Action Action Action

September has been a mad busy month - It started off with a volunteer conference at the Gardens of Malasag Eco Tourist resort in Mindanao for me - http://www.philtourism.gov.ph/ecom_desc.html The aim was to facilitate learning between the volunteers around the issues of conflict management , although the "open space learning" ie time at the bar and swimming pool seemed equally valuable (strange but true).

The highlight for me was the field trip on the Wednesday to another eco park - Mapawa Nature Park, where we undertook abseiling, Zip lining, canyoning and horse back riding. The riding , western style, was great! We trekked up to a hill overlooking the park where they farm 700 head of cattle- fantastic views. (Thats me action Girl in the photos)

In terms of the field trip, as Knowledge management adviser, I suggested, that the skills acqired were in fact relevent to conflict resolution - As in - get out of the conflict zone asap by whatever means necessary - The only 'real opportunity to practice my new found conflict resolution skills was on the taxi driver, on our way home after the "disco"in Cagayan De Oro. Following the huge row about why he wouldn't put the meter on (AGAIN) and the clear lack of resolution on the issue- I suspect I need to try a little harder before I'm sent anywhere as a UN peace negotiator! Note taxi drivers in Cagayan D óro are the worst in the whole Philippines - FACT!

During the workshop we were introduced to "Ridos"which are clan feuds that happen fairly regularly in Muslim Mindanao. One of the NGOs that we work with tries to prevent the clans killing one another. Islamic law has more prominence in these areas and disputes are often settled by payment of blood money. The NGO trys to avoid the spiral of violence that arises once "tit for tat' killings start - an eye for an eye approach to justice. For my colleagues in Mindanao, Ridos can regularly disrupt their work and they have to withdraw until the matter is settled. The rule of law is very different in Muslim Mindanao and has little reference to Filipino law - Its a world away from Cosmopolitan Manila. Its also true that outside Muslim Mindanao, the rest of the region is like anywhere else in the Philippines - there are some fantastic tourist spots that have until recently struggled to survive, being tainted by the "Mindanao Reputation". Camiguin is still my favourite island, yet it is in Mindanao and gets far fewer visitors than it deserves - visit now before everyone discovers it! The Peace Accord between the government and rebels is on the verge of being signed, no doubt helped by the prospect of 190 million dollars of US aid promised for the region, when completed. Hopefully this will lead to a boost in tourist activities generating much needed income for Mindanoans.

We've been to another cheese and wine frenzy this month - the 25th anniversary of the Manila Cheese Club. It was back to the Polo club for the event, where there were cheese mountains and wonderful wine! We ended up hanging out with a group of ambassadors - not sure of the collective noun for such an arrangement. The Brazilian Ambassador, who has now been posted to Pakistan, invited us over to his private residence the following week for his leaving do! Rather conveniently taking place on Marc's Birthday.

The day after the cheese club was very hard! I had to catch a 7.20 flight to Cebu for a workshop and a 9am presentation. I arrived back the next day as Marc left for Palawan - we probably crossed one another somewhere in the air! Marc accompanied a friend looking into buying property there. Palawan is often touted as the most beautiful island and has several large marine parks. Like many places it is still very underdeveloped in tourist terms. They met government officials and people who have invested in the area. They spent a lot of time riding around on the motor bike, on local boats , exploring beaches - a real road trip adventure by the sound of it.

We've had our second lot of visitors - Pete and Marie-Line from London. We took them to Nasugbu (Mayamaya Spa Resort) for the weekend- then Marc took them to Bohol for 3 days. Myself and the kids are heading down there at the end of the month with my Mum. The photo is of Marc and the little Tarsier Monkey - the smallest monkey in the world and indigenous to Bohol. They had great weather even though pouring with rain in Manila - with different weather seasons in different parts of the country, in theory it should always be possible to escape the rain somewhere in the Philippines.

Meanwhile in Manila we've been gripped by the political shenanigans of the country's politicians (again). The ex-president, Estrada, a former movie star, was found guilty of of illegally amassing about P4 billion pesos (US$81 million) in bribes and proceeds from illegal gambling. The court allowed Estrada to return to his Rizal rest house, instead of being hauled off to prison and he was then offered a presidential pardon - which he refused! Clearly its a soap opera that will run and run. This week the Philippine elections chief, who has been accused of offering bribes to a Cabinet official and a businessman, to push a Chinese broadband contract through, was forced to step down. No doubt he'll bounce back somehow b4 too long - Now Marco's family have filed to recover money they hid with their cronies, allegedly stolen from the country's coffers when they were in power! The cronies of course want to keep it and the Marcos family seem unperturbed at publicly trying to recover the money even though they can't explain how they got the money in the first place - If someone made a film - it would be called too far fetched!

And now its raining again! The monsoon rains have moved in and I'm feeling very cold and have evens switched off the AC in the office. Can't believe it but 24 degrees feels quite chilly! I have my long sleeved jumper and trousers on. I knew i'd acclimatised once I could wear my jeans out in 30 degrees and not melt....