International, Science and Environment, Tourism

HAWAII TO IMPORT WHITE SAND FROM THE PHILIPPINES TO SAVE WAIKIKI BEACH

March 11, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

A gloomy forecast for Hawaii’s Waikiki Beach (Photo: The Adobo Chronicles)

HONOLULU, Hawaii (The Adobo Chronicles) – The world-famous Waikiki Beach, known for its blue water and immaculate white sand, is slowly disappearing, according to a recent report in The Huffington Post:

“A crumbling, century-old stone wall that juts out from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel is in imminent danger of collapsing, say scientists. The groin is the sole reason sand remains along this main stretch of Waikiki Beach.

Without it, the beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian would likely disappear in a matter of days, said Dolan Eversole, a scientist with the University of Hawaii’s Sea Grant program. It would take several months to a year for the rest of the stretch of sand to erode.”

In an effort to save Waikiki’s billion-dollar tourist industry from also collapsing, the Honolulu City Council is considering several measures to repair the crumbling sea walls in order to prevent the white sand from being washed away to the ocean.

At the same time, Honolulu City Mayor Kirk Caldwell today announced that the city will be importing 27,000 cubic yards of white sand from the Philippines to replenish what has been lost along the stretch of Waikiki Beach.

The Philippines is known for its white sandy beaches in many of its more than 7,000 islands. International tourists have been visiting beach resorts in the Visayas, Palawan and the Ilocos region in the Philippines mainly for the pristine waters and pearly white sand.

Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino welcomed the news from Hawaii and used the sand export deal to again boast of his administration’s many successes in jumpstarting the country’s economy. “We can use the revenue from the sand export to build more high-rise condominiums in Metro Manila,” Aquino said.

Economy, Government, Law Enforcement, Politics

PHILIPPINES’ AMBITIOUS PROJECT TO SOLVE HOMELESSNESS

March 11, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

More prisons like this one (National Bilibid Prison) will be built outside of Metro Manila to ease the problem of homelessness.

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration has finally found a permanent solution to the Philippines’ nagging problem of homelessness: create new housing units for the homeless — in jail!

The administration has rolled out its 22nd Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project involving the construction and maintenance of a P50.2-billion modern prison facility at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, north of the capital.

The proposed facility could accommodate 26,880 inmates, including staff housing and administrative buildings, areas for rehabilitation (sports, work and religious activity), and would be installed with high security equipment.

This is just the first of several initiatives to rid Metro Manila of homeless families and street children. Metro Manila has the highest homeless population in the world.

“There’s just not enough money to go around,” a presidential spokesperson said, “so the government needs to address one problem at a time. Since we can’t build dwellings for the millions of homeless people, we think that building prisons will help address the problem. In the prisons, inmates practically get a free roof over the heads plus free meals.”

The spokesperson added that the reason the new prison facility will be built in Nueva Ecija is precisely to decongest and rid Metro Manila of homeless families. “It will eliminate eyesores especially when we are have visiting dignitaries and tourists,” he said.

Business, International, Travel

‘BALIKBAYAN’ BOXES WILL NO LONGER BE ALLOWED ON INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER FLIGHTS TO THE PHILIPPINES

March 10, 2015 Pol Pinoy 3 Comments

balikbayan-box-shipping HONOLULU, Hawaii (The Adobo Chronicles) – Starting April 1 this year, Filipinos returning to or going on a holiday to the Philippines will no longer be able to bring balikbayan boxes on board international flights to Manila, Cebu and other destinations in the country.

Balikbayan boxes are those corrugated cardboard boxes that Filipinos pack with tax-free goods to bring back to loved ones in the Philippines. The goods range from designer shoes and clothing to cartons of canned foods, cigarettes and toiletries — mostly purchased from big box stores like Costco and Walmart.

During their annual convention held last weekend in Honolulu, members of the International Commercial Airline Association (ICAA), agreed to totally ban balikbayan boxes as a way to speed up check-in procedures at airports and to maintain universally-accepted weight limits on their aircraft.

The ICAA said that many of their airline customers have constantly complained about the long check-in lines at airport counters, notably for flights going to the Philippines, because of the large number of balikbayan boxes being checked in by Filipino passengers. The long lines have caused many passengers to miss their flights.

The ICAA also said that flights to the Philippines are always up to the load limit for aircraft due to the heavy weight of the balikbayan boxes. Most balikbayan boxes exceed the 50-pound limit for checked in baggage. “It compromises airline safety,” an ICAA spokesperson said.

Overseas Filipinos will still be able to send back goods to the Philippines in balikbayan boxes but only through cargo vendors that ship via ocean vessels. It takes an average of 30-45 days to ship from the U.S. Mainland to the Philippines.