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I have just completed my second week of my second stint in the Philippines.
I Flew back up here via Hong Kong leaving Auckland just before midnight on
Friday 4th of April. This time I decided to have a day in Hong Kong rather than
coming straight through. I found this very beneficial as I seemed to adjust much
better to the time differences.
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Hong Kong is very compact, well ordered (compared to the Philippines) and
bustling. I stayed at a chinese style hotel and done the usual tourist things of
walking around town and going up Victoria Peak in a tram (along with thousands
of others). The transport to and from the airport was by a fast train and you
can check for you flight at the Hong Kong Central station which makes the time
spent at the airport a lot shorter.
Arriving at Manila was a lot less strange this time. Flying in with Cathay
Pacific to Terminal one avoids all the confusion of arriving at Terminal two
with Philippines airlines.
I am staying at the Discovery Suites again in Ortigas and continuing work on
the same project as before the Panguil Bay Bridge and other potential PPP
projects.
A highlight for me since coming here was a trip up to Mt
Pinatubo. Most will
remember the name as it had the largest eruption of anywhere in the world for
many years. We travelled north out of Manila, then went in a four wheel drive
travelling over extensive lahar and Pyroclastic flow deposits which now fill the
valleys surrounding the mountain and we are told are up to 200 metres thick. The
final part of the trip was by foot for just over an hour up a fairly rough track
that followed a stream bed up to the crater lake
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The Crater lake is strikingly beautiful and it is sobering to think it only
formed after the 1991 eruption after the mountain blew its top off and collapsed
in on its self. We went out on the lake in canoes and landed at a place where
the ground is steaming and gas bubbling out of the ground and the lake.
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After visiting Pinatubo we travelled over to Subic Bay and stayed overnight
looking around Subic the next day. Subic Bay was the base for the American Sixth
Fleet until they pulled out in the 1990's. The base was taken over by the
Philippines and turned into a free port. It is a city in its own right with
extensive wharves an airfield and accommodation. We stayed the night in what had
been Barracks and now has been converted into Low cost holiday flats
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There are plenty of attractions including cafes, an adventure park and a zoo
(built round the old ammunition magazines).
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This last week I have been down to Mindanao to Ozamiz and Panguil bay and
across the bay to Tubod on the south (Muslim) side. We went down to get
agreement on the approach road alignment and met with Governor of the Lanao del
Norte Province, Mohamad Khalid Q Dimaporo and the the local Congressman who just
happens to be his father (The governors mother was a former Governor of the
Province). It was quite intriguing to see the power these people wield. They
were late meeting us and we were concerned we would miss the last ferry across
the bay. No Problem the held the ferry (and all the waiting passengers and
vehicles) until we finished our meeting. I quite enjoy Mindanao even though the
thought of going there even terrifies the locals because of the ongoing
insurgency
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I have just completed my third week of my second stint up here in the
Philippines.
I returned this morning from a quick trip down to Masbate Island which is south
of here and off the long extended tip of Luzon. I was asked to go down and
carry out a site visit at a gold mine site that is being opened up on the
northern tip of the Island. It is not related to my current project but I was
asked because they needed to a geotechnical person to inspect.
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The flight out to the Island takes just over an hour and we travelled down in an
ageing Dash 7 aircraft operated by ASian Spirit airlines. When I was on the
island the guys on site were only too quick to show me a photo of one of the
Asian Spirit aircraft that had crashed through a wall at the end of the runway
at Masbate and ended up with its nose in a middle of a village. Evidently a
propeller spun off and collected a pedicab driver. Anyway you get the picture
about the airline.
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We were met at the airport by a couple of people who announced that they were my
security guards and for my time on the Island and at the site I was accompanied
at all times by guards armed with automatic weapons. The reason I was told was
that the New Peoples Army (NPA) is active on the island. The guard we had with
us were local militia units belonging to the Philippines army.
On the flight down and from the boat I had reasonable views of Mayon Volcano
which looks a bit like Mt Taranaki and is currently the most active volcano in
the Philippines. It was just quietly steaming when we flew past.
The development of the site is being undertaken by an Australian based
contractor Leightons and we travelled in their boat from Masbate town to the
site up the coast, a pleasant trip of just over an hour. It is not really a new
prospect as it was operated as a gold mine from the 1960's to the 1980's. The
gold price has made it worthwhile developing again and it it is in initial start
up phase. GHD is involved in the design of dams for water and tailings (mine
waste) and that is what I was asked to look at.
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The site is located in a really rural part of the Philippines and really
reminded me of PNG right down to the types of house, Mangy dogs wandering around
and the geckos and toads at night time. The start up staff on the project
include about 6 expats and a number of locals. We have a couple of staff
on the island supervising earthworks.
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Otherwise it has been just a week of completing reports on the Panguil Bay
project. The weather has got a lot warmer and more humid and we are starting to
get rain showers. Rains here really start in late May with the wet setting in in
June.
Not much else to report. Manila continues to be its polluted bustling and
sometimes violent self. The news during the week was of a shootout (duly
reported in the newspapers accompanied by graphic photos of bodies strewn about)
in which eight members of a gang were reportedly killed in a shootout with the
police. Only later was it revealed that two of the dead were bystanders caught
in the crossfire
