Filipinos ‘more able’ operators of ESL schools – foreign linguist

Sun.Star Cebu <> Tuesday, September 30, 2008

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

IF A FOREIGN linguist will have his way, schools offering English as Second Language (ESL) courses in the Philippines should be run by Filipinos.

Dr. Paul Robertson, chief executive officer of Asian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Journal, noted the proliferation of ESL schools in Cebu, a development that occurred with the increasing number of Korean nationals in the province.

“It seems that the Koreans are invading the market for ESL here and are running the schools. For me, this is a tragedy because you have here a nation with people who speak good English,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.

He said some ESL schools are even “fly-by-night” businesses run by foreign nationals who are not concerned about the quality of the curriculum. These schools do “irreparable damage to the image of Cebu and to the Philippines as a whole,” he added.

Bonifacio Belen, executive director of the Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (Cedf-it), said the proliferation of ESL schools may have made Cebu as a potential hub for English learners but it also produced players who are not concerned with education standards.

Robertson said ESL education is a new industry in the country, giving Philippines the “golden” chance to grow it and control it.

He believes that the demand for ESL education in the country will grow “massively in the regulated or unregulated sense,” especially as the Japanese and the Chinese come to the Philippines to learn English.

He cited data that show that 93.5 percent of Filipinos can speak and understand English well.

“It would seem that I can teach English better because I speak it. But now, the thinking is that only someone with English as a second language can be a true teacher because he or she can teach the complexities of learning another second language. I don’t have that experience, and yet that is now the trend across the globe,” he said.

Robertson is also a Korea-based official of the Time Taylor International Ltd., which produces the Asian EFL Journal, Asian ESP Journal and Chinese EFL Journal, among others.

While he believed that Cebu has a good chance of becoming a hub for ESL or Tesol (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) education, he raised the need for the private and public sectors to organize an independent Tesol organization to assist government authorities and check ESL schools based on quality of curriculum and teaching.

“Compared to India, Philippines has a good supply of teachers who learned English since elementary,” he said.

He urged Filipinos to open and manage ESL schools because there is a “huge” demand for such institutions.

“If only there is a regulatory body that can guide the development of ESL here, then Cebu can take the lead” in a million-dollar industry,” Robertson said.

“I believe the quality of teaching here can meet the demand of the market. What needs to be improved is the (quality of) training and the standard of the curriculum. But with (Filipino) teachers moving to other countries, this country also needs a huge supply of teachers, especially if more than 200,000 Koreans are coming to learn English,” he said.

Robertson held a workshop for a group of more than 10 ESL teachers last Saturday as part of Cedf-it’s efforts to upgrade ESL standards in an Asian context and to develop Cebu into a major ESL industry player.

Filed under: Business , Asian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Journal, Bonifacio Belen, Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information, Dr. Paul Robertson

Cebu-based firm launches island tour packages on board jetskis

Sun.Star Cebu <> Saturday, September 27, 2008

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

A CEBU-based Jetski enthusiast expanded the list of activities that locals and foreign tourists can do in Cebu by launching last Thursday a service that will allow customers to see different islands around Cebu on board a jetski or speedboat.

Jetscape Adventures Inc. will start offering the service, called jetski touring, on Monday.

Jetscape general manager Alex Roa said there are only two other countries in Asia-Thailand and Indonesia-that offer a similar service and theirs cater mostly to foreigners.

He said he has not heard of other jetski touring companies in the country. What he noticed are resorts that offer jetski as recreational activity to guests and this is limited to the seawaters near the establishment.

He said jetskiing would be a good way to show off various sites to local and foreign tourists in Cebu.

Roa and his family invested about P500,000 for each of the three jetskis owned by Jetscape.

“We plan to add more jetskis after studying the reception of target markets in a few months,” he told reporters in a press conference. He said the company hopes to get back its investment after two years.

The standard tour being offered by Jetscapes involves a half-day ride on Yamaha Waverunner jetskis that will be accompanied by a 24-foot chaseboat that will be loaded with refreshments and will serve as floating lounge and back-up transport.

The package includes a light meal, onboard refreshments, island fees, use of snorkeling gear and US Coast Guard approved personal flotation device.

The Jetscape route for the standard tour is approximately 35 miles covering the Mactan-Olango circuit. The jump-off point is from Cebu Yacht Club in Lapu-Lapu City. After cruising through the Magellan Bay, guests will cross the Hilutungan Channel to Olango Island. They will then stop by Caw-oy for a meal before heading off to Gilutongan Island (off Cordova) for snorkeling or sunbathing in Sulpa Islet.

Customers can view Mactan’s eastern coastline before circling the northern tip of Mactan and heading back to the Cebu Yacht Club.

The tour will take about three to four hours, Roa said.

For a single customer, a standard tour will cost P12,800 or P6,800 per person for a group of two. The rate for speedboat passengers is P2,800 per person.

Rates may vary, though, depending on destination and service specified by the customers.

Filed under: Business , Jetscape Adventures Inc., Jetscape general manager Alex Roa, jetski touring

New mall feature (Ayala Center Cebu)

Sun.Star Cebu <> Saturday, September 27, 2008

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

THE lagoon area of the Ayala Center Cebu (ACC) will soft open in the second half of next month under a new name and a completely new look.

Dubbed The Terraces, the redesigned lagoon of ACC makes the mall look like other Ayala malls in Makati—Greenbelt and Glorietta.

“We named it The Terraces because one will walk through a terrace-like ambiance that gives you the feel of being in a resort,” said Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI) president Francis Monera in a press conference last Thursday.

A foreign architect led the concep-tualization of the design, which is based on intensive market studies. Mall developer CHI believes that The Terraces will click with the Cebu market and contribute to tourism development in Cebu.

“I don’t think there is a similar kind of development anywhere in Cebu. The Terraces is a tourist destination in itself and part of the lifestyle development of Ayala Center Cebu,” Monera said.

P600-million project

The P600-million lagoon re-development project, which was constructed starting March last year, has a total leasable area of about 8,000 square meters that can accommodate 55 merchants.

Around 78 percent of the space is already leased out to tenants. The remaining spaces are still under negotiation, said Monera.

He said The Terraces will house a good mix of Manila-based and home-grown tenants.

These tenants, he said, will include lifestyle stores, like specialty bookstores, spas, restaurants, coffee shops as well as high-end and affordable restaurants.

Since The Terraces is “equipped to operate separately” from the mall, tenants can remain open until after the main mall’s closing time.

With the soft opening in October, about 30 tenants are expected to be operational. The re-designed site’s grand opening will be in the first half of December.

The Terraces, with earth-colored structures and lush landscape, also feature 400 parking slots and a stage that has a capacity to accommodate 2,000 people.

The completion of the ACC’s three-story annex and the makeover of its lagoon area into a food and beverage strip is part of the P850-million expansion project of CHI for the mall.

The expansion project is also part of CHI holding company Ayala Land Inc.’s efforts to show the Ayala mall brand on all its
shopping complexes. Other Ayala malls include Ayala Alabang and Market Market in Taguig, Metro Manila.

The ACC is Ayala Land’s only mall outside Metro Manila. Its gross revenue grew seven percent higher in 2007 and contributed a gross income of P427.7 million to CHI.

Filed under: Business , Ayala Center Cebu (ACC), Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI) president Francis Monera, The Terraces

Cebuano businessman ‘uplifts’ banca island-hopping service

Sun.Star Cebu <> Friday, September 26, 2008

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

APART from wanting to support the Department of Tourism’s thrust of promoting Cebu as an adventure tourism destination, a Cebuano entrepreneur has decided to pursue his dream to provide decent transportation facilities for local and foreign tourists who want to go to different islands near Cebu.

Through the Islands Banca Cruises Corp., Islands Group president and chief executive officer Jay Aldeguer can tap adventurous tourists who are in constant search for things to do and places to go.

Islands Banca Cruises started operations last May with an investment of about P2 million. It has three motorized pumpboats—Butanding (with a capacity of 20 to 35 persons), Butete (with a capacity of 12 to 20 persons) and Bolinao (with a capacity of two to eight persons)—that can ferry tourists to as far as Apo Island off Dauin, Oriental Negros and Bantayan Islands, Cebu.

The company will be formally launched tomorrow with Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano at its office in Barangay Punta Engaño, Lapu-Lapu City.

Aldeguer said, though, that he wants to do more by elevating the standards of the island-hopping business and putting more value to a product by increasing its services.

“We want to elevate the standards of an already existing industry and make our product truly world-class. We want to be a premier tourism brand,”

Aldeguer told reporters in a press conference last Tuesday.

He expressed confidence about getting the return on his investment in a year because of the high demand for such activity, saying the company has had full bookings in the past three months. About 30 percent of the bookings are from Cebu.

He admitted that while he is tempted to offer similar services in other provinces like Bohol, the Cebu market is more than enough to keep him and his staff busy.

He said, though, that Islands Banca Cruises Corp., a company under the Islands Group, plans to acquire or outsource and accredit 15 bancas (motorboats) in time for its full-swing operations in summer next year.

Islands Banca Cruises customers can avail of activities and special packages, such as sunset cruises, picnics, massage on board the banca, theme parties, candle-lit dinners and water-based activities like snorkeling, scuba diving, fish feeding, sea kayaking and dolphin watching.

Islands Banca boats are also furnished with iPod dock and beanbags.

Aldeguer is planning to set it up with a Wi-Fi Internet access.

Filed under: Business , Department of Tourism, Islands Banca Cruises Corp., Jay Aldeguer

Show gets P1M budget

Sun.Star Cebu <> Friday, September 26, 2008

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

HOPING to attract more exhibitors and draw more people, organizers of the Beauty, Health and Wellness (BHW) 2008 tripled the show’s budget allocation and enhanced its promotional endeavors.

Spa and Wellness Association of Cebu Inc. (Swac) president Johnie Lim said this year’s budget has been increased to about P1 million, triple that of last year’s P300,000.

“This is because we have increased our marketing collaterals to manifest that the health and wellness industry, including spas, is a growing industry with lots of other sectors enjoying and appreciating its existence and contributions,” he said after the formal launching of the BHW show 2008 last Wednesday at Laguna Garden Café.

Organizers also extended the duration of the show to four days from three. They have also decided to hold the BHW 2008 on Nov. 13 to 16 at Ayala Center Cebu, describing the venue as “more attuned to lifestyle living,” from the SM City mall.

Apart from Swac, lead organizer Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) added more partners that will help them manage the event, including the Confederation of Philippine Exporters Foundation (Philexport) Cebu Inc. and the Cebu Health and Wellness Council (CHWC).

Philexport-Cebu president Jay Yuvallos said that BHW show 2008 is the start of the synergy and alliance between CCCI and Philexport towards making the beauty, health, and wellness sector in Cebu “globally competitive.”

Together, organizers came up with “Experience Life” as the theme for the show, which will promote healthy lifestyle activity for the whole family.

“At the Ayala Activity Center, we want to sell more of lifestyle than products. We want to make it less than a trade show but more of a lifestyle event,” said Sabine Schacknat of German Development Service (DED) of Germany, Philexport-Cebu’s consultant for marketing and branding.

For this year’s BHW show, organizers expect more than last year’s 5,000 registered participants and at least 70 exhibitors—including including spas, salons, gyms, beauty clinics, restaurants, hotels and medical tourism industry players—to participate in the show and give live demonstrations.

Filed under: Business , Ayala Center Cebu, Beauty, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), Cebu Health and Wellness Council (CHWC), Confederation of Philippine Exporters Foundation (Phile, Experience Life, Health and Wellness (BHW) 2008, Philexport-Cebu president Jay Yuvallos, Sabine Schacknat of German Development Service (DED), Spa and Wellness Association of Cebu Inc. (Swac) presid

Cement firm launches new brand

Sun.Star Cebu <> Thursday, September 25, 2008

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

THE high cost of fuel has prompted a cement manufacturing company to manage its resources and invest on a new energy-efficient product that will translate into huge savings for them and for the consumers.

Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Inc. (TCPI) will formally launch today, Grand Premium, an alternative of Portland cement.

According to TCPI officials, the new product is a specially-formulated blend of prime quality Portland cement with Philippine Tuff, resulting in a long-term compressive strength.

Having surpassed both the American and Philippine standard requirements for Portland cement, Grand Premium can be used for the construction of structural concrete, mass concrete structures, culverts, water pipes, blocks, pre-fabricated elements, concrete hollow block, plastering, finishing and concrete hollow block filling.

Since Grand Premium is composed of only about 70 to 75 percent clinker compared to the 95 percent clinker in Portland, its production will consume lesser energy and emit lesser carbon dioxide, they said.

“At the same time, we are contributing to environmental sustainability and helping address global warming through producing an energy-saving and cheaper product while maintaining its quality,” said Toshio Komatsu, TCPI president and chief operating officer.

TCPI gets coal from a local source and also imports some from Indonesia, which increased its prices from $80 a ton last year to $115 a ton this year.

Toshiyuki Nono, TCPI first vice-president of finance, said that their sales only increased a “little” while their profits were “down” in the first half of the year against the same period last year.

Prices

“While we have increased the prices of our products (Portland and Pozzolan) to cope with the energy cost, we also have to look at how we can manage and invest our resources. Grand Premium is one way,” Komatsu said.

After testing the product in the market last August and receiving positive response, TCPI introduced Grand Premium to dealers and retailers starting September.

Since then, TCPI senior marketing manager George Uy said that sales of Grand Premium have been replacing a percentage of the sales volume of Portland cement. He said that Grand Premium is about P5 cheaper per 40-kilogram bag than the Portland brand.

Production

He added that depending on the market demand, TCPI may make a gradual slow production of Portland and increase the production of Grand Premium.

However, TCPI senior manager for the civil department and engineering division Rolando Buhisan pointed out that it would be impossible to phase out Portland cement because it is a type of cement a builder can readily enhance to serve his purpose like saving on construction time.

“It takes time for the government to shift to new products, like Grand Premium, probably because they have to use the products specified in their plans. However, we believe that Grand Premium will be received well by the Cebuanos who are smart buyers,” said Uy.

Filed under: Business , Grand Premium, Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Inc. (TCPI), TCPI first vice-president of finance Toshiyuki Nono, TCPI president and chief operating officer Toshio Komat, TCPI senior manager for the civil department and engine, TCPI senior marketing manager George Uy

Pollution control should start in workplaces

Sun.Star Cebu <> Wednesday, September 24, 2008

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

UNLESS the local public and private sector join hands to control pollution, Cebu’s industrial development could soon result to unhealthy working conditions that will eventually turn off potential investors, an environmental lawyer said.

“Who wants to invest in a polluted area? Long-term growth is possible when nature is considered,” said lawyer Gloria Estenzo Ramos during the 8th Young Economists’ Visayas Mini-Convention last Saturday at the University of San Carlos.

She urged representatives of the academe to integrate the mindset of sustainability in classrooms in order for students to understand their role in protecting the environment once they establish their businesses.

“For so long, we have relied on local government units to do the job of taking care of the environment. Only recently, corporate social responsibility has become a buzzword. This also translates to corporate sustainability, which means corporate survival,” she said.

Ramos noted that despite the global response through international conventions, like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 1994, Kyoto Protocol, and Millennium Development Goals, climate change, global warming and destruction of natural resources are still persistent issues.

Industries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, she said, are agriculture, insurance, energy, transportation, tourism, real estate, financial institutions, and manufacturing.

Mindset

“We are up against low prioritization and collective consciousness on resource management issues, traditional mindsets about open access resource use, right to earn a living versus environmental considerations syndrome, and urgency of the problem,” she said.

After reminding the participants that the country holds two-thirds of the world’s flora and fauna, she urged the public and the business sector to preserve this by embarking on small steps, such as lessening the use of non-ecology friendly materials, reporting violators, practicing proper waste management, and respecting and obeying the laws.

Filed under: Business , 8th Young Economists’ Visayas Mini-Convention, Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos