Road Trips in the Philippines - Good road to stray

Philippines - A road trip is the easy way to experience the country.  If you have a vehicle in good running condition, some cash for the fuel, food and lodging – you can have an adventure that will give you more than just travel photos.  The most expensive part of a road trip is one’s time.  It is also the factor why most people I know can’t take one – time is very expensive.  But it is time on the road that makes the adventure happen.

For 12 years, Cruising, Manila Bulletin’s travel magazine has been featuring road trips that take a day, two days, three days, even a week.  Those drives have taken us around the Philippines – from Manila to Gensan in five days; Manila to Boracay in 12 hours; Manila to Negros in 24 hours; Manila to Marinduque in seven hours; Manila to Masbate in 26 hours; Manila to Leyte in a day; Manila to Pagudpud in 12 hours; Manila to Banaue to Mt. Data, to Baguio in three days; Manila to Catanduanes in 30 hours. Cruising was the “First on the Road” when we started 12 years ago, and we are still here dedicated to giving information on motor travel. In this column, we give you information on the road conditions.

The country’s road network is not in perfect condition but it is in good functional condition.  Many times, we were surprised at the good road conditions in far-flung areas away from the crowds where one would think roads will be just traces of a trail.  Our government is working – we like to say when we see those roads.

The Halsema Highway is a good example. Its first phase which is 100 kilometers from La Trinidad to Mt. Data, is a beautiful concrete highway with proper road signs and concrete barriers to prevent landslides and road slips.  The last time we passed across the Cordillera mountains, the road construction was pushing slowly up to Banaue and although not yet completely concreted, the all-weather roads are good enough for a comfortable drive.

I hope that by now, most people know that the road from Manila to Banaue is in good condition that even a sedan can take.  However, for a long drive such as that (about 10-12 hours, if you count the meal stops), we suggest you take a vehicle with a higher ground clearance – just in case of bad weather and rains.  Also, such a vehicle would be an SUV, van or pickup – which will have more space to carry what you will likely buy along the way!  If you’re planning to go to Sagada or to explore the mountains for more rice terraces, you can hire a jeepney in Banaue – and those have 4x4 capability and high ground clearance.

The newly completed Baguio to Ambuklao Road is another reason to go out and have a road trip.  This 50-km highway of mostly tight to tighter zig-zags wind through a beautiful mountain range which could even be the destination for this trip – the views are really magnificent!

Even if traffic is very light in that highway, the road is concrete and the pavements and mountain sides have barriers designed to protect the motorists – should there be bad weather or poor visibility.

Last month, we passed the 126-km highway from Calapan to Roxas in Mindoro.  We were pleasantly surprised to find the road in very good condition, it only took two hours to drive from Calapan to Roxas.  (It used to take three hours with long stretches in dilapidated asphalt roads.)

Another pleasant surprise was the road from Sta. Rita town (where San Juanico Bridge ends the Samar side) to Allen (about 280km), the port town for the RORO ferries to Matnog. About five years ago, the stretch from Allen town to Catbalogan was something travelers would rather forget – if not avoid.

In the island of Negros, there is another road system that makes road travel comfortable.  It is the 90-km Negros Transnational Highway which links the cities of Bacolod and San Carlos. This link allows easy land-and-sea travel since there is a port in San Carlos that takes passengers and vehicles to Cebu Island; and there is a port in Bacolod City that links traffic flow to Panay Island.

Also in Negros Island, there is a road that cuts across the Kanlaon mountain range and links Bacolod City to Dumaguete City in the Oriental side where there is a port that allows the flow of people and vehicles to the island to Mindanao, entering through Dapitan.

Our islands are now connected by an efficient road and sea transport system that opens the provinces to travelers and road trips.  If you’ve never tried exploring the country through our road and sea system, make time to do one soon.  Email us; we may be able to help (motoring@mb.com.ph).

Still on roads, the connection between the SLEX and STAR now cuts travel time by at about 40 minutes – so you can catch an earlier ferry from the Batangas port if you plan to go to Mindoro.

Of course, the SCTEX has cut a lot of travel time going to the north – to Pangasinan, Benguet, Mountain Province.  SCTEX especially makes driving to Subic very relaxing – we sometimes do that just to have some time to think. You’ll get there in two hours of leisurely driving from Quezon City.

All that road information we could get because Cruising went on cruising for 12 years with the support of our loyal sponsors – Isuzu Philippines Corp., Caltex Philippines, Smart Communications.  Last year, Dockers joined us as our outfitter. This year, we have the support of Cebu Pacific Air to bring our road teams to more destinations.

 

 

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British Standard Chartered Bank will expand its wealth-management in the Philippines

British banking giant Standard Chartered will expand its wealth-management business in the Philippines to take advantage of Filipinos’ rising affluence and increasing appetite for investment products.

Standard Chartered’s wealth-management arm, which is being expanded alongside a global relaunch of its “priority banking” unit, may take up as much as 50 percent of the foreign bank’s Philippine business in the next five years, said Stanchart general manager for wealth management Marion Kohchet-Chua.

The bank executive believes that this particular market “will grow by leaps and bounds.”

“It makes a lot of sense for this kind of program. Focus on that high net worth market has become quite important in the Philippines,” Kohchet-Chua said.

The bank’s target is to acquire 2,500 new priority banking customers within the next six months, said Stanchart general manager for lending and transaction banking Supratim Pandey.

To qualify as a “priority banking” client, an individual customer must have P2.5 million or $50,000 worth of banking relationship with Stanchart.

This segment targets mostly entrepreneurs and professionals in their 40s. But there is an increasing focus to reach out to the younger age bracket or those in their 30s, said Stanchart general manager for premium banking Abigail Del Rosario.

The wealth-management unit offers an array of peso and foreign currency investment products such as government securities, corporate securities, mutual funds managed by Sun Life of Canada and Philam Asset Management, special deposit accounts and other trust services.

This unit is small relative to other businesses of Stanchart in the Philippines, accounting for less than 10 percent, but is expected to grow briskly in the years ahead alongside Filipinos’ improving purchasing power and risk appetite.

In the past year, the business has doubled from a year ago.

“We’re on a rebirth mode,” Del Rosario said.

She added that the foreign bank’s small branch network, only six at present, was not a limiting factor to the growth of the wealth-management business as high net worth clientele typically don’t go to branches to conduct transactions.

“It’s our RMs (relationship managers) that go to their houses or to their offices,” she said.

Over the last 10 years, Del Rosario said Filipinos’ mindset has changed as many have opened up to marked-to-market investment products as well as a longer time horizon, as opposed to a previous bias for guaranteed products and shorter tenors.

In the past, Del Rosario said Filipino investors would consider as a “long-term” investment placements of one year while short-term investment was defined as having 30 days in tenor.

She said the acceptable horizon for “short-term” investing was now at 12 to 18 months while “long-term” would be five to 10 years.

“Clients who come into this product now understand that in order to get the most out of their investments, they have to ride it out over the medium to long term. They can’t look into this anymore as a churning mode,” Kohchet-Chua said.

 

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Russia More strengthen ties with Paradise - Cebu Philippines

AMBASSADOR Nikolay Kudashev of the Russian Federation committed to strengthen the trade ties of Russia and the Philippines, saying the country is the ideal destination for Russian investments.

Kudashev said the Philippines has investment potential in technology and business process outsourcing (BPO). He said they are interested in public-private partnership (PPP) in the spheres of energy, transportation, communications, infrastructure development, military exchanges, and military technical cooperation.

As for BPOs, Kudashev praised the country’s growing outsourcing industry. He said BPO skills are one of the treasures of the country, where countries like Russia would be willing to invest.

In a recent report, the Philippines and Russia agreed to enhance economic relations, with plans to craft a new comprehensive bilateral agreement.

Both countries pledged to enhance trade linkages. Filipino exporters were also encouraged to view Russia as a potential market for their products, diverging from the traditional export markets.

Russia is currently the country’s 27th largest trading partner. Diplomatic relations were established in 1976.

A photo exhibit depicting milestones of Philippines-Russia relations, in celebration of its 35th year anniversary, was launched on Tuesday at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino. The photo exhibit will run until June 28.

Kudashev said Cebu, which he described as a “jewel” in the bilateral agreement, is a good partner to improve trade relations with. He cited tourism as one of those sectors that they want to grow.

Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation to the Philippines Armi Lopez-Garcia said tourism and culture are the entry points of trade and investment.

Russian tourist arrivals last year was recorded at 50,000 all over the country, a growth of 200 percent.

“A lot of Russians come here because of the warm hospitality of Filipinos, the good weather and beautiful beaches,” she said.

With the influx of Russian tourists in Cebu, Garcia announced that a short-term course for Russian language will be opened in August at the University of San Carlos. She said it is open to anyone interested to learn the language.

She said the short term course would also enable hotels and hotel and restaurant management (HRM) students to broaden their knowledge and skills in Russian.

“This is one evident partnership with Cebu and the Russian Federation as Russia will be providing materials and professors for the Russian language,” Garcia said.

To increase Russian arrivals in the country, Kudashev said they will also be pushing for more direct flights from Russia to the Philippines next year, with Cebu as a possible destination.

He said the country’s pocket open skies policy will enhance the tourism sectors of both countries. Kudashev said this would further increase the number of Russians visiting the country for vacation.

Currently, Russians fly on their second largest airline TransAero, which launched chartered flights on a Boeing 747 to Cebu from Moscow in November 2010.

“Cebu would be a potential gateway considering the congestion problems at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport,” he said.

 

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