Samal as retirement haven

This second class city with a population of 82,609 people (as of the 2000 Census) is already an established vacation site thanks to its white sand beaches with 118.5 kilometers of continuous coastline and pristine clear waters. However, the island city may just end up in the world map once again as a retirement haven.

“That’s part of our vision ----to be a retirement haven,” Island Garden City of Samal information officer Noel Daquioag said.

The Philippine Retirement Authority is also confident about the potential of IGACOS as a haven for retirees. Daquioag said “the agency is active here and they have been talking to foreigners, usually married to Filipinas, encouraging them to invest here in Samal.”

“There have been initial talks about signing a Memorandum of Agreement with the local government since last year and we hope to continue with that after the elections since this is a busy season,” PRA regional chief Jaime Llanes said.

Llames said the MOA primarily consist of talking points declaring Samal as a retirement destination especially for foreigners. It is a very strategic area for retirees and some of them have already settled in the area, he added.

Most of the retirees prefer the tropical weather of Samal with temperatures normally ranging from 26.9 degree Celsius to 33 degree Celsius at this time when it’s really very hot.

Samal is deemed a coastal paradise with five major urban area namely Penaplata in Samal District, Villarica and Pichon in Babak Disitrict as well as Sta. Cruz and Poblacion in Kaputian District.

Caracoles Samal Fest another election casualty?

The May 2010 election has resulted to various controversies from the lost friendships to the termination of the 86 City Hall-hired Commission on Election employees. The latest casualty of the election heat is a major tourism event which is expected to bring in revenues for some areas in the Davao Region including the Island Garden City of Samal and Davao City.
The yearly Caracoles Samal Festival, which is regularly held during the last Saturday of April every year, has been postponed from the original April 24 schedule to the May 21 to 23 this year.

“We are postponing the Caracoles Festival not because we were refused a permit but because we do not want politics to mar the celebration this year,” Caracoles Samal 2010 Marketing Director Jonallier M. Perez said. He added they do not want the Caracoles Festival to be muddled by the various election issues so the Davao del Norte Provincial Tourism Council and the Caracoles Samal 2010 Executive Committee are moving the Festival after the May 10 election.
IGaCoS Mayor Aniano Antalan called a press conference two weeks ago and said he did not give a permit to the holding of the Caracoles Festival this April “kasi baka magamit lang sa eleksyon.” Antalan was referring to Regional Tourism Council secretary Araceli Ayuste, one of the convenors of the Caracoles Festival. Antalan belongs to the Lakas-CMD while Ayuste, who is running for a seat in Davao del Norte, belongs to the Liberal Party.

In a letter dated February 20, IGACOS City Administrator Cleto Gales, Jr. turned down the application of Perez for a permit to conduct the Caracoles Festival in barangay Penaplata on April 23 to 25 since the city “has not included the Caracoles as one of its 2010 Festival Celebrations, as they expected it to be held in Davao City” where it was held last year.

Antalan said proper coordination was made with the local government of IGaCoS when Caracoles was started six years ago. The local government even contributed a counterpart amount as well as logistical support when it was first staged in Babak District, he added.

The original plan was to hold the Festival alternately in Babak, Samal and Kaputian, but the Department of Tourism staged it at the Waterfront Insular Hotel on the second year, and at the Sta. Ana Wharf last year.

“Substantial coordination from you with the city government, more than just a matter of protocol, should have been properly observed,” Gales said. Further in his letter, he said that the city government should have been involved during the planning, arrangement and preparation for the festival celebration.

The IGaCoS City Council said the Caracoles Festival is a private sector initiative that showcases the island’s creative culture through street dancing, beach sports competition, concerts and fashion showcases.

Perez said the local government of Davao del Norte has allocated P500 thousand for the Caracoles Festival. The private sector has however raised more money for the event, he added.

The money allocated for the Caracoles is however cost effective, the City Council admitted, since it is one way of promoting the island city as a tourism destination and attracting more investments in order to uplift the local government’s stability.
But even if the Caracoles Festival has been postponed after the elections, the city is already set to lose several opportunities that would have made the island more attractive to expatriates and foreigners.

This month’s celebration of the Caracoles Festival would have coincided with the Silver Anniversary celebration of the Philippine Retirement Authority. PRA planned to bring in a hundred or so expatriates to the island during the Festival, to promote Samal as a destination for foreign retirees.

“Yes the celebration is affected by the postponement so we decided to shelve the celebration and instead invite people to the head office for the anniversary celebration on June 23,” PRA regional chief Jaime Llames said.

Ayuste earlier said the Caracoles Festival mean more income for the various resorts in Samal since all their food and drinks went out of stock as early as 8 in the evening during the previous year when the Festival was held in Samal.

Samal Caracoles Festival Launched

Caracoles Festival

Samal Island is cashing in on the summer heat made more unbearable by the El Nino phenomenon by offering more than their cool, white sand beaches. This time, tourists are expected to get enamored to Samal Island from sundown to sunrise through the Caracoles Festival which is usually being held during the last Saturday of April.

The Davao Region Tourism Council supported by the Department of Trade and Industry officially opened the Summer Fun in the Sun program at the Gaisano Mall of Davao yesterday and presented the 2010 Caracoles Festival to the public with a sampling of the creative marine-life inspired dances by the Mugnapak Dancers.

“This is already the 3rd Fun in the Sun for the region and this should send a positive signal to the public that all tourism destinations here are ready to provide them with all the fun they can get under the sun,” Regional Tourism Council secretary Araceli Ayuste said.

The highlight of the “Fun in the Sun” program is the Caracoles Festival which will be back to Samal Island after being held at the Sta. Ana Wharf in 2009. The Festival will be held specifically at the Penaplata Elementary School in Samal Island and the fun begins at 6 o’clock in the evening.

“We expect the Caracoles Festival as well as the overall Fun in the Sun program to bring in lots of income for establishments in Samal Island,” Ayuste said. She encouraged everyone who wanted a taste of island living to join them for the Caracole Festival as it is guaranteed to be a non-stop party for the guests.

She said the program is a continuation of the five-day Gulf Dive so it is expected to be a pretty long summer holiday for those visiting Samal Island. But even those who just want to stay overnight without checking in on one of the resorts can still enjoy the Caracoles as they don’t need to sleep all night.

The Caracoles Festival is one of the four Davao Region festivals included in DOT’s extensive promotion including Kadayawan Festival in Davao City, the Musikahan Festival in Tagum, Davao del Norte and the Bulawanon Festival in Compostela Valley.

Braga to DOTC: Prioritize Radar Allocation For Davao Air Transportation Office

Councilor Pilar Braga has passed a resolution today urging Department of Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro Mendoza to prioritize the Braga to prioritize the allocation of a radar for the Davao City International Airport.

Braga's resolution came in the aftermath of the ill-fated C-130 Hercules aircraft that crashed near Samal Island last August 25. Retrieval operation for the C-130 has been hampered by the lack of radar equipment to track down the aircraft. Davao City's Air Transportation Office control tower does not have a radar to track down aircrafts flying in and out of the Davao International Airport and relies only on radio communication to control air traffic.

Chief Colonel Isagani Silva of the Philippine Air Force Tactical Operations Group earlier admitted the importance of a radar to pinpoint the location where the helicopter crashed. Reports also show that even the Philippine Air Force Tactical Operations Group in the region does not have this equipment.


Even the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard lacks the necessary sonar equipment to determine the location of the helicopter somewhere in the Davao Gulf. Braga said the Philippine Navy makes use of fathometers instead of sonars.

Samal’s Mariculture Park attracts P200 million worth of investments

No less than P200 million worth of investments have been poured into the 244-hectare Mariculture Park located in the Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte.

The Mariculture Park, which is a joint venture of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources XI and the local government unit of Samal, was implemented to offer locators a chance to invest in the fish caging venture as well as provide an alternative source of livelihood for Samal fishermen.

“This is the first Triple A Mariculture Park in Asia and it is being replicated in others parts of the country particularly in Calbayog, Samar, Zambales and in Datu Paglas,” IGACOS city administrator Cleto Gales said.

A total of 10 large scale investors and an estimated 100 small and medium investors have already located their fish cage businesses at the Mariculture Park. Large scale investors are those with investments of over P10 million, medium scale with investments of one to P10 million and small scale with investments below one million.

“A single fish cage is capital intensive with a 20 meter by 20 meter fish cage amounting to almost a million peso worth of investments,” Gales said. However, an investor can have a return of his investment after two harvests with a single harvest possible after three to four months.

Gales said the fish cages at the Mariculture Park is quite different from the common fishpond because fishponds are dug beside shorelines to allow partly salty water to come in and mix with fresh water to create brackish water.

The fish cages in the Park, he said, are cages that are floating in the sea. It is also different from Laguna de Bay’s fish pens since they cage the water there from surface to the bottom.

“The fish cages in Samal’s Mariculture Park are environmentally friendly because it is floating,” he said. The excess feeds that are not eaten by the fish inside the cages are eaten by other fishes like Talakitok, thereby encouraging small and large fish to congregate in the area, Gales added.

A single 20 meter by 20 meter fish cage yields twenty seven tons of fish per season or roughly 27 thousand kilos of fish every harvest.(lovely a. carillo)