Local and foreign tourists enjoy the landscape of Chocolate Hills in Carmen, Bohol, one of the province’s most famous tourist attractions.
With the death of the last two remaining Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits in Bohol on Monday, the provincial government was hopeful that life in the province, especially its tourism industry, will be back “a hundred percent”.
In an interview with Cebu Daily News, Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto thanked the local communities for their help in flushing out the ASG remnants as they fled from the massive military and police pursuit operations.
“Thankful to God, the government troops and most especially to the community in keeping Bohol safe,” said Chatto, adding that the bandits were contained in specific areas because of the community’s help.
The governor also said that despite the skirmishes between the Abu Sayyaf bandits and government forces in recent weeks, Bohol tourism bookings have continued.
Bohol, having been recently declared Abu-free, was also seen to help the tourism industry in its recovery efforts following a clash last April between government troops and members of the terrorist group.
Rommel Gonzales, president of the Bohol Association of Hotels, Resorts, and Restaurants (BAHRR), said this would boost the confidence of tourists regarding the safety of the island province.
“Because all Boholanos really care for the tourism industry, they exerted all efforts to make Bohol safe. Everybody from the government side to all citizens of Bohol Republic are one in saying Bohol is safe,” he told CDN in a text message.
Gonzales, manager of The Bellevue Resort on Panglao Island, said the accommodation scene in the province is now picking up, with big foreign groups now starting to book with local establishments.
Days after the clash in Inabanga town last April 11, hotels and resorts noted booking cancellations and a decline in online bookings from foreign guests.
Lourdes Sultan, president of the Bohol Federation of Travel and Tour Operators (BOFETTO), said the declaration gave relief to tourism stakeholders in the province.
“I hope this will reiterate our assurance that Bohol is and has always been safe. Nevertheless, we continue to be vigilant,” she said, adding that tours on the island are going on as usual.
Local tour operators, both in Bohol and the neighboring island province of Cebu, also suffered from booking cancellations then.
Alice Queblatin, president of the Cebu Association of Tour Operation Specialists (CATOS), said the declaration brings closure to the Bohol crisis, although her group already resumed selling Bohol and promoting its packages.
“Even as the Asean meetings had ended, the safe conduct of the meetings and tours for the delegates made a good impression,” she said.
Cebu-based tour operators temporarily suspended Bohol day tour offerings after the clash, but resumed in less than a week.
Queblatin said the cancellations were initial reactions as the next days were a period of anticipation on what immediate security measures will be taken.
She added that assurances from the police, local government, Department of Tourism (DOT), and local tour operators were influential in restoring tourism activity in Bohol.
DOT-7, in a statement, expressed complete confidence that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are on top of the national security situation in Bohol.
“We would like to take this opportunity to impart our outmost gratitude to the selfless dedication of our military and police personnel in ensuring Bohol remains safe and peaceful haven to visit,” the agency stated.
Both the Police Regional Office 7 and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Central Command declared that Central Visayas, and not just Bohol, is now free of terrorist groups.
But security in the region will continue to be tight as police and military officials are not taking any chances.
PRO-7 director Chief Supt. Noli Taliño said that they are considering the possibility that ASG will retaliate following reports that one of those killed on Monday, Abu Asis, was the son of a sultan in Mindanao.
Eleven ASG members arrived in Bohol last April, days before a scheduled weeklong Asean meeting in the province.
The bandits were reportedly about to make a kidnapping foray in Bohol when foiled by government forces on April 11. The government assault initially killed four ASG members while the rest fled to forested areas and hid in caves.
With the deaths of Abu Asis and Abu Ubayda last Monday, the government declared that after more than a month of chase, all 11 ASG members had been accounted for and killed.
Put them all in one place and you could expect chaos. But not for CNCO. In fact, they make good music together – good Latin music.
Composed of Richard Camacho (Dominican Republic), Christopher Velez (Ecuador), Erick Brian Colon (Cuba), Zabdiel de Jesus (Puerto Rico), and Joel Pimentel (Mexico), CNCO was formed out of La Banda – a Spanish-language TV singing competition created by Simon Cowell and Ricky Martin.
With Latin music getting global popularity through hit song “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, the boys of CNCO hope to take the genre to greater heights while also being an inspiration to the youth.
The boy band debuted after La Banda in early 2016. Their biggest hits include a remix of their song, “Reggaeton Lento” which is a collaboration with Little Mix.
Last September 14, Richard, Christopher, Erick, Zabdiel, and Joel surprised their fans, known as CNCOwners, in a show at the SM City Cebu Northwing Atrium where they performed some of their songs.
It was a brief moment with their fans, but still one that CNCOwners in Cebu, and from nearby provinces who traveled to Cebu just to see them, would never forget.
Here’s for those who missed CNCO—know their thoughts about Cebu, Filipino food, their hidden talents (PS: Joel showed his for the first time here in Cebu), their message for Filipino fans, a possible concert, and their dream for Latin music.
Richard: Not yet. But we want to. We can see from the room. It’s very nice like the ocean looks very nice. We would like to go to the beaches and stuff. It would be super dope.
Richard: We are right now in an Asian Promo tour. We’ve been to Japan. This is our first time in the Philippines and we’ll go to Malaysia and Indonesia.
How has it been, the past two years after the competition? You guys were competitors in the beginning.
Erick: It’s incredible. I think it’s a really cool experience because we never met before La Banda. But now, after that, I think we have a really good connection and we get along a lot. and we do it with respect and communication
Richard: Some of us didn’t like each other at first. But it was like we never really got to talk. Like for me and Joel, it’s hard to talk in Spanish. We weren’t used to talking in Spanish. So we would never really talk with anybody. And after we did the show, we started talking, we started getting along and after that it was super nice.
Richard: Hopefully. Right now, we try to focus and see and meet our new fans from here in the Philippines and see if we can just come back here and do a show and work with new artists. Yesterday, we saw artists on Youtube and it was super nice. We like their music. Everybody’s so beautiful here.
You released your self-titled album. How was it putting it together and what can we expect from the tour and the shows?
Erick: Before the tour, we were preparing. We had like two months in Miami. We practiced the whole tour, like the dance. And for the show, you can expect a lot of music obviously, a lot of dance, a lot of lights, a lot of energy and some surprises. Hopefully, we can come back someday here in the Philippines.
Christopher: That’s the goal. We’re planning, hopefully, on doing a lot of things—movies, documentaries, traveling around the world, winning Grammys. We try to do our best and work everyday so we can achieve those things.
What are your major influences? Is there a type of band or kind of person in the industry that you look up to and want to achieve the same things they did?
Richard: I feel like Ricky (Martin) is the biggest influence on us since he was our mentor for a while. We learned so much from him. He was the one who took us on tour for the first time in four countries. And we were just super excited and nervous because we didn’t know how people would accept us. We just started and he’s doing massive shows with 45,000 people. And we didn’t know how to even act on stage. We saw him on stage, and he was very … energy up. You don’t see a down part of the show. Outside the stage, he’s super humble and super grounded and very clam. I feel like that inspired us to keep going and to really achieve what we want.
Zabdiel: He gives us a lot of advices. But one I remember a lot is always being humble, keep your feet on the ground, and always try to rest as much as you can. And we always learn about him, not only when he talks, but also when you see him as a person, he’s very humble, a spiritual guy. To me that makes a big difference.
Christopher: We tried the fast food. It’s amazing, honestly. I saw that you guys put spaghetti in everything. I like it, I like it a lot. I tried the squid ball? And it was really good. I liked it.
Since La Banda, how has your life changed? And was the life of a superstar everything you though it was going to be?
Richard: I think it’s harder than what we thought. We thought it was just like getting on stage and performing. But there’s so much
behind it. There’s so much interviews, so much traveling, and so much hours not sleeping. It’s a lot of things that we didn’t expect. But we love it. It’s cool but it’s not as easy as we thought. It’s actually work as well, apart form the fun. I guess there’s a lot to look forward to and to learn from.
How do you deal with all the pressure and stress from your schedule? Do you have anything you enjoy doing in your free time?
Zabdiel: In our free time, we like to do fun stuff like we always play foosball. We always ask for foosball. And we always play Go Kart, bowling. But we also try to take everything as it comes, step by step.
Richard: I think our dream for Latin music is just to take it around the world. Right now, Latin music is trending, as you can see because of “Despacito” and so much Latin artists that have taken it global. And to also be an example to the youth, that we were just like them, we were just in school, we were just working and because of one dream, because of music, we all got together. We’re different countries, we’re different cultures. There’s not usually so much cultures coming together for one thing, and we got together for a dream, and that’s music.
Can you tell us a fun fact for each member? A special talent? Or something that your fans do not know?
Christopher: I’ve recently remembered, it’s not like a talent. But we were on the plane, just coming to Asia and I can impersonate a dog really well. I don’t know if I can do it right now. If it doesn’t come out good, it’s because I’m really tired. (ARF! ARF).
Joel: Something I discovered, I can put my thumb behind my hand. I’ve never shown this before. This is something new. First time. Exclusive.
Do you feel like you have to put up some sort of image you have to project to other people as a band?
Richard: For us, I feel like that’s what’s special about CNCO. We’re very genuine. We don’t try to act like someone else. We don’t try to put up a face. We are how we are, off camera, on camera. I think that’s what the fans love about us. And that’s what we want to try to keep, even between each other.
Richard: I think all of us, we try to come together to just come to one conclusion. We are five different minds, five different cultures and so we have different ideas. So why not just take all those ideas and agree.
Richard: Actually, all of us, we all have different kinds of genre that we love to listen to and artists that we admire. So for me, I go for R&B and a lot of
Zabdiel: I think I can add the romantic thing maybe. I like the soul music like super romantic stuff. So I think I have that kind of flavor.
Christopher: Me too I really like ballads a lot. But I really like rock music too. But I really like, since the beginning, reggaeton since I was a kid. So I have those kinds of flavors, mixed.
Joel: I am Mexican. I grew up my whole life in the Unites States. So I think I can add that American sound to it.
For new CNCO fans, what song would you recommend they listen first? If they just want to discover your group?
Richard: Reggaeton Lento would be the first song I would recommend. That was the song that took us here and opened a lot of doors for a lot of places. I feel like that is our mark. Like if you know CNCO, you know Reggaeton Lento. And then our new single, “Se Vuelve Loca,” it’s just us dancing with no other people. So I feel like that’s personal.
Christopher: I feel we’ll still be together. A little bit fat. Still together. Still doing really cool music. Traveling around the world. Living the dream and
Richard: That we love them, that we’re super thankful, we’re super grateful for the love that they showed us coming here to the Philippines. We didn’t expect to have fans outside the airport. It was super cool. They had time they were singing our songs.
2015 Clarissa Hug Teacher of the Year Helen Pastore with CEC Student Committee Chair Denise Whitford at the Student Forum
I was reading your comments from my first post on this and while there were a number of different opinions, they all made sense to me in their own ways. A few examples:
The EyeZuh said “I’m a firm believer that we shouldn’t generalize… maybe he just really REALLY likes you… even through your slight “mood” that morning 😉 that’s why he asked you to lunch… in hopes of making u feel better! btw… did u go?”
Gina said “y’know… as much as men complain about how difficult we are, and all that, I think they are as guilty of liking The Bad Girl as we are of being attracted to Bad Boys.”
I can rationalize this situation with those opinions and some of the others that were left on the last post (p.s. I didn’t go to lunch with him, but I did let him bring me something back). To be perfectly honest, when I first mentioned Daniel, I didn’t think he would warrant a second post. I assumed he would eventually understand that I wasn’t interested and move on. But, he’s still at it!
He continues to come by to annoy flirt with me and every b*tchy thing I do to deter him seems to be working against me. I understand a guy “wanting what he cant have” etc. but I’m not being cute or coy. I wish you all were here to see how little attention I give to Daniel (especially in comparison to how I act towards Robert). As I mentioned last week, this guy doesn’t really make conversation and he cracks the same corny “jokes” every time he comes by my desk. He’s a good guy, but engaging him takes too much work on my part and that’s not fun for me.
I really thought I was doing a good job of “shutting him down” when he didn’t stop by my desk on Wednesday or Thursday. But then Friday afternoon, he parked himself in front of my desk. As he asked me vague questions like “what’s goin’ on?”, “are you glad its Friday?” etc. I didn’t let my eyes leave my computer screen, I gave him one word answers and I barely grunted at his (bad) jokes. But ten minutes later he was still there! When I would say funny/rude things to him, he’d laugh, start to walk away but then he’d come back to ask me another random question.
After a while I figured if I stayed quiet, maybe he’d leave. For a few seconds, he didn’t say anything either, but instead of leaving, he started shuffling his feet and pacing around my desk. My stomach got tight. The way he was acting looked familiar but I couldn’t place it. Then it hit me: This is exactly how Robert used to act when he first started asking me out… this can not be happening! I could hear Daniel take a deep breath.
“Cool… cool…” Daniel continued to shuffle his feet, “Well, I was thinking about going to a beer tasting on Saturday. I don’t know if that’s something you’d be into….”
“That sounds like fun, but I’m not a beer drinker,” I replied. (Which is the truth, I hate beer) “But have fun, let me know how it goes.”
I’m at such a loss here. I feel like if I’m friendly, Daniel is going to take it the wrong way, but when I’m a b*tch he still takes it the wrong way. This all happened this past Friday, so maybe things will be different this week….
In all honesty if he doesn't seem to be getting the hint why don't you just tell him that you're not interested? sometime directness is the only things that works…
Put a pic of you and guy on your desk? make a small comment about another guy? haha i think this guy has it bad for you eeek! good luck!
If he really likes you, he probably won't take the hint until you come out and just tell him. Or, mention you're dating someone. That might work.
Maybe try to work into the conversation that you see him as a friend, and then keep referring back to that.However he sounds like he's lacking in the whole "reading social cues" area and might not get it… Any chance you have a friend you'd like to set him up with? I've found it's a kind way of letting a guy know you're not interested.
In a situation similar to this I tried letting the guy know it was never going to happen. Months later I was adamantly opposing him buying me a sapphire and diamond bracelet. And he'd do the same annoying things…ie calling with NOTHING to say AT ALL! UGH!
Some guys just don't get it. And sometimes there isn't a way out, and you just gotta let his crush on you run it's course.
I think we have determined that Daniel does not pick up on "normal social cues". I suggest you be very direct (but not rude) when he is hanging around your desk. "Look, I need to get work done, and you are distracting me. Please leave me alone" Your problem is that he is interfering with your productivity. Be clear about that. And expect to repeat this.
You can keep playing this silly game or you can actually use words to let him know you're not interested.
Being a Bytch can be deemed as a flirt but saying the words above usually will bring the point home.
There are some cases where it won't work but that's usually with NYC dudes that are…{Dumb, wait lemme be politically correct}… Slow or Ignorant.