City tourism officer Imma Rae D. Gatuslao said that the display of different kinds of lantern created by the different schools and a caroling presentation by 10 participating schools will highlight the affair.

Gatuslao said that the presentations are offering to the Cagayanons by the participating schools in the spirit of Christmas.

The lanterns will be seen from December 15 until the end of December.

“We are supporting Cagayan de Oro’s unique Otop with this facility which we will be providing free-of-charge to the industry,” said Bienvenido Paul C. Ferrer III, SM City Cagayan de Oro Mall Manager. “Besides the air-conditioned facility which will be free for the use of all white water rafters, we are also making available for them adjacent comfort rooms which we usually open only for big events.”

SM City Cagayan de Oro is the nearest mall to the white water rafting jump-off point in Barangay Kabula, a mere five kilometers away from the mall. At present, most outfitters use Plaza Divisoria in downtown Cagayan de Oro or Limketkai Center in Lapasan as their gathering place. Both are approximately over 14 kilometers to Bgy. Kabula.

Besides the convenience of starting off nearer the white waters, the SM White Water Lounge will also make available to interested entrepreneurs “wall shops” where they can provide white water rafters with frequently used (and forgotten!) items needed for river rafting such as sunblock, strap-on sandals, shirts, shorts and batteries for cameras and videocams.

The Department of Trade and Industry in consultation with the local government of Cagayan de Oro recently identified white water rafting as the city’s unique Otop.

Started over 12 years ago by members of the Northern Mindanao Mountaineering Society (now the NORMMS Ecological Foundation, Inc.), it is the Philippines’ first and only year round river rafting course and is a mere 40-minute jeepney ride from the ‘traditional’ jump off point in downtown Plaza Divisoria.

In 2001, the Cagayan de Oro Whitewater Rafting Adventure, Inc. became the first commercial white water rafting operator in the Philippines (there are other white water operators in Cagayan Valley and Davao but these do not offer year round operations). There are now six white water “outfitters” serving the basic and advanced Cagayan River white water ‘runs’.

All six players offer two types of runs: the beginners or amateur course runs 12.9 kms. with 14 Class 2-3 rapids and lasts 3.5 hrs. (including side trips) while the advanced or extreme/expert course is 18.6 kms. long with 22 Class 2-4 rapids which can take as long as five hrs. to traverse.

The industry’s river guides have to undergo and pass a grueling training program which included first aid and basic life support/CPR under the Phil. National Red Cross (PNRC), river running for 2.5 months with a certified trainor from the International Rafting Federation (IRF), Mabuhay Host/Frontline Servicing under the Dept. of Tourism Region 10 and Cagayan de Oro Historical Walkthroughs with the city tourism and historical commission.

Just recently, a team composed of local IRF-qualified river guides competed for the first time ever in the World Rafting Championship 2007 held in Inje, South Korea and gave a good account of themselves despite much bigger and veteran opponents from European, American and Asian countries.

DTI adopted the Otop in 2004 from Japan’s highly successful One Village One Product (Ovop) started in 1979 at the Oita prefecture (or province). Ovop helped people from a particular place develop a product or service unique to their area into global standards with a wider market. Its main advocate, Oita Gov. Morihiko Hiramatsu was awarded the 1995 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his advocacy in helping Asian communities develop their human resources through self-reliance and creativity.

The Ovop website reports that by 2002, Ovop had helped develop 338 local specialties, 148 facilities, 133 cultural items, 111 revitalized regions, and 80 items related to environment, or a total of 810 products worldwide.

Thanks to Ovop, Yufuin town, considered the birthplace of Ovop, now welcomes over 3.8 million visitors every year, or more than the entire Philippines did last year.

In the Philippines, over 1,200 Otop enterprises have already been identified, among them the sinamay cloth of Lagonglong, goat’s milk of Naawan and coconut sugar of Balingasag, all in Misamis Oriental. (PR)

Rudolfo Menes, president of the Promote CDO Foundation, said that the launch of the fiesta celebration on Saturday will be held at the Kiosko-Kagawasan at 5:00 p.m.

Ruben Vegafria, chair of the fiesta management committee and member of the said organization, said that henceforth, the city fiesta celebration will be dubbed as “Kagay-an Festival.”

During the launching, the fiesta organizers will unveil to the public the five core events of the annual fiesta celebration namely; street dancing competition, float parade competition, agro-industrial trade fair, river activities (dragon boat race, fluvial parade, river rafting and kayaking) and Miss Kagay-an Tourism 2007.

Promote CDO Foundation, Inc. will also unveil other accredited fiesta activities such as horse race, airsoft competition, and live-band competition, among others.

City Mayor Vicente Y. Emano and other city hall officials will grace the affair.

It can be recalled that the City Council presided by Vice Mayor Michelle Tagarda-Spiers approved in February this year, City Ordinance No. 10514-2007, granting the Promote CDO Foundation, Inc. the exclusive authority to manage and operate the city fiesta celebration effective August 2007, without cost to the city government. (Cagayan de Oro City Information Office/PIA-MisOrOccCam i-Net)

Acting City Mayor Michelle Tagarda-Spiers disclosed this after Chisum Christopher Factura, the team’s organizer made a courtesy call to her office recently and asked for support for the team’s first international competition.

The Cagayan de Oro team’s entry to the said competition will also mark the first time for the Philippines to join the said event.Spiers said that the city government will do everything to support the team since it is an honor for Cagayan de Oro to represent the country in a sports competition which the city is also famous for.

She added that Factura told her that the Philippines joined the International Rafting Federation, which organized the said event.

The said organization has considered the city as a possible venue but nevertheless lost to South Korea which won the bidding.

The acting mayor hoped that the team’s entry to the prestigious whitewater rafting competition will prominently put Cagayan de Oro and the Philippines in the map of world class whitewater rafting destinations. (Cagayan de Oro City Information Office)

Imma Rae D. Gatuslao, city tourism officer disclosed that the figure posted in their statistics registered 9,077 foreigners; 189,791 domestic travelers; 3,372 balikabayans and another 10,734 visitors with unspecified nationality.

During the said period, the number of visitors is higher during the summer months and people find the city as the best destination for summer vacation, educational and cultural tours.

More visitors are also coming to the city in the month of August when the city celebrates the annual city fiesta.

Gatuslao pointed out that among the factors that greatly contribute to the influx of tourists in the city are its fair weather condition and strategic geographical location being the regional center of Northern Mindanao and the gateway to the island’s other provinces and cities.

The city’s top attraction, the whitewater rafting and other adventure tours remain to be the significant reason for visitors to come over aside from the city’s image as one of the most peaceful and orderly urbanized cities in the country.

Aside from the outdoor attraction of the city, its business climate and educational system can also be attributed to the influx of tourists who are in the city for business meetings and educational tours.

The number of tourists coming to Cagayan de Oro only shows that the city is a prime destination in this part of the country in tourism, business and education. (City Information Office/RAGCOM)