Unigames President, Roger Banzuela said some 4,000 athlete-participants representing 67 schools and universities from various parts of the country are expected to compete in the in the 13th Unigames in Dumaguete City.

The colorful spectacle of Oriental Negros’ unique BUGLASAN festival of festivals will also be held back in October with an opening of the different local government units and corporate booths along with an array of mini restaurants. The festival will also display a showdown and street dancing, lutong garbo, rand fireworks, dance and singing competition among others.

The organizers are expecting the participating schools to join the 12 events and another one event added which they would like to concentrate on marathon to train and prepare for the next Olympics and achieve for gold medals.

Unigames Chairman, Dean Sinco of Foundation University

With a huge number of visitors for this activity, Banzuela said sports tourism and local livelihood are foreseen to boost with an expected budget of P3.2Million for this event.

While some tourists who flocked to this country’s prime tourist destination – Boracay Island, numbered 400,037 from January to July of this year, according to the records of the Provincial Tourism Office (PTO) here.

Records of the PTO also revealed that the arrivals generated a total of P7,354,040,185.80 in tourism receipts.

For the period January to July of this year, foreign tourists totaled 111,736 while domestic tourists were counted at 246,378. Overseas Filipinos, who also visited the island during the same period numbered 41,923.

Foreign tourist arrivals for the period registered highest during the month of February while domestic tourists had the highest number with 66,846 in the month of April. Overseas Filipinos flocked to the island with the highest number in February.

Tourist arrivals this year for the period January to July is higher when compared with PTO records last year, which was listed at 387,288. Last year’s total number in tourist arrivals was at P596,748 which generated a total of P10,970,257,183.20 tourism receipts.

Villasis said Balanan in many stages of development is visited by hundreds of trekkers who affirmed and experienced the awesome refreshing nature of the place. In Negros Oriental huge numbers of locals and visitors are heading in the opposite direction to Balanan, an inland and fresh option in Siaton 285 meters above sea level.

A pet project of Governor Macias, Balanan grew around a 24 hectare lake that is said to have been formed when an earthquake flung rocks downstream and erected a dam.

The resulting lake is fringed by hills and mountain ranges that rise 200 meters from the banks. Villasis also portrayed that along these margins are on old forest of close to a hundred dalakit trees and hundres of other species of more recent vintage, a 4 kilometer walkway on the lakeshore, waterfalls, a 7-room hotel, a staff breathtaking views of the shimmering Balanan Lake.

Balanan has various kinds of swimming pools are secreted beside shade trees. The more adventurous can check into a tree-house 60 feet above the ground, built on a dalakit.

Balanan is 60 kilometers from Dumaguete City, approximately an hour and a half travel by 4-wheel drive or motorbike.

Recently, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to allocated P1B billion from the Special Vehicle Control Fund for environmentally sustainable transport-related projects such as the alternative fuel.

“Against the backdrop of rising oil prices and climate change, the government has a long-term solution to oil price schools in the form of an indigenous fuel supply that’s easy on the pocket and not hard on the environment,” the President said.

Dumaguete City — The country’s potential as a premier alternative educational destination for students from foreign countries is already felt in the small yet vibrant academic environment in Dumaguete City.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has recently announced its initiative to position the Philippines as a premier alternative educational destination where neighboring countries could send their overflow student populations.

CHED Chair Lito Puno has come up with what is termed as “education tourism” strategy, a program that will position the country as an alternative educational destination to China or Russia.

Dumaguete City is a prime example of how Philippine education is a promising factor in drawing in international students.

Touted as a university town, Dumaguete’s bustling academic environment has attracted several foreign students to pursue their education in the city, especially at Silliman University, the oldest American university in the country, which has lured a growing number of foreign students to study here.

SU currently has 251 foreign students from 19 countries enrolled in various courses for school year 2007 to 2008.

Of the total, 199 are enrolled in the college level and 52 in the School of Basic Education comprised of early childhood, elementary and high school levels.

Koreans top the number of foreign students on campus with 105, followed by Iranians, 49 and Americans, 44.

Other nationalities on campus include Indonesians, Germans, Tanzanians, Canadians, Japanese, and British, to name a few.

According to Mark Raygan E. Garcia, director of the SU Office of Information and Publication, majority of the Korean students are enrolled in business and language courses while Iranians are mostly taking up engineering and information technology studies.

Most of the American students are studying in the Nursing and Allied Health Sciences department.

The university’s Masters in Business Administration course have likewise attracted foreign graduate students.

Data from SU shows a steady rise in the university’s enrollment of international students. “The trend has been increasing. For example, at the college level, there were 123 foreign students enrolled in the 2002 to 2003 school year. And five years after, we now have 199 foreign students,” said Garcia.

Garcia attributes the trend to the university’s affordable yet high quality education. “The cost of education here is lower compared to the countries where our international students come from. Plus, with the university’s quality education, it is an investment for these students who after four years, get to earn a degree that make them competitive enough to land lucrative jobs abroad,” he explained.

The university likewise offers Filipino classes for foreign students in an effort to offer a holistic development for them, and help them break through the barriers of language and culture differences. “These classes are specially designed to cater to the needs of our international students, so they can learn the local language and culture as well,” added Garcia.

Garcia said the presence of foreign students in the university have benefited the city’s tourism industry. “It is benefiting not only the academic institution but the city as well as these foreign students have also other needs that only the larger community of Dumaguete can provide,” he said.

He added that for now, SU relies on tie-ups with foreign universities such as those under the student exchange programs, its consortia with universities in Asia and the United States, and by “word of mouth” in pulling in foreign students.

CHED’s ‘education tourism’ strategy has already earned the support of Malacañang after Puno discussed the program’s blueprint during a weekly program aired over government channel NBN-4.

Puno said the strategy complements the government’s tourist promotion program.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye explained that the country is an attractive alternative destination for Korean students because of three main factors: the short distance between Manila and Seoul, the affordability of Philippine education, and the Filipinos’ fluency in English.

The Philippine government and China’s Ministry of Education have signed recently a memorandum of agreement “allowing Chinese students who could not be accommodated in China’s universities to study in the Philippines.” (PIA)