The province of Leyte is inviting everyone to go back to Leyte and they
staged a big arts and music fest to kickstart it.
I accompanied a media delegation to Leyte invited by Philippines
AirAsia, which has been very involved in helping the province recover from the
devastation caused by Typhoon Yolanda. AirAsia was the first and only to send
humanitarian flights to the province to fly in relief aid and evacuate
survivors. It was also able to raise,
through its campaign ‘To Philippines with love,” USD 2.17 million which was
used for reconstruction efforts.
Continuing their efforts to help the province, AirAsia is now supporting
a young group of Taclobanons who is now looking at tourism to revitalize the
province.
Spearheaded by siblings Jacques and Tricia Palami, the group, which is
actually an informal one, is now pushing for the campaign "See You, Leyte!."
Tricia
told us that the inspiration came from a conversation she had with a friend, a
development aid worker, who was leaving. She said the usual "no goodbyes,
just see you later," which got the reply "see you, Leyte!" And that was how the inspiration started.
At first she thought it would be a cool copy for a slogan shirt but it
became much bigger than that. She asked her friend, Dan Matutina, to design the
logo then offered it as a tourism campaign to the Department of Tourism.
The big start for the campaign was the Guinsiyaman Arts and Music
Festival. It was not the first time the siblings organized a similar event
because they have done several in their hostel called Yellow Doors but it was
the first of this magnitude.
Tricia and
Jacques envisioned it as a two pronged event – a big farewell party for the
volunteer aid workers and an invitation for everybody who has left to come
back.
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| Ginsiyaman! |
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| Tricia and Jacques with the media delegation from Manila |
After Yolanda, there has been an influx of aid workers and volunteers in
the province. A string of new hostels,
restaurants and other businesses have opened to cater to the needs of these
guests. But they have started to
leave. The siblings saw the need to
sustain the businesses and the economy of the province in general through a
renewed tourism campaign, which is ‘See you, Leyte!’
The festival was held in a farm owned by their friend, Kay Veloso.
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The huge concert ground
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It was my kind of thing - chill out, camp out, also pig out. I am not a fan of crowded concert.
Shout out to Bullet Dumas, who is also a
Waray. There were also performances from
The Bandang
Shirley, Strangeness, Yolanda Moon, Pulso, Skymarines, The Ringmaster, Aimee
Delgado, Kulahig, plus a few more supporting acts.
The art part was provided by
different Leyte LGUs, which provided activities like basket weaving, tuba
painting, etc.
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| Chill fest |
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| Rice Lucido on stage |
Although the trip was organized mainly for the coverage of Ginsiyaman
Arts and Music Fest, the organizers, including the Department of Tourism, also
took it as an opportunity for the media group to experience Leyte.
It was a 4-day trip, which included tour
around Tacloban City, island hopping in Inopacan, tour of Baybay City, and
pineapple tasting in Ormoc City.
In Tacloban City, we hopped around different coffee shops and
restaurants and all have something in them that makes them memorable.
We just can’t simply forget the best bulalo
in Leyte made by Calle Z, the very lovely Chew Love, the quaint Jose Karlo
Coffee, and the cozy K Patisserie. Too
bad, for the second time around, wasn’t able to catch Libro Atbp. open.
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| Chew Love. True Love. |
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| Our home in Tacloban City, the historic Hotel Alejandro |
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| Jose Karlo |
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Of course, we visited a few landmarks around it like the Palo Metropolitan Cathedral, Leyte Landing Memorial Site, and the San Juanico Bridge.
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| Palo Cathedral |
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| Leyte Landing. I returned! |
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| San Juanico Bridge |
Another highlight for me
was Cuatros Islas (four islands) hopping.
We visited two of the four islands – Mahaba and Digyo and both were
breathtaking. I wish we stayed there
longer to camp and enjoy its white sands and clear blue water.
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| Mahaba Island |
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| Digyo Island |
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| Two of the residents of Digyo Island having a blue lagoon moment |
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| The perfect campsite. Found a spot already for my hammock |
In Baybay, we sampled its
famous Chicken Barbecue and had a sampling of its cassava chips at Ciudad
Coffee and Bar. We also toured Visayas
State University, which is a tourism-accredited establishment and SC Coco
Global, which exports tons of coconut products.
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| Visayas State University's Obelisks |
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| Make sure to grab these when you visit Baybay |
At Ormoc’s Sabin Resort,
we got to sample one of the country’s sweetest pineapples. Sabin is actually synonymous to sweet
pineapples in the Visayas.
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| Sabin Resort |
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| The pineapple |
That's it! A four-day
tour that also made me want to say “See you, Leyte!”
Special thanks to Mr. Patrick Steven A. Buena, the perfect tour companion. Thank you also to the Tourism Promotions Board, the Department of Tourism, Provincial Government of Leyte, Local Government Unit of Inopacan, Local Government Unit of Baybay, SC Global, and Sabin Resort Hotel.
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