocs including a 6.2-metre (20.3-foot) adult male killed in Papua New Guinea in 1982 that was measured after it was skinned.
The Bunawan hunting team, employed by a government-run crocodile breeding farm, began laying bait using chicken, pork and dog meat on August 15 in an attempt to snare the beast.
But the reptile, which measured three feet (0.91 metres) across its back, simply bit off both the meat and the line it was skewered on.
A heavy metal cable finally proved beyond the power of its jaws, and the beast was subdued in a creek late Saturday with the help of about 30 local men.
It was the team's second attempt after a failed expedition launched in response to the fatal 2009 attack.
Beyond the mark of the hook inside its upper jaw, the crocodile did not appear to have sustained any serious injuries, Sumiller said.
Bunawan Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said the government would build a nature park showcasing the giant crocodile and other species found in the vast marshland on the upper reaches of the massive Agusan river basin on Mindanao island.
"It will be the biggest star of the park," Elorde told reporters.
Sumiller said the plan was the best option available for the creature.
"He's a problem crocodile that needs to be taken from the wild... and used for Eco-tourism," he said.
Crocodylus porosus, or the estuarine crocodile, is the world's largest reptile. It grows to five or six metres in length and can live up to 100 years.
While not considered an endangered species globally, it is "critically endangered" in the Philippines, where it is hunted for its hide which is used in the fashion industry, de Leon said.
"There have been very few sightings of porosus in the wild in the Philippines in recent years," she added.
In July, a saltwater crocodile measuring almost 14 feet (4.2 metres) was caught on the western Philippine island of Palawan after it killed a man.

CCP jazzfest a vibrant first

SKARLET, fiery in red, with the AMP Big Band and conductor Mel Villena

Rainy weather and limited funds—not to mention public backlash over a controversial art exhibit—failed to stop the Cultural Center of the Philippines from successfully mounting its maiden International Jazz Festival recently.
The music, performed in a span of six days by US, Korean, Japanese, Austrian, Spanish and Filipino artists, presented opportunities for fans and the curious alike to appreciate what jazz ultimately means: freedom to explore one’s creative spirit and interpret just about any form of music. The shows we caught all sent us drooling with delight.
Royal Hartigan and Blood Drum Spirit, representing the United States, retold the history of jazz in animated fashion with help from the Philippines’ UP Kekeli African Dance Ensemble. Hartigan, the bandleader, also acted as annotator, providing valuable information and insights into the music’s evolution—from the raw, rhythmic wailing of African slaves into a complex, multiple-genre art form practiced worldwide.
Hartigan played the drums like a chef and shaman combined. He used his bare hands, like mashing bread, to produce subtle sounds, then switched to sticks with masterful strokes that flawlessly blended with the graceful playing of bassist Wes Brown, pianist Art Hirahara and saxophonist David Bindman.
Cooky Chua and Bluesviminda illustrated how Filipinos have come to wear the blues like second skin. Is it because Pinoys, as somebody said, are considered the blacks of Asia? Or is it due to our local musicians’ natural ability to excel in all genres?
In any case, Chua oozed with breathy, bedroom-voice charm, even as she kept telling the crowd how nervous she was to sing at the CCP. She provided the focal point to Bluesviminda’s take on The Band (“Bessie Smith”), Abbey Lincoln (“Can You Dig It”), Elvis Presley (“Love Me”) and other blues standards.
The fest finale, featuring the UP Jazz Ensemble and AMP Big Band with guest vocalists Skarlet and Charito, was as bongga as marking two simultaneous town fiestas.
There was Latin jazz and mambo in the repertoire of the 21-piece UP Jazz Ensemble, conducted by Prof. Rayben Maigue, whose talented daughter Lara made a cameo appearance in two numbers. The 18-piece AMP came up with wonderful blasts of brass and gliding arrangements by consummate leader Mel Villena. The maestro danced between animated hand gestures, and even played the saxophone in several instances.
Skarlet replicated Sylvia La Torre’s playful vocals in the Levi Celerio-Juan Silos Jr. tune “Kalesa.” Charito, Pinay jazz star in Japan, exemplified the anything-is-possible trait of the music with vibrant covers of Michel Legrand and Michael Jackson.
Another Celerio-Silos classic, “Waray-Waray,” served as encore. We walked away feeling everything was as vibrant as life itself.

Sleeping rough in the Philippines

A homeless boy sleeps above a doorway along a street in Manila, the Philippines

Philippines: The islands

There are more than 7,000 tropical islands in the archipelago of the Philippines, with idyllic palm-fringed beaches and coral reefs teeming with fascinating wildlife - as well as classically beautiful rice-terraces, crumbling colonial towns and lively fiestas throughout the year.

Yet almost all have managed to slip off the tourism radar over the past few years. Why?

Active volcanoes, tales of political corruption and isolated terrorist activity have all helped darken the image of the country as a safe holiday destination. Yet the Foreign & Commonwealth Office travel advisory for the Philippines is no more cautious than that for many other more popular destinations - and that is as it should be.

Remnants of past Filipino battles are plentiful. I landed in the capital, Manila, which is littered with the megalomaniacal mistakes of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos - gigantic, dysfunctional buildings that stand empty and are little more than talking pieces for tourists, of which there are admittedly few.
The city also has 400-year-old churches, courtesy of the Spanish occupation; a baroque Spanish fort with cannons pointing towards the sea; and a Chinese cemetery, whose mausoleums are as big as houses - air-conditioned and with full-time maids.
I was advised that, if I wanted to behave less like a tourist and more like a local, I should go "malling" in one of the dozens of shopping complexes.
On Saturday nights, Catholic masses are held in the malls so that shoppers need not interrupt their purchasing to attend church.
Shopping malls are just one legacy of the Americans, who governed the Philippines for nearly half of the 20th century. Another is the fleet of old American army Jeeps, now brightly painted and operating as sturdy public buses.
And what better illustration of the indomitable Filipino spirit: take a relic of war, paint it a rainbow of colours, add some shiny chrome fixtures, hang a crucifix to the rear-view mirror - and away you go.

Banaue

Drive north out of Manila, away from the malls and burger joints, towards the mountainous Cordillera. Fields of papaya, sweet potato and sugarcane filled the landscape, growing twice as high as any that have been seen elsewhere.
Since the massive eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991 farmers have benefited from fertile ash in the soil, giving rise to record-breaking harvests.
Climb slowly into the lush, terraced hills. Grains of rice had been arranged to dry on the tarmac road after a vicious typhoon had swept through the area the week before, drenching the crops.
Local people clear rockfalls with shovels and pickaxes, and a shrine of flowers are laid to a family of 10 whose roadside home had been swept away in a landslide.
The dramatic rice terraces at Banaue are 2,000 years old and the crowning achievement of the indigenous Ifugao people, known for their beguiling chanting (called hudhud) of ancient epic tales, and the engineering feat of hand-cutting tiers into the steep mountains.
Both their oral tradition and the iconic landscape are on the Unesco World Heritage List.
But the strongest reason to journey here is the unaffected warmth of the people; this is South-East Asia as you rarely see it.
Along the trails you can meet children of all ages: young girls carrying baby brothers; others with baskets of pumpkins and peppers to sell at the market; some in school uniform, shyly casting their eyes down.
At Banga-an, women can be seen winnowing bundles of rice, flipping up flat baskets to dispose of the chaff, while others mill the grain in giant, stone pestles. Tiny children play tiddlywinks with flattened 7 Up bottle tops, stopping to wave and practise their English - another legacy of the Americans.

Palawan

Palawan, known for its karstic island outcrops and rich marine life. It was as though someone had plucked the florets from a giant broccoli and thrust them stem-first into the Sulu Sea. As we came into land, I made out craggy limestone cliffs, clad in spindly trees, with flying buttress-like rock formations.

El Nido is on the northern tip of the island, with resorts so exclusive they have their own airstrip. The Lagen Resort has villas in the forest, on the beach or on stilts over water, but it is all rather manicured and I preferred the simple wood-and-thatch rooms at the lesser, four-star Miniloc.
It is the perfect place to choose your Desert Island Discs - or to sit at the bar watching swiftlets swooping over sunbeds, catching flies on the wing while emitting their soft pipsqueak call. It is for these tiny creatures that this area is named. Their nests (nidos in Spanish) are the key ingredient in bird's nest soup, and can fetch £1,500 per kg (2.2lb).
Jacques Cousteau said that Palawan was the most beautiful place he had ever explored, so it is hardly surprising that tourists spend most of their time underwater. For divers, there are spectacular drop-offs, limestone caves and whole fleets of wrecks to seek out.
Even snorkellers are spoilt. In the shallow, coral gardens of the house reef can be found large schools of jacks, each as big as a placemat, with ballooning shoals of ox-eyed scad and startlingly oversized Napoleon wrasse.
In the lagoons, reached by swimming underwater through tiny channels, you can come across baby reef sharks patrolling in the dark shadows and almost bump into needlefish hovering at the surface.

Boracay

Probably the Philippines' best-known destination - worshipped by backpackers, diving students and, more recently, South Korean honeymooners - Boracay's White Beach regularly features among the world's top 10. Two and a half miles of fine white sand, which looks more like icing sugar and feels more like cotton wool, is fringed by a mere ripple of turquoise.
Mind you, Boracay is no desert island.
It has five-star establishments such as the luxurious Discovery Shores, and a Shangri-La due to open in the early autumn.
Set back from the waterfront are dozens of low-rise restaurants, bars and cafés serving every cuisine, from Greek to Mexican, Italian to Chinese. Favourites along this stretch include Calypso - a dive centre by day, buzzing sports bar by night; Summer Place, which draws the bright young things for sundowners; and Fridays hotel at the northern end of the beach, with the softest sand and the best views of the Panay hills.
Strong winds on the other side of the island have made Boracay a hub for kitesurfing, with excellent conditions for sailing, parasailing and windsurfing too. There is an 18-hole golf course as well as well-regarded dive centres offering boat trips to nearby reefs and advanced-level certification.
Throughout the day, massage therapists wander along the beach, offering hilot treatments, the ancient Filipino massage. For all its unchecked development, Boracay still reminds me of Thailand before The Beach was even conceived.

Bohol

Cebu, smack in the middle of the Philippines, to travel by boat to Bohol, a sleepy, tropical island across the Camotes Sea.

Taxi-drivers enthusiastically explain the island. "We are the religious heartbeat of the Philippines," he said, smiling in his rear-view mirror. "My wife goes to church six times a week, so we are definitely going to Heaven." "How about you?" I asked.
"She goes for me," he said, laughing.
All taxi-drivers must have religious texts painted upon their vehicles.

As well as Catholicism, the Spanish left behind some inspired religious architecture: the churches are built with pitted bricks, made of coral, and plastered with a mixture of lime, sand and egg white. Shells are pressed into the walls for decoration.
Yet for all its godliness, Bohol moves to a typically relaxed island beat: fishermen seemed to spend more time fixing their nets than out at sea; the museums were all closed during advertised opening hours; and at every restaurant, someone invariably pulled out a guitar.

But as with most of the islands in the Philippines, what tourists really come here for is the underwater treasures. The reefs are charged with some of nature's most humbling creatures, from fearsome hammerheads to giant, but gentle, whale sharks.
The secret to the Philippines is far beyond the headlines - it's in what lies beneath.