Getting There

Manila, Cebu, Davao, Clark, Subic, and Laoag are the international gateways. The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila is the premier gateway. It is served by more than thirty (30) airlines which fly to different sities around the world.

The Mactan International Airport (MIA) in Cebu handles regular flights from Japan, Singapore, and Australia, as well as chartered flights from Hong Kong, the United States, and other major travel capitals. Davao International Airport handles regular flights from Indonesia and Singapore. The Diosdado Macapagal International airport and Subic airfield in Central Luzon service both chartered and cargo planes. Laoag International Airport in Ilocos Norte services regular flights from Taiwan and Macau

Philippine Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, links Manila to fourteen (14) cities in eight (8) countries. Major cruise liners call on the port of Manila.

Entry Regulations

Valid passport. Except for stateless persons and those from countries with which the Philippines has no diplomatic relations, all visitors may enter the country without visas and may stay for twenty one (21) days provided they have tickets for onward journey. Holders of Hong Kong and Taiwan passports must have special permits. Visas and special permits may be obtained from the Philippine embassies and consulates.

Health Regulations

A certificate of vaccinations against yellow fever is required for travelers coming from an infected area.

Airport Information

Airports and Facilities; Manila’s Ninoy Aquino Airport (NAIA) is seven kilometers (7kms) from the city center while the Manila Domestic Airport is one kilometer (1km) from the NAIA. The international airports have adequate traveler facilities; duty-free and souvenir shops, meet and assist personnel at the tourist information and assistance counters, hotel and travel agency representatives, car rental services, banks and automated teller machines, postal service, national and international direct dial telephone booths, medical clinics, and baggage deposit areas.

Customs

Visitors are advised to fill in the Baggage Declaration Form before disembarking to facilitate Customs examination. The following are allowed duty-free: reasonable quantity of clothes, jewelry, and toiletries: four hundred (400) sticks of cigarettes of two (2) tins of tobacco, two (2) bottles of wine or spirits of not more than one (1) liter each.

Porterage

Baggage carts are available free of charge. Porter services are also free. Tipping is optional though traditional.

Airport Transfers

Visitors are advised to avail of accredited fixed rate or metered taxis at the NAIA’s Arrival Area. At the Manila Domestic Airport, accredited transfer services are available on pre-paid coupon basis. Other airports are served by metered taxis. All airports have counters for hotel transport and car rental service.

Airport Fees

Seven hundred fifty pesos (P750) for international departure and two hundred pesos (P200) for local departure (paid in Philippine pesos only). Departing passengers for international destinations are advised to check with airport or tourist information counters (Tel. 524-1703; 832-2964) for prevailing departure fees which may change without notice.

Automated Teller Machine: American Express

Duty Free Shopping

Duty-Free Philippines near the NAIA is the country’s largest duty-free outlet carrying quality imported items and select Philippine export products.

Currency

Unit of currency: Philippine Peso (PhP)=100 centavos. Bank notes: P20, P50, P100, P200, P500, P1000. Coins: 5c, 20c, 25c, P1, P5, P10.

What to Wear

Light, casual clothes are recommended. Warmer garments are needed for mountain regions. When visiting churches and temples, properly dictates that shorts and scanty clothing be avoided. Formal occasions require dinner jackets and ties (or the Philippine Barong Tagalog) for men and cocktail dresses or long gowns for women.

Tipping

Tipping is expected for many services. The standard practice is ten percent (10%) of the total bill. Tipping is optional on bills that already include a ten percent (10%) service charge.

Local Transport

By air, Philippine Airlines (tel. 855-9999), Air Philippines (tel. 855-9000), Cebu Pacific (tel. 636-4938 provide daily service to major cities and towns. Asian Spirit (tel. 851-8888), Laoag International Airlines (tel. 551-9729), and Seair (tel. 891-8708) service the missionary routes. There are also scheduled chartered flights to major domestic destinations serviced by smaller commuter planes.

By sea, inter-island ships connect Manila to major ports. Ferry services connect the smaller islands.

By land, Philtranco connects Manila to Bicol in Southern Luzon, to Samar and Leyte in the Visayas, and Davao in Mindanao.

Metered and fixed-rate taxis are widely available in key cities nationwide. Jeepneys and buses are inexpensive ways to get around most places. In Metro Manila, the fastest way of commuting is via the railway system. The Light Rail Transportation or LRT connects the northern district of Monumento to the southern district of Baclaran with stations situated at major intersections. The Metro Rail Transportation or MRT traverses the length of EDSA and connects North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City, passing through the major arteries of Makati’s financial district.

Accommodations

In Metro Manila and in key cities and towns throughout the country, a wide selection of de luxe, standard, economy and pension-type accommodations are available. In island destinations, a variety of resorts ranging from de luxe to special interest category are also available.

The Department of Tourism has a Homestay Program in several destinations outside Manila. The program offers visitors the comfort of modest homes and an insight into Philippine life. For information, contact the Tourist information Center at Room 106, Department of Tourism Bldg., with telephone numbers 524-2384/524-1703.

Language

Filipino is the national language. English is the business language and widely spoken.

Dining Out

Filipino food is an exotic, tasteful fusion of Oriental, European, and American culinary influences with a wide variety of fresh seafood and delectable fruits. First-class restaurants offer gourmet specialties as well as Filipino cuisine.

Entertainment and Culture

Metro Manila is the center and cultural activities. The premier venue for the performing arts, the cultural center of the Philippines, features excellent performances by local and international guest artist. Museums located in manila and in some parts of the country offer a glimpse of the Philippine history and culture. Art galleries exhibit the works of the country’s leading and promising visual artists.

Manila’s nightlife is one of the most vibrant in Asia, reflecting the Filipinos’ love for music. The hubs of nightlife activities are at the Remedios Cycle in Malate, Ayala Center and The Fort at Bonifacio Global City in Makati, Timog and Tomas Morato Avenues in Quezon City, Ortigas Center in Mandaluyong and Pasig Cities, and Eastwood in Libis, Quezon City. Clubs, music lounges, pubs, and sing-along bars feature Filipino bands and singers known for their exceptional musical talent. De luxe hotels offer a variety of live musical entertainment. Concerts and stage plays form part of the country’s entertainment scene.

For visitors who want to try their luck at the gaming tables there are casinos in Metro Manila and in the cities of Angeles, Olongapo, Tagaytay, Cebu, Davao, Baclod and Laoag.     

Electricity

220 volts, A.C. 60 cycles. Most hotels have 110-volt outlets.

Shopping

Visitors can choose from and exciting selection of great buys in a country known for export-quality items at reasonable prices: South  Sea pearls, hand-woven cloths, embroidered fineries, fashionable ready-to-wear and haute couture clothes, terracotta, and porcelain, coral and mother-of-pearl home accessories. Artifacts, pineapple fiber shirts, prehistoric jars, native handicrafts, and footwear are interesting items, too. The Philippines also produces furniture, basketry, fresh and processed fruits, exquisitely crafted jewelry, and gift items made of shell, wood and stone.

Big malls are located in major cities of Metro Manila, while handicraft, antique, and curio shops abound the Ermita District in manila and in other nearby towns in the metro’s environs.

Business and Banking Hours

Private and government officers are open either from 8 am to 5 pm or from 9 am to 6 pm. Some private companies hold office on Saturdays from 9 am to 12 noon. Most shopping malls, department stores, and super markets are opened from 10 am to 8 pm daily. There are 24-hour convenience stores and drugstores.

Banks are opened from 9 am to 3pm, Mondays to Fridays, with automated teller machines (ATM) operating 24 hours.

Credit Cards

International credit cards such as Visa, Diners Club, Mastercard, and American Express Card are accepted in major establishments.

Water

Water in Metro Manila and in key cities and towns is potable and safe for drinking. Bottled water is available in many hotels, restaurants, resorts, supermarkets, and convenience stores.

Communication Facilities

The country has international and national direct dial phone and facsimile service., mobile phone sites, internet and e-mail facilities, and worldwide express delivery service. The postal system is efficient.

Most national dailies in English. Foreign publications are sold at major hotels, malls, and bookstores in Metro Manila and key cities. 7 national television stations broadcast mainly in Filipino. Cable TV is available in many hotels in Manila and in many parts of the country.

Convention Facilities

Manila, the pioneer convention city in Asia, has played host to a number of prestigious national events. The Philippine International Convention Center is equipped with modern convention facilities and services. It can accommodate 4,000 delegates in its plenary hall and 5,700 persons in its Reception Hall the World Trade Center near the PICC can hold huge exhibitions and events. Smaller meetings can be held in hotels and other establishments. Out-of-town hotels and resorts are alternative convention sites.

Tours and Special Interest Activities

Tour packages, from day trips to five-day programs, are special ways of discovering the Philippines and its wealth of culture. Special interest activities include golfing, game fishing, diving, white water rafting and other aqua sports trekking, spelunking, and safari trips.

BAGUIO CITY

DESCRIPTION

A mountainous topography of towering peaks, plateaus, and intermittent patches of valleys, the Cordillera mountain range has a history as vast and beautiful as its mountainous curves. Poplated by the Ifugaos, a gentle yet fiercely proud ethnic community, the Cordilleras enjoy abundant mineral reserves. Metallic ores such as gold, silver, copper, zinc, and non-metallic reserves are found in Abra, Benguet, Kalinga Apayao, and Mountain Province.

Dubbed as the Watershed radl of the Philippines, the Cordillera Administrative Region was carved out of the predominantly Ilocano regions of Ilocos and Cagayan. Located in the North Central part of Luzon, the region is composed of the six provinces of Abra, Benguet, Kalinga, Ifugao, Mountain rovince, and chartered City of Baguio. The Cordillera consists of seventy six (76) municipalities and one thousand one hundred seventy two (1,172) barangays. Total land area of eighteen thousand two hundred ninety four (18,294) square meters account for seven percent (7%) of the total land mass of the Philippines.

The people in the region enjoy a cool climate throughput the year, particularly in highly elevated places like Benguet, Mt. Province, and Baguio City. General climate, though, is the dry season from November to April and the rainy season for the rest of the year.

BAGUIO CITY

BEST SPOTS

SUMMER CAPITAL. In the summer months of March, April, and May, Baguio lives up to its title as the “Summer Capital of the Philippines” when thousands of local and foreign visitors take their annual exodus to the city to cool off. From November to May, Baguio becomes a tropical paradise, a refreshing break from the hot and humid Philippine climate. Christmas season is when Baguio denizens enjoys the nippy winter air.

RICE TERRACES. Ifugao is home to a thriving ancient culture and host to the famous rice terraces. Carved from the base of the mountainsides to the top, the rice terraces seem to be a massive green stairway reaching to the sky.

The rice terraces were formed by the Ifugao tribespeople using primitive implements over a period of two thousand (2000) years. The famous terraces had been inscribed in UNESCo’s World Heritage List in 1995 as “a continuing cultural landscape” and likewise considered by the U.S. Association of Civil Engineers as a n engineering marvel built by unschooled and free men not of slave labor.

WEAVER’S PARADISE. Mountain Province is known as the “Weaver’s Paradise” with the presence of various weaving centers and different weave designs that reveal the province’s cultural heritage.

BORACAY

DESCRIPTION

Boracay is paradise for certified sun-worshippers all over the world. In fact, local and foreign tourists have made Boracay their yearly destination. Others have chosen to live on this haven.

Sheltered from the fierce easterly typhoon, Boracay can be found on the northwestern tip of Panay in Aklan, a province n the Visayas island known for its colorful Ati-Atihan festival.

Boracay’s thousand-hecatres boast of all elements of tropical heaven-crystal blue waters, powder white sand, liberal doses of tropical palms and flowering plants, and a healthy and diverse marine life.

Boracay has three (3) little communities – Yapak in the north, Balabag in the middle, and Manoc-manoc in the south. Hilly elevations of up to hundred (100) meters above sea level characterize Yapak and Manoc-manoc. Intertwining trails link the small villages and may sometimes lead to lush tropical jungles.

The culinary fare at Boracay is a diverse as the nationalities of its vistors, French, Chinese, Australian, Belgian, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Thai – are all fused into the native cuisine. Truly, Boracay has become the premiere destination of beach lovers around the globe.

BORACAY

BEST SPOTS

WATER FUN. The beach beckons for some serious swimming, or just wading by the shore. For the more active vacationers, windsurfing and parasailing gears are readily available. Go sailing with the help of locals acutely attuned to the rhythms of the sea.

BEACH COMBING. There are over a dozen beaches dotting the islands; White Beach, Diniwid, Alinghai Beach, Manoc-manoc Beach, and Cagban Beach, among others. Work on your tan, read a book, relax and have a massage. White beach, probably the most famous stretch in the country, features bright, fine sand and clear, shallow waters.

NIGHTLIFE. Spend the last hours of the day at any of Bora’s bars and discos. Beer in hand, you can dance on the sand with a few brilliant fireflies. If this seems too rowdy for your taste, take a stroll on the moonlit beach.

BAT CAVES. Explore the bat caves of Yapak, preferably with an experienced guide and take photos of these night creatures.

KAR-TIR SEASHELL MUSEUM. Located at the village of Ilig-iligan, Kar-tir features an interesting collection of seashells, woodcarvings, pottery, hand-woven articles, and traditional costumes from all over the Philippines.