Maniolas

This picture taken on October 6, 2017, shows a traditional Philippine wooden boat known as balangay sailing in Manila Bay. After conquering Mount Everest, Philippine adventurer Carina Dayondon is set to sail to China aboard a wooden replica of an ancient boat in the hopes of boosting national pride in a forgotten maritime prowess. Dayondon is planning to sail from Manila to southern China in early 2018, recreating trade and migration voyages made before Spaniards colonised the Philippines in the 1500s./ AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS / Philippine adventurer Carina Dayondon is no stranger to adversity. She, along with two other Pinays conquered Everest in 2007, the first Filipino women to ever summit the world’s highest mountain. But Dayondon is undertaking a new challenge: sailing to China in a replica balangay early next year, hoping to recreate trade and navigation voyages made by her ancestors before the country was colonized by Spain in the 1500s. “People tell me I am crazy. They ask: ‘Wow, why climb Mount Everest? Why go to China on this tiny thing,’” Dayondon told AFP in Manila Bay aboard one of the two boats that will make the expected six-day sailing journey. “I’m excited because our team will be more inspired realizing how good our forefathers were. We have to let people know we should be proud of being Filipino,” the 39-year-old added. The balangay she will be using is an 18-meter by 3-meter wide wooden boat that’s known as the oldest watercraft found in the Philippines. Read More …

Image via Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images Looking to visit South Korea without the hassle of filing for a Visa? Then consider entering through Pyeongchang, the host city of the 2018 Winter Games, located 180 kilometers from Seoul. For a limited time, the government of South Korea will be allowing visitors from Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam to enter the country without a visa if they enter in groups and through the YangYang International Airport according to Yonhap News, the state-run news agency. It’s one of the moves of the South Korean government to boost tourism during the Winter Olympics, which will run from February 9 to 25. Visa-free entry into South Korea via Pyeongchang will be possible until April of 2018. Previously Philippine passport holders could only enter South Korea visa-free through Jeju Island, without an option to leave and visit other cities in the country without a visa. Seoul is also trying to attract more Chinese tourists into the country, after a controversial decision to allow the US’s THAAD missile defense system to be installed within its territory saw Sino relations drop. South Korea will extend the $15 visa fee waiver for Chinese tourists with electronic passports until the end of 2018. The post South Korea Allows Visa-free Entry Via Olympic City Pyeongchang appeared first on Good News Pilipinas.

Image via Rappler The name Maute has been a plague for people in Marawi, thanks to the two extremist Islamic brothers that led the attack on Marawi City on May 23, 2017.  The attack triggered a 5-month siege and a humanitarian crisis, and displaced nearly 5 million residents because of the fighting. But for one barangay in town of Balo-i, Lanao del Norte, the Maute name is carried by a village chief, a woman no less, now leading the efforts to help shelter thousands of evacuees from the besieged city. 32-year old Okura Samporna Pacalundo-Maute is the village chief of Barangay Pacalundo. Mother of 10, Okura is a widower, her husband gunned down by political rivals more than a year ago. She became village chief when elders led by sultans asked her to lead after the demise of her husband. But despite the events of May 23, she still doesn’t mind if visitors address her as Captain Maute. “It’s just a name,” she told Rappler in an interview. “Dahil tradisyon, tayong mga babae ang mga pangalan natin galing sa mga lalaki – sa tatay o asawa. Pero puwede namang hindi, puwede tayong mamili (Because of tradition, we women take the names of the men in our lives – our father or husband. But we can choose not to).” Her colleagues now refer to her as Cap. “My husband was a good man and public servant. I honor his name. But I will also strive to be a good human being, Read More …