Nestled east of Negros and west of Leyte and Bohol, this 225-kilometre long island is best known as the centre for commerce and trade in the Visayas, apart from being a leading initiator in other sectors like education, tourism, technology, and entertainment.

We are obviously talking about Cebu, a booming province south of the Philippines that is taking the spotlight in the “most attractive Phillipine locations” category. And it’s fantastic landscapes, impressive beaches, and iconic destinations are not just the reasons why “Sugbu”, colloquial name, is considered attractive. Its progressive industry and its thriving economy also makes it an ideal setting for businesses of all sorts.

If you need further convincing, here are more reasons…

Its tourism industry is gaining global recognition.
Malapascua, Bantayan, Camotes, Moalboal, Oslob―you’ve probably read of these destinations over the Internet, and it’s not hard to see why. These locations are famous for their expansive white sand beaches, impressive collections of coral reefs, and stunning cornucopia of marine life. Indeed, tourism in Cebu is only just testing its potential. In a few years, it will soon become one of the, if not THE, centre for beach-based tourism in the Philippines.

It is replete with strategic business locations.
If you’ve been to Cebu City, then you’ve most likely visited IT Park and Cebu Business Park already. These key areas are the main commercial locations of high-rise buildings for different sectors, be it publishing, marketing, BPO, finance, residential, etc. In fact, these have become pseudo-tourist attractions themselves, with sight-seers and other individuals chilling in pubs and catching up on the latest. From a business standpoint, you’ll definitely benefit from the 24-hour onslaught of different audiences from various locations.

Its finance industry is ever expanding.
Of course, as an investor and entrepreneur, your main concern is the stock market and the finance industry. Well, you’ll be happy to know that this sector is as stable as you want it to be, with a constant barrage of different investors, both foreign and local, gambling their hard-earned money on different fields. And obviously, the government is encouraging more developers to make themselves at home in Cebu.

Its consumer market is highly welcoming of amateurs.
What’s great about Cebuanos is that they are always craving for something “new”- a new experience, a new cuisine, a new adventure, a new location to see and enjoy. The audience is definitely not hard to attract, as long as you have an interesting business concept and you keep your service top notch.

THE GIST

These qualities are just a preview of Cebu’s best. Whether you invest as a retailer, real estate owner, financier, hotelier, restaurateur, etc., you will definitely reap the benefits of such a gamble in just a few months! Isn’t that something to look forward to?

The popular “yellow arches” brand is opening its stores in the Visayas in the past months. The most exciting of which is the opening of its newest and largest store in The Mactan Newtown in Lapulapu City, Cebu.

MacDonald’s at The Mactan Newtown is the first fast food tenant to open this year in The Mactan Newtown. This development follows the formal opening and launching of 8 Newtown Boulevard & One Pacific Residence.

If you’ve been to Eastwood City and had appreciated the ‘live-work-play’ concept of the township, The Mactan Newtown is also position the same. McDonalds also fits well in the concept and there’s no wonder why this fast food chain is opening its doors in Cebu’s newest lifestyle hub on January 7, 2012.

More updates about the new McDonalds at The Mactan Newtown store in town after the coverage.

Bohol Wakefest 2012, a first of its kind month-long wakeboarding event have been confirmed for May 25-June 25, 2012.

The Board Shop, a Singapore based company, which is the premium one-stop wake gear shop in Southeast Asia is proud to present Bohol Wakefest 2012 – an event that brings wakeboarding to the beautiful Pandanon Island, wherein Visayans and tourists alike can expect to experience the thrill and fun brought by wakeboarding. Through the event, Visayans no longer have to travel to Davao and Luzon to experience the bliss that wakeboarding brings.

The best-selling German-engineered two-tower cable park system in the world – Sesitec System 2.0, will be installed in Pandanon island, giving wakeboarders and spectators a blast as beach lifestyle and watersports are combined in a magnificent white sand island. This event would pave the way in making Visayas as one of the top tourist destinations in the Philippines, and would make its name as awakeboarding spot in Asia.

Wakeboarding is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and isalso a medium for tourism, with foreign and local tourists being enticed into enjoying the sunny weather the Philippines offer, giving them a chance to wakeboard the whole-year round.

A Wake Jam will be held on June 9, 2012, wherein wakeboarders and wakeskaters from all over Asia and the Philippines will be showing off their skills with a demo. Spectators can expect to be entertained by the fun and exciting demo as wakeboarders and wakeskaters will be doing astonishing tricks to amaze the crowd.

THE country’s biggest ceramic tile manufacturing company, Mariwasa Siam Ceramics Inc. (MSCI) opens its Cebu warehouse on Friday along H. Abellana st. in Canduman, Mandaue City.

Anukul Kongrit, MSCI president, said they have decided to put up a warehouse here in Cebu to serve the demands and requirements of the Visayas-Mindanao region with more efficiency and convenience.

“In Mariwasa, we continuously strive to provide our end-users with faster and convenient services,” the Thai MSCI president Kongrit said. “The same uncompromising quality in every piece of product is now here in Cebu to serve the discriminating tastes of the market in the region.”

This year, Mariwasa will focus more on strengthening the brand in the Vis-Min region, according to Kongrit,

Expected to ceremonially cut the ribbon signalling the formal opening of the warehouse are Thai MSCI president Anukul Kongrit, Michael Co of Cebu Oversea Hardware, Stephen Go of Cebu Atlantic Hardware, Boni Sia of Cebu Bionic Builder Supply, Leslie Ngo of Worldwide Interiors, and Frederick Yap of North and South Builders.

Mariwasa executives Jakkrit Suwansilp, vice president for sales and marketing, and Emilie Maramag, vice president for finance and administration, will also be on hand to welcome the guests.

Aside from the opening of the Cebu warehouse, Mariwasa is set to introduce 39 new design series this year during the 17th Worldbex in Manila to give its consumers more design, color and texture to choose from, revealed Kongrit.

“We will also offer innovative products to give our consumers with more product benefits. We will introduce safety tiles, scratch-free tiles and high-definition tiles in the market this year,” Kongrit said.

Scratch-free tiles have high resistance to scratch, making them suitable for medium to high traffic areas, while safety tiles have anti-slip technology which reduces the risk of accidents and falls. Safety tiles are also easy to clean.

Unlike other brands offering the same anti-slip feature, Mariwasa products’ finish is not very rough, thereby reducing the risk of scratches and wounds.

“We want to give our consumers with more design options to suit their every need. In terms of our product prices, we have categories to suit our customer’s budget and requirements. Mariwasa can serve the demands of different market segments. During the Worldbex, we will also introduce SCG products such as fiber cement board, insulation, roofing tiles together with Cotto, the leading ceramic tile and sanitary ware brand in Thailand to the Philippine market. At Mariwasa, we make sure that we serve the demands of our market in full capacity,” says Kongrit.

The Visayas Blogging Summit or VBS 2011 promises to bring the best of “Blogging and Beyond” as bloggers from provinces in the Visayas flock to SM City Cebu on November 26, 2011 for biggest social media gathering of the year.

“It will be an experience of leveling up in terms of skills and perspectives designed to make the Visayas blogging community perform a vital role in community-building online and offline,” said Ruben Licera, Chairman of the VBS 2011 Organizing Committee.

“To achieve this, we invited speakers who are not only reputable bloggers but have also made significant contributions in their own fields with the help of social media,” he said.

The summit proper, Licera said, will begin with three speakers on helping personal bloggers improve not only their skills but also in finding their niche online, and achieving excellence:

• Vernon Joseph Go, former president of the Cebu Bloggers Society and CAMMA Awardee for Personal Blogging. Mr. Go will share his experiences and give a few tips on “Personal Blogging.”
•  The founder of Cebu Blog Camp and an active member of the CBSi, Evanjohn Mendoza, will talk on finding one’s niche in the Blogosphere.
• Recent Philippine blog award winner Max Limpag will focus on “Blogging and Excellence”. Max Limpag is also the current Business Editor for Sun Star Cebu.

From personal blogging, virtual CEO and founder of Live2Sell Group of Companies Chris Ducker, the keynote speaker, will raise the ante as he focuses on blogging as a profession.

“Mr. Ducker has made it big in the professional blogging industry. We thought that inviting him over would greatly benefit bloggers and would-be bloggers who are looking into making a career out of blogging,” shared Mr. Licera.

With social media and blogging becoming indispensable for business, the next batch of speakers will talk about the importance of blogging as a social media tool as well as the responsibility that goes with it.

Joanne Apat of Gwion Limited Hong Kong will speak about the ABC’s of using the social media as a tool for business.

The next speaker works for a big name in the telecommunications industry. Mr. Coy Caballes of Globe Telecom will be dishing out useful tips for successful social media campaigns.

Another popular name in the blogosphere is Mr. Bradley Geiser, the co-founder of GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications. This multi-awarded figure in social media marketing and online public relations will share his expertise on “Online Content Warfare—the next wave of digital PR”.

“Blogging is not only about making money. Over the years, it has become an effective tool for social change—good or bad. This is why we have invited a few key persons who will talk about the responsibility behind the power of the social media tools,” Licera said.

Philippine Internet Marketing Queen and the Mother of the E-Commerce Law, Miss Janette Toral, will discuss blogging as a tool for social change. Miss Toral is a published author of books such as Blogging from Home and Digital Filipino: An E-Commerce Guide for the e-Filipino.

Kabataan Party List House Representative Raymond Palatino, an activist, legislator and regional editor for Southeast Asia of Global Voices, shall delve on the “Role of the Social Media for Change”.

With the help of blogging, a lot of community projects have also pushed through. Sharing her experiences on the topic, “Community Projects that need Social Media Assistance” is the Communications Officer for Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., Haidee Emmie Palapar.

A respected name synonymous to extending help to the less fortunate Filipinos, Gina Lopez who is the Managing Director of the ABS-CBN Foundation Inc., will talk about blogging for a social cause.

With this slew of world-class speakers pooling all their ideas and expertise, the 2nd Visayas Blogging Summit is sure to go beyond expectations.

Now this is something to blog about.

To promote the inspiring stories and work of recognized development workers in the Visayas and Mindanao, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) is calling on individuals between 13 and 35 years old based in the Visayas and Mindanao to join the RAFI Triennial Awards Blogging Contest.

The contest highlights the RAFI Triennial Awards and its awardees and finalists. Guided by the theme, “Shaping the big picture of change”, entrants are expected to do background research on the lives and works of RAFI Triennial awardees and finalists nearest their area.

The RAFI Triennial Awards is an awards program of RAFI given every three years to recognize the philanthropic, humanitarian, and holistic efforts of individuals and institutions in the Visayas and Mindanao in enhancing the quality of life of the communities they serve. It is now on its 5th run with conferment of awards in 2012.

To join the RAFI Triennial Awards Blogging Contest, individuals should register through www.rafi.org.ph. Entrants must have an existing and updated blog for at least six months.

All blog entries must be original and written in English, with a minimum of 1,000 words and maximum of 4,000 words. Entries should not have been entered or won in previous competitions. Writers must at the end of their blogs indicate, “This is an official entry to the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) Triennial Awards Blogging Contest.”

Include a link to the RAFI website.

The criteria for judging include 50 percent for content (originality and alignment to the theme and research value) and 50 percent for writing style or composition (including technicalities).

A contest participant is allowed a maximum of three blogs that feature different awardees and finalists.

After posting their entries on their blogs, entrants should email

• application form
• URL of the blog post
• and electronic copy of at least one valid ID to ellen.red@rafi.org.ph
• Entry to the RAFI Triennial Awards Blogging Contest

The blogging contest started last September 30, 2011. Deadline for the submission of blog entries is December 15, 2011.

Entrants must ensure that their blogs are accessible until winners are declared in January 2012.

First prize winner will receive Php 25,000; second prize Php 20,000; and third prize Php 15,000. All entries of winners and finalists will be consolidated and published into a book.

For more information on the RAFI Triennial Awards and to check on the awardee or finalist nearest you, visit www.rafi.org.ph.