ILOILO CITY (PNA) – The Department of Tourism (DoT) here said Asians topped the list of tourists who visited the world-famous Boracay Island as of July this year.

More than 24,000 foreigners visited Boracay as of July this year, and more than 19,000 were from Asia, said DoT regional director Edwin Trompeta.

DoT said most of the tourists in Boracay the whole year round were of Chinese descent. Of the Asian countries, Koreans were the most Boracay-bound tourists with 7,411 recorded visitors.

Around 6,708 Taiwanese were also in Boracay, Chinese with 3, 856, Hong Kong nationals with 672, and Japanese with 330. Likewise, Asian neighbors who visited Boracay included tourists from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Boracay Island also earned a whopping P1.7 billion for the month of July alone. This was 43 percent higher than its revenue during the same month last year, said the DoT.

Cebu Media get P2-M Media Aid

CEBU CITY – Members of the media here may now avail themselves of free medical assistance after former Representatives Raul del Mar and Antonio Cuenco allocated a total of P2 million from their Philippine Development Assistance Fund through the Cebu News Workers Foundation (Cenewof).

The fund was turned over last Friday at the Region 7 office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). DSWD 7 regional director Evelyn Macapobre, during the turnover ceremony, urged beneficiaries’ of the fund to avail themselves of the program which covers medical and hospitalization aid. Macapobre disclosed that P1 million was released to Cenewof while the remaining P1 million was deposited at their office.

The amount released to DSWD served as seed money for the Cebu Journalists Medical Aid Fund, which Cenewof will administer. (Phoebe Jen Indino)

Smart Joins Waste Segregation Drive

CEBU CITY (PNA) – A leading communications firm, in coordination with Barangay Mabolo here, is implementing a waste segregation program in its office in this city.

According to an official of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), this move is in support of the local government’s effort to intensify its campaign against wastes.

 “We’d like to show that Smart, as a member of the local community, is one with the City in its aim to be more environment-friendly,” said Smart Public Affairs-VisMin Senior Manager lawyer Maria Jane Paredes.

The launch of Smart’s waste segregation program in its Cebu office is in line with the thrust of Cebu City barangays to implement Solid Waste Management programs, which promote waste segregation, reduction, recycling and composting.

Iloilo Introduces Lady Traffic Aides

ILOILO CITY (PNA) – The Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Western Visayas has introduced early this week an innovative approach to improve compliance on road rules by public and private conveyances and also foster better relations between apprehending authorities and the motorists.

The LTO Region 6 on Wednesday, fielded 20 women as LTO enforcers in Iloilo as they stood side-by-side with their male counterparts by the roadside to check on vehicles which may have run afoul of the law.