The Department of Tourism (DOT) and the city government of Puerto Princesa will intensify efforts to prepare the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) for more tourists following the latter’s win as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature (N7WN).

“The Department is one with Palawan and the Philippines in celebrating this latest triumph. We congratulate Mayor Edward Hagedorn and the people of Puerto Princesa City for this victory. Now, however, the real work begins, as there is more reason than ever to strengthen environmental protection measures, optimize accommodation and touring capacities, and the like. We look forward to working on these with our local government and private sector partners,” said Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr.

As vice chair of the PPUR-N7WN Task Force created by President Benigno Aquino III in June, the DOT led a tri-media launch of the official promotional campaign last July at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu. A month prior, the Department had already conducted promotion activities for the PPUR during “Filipino Homecoming” road shows in North America.

The DOT also accomplished the following in support of the campaign: conducted student forums in July to encourage blogging and tweeting about the PPUR; hosted familiarization trips with print and broadcast media in August; provided voting stations at the 2nd Cebu International Travel Expo in July and 22nd Philippine Travel Mart last September; and promoted the PPUR while participating in travel fairs such as the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) World Tourism Forum and Travel Showcase last September and October. read full story (source: www.tourism.gov.p)

This Mountain Province town, situated west of Bontoc, boasts of its cool weather and spectacular sceneries. A pastoral upland valley, Sagada provides an endless expanse of mountain ranges which are clothed by fogs in the early morning.

Among its attractions are towering limestone cliffs, subterranean caves and unexplored forests. Some of Sagada’s caves remain unconquered. Because of their length and depth, Sagada’s natives believe that these caves lead to the center of the Earth.

Other sites to visit in Sagada are the Kitongan bottomless pit and underground river, Calvary Hill, Bukong Falls and Alipine Lake Banao. Sagada has accommodation facilities and can be reached by public buses from Banaue in Ifugao province or from Baguio City.

Mayon Volcano or popularly known as Mount Mayon is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay, in Bicol Region, one of the large island of Luzon, Philippines.  It came in my mind to write about this place because last Saturday when we came from Legazpi City we gave some time to view and visit th Casagwa Ruin. This ruin is a church that was nearly buried when this volcano erupted. This volcano was renowned as the “Perfect Cone” because of its almost perfectly conical shape, Mayon is situated 15 kilometres northwest of Legazpi City. To explain further about this volcano, I researched on the internet and found out that Mayon is a stratovolcano or composite volcano. The current cone was formed through pyroclastic and lava flows from past eruptions. Mayon is the most active of the active volcanoes in the Philippines, having erupted over 47 times in the past 400 years.

It is located on a convergent boundary between the Eurasian and the Philippine Plate. Where a continental plate meets an oceanic plate, the lighter continental plate overrides the oceanic plate, forcing it down. Magma, formed where the rock melts, may be forced through the earth’s crust. One such exit point for the magma, is Mayon. Like other volcanoes located around the rim of the Pacific Ocean, Mayon is part of the “Pacific Ring of Fire”.

Mayon Volcano is the main landmark of Albay Province, Philippines. It is ten kilometres (6 mi) from the Gulf of Albay, in the municipalities of Legazpi City, Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan, Ligao City, Tabaco City, Malilipot, and Santo Domingo (clockwise from Legazpi). It rises 2462 m (8,077 ft) above the gulf.

Mayon Volcano is the Philippines’ most active volcano and is considered to be the world’s most perfectly formed volcano for its symmetrical cone. It is a basaltic-andesitic volcano.  The upper slopes of the volcano are steep averaging 35-40 degrees and are capped by a small summit crater. Its sides are layers of lava and other volcanic material.