The
ARTS & CULTURE | HEALTH | EVENTS | TRAVEL & TOURISM | PEOPLE
CAGAYANLifestyle TIMES Weekly de Oro
Volume 2 | No. 97 | Cagayan de Oro City | July 18-24, 2015
The VIP Hotel @ 45:
Paying back the years with MDG-FACES
A
Story and photos by Mike Baños
s it marks its 45th anniversary this 20th of July, 2015, Cagayan de Oro’s iconic grand dame of hotels pays back its four decades and a half of existence with an outreach program for the poor in two key areas of its host city.
The VIP Hotel has partnered with the Cagayan de Oro City Government in the implementation of the LGU’s Millennium Development Goals Family-based Actions on Children and their Environs in the Slums (MDG-FACES) Project since 2014 when Ms. Eileen E. San Juan was appointed to chair the LGUs involvement in the project. “MDG-FACES empowers LGUs to be dynamic partners of the national government in responding to the challenges of the MDGs,” said Ms.San Juan, a member of the hotel’s Board of Directors. “It engages the participation of forty (40) families living in the slums from select cities, of which Cagayan de Oro is one, and also aims to establish quick response mechanisms, demonstration projects, and sustainability measures that will address the MDG-deficit areas on environment, food, or health directly affecting the quality of life of children in the slums.” She added they task force has identified
mothers as the key to the success of MDGFACES especially in the monitoring of their children’s attendance and performance in school. During a “Payback Program hosted by The VIP Hotel staff at its Mandana Hall last Saturday, 11 July 2015, some 20 families from the two target areas of the Carmen dumpsite and Lapasan were treated to games, song and dances, lunch and gift packs. Speaking in the vernacular, one of the mothers from Lapasan involved in the project related how her family has benefited from MDG-FACES. “I am happy to have participated in this program since I have seen how it has changed my perception about how to properly raise my children,” said Liza Villegas. “Because of this, I have changed my attitude and habits about how I care for my children, especially in relation to their activities at school.” The organizers acknowledged the support of its suppliers who pitched with gusto once they learned about MDG-FACES: Bread
The VIP Hotel Staff with BOD Eileen San Juan and Helene Escobar
Philippine scuba diving commission keen on developing emerging Misamis Oriental dive spot By Mark D. Francisco
and Spice Corporation, Cagayan Modern Electrical Supply, Argayoso Poultry, Cagayan Rice Trader, Tripway Gen, Central Caltex, Mr. Alfonso Sia, QCB & Co., CPAs; Aqua Sweet; Dustin Dale Marketing; Mr. Jonas Cruz; AJG Security; Lamar Bakeshop, Inc. (Best Bake); Ms. Helene C. Escobar & Family, and The VIP Hotel Staff. The VIP Hotel was
inaugurated 45 years ago with 24 rooms and was initially managed by Ms. San Juan’s father, Mr. Sumulong “Yoyong” Escobar. It has since grown to become Cagayan de Oro’s iconic hotel “In the Heart of the City” (as its famous tagline goes) with 79 rooms of what was for many years the city’s tallest edifice with seven floors. vip/PAGE 3
On the occasion of their barangay fiesta, Carmen organized a billiard tournament last July 11. photo by mark francisco
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The provincial government of Misamis Oriental has found an ally in the development of Agutayan Island off Jasaan town as a new dive spot through the Presidential Commission on Sports Scuba Diving. Visiting Commission executive director Karen A. Chan said that her agency is willing to conduct exploratory assessments to scout the feasibility of declaring the waters surrounding Agutayan as a diving spot sanctioned by the tourism department. An attached agency to the Department of Tourism (DOT), the less known Presidential Commission on Sports
Scuba Diving has existed since the Marcos era to promote the country as a premier diving area in Asia through undertaking of studies, researches and surveys. Chan was optimistic after hearing that thresher sharks and two species of rays previously endemic only in Cebu waters were discovered by divers off Agutayan in recent months. “We will wait for a proposal or an intent from the provincial government and the DOT regional office here on the matter,” Chan said, even as she disclosed that the PCSSD has been slowly scuba/PAGE 7
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