CDO Fiesta 2008
Cagayan de Oro’s Kagay-an gets support
06/16/2008 | 02:08 AM

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — The city’s business chamber and the local government are expecting a record number of tourists and investors through the annual Kagay-an Festival in the last week of August given the private sector’s support.

"We’ve learned our lessons," said Ruben A. Vegafria, president of Promote CDO, a foundation initiated by the private sector, during the launch of the five-core events under the Kagay-an Festival 2008 on Saturday. Mr. Vegafria said with their major sponsor, Globe Telecom, Inc. and partner media outfit, GMA Network, Inc., the group will be more committed in organizing the festival.

"We will have the ’Grand Kapuso Day’ as part of our support to the festival where we can bring three to four celebrities depending on who will be available," said Mariles G. Puentevella, GMA TV Mindanao station manager. "We need national exposure and with GMA’s commitment, we will be assured that we will have a share of that," said Mr. Vegafria.

Jerry Yntig, group head for corporate regulatory affairs of Globe Telecom’s Visayas and Mindanao operations, said they noted their support to the foundation.

But he did not give a figure on the expected actual amount of support to the foundation.

Mr. Vegafria said the city government in the past allocated at least P3 million of its own fund in hosting the festival.

The city government has granted the foundation since last year the exclusive right to manage the events, thus the expected increase in the budget, city hall sources said.

Ma. Eliza A. Pabillore, Misamis Oriental Trade and Industry director, said the five core events during the festival are: Higaonon dancing, Golden Float parade competition, Lambagohan fluvial parade, Kahimunan Mindanao island trade fair, and Ms. Kagay-an 2008. She added the competitions will recount the history of the people and culture.

Tourism Regional Director Catalino E. Chan III said they are promoting adventure tourism for Northern Mindanao.

Ralph Paguio of Promote CDO said they will institute strict security and safety measures during the festival. "We will have crowd control. We are meeting with the police, the military and even the Coast Guard to ensure safety. Underneath the fluvial units, there are life jackets and safety gears." — Geefe P. Alba, BusinessWorld

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/101288/Cagayan-de-Oros-Kagay-an-gets-support

China Rafting Competition 2008

CDO Sotar Cup
RP rafting team selection in Oro
Published: October 24-30, 2006 issue

The Philippine team for the 2007 World Rafting Championship will be selected among cream-of-the-crop paddlers who can easily hurdle without hitches the wild rapids of the Cagayan de Oro river from Uguiaban point, Dansolihon down to Sitio Aura in Barangay Mambuaya.

Sotar Cup race director Chisum Factura said they have accepted eight teams from Cebu and host Cagayan de Oro City all eyeing for inclusion in the elite RP Rafting Team during a selection race on Sunday, Oct. 29.

Factura said that the race has only one category--the downriver category, since other categories (rescue slalom and sprint) of the world championship was already done during the 4th National Whitewater Rafting held a week ago.
He said that the fastest team should reached the finish line with a time of less than an hour or 45 minutes.

He said they are preparing Filipino rafters on this kind of event not only for the World Rafting Championship next year in Seoul, South Korea but also for the 2007 World Rafting Series where the Philippines is one of the possible sites of the world renowned race among the world’s best paddlers.

Winners on Sunday’s race will receive a trophy and the chance to be part of the Philippine team. The Cagayan de Oro river has the best rapids equally wild as compared to other countries, enough to host an international competition.

The whitewater rafting adventure tops among the destination in the city since it was introduced way back in 1995 by the pioneer of rafting in the country, the Cagayan de Oro Whitewater Rafting Adventure.
The race is fully supported by the city government of Cagayan de Oro.

WRC 2007
World Rafting Champs Head to Korea

by: KOREA TO HOST IRF 2007 WORLD RAFTING CHAMPIONSHIP

Korea has been selected to host the International Rafting Federation 2007 World Rafting Championship, the IRF BOD announced recently.
This is the first time Korea will host the biennial rafting competition organized by the International Rafting Federation.

The championship will take place on the Naerinchon River in the mountainous region of Gangwon Province, east of Seoul, from June 27 to July 2 next year. The area has been recognized as a world-class venue for raft racing due to its exceptionally clean water, easy river access, swift rapids and breathtaking scenery. The successful bid for the rafting competition is expected to have a positive impact on the nation’s tourism industry and help promote the river area as a rafting venue.

Korea, Japan, Bosnia and the Philippines had made bids for the event, but the two Northeast Asian countries were close contenders for the host position after initial document evaluation.

Last month, four IRF Board members completed a scouting trip on Naerinchon and its facilities in Inje County, the gateway to the river, a two-hour drive from Seoul. They also visited Japan`s Tone River in Gunma, a landlocked prefecture in the Kanto Region, famous for its hot springs and valleys.

The IRF inspectors included First Vice President, Rafael Gallo from Costa Rica and head of Sport & Competition, Robert Kazik from the Czech Republic.

"Through the inspectors` visit to Naerinchon and meetings with local community leaders, they confirmed the strong will to host the event by Inje County officials and local residents," the bid promotion committee said in a statement.

"Our thorough preparations and proposals for various programs to make the event the largest of its kind decisively helped win the bid," said Sung-hoon Oh, the Korean IRF representative.

The IRF, which has 39 member countries, holds the World Rafting Championship every two years. It was held on the Gauley River in the United States in 2001, the Vlatava River in the Czech Republic in 2003 and the Quijos River in Ecuador in 2005 and previously has been held in Costa Rica, South Africa and Chile.
Rafting competitions consist of three disciplines - sprint, slalom and downriver. The points earned in each discipline are added together to determine the overall winner. Each team has six members and the option of having a reserve.

http://paddlermagazine.com/news/?ACT=READ&number=177