CEB is the first and only airline to provide direct air services from the Philippines to this popular island destination.

Using its fleet of brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft, CEB will operate a thrice weekly Manila-Phuket service every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The maiden flight will leave Manila at 8 p.m. and arrive in Phuket at 11 p.m. The return flight will depart Phuket at 12 a.m. the next day, and will arrive in Manila at 5:05 a.m.

Located approximately 860 kilometers south of Bangkok, Phuket is Thailand’s largest island. It is widely known for its dive sites and abundant beaches, making it a popular location for Hollywood movies. The Phrom Thep Cape and Wat Chalong Temple are also popular attractions, as well as snorkeling, windsurfing, sailing and yachting.

To launch its newest international route, CEB holds a P999 seat sale until May 23, 2013 or until seats last, for travel from Aug. 16 to Oct. 31, 2013. After the seat sale, lowest year-round fares start at P3,499.

“Cebu Pacific is proud to make the island of Phuket accessible to even more travelers. Our PHP999 seat sale is 71% off our year-round fares. We encourage everyone to take advantage of CEB’s trademark lowest fares to this world-renowned tourist attraction,” said CEB VP for Marketing and Distribution Candice Iyog.

Phuket is CEB’s 2nd destination in Thailand, aside from Bangkok where CEB operates 12 weekly flights from Manila and twice weekly flights from both Cebu and Clark.

“Aside from Phuket, CEB also pioneered direct low-cost flights from Manila to Siem Reap in Cambodia, Hanoi in Vietnam, Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and Bali in Indonesia. All can be considered honeymoon destinations, as well as backpacker destinations, so we hope guests start planning their trips early and book now,” Iyog added.

CEB is also slated to launch flights from Cebu to Masbate (June 1, 2013) and from Cebu to Taipei (July 5, 2013), as well as the airline’s first long haul flights from Manila to Dubai (Oct. 7, 2013).

Presently, CEB offers 22 international destinations: Bali, Bangkok, Beijing, Brunei, Busan, Dubai, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Incheon, Jakarta, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Osaka, Phuket, Shanghai, Siem Reap, Singapore, Taipei and Xiamen.

For bookings and inquiries, guests can go to www.cebupacificair.com, or call the reservation hotlines (02)7020-888 or (032)230-8888. The latest seat sales can also be found on CEB’s official Twitter and Facebook pages.

Those still booking flights may also sign up to be a CEB Club member through the Cebu Pacific website, for seat sale alerts, easy management of flights and travel funds, and a faster booking process.

CEB currently operates 10 Airbus A319, 25 Airbus A320 and 8 ATR-72 500 aircraft. Its fleet of 43 aircraft is one of the most modern aircraft fleets in the world. Between 2013 and 2021, Cebu Pacific will take delivery of 17 more Airbus A320, 30 Airbus A321neo, and 4 Airbus A330 aircraft.

A group of students united by their love for art and strengthened by their love for God, CADs is the official dance group of Ateneo de Manila University who has made a name in the category of jazz and street dancing within and outside their school community.

“We feel blessed, most of all, to have this great opportunity for our organization, especially now that we are in our 20th year. This partnership (with Sun) could really go places and would help us actualize our dreams,” shares CADs marketing officer Bettina San Luis.

“Knowing Sun is giving us so much support this year pushes our team to work twice as hard to represent Sun as well,” adds Bettina.

“We are happy to welcome CADs to Sun Cellular family. We made a good choice because they embody what Sun Cellular is about – young, vibrant and creative,” shares Sun Cellular Assistant Vice President for Marketing Services, Jocel Adorable.

For more information, visit www.suncellular.com.ph or Facebook page www.suncellular.com.ph. Follow @suncelldeals on Twitter.

The PXC announced last Sunday that “they have elected to suspend Ricardo Sapno’s PXC contract and delay his debut fight on national television in the Philippines until a future date.”

PXC CEO and promoter E.J. Calvo said, “It is unfortunate, but we hope to see Sapno in PXC competition in the near future once he has worked out his issues with his former promotion.”

“Sorry I can’t meet all your expectations. I need to fix my unfinished business first,” said Sapno.

The 5-foot-7 Sapno recently signed with PXC to make his debut at PXC-37 on May 18 in Manila.

Sapno, who weighs 145 lbs., has a professional MMA record of 6 wins and 1 loss and is proud to represent Davao and the Philippines against international competition.

“But (he) must wait a little longer to join the PXC rankings,” said the PXC announcement.

Sapno said he signed with PXC recently after relinquishing his URCC title and completing his three-fight agreement with the URCC organization. However, URCC subsequently protested the move and has publicly claimed that Sapno has further obligations to their organization.

“I had a three-fight contract with URCC which I completed last year. I have fulfilled all the contractual obligations required of me. In fact, I was slated to compete in Baguio this past February, but Bubbles Aguilar of URCC scrapped all negotiations completely and I was removed from the card and a new contract or extension was not issued,” Sapno said.

“We understand the fight game here and I am excited about moving on to greener pastures and stiffer competition in PXC, who has grown quickly as the top MMA league in the Philippines,” he said.

Calvo, on the other hand, said, “We are happy to welcome Ricardo to our PXC roster of rising stars from the Philippines. Although it is quite clear that his previous contract is expired, we prefer that he settle his contract matters professionally with URCC before making his PXC debut, which will hopefully take place soon.”

“The fuss about Ricardo’s decision to fight for PXC is simply a case of misunderstanding between him and the URCC,” said Sapno’s long-time coach Bambi Posadas of the Beefit Python’s Pit.

“Sapno just wants to fight some of the best from Asia and he thinks PXC has the best international flavor, although we feel both promotions helped Philippine MMA to where it is today,” Posadas said.

Sapno said that he “doesn’t care about the money or who’s gonna pay the big bucks for him.” PXC, which now has 37 professional events in a decade, has encouraged the development of hundreds of local and regional fighters to compete among the best in the world.

“(It’s) a track record that can’t be disputed,” Calvo said.

Former boxer Ale Cali, also of Davao City, is the reigning PXC flyweight champion and is the first home-grown champion.

Along with partners at TV5, they have escalated television ratings in the Philippines for MMA and packed arenas show after show, clearly establishing PXC as the premier MMA league in the Philippines and one of the top promotions in Asia-Pacific.

PXC-37 will feature eight professional bouts at the Ynares Sports Arena and will be nationally televised live on AKTV via IBC-13 on Saturday night. It will feature some of the region’s best fighters from Japan, South Korea, Guam, Hawaii and the Philippines. PNA

MAYOR-ELECT Oscar Moreno yesterday led a clean-up drive that was seen as a glimpse of what Cagayan de Oro would be like under the new leadership.

CLEANING THE MESS. Misamis Oriental governor and Cagayan de Oro Mayor-elect Oscar Moreno leads in ridding the city of campaign posters and streamers yesterday. (photo by Nitz Arancon)

“Hapsay ta,” said the incoming mayor as he reached out to remove his own campaign poster.

Moreno won with a wide lead of over 17 thousand votes over incumbent Mayor Vicente Emano in last Monday’s elections after promising a city clamoring for change “smooth governance.”

His three-year term as the city’s mayor begins July 1.

Moreno and his supporters removed all the political materials they saw and within their reach from Fernandez-A. Velez streets to CM Recto Avenue and Vamenta Boulevard in Carmen.

Councilor Roger Abaday and Councilor-elect Enrico Salcedo joined the incoming mayor in the clean-up drive.

“Inyo na usab nga gipakita karon ang lihok sa kinabag-an,”Moreno told his supporters.

He said his gesture was symbolic of the kind of governance he would bring to the city, and he hoped it would inspire citizens to follow the example and do the same thing.

“Si Oca Moreno usa lamang ka simbolo sa kausaban,  ug panag-hiusa alang sa hapsay nga pang-goberno,” he said.

Moreno and his group started the clean-up drive with a prayer at GastonPark near the St. Augustine Cathedral and city hall.

Moreno and members of Team Oca later gathered at the St. Augustine Cathedral late in the afternoon for a thanksgiving mass.

WHILE the Cagayanons are in euphoria with the outcome of the local election, I could not help but wonder how the newly elected mayor is taking his victory. His positioning in the campaign was quite revolutionary bringing the promise of a new era which is practically everything but usual. His mantra for change has resonated strongly with students and professionals, which implies that the people really clamor for more than what was rendered by the incumbent, and to think that the incumbent has done quite a job too as evidenced by how the city was literally divided in this election.

The expectations set by the voters with this new administration are almost close to impossible. More than his name, I think the Cagayanons voted for a revolutionary change. Then questions then would  be, will the new mayor have what it takes to deliver his promise of “hapsay nga pang-gobyerno?” Will he be the catalyst that the people envisioned him to be? Will he not short-change the trust and confidence of those who voted for him?

I foresee three overwhelming challenges ahead of him. First is that while half of the population voted for him and welcomes his promised change, the remaining half is used to the old ways and is very contented about it.  They would most likely expect to be treated the same way and would surely resist any forms of change especially when it entails discomfort. The mayor has yet to win the remaining half of the Cagayanons if he is dead serious in bringing about change.

Second is that while he may have the best of plans for the city in the next three years, he has to work with a city council that does not see eye to eye with him. For those who are familiar with the bureaucracy, it cannot be denied that a mayor is only as good as how much the city council supports him. The city council could either fasttrack his plans or in in this case slow him down. Again, he has got to bring them on board his ship if he wants change to be felt by the people.

Third is that he has got to change the attitude of the people. You see, we Filipinos have this heroic dependence. We vote for a hero, thinking he can single-handedly turn the tide and save the day for all of us. We think that our duty starts and ends with voting, then we just leave everything to our hero to make his magic. Sadly it doesn’t work that way. Revolutionary changes are always a collective effort and are never a one-man-show. Even if he has the nicest of visions and aspirations for our city, if the people will not pitch in to make them happen then he will end up to be yet another icing on a rotten cake.

This brings me back to my curiosity, I wonder how the newly elected mayor is taking these tremendous high expectations?  Does he have a game plan?  While the Cagayanons may think that victory is already at hand, the battle has actually just started.

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The Governance and Leadership Institute (GLI) of Xavier University (my office) commits to help the City of Cagayan de Oro and our neighboring towns in building capacity for public sector. We offer a menu of trainings and seminars as well as consultancy services for our local leaders should they need our assistance.

SAN JOSE, DinagatIslands––Geraldine “Jade” Ecleo, who lost to her reelectionist mother Glenda in the tightly contested gubernatorial race, will not contest the outcome of the elections although she was “shocked” by her loss.

“There will be no protest. I have to accept it because I know wala naman dayaan (there’s no cheating),”the younger Ecleo told MindaNews hours after the proclamation of her mother.

The mother beat the daughter by a slim margin of 625 votes.

“It’s the princess and the queen who competed, and the princess had lost. But that is okay, I am still a princess,” Ecleo said.

Ecleo, considered the more “charismatic” of the Ecleo siblings, would continue to support congresswomen-elect Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao, who defeated Gwendolyn Ecleo, the youngest of the Ecleo children with Glenda or “Mommy Glen.”

Baga-o and Geraldine Ecleo ran under the ruling Liberal Party.

“I will not leave her during the rest of her term. I will be her project coordinator for Dinagat,” Ecleo said.

She said she will also continue her programs under the Jade Ecleo Foundation, which provides scholarships for poor but deserving students in DinagatIslands.

“I still have a lot of things to do for the Dinagatnons and my vision for them and the province will continue (while leading a civilian life), ” Ecleo said.

The crack in family relations started when Geraldine ran for vice governor in 2010 without the support of her family.

Allan I, the mayor of Basilisa in his speech during the miting de avance of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), related that her sister also got hurt when the family decided not to support her bid for governor.

The PBMA, a sect founded by family patriarch Ruben Ecleo Sr. in 1965, was said to practice “bloc voting” during elections.

Allan I said he and Geraldine talked on the phone before the filing of candidacy to convince her to run for the congressional seat, which the latter refused.

Geraldine’s decision to run against her mother further caused the rift in the family.

She said her running against her mother was propelled by a “deep reason to spare her from the stress of work due to the latter’s health condition and age.

“Mommy Glen” underwent a triple heart by-pass operation a few years ago, Geraldine noted.

Geraldine insisted that she fought her mother in the gubernatorial race “to safeguard her.”

“How can a daughter allow her mother to go through this situation? I am only thinking of her condition,” she said.

“Now that she is still governor, she cannot go out and visit far flung areas because it will be difficult for her,” Geraldine noted.

But the daughter said she “was thankful that she did not win because I don’t think I can handle the thought that my mother will die if she will lose, which she will if I won. I don’t want to be the cause of my mother’s death.”

She said she will not be running again against her mother in future elections.

But if Gwendolyn will run, I will run against her, Geraldine, the incumbent vice governor, said.

As early as Tuesday morning when canvassing resumed after being delayed for almost nine hours due to delayed transmission of results from the municipal level, talks of Geraldine conceding to her mother already spread at the halls of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan where the provincial canvassing was taking place.

As the official results were read and the crowd cheered when the elder Ecleo was proclaimed winner later in the afternoon, talks of Geraldine coming to the canvassing area still persisted.

Inside her house later in the night, Geraldine admitted she would have gone to the proclamation with her party mate Bag-ao but the presence of supporters flocking to her residence expressing their disappointment stopped her from going.

“I really wanted to cry while taking a shower but I couldn’t,” she said.

Facing reporters after the proclamation, a teary-eyed Bag-ao expressed gratitude for her victory and sadness to her party mates who lost, especially Geraldine.

Geraldine’s loss, however, did not change the fact that the Ecleos still rule the province, which is touted as a mystical island for its beautiful and scenic spots that are still largely untouched, except for the bonsai forest that is now bulldozed because of mining operations.

“It’s still the same, it is still Ecleo. The situation will not be changed because they still rule the place,” lawyer Victor Bernal said in an earlier interview.

Bernal was one of the lawyers who filed a protest against the creation of DinagatIslands as a separate province of Surigao del Norte.

DinagatIslands is considered one of the poorest provinces in the country.

During the campaign period, Geraldine criticized the PBMA leadership for making false hopes on people, especially for equating political governance to “divine providence.”

She also said that for several years that her mother and siblings have controlled DinagatIslands as local chief executives, the province is still poor.

A BARBER was killed while two others were wounded in two shooting incidents in Gusa, this city, on Thuesday night.

Senior Insp.  Evan Viñas, chief of the Agora police, identified the fatality as Julius Galon, 30, a barber from Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.

Wounded were Myco Yacapin and Benjie Vison of Purok 3, Gusa.

Viñas said Galon was attacked by two men on a Honda XRM motorcycle without license plates. Galon died on the spot after being shot to the head.

While the gunmen were speeding off, Yacapin and Vison came and tried to stop them.

Vinas said the gunmen stopped and fired shots Yacapin and Vison. The two victims were rushed to the NorthernMindanaoMedicalCenter.

Viñas said investigators were looking into possible motives.

One was that the attack could a result of a “love triangle.” Another is the possibility that the shootings were illegal gambling- or drug-related.

Investigators said they found a slug from a 9mm pistol at the crime scene.

CAGAYAN de Oro Mayor-elect Oscar Moreno and Misamis Oriental Governor-elect Yevgeny Vincente Emano are starting off on the right foot with both calling for “healing,” reconciliation and unity. One even called for a harmonious working relationship between city hall and the capitol.

Moreno frowned over the idea of political retribution while Emano said he would need the help of city hall to carry out his plans for Misamis Oriental.

“It’s the time for healing and unifying the people,” said Moreno, adding that uniting people should be the bottomline and objective of elections and “we  should not depart from that.”

Emano, for his part, vowed to bring “healing” in the province and to those affected by the political mudslingings in Cagayan de Oro.

“I’ll start with ‘healing’ for the entire province,” he said.

Emano said he was willing to join hands with Moreno so that city hall and the capitol could synchronize development efforts.

“I’m willing to offer my right hand so there will be a joint effort to solve problems in the city and the province,” he said.

Emano added: “Dili ko ni mahimo nag-inusara. Kinahanglan ko ang ilang tabang.”

Moreno, meanwhile, said city hall under his administration would serve people regardless of political affiliations.

People, he said, are divided during elections “which is normal” and part of democratic processes.

“People live in a democratic system and part of it is the regular periodic mandate given to their elected officials. In giving that mandate, the partition of the people could not be avoided. If you remove the election, we cannot have democracy.

“But after the people have spoken, kinahanglan ang pagbahin-bahin must [lead us] to unity. This is now the time to bury negative attitudes. Dili mani sabong nga iya na ang bihag,”Moreno said.

He also assured that no city hall employee would be subjected to political persecution when he takes over this July.

“Far from it,” said Moreno. “Wala nay binihagan ani.”

But he was quick in saying that those with charges would need to answer and “then the law takes it natural course.”

Moreno said his record in the capitol speaks for itself. He said when he became governor, many people had expected him to run after his predecessor, ex-governor Antonio Calingin.

He said he merely allowed the law to take it natural course.

Calingin, who lost in last Monday’s congressional race in Misamis Oriental, was convicted for graft, sentenced to prison and then barred by the Supreme Court from running for office. The SC ruling came after the start of the election period, and Calingin continued campaigning despite the SC ban.

Moreno’s and Emano’s pronouncements suggest that there would be a different kind of political dynamics in the next three years in the polarized city and province where many people have become sick and tired of years of political mudslingings.

IT’S either a bright sunny day or the blues. That’s what happens after the elections. Not everyone can be winners. There will always be losers. But whether one is in or out, what we should try to avoid is to become spoiled winners or sore losers.

The political exercises we just had are just that—some kind of sports. We play to win, we do our best, yet in spite of all, we should not be surprised if we lose. And we just have to move on. Of course, if we win, then we should also be ready for the usual bad elements that go with the winning.

Now is the time for magnanimity, deleting the heady, intoxicating surge of victory or the depressing load of defeat. This is not the end of the world yet. And while we are still on the road, we just have to try our best to learn precious lessons along the way.

We need to enlarge our heart, to make it more universal to accommodate everyone and any situation and condition properly. We should evade being caught by the grip of our strong views, and even our positions that we think are so essential that they are not anymore subject to opinion.

This is our usual pitfall that we should try to be wary about always. We have the strong tendency to dominate others especially in a game or exercise for which we give an all-out interest and spend so much money and effort.

In the first place, we really need to purify our intentions before, during and after any race or contest. The intention should be to give glory to God, to show our love for him and for everyone, the common good, through acts of service.

When that intention is corrupted, that is, when it orients itself to oneself rather than on the common good based on God’s will, then we enter into a predicament, a highly toxic situation. We actually would be setting ourselves for a most painful fall.

We need to be very attentive to this need because many are the elements and factors every step of the way that would tend to grab us to make rash judgments, uncharitable thoughts, petty envies, raging anger and hatred.

We are prone to fall into what is called as bitter zeal and self-righteousness, and a spiral of worries, anxieties and resentments. That’s when we think we are the sole owner of what is right, true and fair. We would become Machiavellian to protect and defend our positions.

Without magnanimity, we easily become emotional, that is, we think with our emotions rather than with reason, and much less, with our faith, hope and charity. We caricaturize the positions of opponents while canonizing ours.

Without magnanimity, we fail to understand why others think the way they do. There’s always some reason, perhaps flimsy to us but very convincing to them, as to why they think they do. But we tend to make our own views the absolute truth.

In short, without magnanimity, we become rigid, short-sighted and narrow-minded, unable to go through the humane process of analyzing and clarifying issues. Obviously, it would be difficult for us to be tactful and courteous in the discussions and argumentations.

Let’s be sport and magnanimous. We should think well of the others no matter how different and even in conflict our views may be. The ideal is that while we can have different and even conflicting views, we manage to be friendly to everyone. We would have no enemies.

We should focus more on what is essential rather than on the incidentals.            And if the discussion centers more on what is essential and what is incidental, then we should proceed with extreme caution and prudence, knowing to choose the right words and the right timing.

We need to have a firm grip on our feelings and passions. That’s why we should make part of system the practice of self-discipline. We cannot overemphasize this. A person who may be bright and articulate but lacks self-discipline would be a pure pain in the neck.

There are times when that self-discipline expresses itself in just absorbing all the dirt that can be thrown to us without reacting immediately. Self-discipline enables us to see things in a much wider perspective, and equips us with the skill to know when to wait and when to move, when to speak and when to keep quiet.

Let’s take advantage of the little daily opportunities to practice and grow in magnanimity in our dealings with people.

E-mail: roycimagala@gmail.com

IN the midst of the mid-term election fever and the tensions that went with it after the voting hours and during the canvassing of votes, our country was once again put in a very critical position with our neighboring countries.

Most Filipinos were caught unaware of the dangers posted by the incident that happened when the Coast Guard admittedly fired at one of the four Taiwanese fishing vessels that had strayed into our waters and killed a Taiwanese fisherman.

I hate to say this but here we go again, people repeating history like what happened at the Luneta tragic hostage – taking some few years back which was peacefully settled due to the intervention (allegedly)of a Tsinoy businessman. Back then, several sanctions were about to be implemented but were halted by the said businessman.

The Taiwanese government reportedly has not forgotten the blunder of our immigration office where several Taiwanese were deported in China instead of Taiwan. The issue had a twist when Beijing turned over the Taiwanese to the Taipeh government.

Basically, we fear for the thousands of Filipino workers in Taiwan and most probably in Hong Kong and China that might be deported due to the recent incident. And worst of all, the three Chinas are up in arms against our government. The Taiwanese government has made a press conference to stop the hiring of Philippine workers. Can the PNoy administration handle such situation where thousands of our fellowmen will go home without any hope of finding a job here? That is the main reason why they took the risk of going out of the country because there are no jobs available here in the first place.

According to news reports, even though apologies were extended by Antonio Basilio, the Philippines’ de facto ambassador to Taiwan through their Foreign Minister David Lin but President Ma Ying-jeou insisted that Manila should offer a formal apology and compensation, apprehend the killer and launch talks on the fishing industry. From the words of his spokeswoman Lee Chia-fei, President Ma expressed his strong dissatisfaction over the Philippines’ lack of sufficient sincerity and its shifting attitude.

Why did the situation reach this crucial point? It seems that after three years in office of the present administration, we still lack the right persons with expertise in handling situations like these, as if nobody is minding the store (again?).

As an observer of events, I have been reminding our people especially in the government to be wary and always on the lookout for possible confluence of events which might lead to the invasion of our country by the Chinese without firing a single shot. I have written about this and never get tired of warning our government to be always vigilant against the infiltration of our Chinoy and ethnic Chinese migrants by Chinese “businessmen” from China, Hongkong and Taiwan. As I always say, fear China from within.

Although some pundits say that the recent “shooting” incident is a good copy that will create a scenario for something else––translation: laying the predicate for a possible conflict in the region. But in the end, the question remains: who will benefit? Is there a brewing connivance of this G2 to invade our country by one of them and in the process the mighty one will allow such invasion as “payment” and presto, all the country’s resources will be taken from us easily.

With the turn of events, such scenario is possible if we will continue to dilly-dally (noynoying) as if there is no urgency to act on the matter at hand.

This time around, let us unite and support the right moves of our leaders, it is not a joke to fight several fronts especially if there is so much at stake.

President Aquino should immediately convene the National Security Council to avert a possible confrontation and a designed crisis brewing.