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Post by EXO on Jul 12, 2023 12:41:14 GMT 8
TEN DISCUSSION POINTS THAT NEED TO BE DISCUSSED IN PUBLIC, AND NOT BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. 1. There are six stages in the life cycle of a tourism destination. Tourism is not a static process, it evolves and declines. Courtesy of Covid, Corregidor has stagnated. (2020 is considered by the UNWTO as the worst year in history for tourism.) Courtesy of the natural passing of the WWII generation, there is insufficient tourist traffic to fulfil its cost of maintenance. The number of foreign tourists is down. It needs to be rejuvenated – but as to what? 2. Corregidor is not a National Park. Isn’t, never was. This allows deals to be negotiated in accordance with private arrangements, and by appointees of friends of the powerful. The motive is money, not nature. Short term deals are entered into, and long term ecological policies can be ignored. The preservation of the natural environment, the purposes of public recreation and enjoyment, either because of historical or scientific interest, has become subsidiary to the profit of sectional interests. It’s not a National Park because powerful interests do not want it to be a National Park. It should be. 3. Return on Investment is not evil. 4. Corregidor’s very purpose, used to be controlled by a Presidential Decree. The Decree was never repealed. It is just ignored, as if it never was. Management presently varies by the length of the manager’s foot. Interpretations are negotiated behind closed doors. 5. The development of Corregidor for remunerative Tourism is not inconsistent with generally accepted National Park criteria. Except that, presently, it is. Ecological and sustainable tourism need to be the driving force of Corregidor’s redevelopment. In that order. 6. Corregidor should not be subject to the whims of profit-taking real estate redevelopment, except for ecological and tourism accommodation purposes. There is already a commercial zone at bottomside. If you want to build a golf course at topside, then you can build the clubhouse that used to be there. Exactly the way it was, because we know exactly what it used to look like. 7. Short term arrangements with a concessionaire prevent development, they do not enhance it. Concessionaires need long term arrangements to obtain Return of Investment. See Rule 3. 8. Tourism on Corregidor has deteriorated because of the lack of skill and educational training of its governors. Corregidor as a tourism destination has suffered because of the amateurish approach to protecting its resources. It stood by when barrels were moved to Manila for a bogus tourist geejaw. If any government or tourism department is intending to make Corregidor a serious destination again, they need to look to develop policy and expertise in the following areas: 9. An association with a strident environmental group is not necessarily a bad thing. Find someone controversial - offer Greenpeace docking facilities, maybe? Get involved with the ecology of the island, support it, don't destroy it. 10. Corregidor needs to become involved in the health of Manila Bay. It is a stakeholder. It should be involving itself in raising public awareness and participation, protecting human welfare, ecological, historical, cultural and economic features, mitigating environmental risks, implementing effective policies and environment management and governance, and developing areas and opportunities in a sustainable manner. Saying nothing, and not being controversial has got Corregidor nothing. If CFI are not making themselves heard, they are not being effective.
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Post by EXO on Jul 11, 2023 19:11:10 GMT 8
Today, I received an bulk-mail (no-reply) request from a 3rd year Tourism Management student from the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Molino Campus to allow the publishing of a link on the Corregidor Historic Society facebook page to their survey.
It reads:
"Currently, we are conducting a study entitled “Factors Affecting Revisit Intention of Tourists to Corregidor Island”. In this regard, we are asking for your precious time and effort to accomplish the online survey questionnaire, which is an important and helpful tool for the completion of the study. Rest assured that we will maintain the strictest level of confidentiality for all information we collect from you. Your positive response in this request will be a valuable contribution for the success of the study. Thank you very much for your cooperation! "
Firstly, let me praise the students of the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Molino Campus, whoever they are, wherever they are. At least they are starting a conversation.
The students names are:
Almenar, Jan Maureen B., Libunao, Aliah Kirsten, Nacionales, Ryanne Nicole Villados, Ralf Matthew A.
At one point in the 1970's, Corregidor was the second-most popular family tourism destination in the Philippines. Now it is not in the running at all. We don't have to blame certain people, because it was truly the government's lockdown for Covid 19 / Wuhan Flu that crippled Corregidor. The issue is, how can Corregidor get up from its knees.
So, I listed ten points in response to the message, and put them on Facebook. They are, in no particular order, as follows:
1. The presence of cats on the island destroys the prospect of the island becoming a genuine eco tourism destination.
2. The number of monkeys, and that they are not safe for tourists, creates a risk to naive tourists who might think them tame. They are wild and aggressive. Monkeys do not automatically mean eco tourism credentials.
3. There should be a person responsible for Eco Tourism, which should include the proper presentation of the landscape.
4. I bet you didn't know there are sea turtles using Corregidor for nesting and laying eggs. 6. A return ticket should have an "OPEN" return at no extra cost - when the Corregidor Inn opens again, this will enable Corregidor to advertise a "CORREGIDOR - YOU'LL WANT TO STAY LONGER" approach.
7. Presently, there is NIL facility for persons interested in studying the island's history and geography in depth. Our Corregidor Historic Society group was formed around members who had each visited Corregidor more than fifty times, fifty overnights. Each of us has studied the books, become familiar with all the trails, become familiar with the ecology, and even spelunked all the known tunnels. How can a new generation of experts be trained?
8. A tour guide is not necessarily an expert. An expert needs to have published an academic paper on an aspect of Corregidor's history.
9. Tourism on Corregidor was murdered by Covid and the Department of Tourism's poor attitude to protection of the island's assets. Corregidor as a tourism destination has suffered because of the amateurish approach to arranging its resources. If any government or tourism department is intending to make Corregidor a serious destination again, they need to look into obtaining employees with appropriate skill or educational training in at least three of the following areas:
Tourism Management National Park and recreation management Environmental studies - pollution management Environmental science Environmental management Wildlife and Forestry Wildlife management Horticulture Natural resources management Biological sciences Fisheries and wildlife law enforcement
10. There should be closer associations with existing groups, even environmental groups, and any university offering courses.
Lets consider these as 'discussion points', and if you desire to add more, start your count at #11.
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Post by EXO on Jun 16, 2023 13:56:41 GMT 8
Arrangements are presently being made for Battle of Manila.Org to become more closely associated with the MacArthur Memorial of Norfolk VA. It will maintain its present "look and feel". Visit us at battleofmanila.org/
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Post by EXO on Jun 8, 2023 15:35:13 GMT 8
Not connected with any prior posts, this is just me letting off some steam about one of the exasperations of running a website. Jonathan Ott, has generously provided me with a copy of his two volume history of the 34th Infantry Regiment 1940-1945. It is a remarkable journal account of the 34th Infantry Regiment with an emphasis on "B" Company, 1st Battalion of the 34th. His work runs to about 1,480pages. He is selling it on Amazon for $9.99 for the pdf files and $60 for the printed versions. They are worth the price for the research on Corregidor alone. Jonathan's book has an exquisitely detailed history of the unit on Corregidor. For those of you who are not otherwise aware, the 34th invaded Corregidor amphibiously, taking Bottomside and Malinta Hill. But that's not why I've made this posting. In the back of my mind, I recalled that I had created a listing of the men of the 34th Infantry Regiment who were killed on Corregidor. So I went looking for it on my site, and found that it was inoperable. Dead! Demised! Passed on. Resting in peace! It's technological processes are now history! Off the twig, kicked the bucket, shuffled off it;s mortal coil, run down the curtain, joined the bleedin' choir invisible. (It was originally created using the Adobe Flash coding, which Adobe killed a few years ago, rendering hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of pages across the internet unable to run. This included over a hundred small features on our Corregidor.Org family of websites. It took me years to redo many of them. It is one of my many and various exasperations (one might say it pisses me off big-time) that no one noticed the dead features, none of them. Years passed and no one notices. So few pass this way, I wonder why I bother. Is it that (a) I am not reaching the people who care about such things, or (b) that there aren't people who care about such things?
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Post by EXO on Jun 8, 2023 15:15:12 GMT 8
8 June 2023 Welcome to bgps, who writes us:- I'm retired and have moved from the U.S. to the Philippines and am currently residing in Pilar, Bataan. I've been researching Philippine WWII battles, prison camps and atrocities since the early 1980s. I wish to be in touch with others that have similar interests. (Dear BGPS - have you been linked up with Bob Hudson yet? Your name might help.) Welcome also to n12f90g who writes:- Among many of the informative anecdotes in my father's WW II memoir, he devotes much description of his two weeks aboard the Oryoku Maru prior to the vessels' later destruction. - www.valleyoftheshadowpow.com
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Post by EXO on May 31, 2023 13:42:52 GMT 8
31 May 2023
Welcome to Patricia (pab540) whose father was one of the codebreakers that escaped from Corregidor. She is interested in finding out more information.
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Post by EXO on May 26, 2023 7:57:27 GMT 8
THE DENR'S FAKING EYESORE!It is not just economists and environmentalists who think that dumping P390 million of dolomite sand along the edge of Manila Bay is a bad idea. Aside from failing to hurdle proper environmental impact assessments, it also did not benefit from public consultations and is said to have violated at least 5 laws. The project also doesn’t fit the master plan laid down by the National Economic and Development Authority. One environmental group claims that the white sand can spill over to nearby infrastructure in the event of coastal flooding, to say nothing of siltation and damage to nearby marine conservation areas. My take on it was different - after claiming that they were taking two barrels from Ft. Drum, the DENR stole two barrels from Corregidor's gun batteries. Corregidor is under the protection of a Presidential Decree, which is one of the laws the DENR violated. And what did we get for all this? (Other than the DENR's institutional pilferage from Corregidor, and proof of the inability of the Corregidor Foundation Inc to maintain and protect the assets and welfare of the island against the depredations of more powerful government departments, that is.) I went down to the so-called Dolomite Beach, and took a few photos of it. The beach was closed to the public. It sure was a faking eyesore! Is there no one with the guts to call this Battery Eyesore a failure? Is there no one with the balls to order the return of the barrels to Battery Hearn and Battery Crockett? Is there no one who can't make a pair of fiberglass barrels? Apparently not.
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Post by EXO on May 25, 2023 9:50:12 GMT 8
19 MARCH 2023
A member of the "SCUBAsurero" cleanup drive picks up the underwater garbage at the vicinity of Corregidor Island on Saturday, March 19, 2022. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOCAVITE CITY: Members of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) conducted an underwater cleanup drive on Saturday, March 19, in Corregidor Island. The cleanup drive gathered 85 sacks of garbage during the underwater cleanup drive dubbed as "SCUBAsurero." The local government unit of Corregidor Island facilitated the proper disposal of the collected waste materials. The other government units who supported the marine environmental protection initiative include the Coast Guard District NCR-Central Luzon; Coast Guard Special Operation Units of Cavite, Malacañang and Bataan;Coast Guard Aviation Force, Marine Environmental Protection Group-Cavite; BRP Capones (MRRV 4404); Naval Special Operations Group Cavite; and the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office. The 107th, 108th, 110th and 125th PCG Auxiliary Squadrons also participated in the community service. The cleanup drive gathered 85 sacks of garbage. - - - - - - - -- "No silver peso, eh?" - EXO
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Post by EXO on May 25, 2023 9:34:18 GMT 8
April 29, 2023:CCP built and CCP controlled dredgers off Corregidor Island - Dredging by rogue Chinese operators has become resource theft and environmental banditry. Two foreign ships collided in the waters off Corregidor Island, leaving at least two people dead and three others missing, said the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Saturday.
“The [PCG] responds to a collision between MV Hong Hai 189 and MT Petite Soeur at the vicinity waters off Corregidor Island yesterday, 28 April 2023,” said the Philippine Coast Guard in a statement.
The MV Hong Hai 189 had 20 crew members, with 16 of them rescued. However, one of them, a Filipino crew member, would later die in the hospital after his rescue.
The other casualty was a Chinese seaman, whose body was recovered at sea, said the PCG.
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Further research indicates that MV Hong Hai 189 is a Gross 11,505 tonnage Hopper DREDGER, built 2017 and registered in the Flag of Convenience jurisdiction, Sierra Leone. It was last ported in Botolan, Zambales. The MT Petite Soeur was a chemical oil tanker, and is under the flag of the Marshall Islands. It had last docked in Mariveles, Bataan.
Hong Hai 189 was inbound and Petite Soeur had just gotten under way from a petroleum terminal north of the island. The two collided at a speed of about six knots, and Hong Hai 189 capsized shortly after. Three crewmembers died and two went missing; 15 survived. No injuries or casualties were reported aboard Petite Souer. On May 6, more than a week after the capsizing, Hong Hai 189 finally sank off Mariveles, Bataan, where she had been relocated after the casualty.
On a clear day, up to hundreds of Chinese dredging ships illegally mining for sand can be spotted from Taiwan’s Matsu Islands. The vast scale and scope of Chinese illegal dredging has made it a multinational issue. Illegal Chinese vessels have not been limited to waters near Matsu. Earlier this year, environmental groups decried illegal Chinese sand mining in the Formosa Banks, an ocean shoal area situated in the southern portion of the Taiwan Strait. Environmentalists have called on Taiwanese authorities to clamp down on the dredgers, which reportedly draw up to 100,000 tons of sand daily, endangering maritime resources and causing catastrophic consequences to marine ecology. Other offshore island counties such as Kinmen and Penghu have also witnessed a large increase in Chinese dredgers throughout neighboring waters. Dredging activities, which pump up large amounts of both sand and water to the ships, can cause a vast impact to the maritime environment. As dredging lifts material from the seabed, benthic organisms – marine life that live on or near the seabed – get suctioned in as well, littering the mined sand with broken shells and carcasses. In addition to negatively affecting the marine food chain, seabed habitats are largely destroyed in the process.
On a regional level, ultimately, the international community needs to demand China to take more responsibility in containing environmentally harmful activities. Dredging in the South China Sea has sparked more international discussion, particularly for its role in constructing artificial islands for military use. The Philippines is wary of illegal Chinese dredgers involved in “black sand mining” on its northern coast, as well as possible land reclamation plans for Scarborough Shoal; meanwhile, the United States has also hinted at sanctions on Chinese companies involved in land reclamation and dredging in the South China Sea. Along with military-related projects, Chinese dredging involves actors from many sectors, ranging from state-owned companies involved in government infrastructure projects to private development. As with many issues related to China, the line between public and private can often be hard to draw and additional information is needed to present a more comprehensive picture on the massive dredging industry.
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Post by EXO on May 19, 2023 8:56:09 GMT 8
I have just hosted a White Paper written by Rick Meixsel which re-examines the US Army official historian's number of civilian casualties in the Battle of Manila.
Those of you who do not follow such things should at least be aware that there is a controversy as to the accurate estimate of the number of civilian casualties of the battle. One hundred thousand has a propagandistic flair which falls trippingly off the tongue, doesn't it? It's easily remembered, isn't it.
Just as many authors have inflated the number of combatants of ancient battles to enhance the prestige of political dominance and victory, it's also most probably wrong.
Those of you who follow closely such things should recall Peter Parson's article "Battle Of Manila - Myth and Fact", also hosted at BattleofManila.Org. This is also published in my book "MANILA 1945 - AFTERMATH -" Peter's article worked his way through the evidence and came up with a reasonable estimate of civilian deaths. (Which, it turns out, is apparently what some people estimated at the time.) Peter's problem at that point was that people might say, “but what about the US Army official historian’s number, 100,000? Smith has to have been better informed than Parsons.”
That is where Rick Meixsel's White Paper comes in. Rick did not do any work to establish how many civilians died; rather, he showed that Smith didn’t either. You can say 100,000 civilians died if you insist, but you can no longer cite Smith as your authority. He did not know how many people died nor did he make use of evidence (from the war crimes trials; service force records; unit reports; interviews) that was available to him to come up with his own estimate. For reasons we can only speculate about today (unless new evidence is forthcoming), he accepted someone else's number.
Yes, he claimed (but kept the claim from public scrutiny) that he got the number from the Philippine government. Meixsel seeks to demonstrate why we have reason not to believe him, or his number.
Rick's paper complements Peter's, but does not duplicate it. He accepts Peter’s findings, though that is just his opinion of the value of his work; again, he did not himself attempt to determine the number of dead. Like Smith, he did not look at service force records (quartermaster, graves registration, and so on) either, so cannot say with certainty that nothing can be found in them. (There is a guy who has looked at some of those records and recently completed a dissertation which he is trying to get published; the dissertation is on the UMI database but his university has somehow managed to deny access to readers until a year or two from now.) There is an issue with that approach, namely that those records may not be very reliable anyway. (If you are being paid to bury bodies on a per body basis, you are going to inflate your claim.)
In all of this, do not bother to quote Connaughton's execrable book as the authority. That it is widely available appears to be the sole reason why so many uninformed people point to it as an authoritative account of the battle. They read one book and they think they know it all. Roderick Hall, who commissioned that book, became ashamed of its scholarship, he told me so personally.
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