Flood control for Cagayan de Oro
TWO river control projects to protect two low-lying villages in Cagayan de Oro City from flooding, with a combined cost of P120 million, have been completed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). The city saw its worst flooding in December 2011 when typhoon Sendong, with international name Washi, swept through the northern part of Mindanao.
DoT warns hotels, tour operators offering staycation in non-accredited establishments
THE Department of Tourism warned hotels and other accommodation facilities offering staycation without the appropriate certification. “We would like to correct the misperception that all four- or five-star rated accommodation establishments can operate as staycation hotels. For such hotel to accept guests for leisure purposes, it has to apply for a Certificate of Authority to Operate as Staycation (CAOS) hotel,” Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a statement on Tuesday. The warning was issued after Ms. Puyat’s letter to the City Garden Hotel Makati’s management ordering an explanation why they had leisure guests on New Year’s eve when it does not have a CAOS. The hotel is an accredited quarantine facility, which also means it is prohibited from accepting guests who are not undergoing the mandatory 14-day isolation. Ms. Puyat stressed that a CAOS hotel “cannot, above all things, concurrently operate as a quarantine facility.” A 23-year old flight attendant died in one of the rooms of the City Garden Hotel following a private New Year party. The department’s warning also covers “tour operators and other entities that continue to post invitations or make false, deceptive and misleading claims or statements for the purpose of soliciting business from clients.