Real Estate Boracay - News and Events

Legislators Propose to Move Boracay as Public Domain:
In line with the current and undeniable fact that Boracay is a hot real estate site, Philippine house legislators are pushing for a bill that would declare up to 60% of land in the island as open for public disposition. The proposed law if ratified and approved will make more lands available for purchases by new real estate investors. The bill will open for further and bigger property investments and capital into this tourism busy island.

However, House Bill 1109 is being fiercely opposed by current land and resort owners who claim the proposed legislation will result to confiscation of their lots and land assets in the island. Such land owners are firm and determined to oppose the passing of the bill.

Authors of the bill, Aklan representative Florencio Miraflores and Negros Occidental representative Ignacio Arroyo, said the legislation will not be confiscatory. Instead, it will only enable land owners and occupants to secure titles for their owned lots through a government-sponsored free land patents. The lawmakers said the bill is not intended to deprive legitimate land owners of their rights to properties. The authors are also welcoming any suggested amendments and modifications to their bill so that it will be able to cater to more and achieve its goals with ease and smoothness.

HB 1109 is seen as a proposed law that will divide resort from property owners through appropriate classification. It is also initially aimed at having such owners secure rights through appropriate and legal procedures that will result to land and property entitlements. The bill is also aiming to further systematize the real estate ownership and transactions in the island, which is set to pave the way for more and greater real estate investments.

About 630 hectares of land will be classified as public domain and will be disposed to investing public from domestic to offshore investors. About 340 hectares will be declared as forestland, which will be protected by law. The remaining areas will be categorized as easements and buffer zones.

Currently, there are no land ownership entitlements in Boracay. In 1978, a government proclamation declared the island a tourism and marine zone. Business and resort owners and residents are now claiming ownership through tax declarations. The proposed bill will finally hand formal and legit ownership of the assets to owners. Bill authors reiterate that the proposed law will work to the advantage of everyone.

http://realestateboracay.com/news-and-events/index.html

Entertainment - Fans Support Paula Abdul, But Would ‘Idol’ Go On?

NEW YORK, New York --

The clock is winding down to the judges’ round of “American Idol” auditions — next month, the gates will be opened for a new batch of hopefuls. They’d do well to come prepared: Paula Abdul might not be around to dole out much-needed hugs and kind words of encouragement.

The kooky, feel-good judge, whose sweetness tempers the tart-tongued Simon Cowell, is reportedly unhappy about her status on the top-rated talent competition — and she wants her frustration known. Abdul’s manager, David Sonenberg, dropped an “Idol” bombshell last Friday when he told The Los Angeles Times’ Web site that the longtime judge may not be returning to the upcoming ninth season.

The reason? According to Sonenberg, she had not yet received a proposal for a new contract.

“I find it under these circumstances particularly unusual; I think unnecessarily hurtful,” said Sonenberg, who noted Abdul was “not a happy camper” as a result of stalled contract negotiations.

Abdul seems to be healing her wounds on Twitter. After Sonenberg’s public statements, a campaign of support sprung up on the micro-blogging site, where “KeepPaula” became a hot trending tropic. Among those joining the effort were former “Idol” contestants Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey and Syesha Mercado.

Mercado, a finalist on season seven, tweeted: “No Paula No American Idol.”

Abdul, who has over 725,000 followers on the site, responded to her fans, gushing, “I’m actually moved 2 tears upon reading the enormous amount of tweets showing me your kindness, love,&undying support.”

Meanwhile, host Ryan Seacrest is making bank. The media mogul signed a lucrative deal that keeps him hosting “Idol” through 2012 as well as participating in new projects. The announcement, made last week, specified no dollar figure, although The Hollywood Reporter pegged the deal at $45 million.

The other “Idol” judges are Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and newcomer Kara DioGuardi. Representatives for Fox and the show’s producers — 19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia — declined to comment on Abdul’s situation. Abdul’s publicist, Jeff Ballard, directed The Associated Press to Sonenberg, who did not respond to requests for comment.

“The perturbing thing of this Paula Abdul news, of her not coming back, is the sort of implication that if Paula doesn’t come back, does this mean that they’re now relying on Kara to fill that third seat?” mused Michael Slezak, who blogs about “Idol” for Entertainment Weekly magazine’s Web site.

“Because I think in the history of show additions, Kara would be in the top 10 least successful additions to popular shows ever. She was dreadful last season and I think the ‘Idol’-versehas sort of uniformly felt that she really didn’t bring much to the show.”

Beyond that, Slezak added, who can tell what is truth and what is fiction with Abdul? “These people, and this show, want to be in the headlines, and this is a good way to do it,” he said. “So you don’t know: Is this another case of crying wolf … or do they really mean it this time? Are they really through with her?”

Contract disputes are among the juiciest bits of television history. Suzanne Somers’ acting career faded in the 1980s after she was written out of the ABC sitcom “Three’s Company.” Her crime: Demanding more money. The stars of “The Dukes Of Hazzard,” Tom Wopat and John Schneider, walked off the show in 1982 and were replaced after a nationwide talent search. Their substitutes weren’t accepted by the public, and the original “Dukes” were back on set within the year.

In 2004, Jorja Fox and George Eads were fired from the CBS hit “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” during tense contract negotiations. They were later hired back.

And two years ago, “Grey’s Anatomy” actress Katherine Heigl talked publicly about a protracted dispute with ABC. She has said she wanted “the same respect they’re showing the other actors.”

As for Abdul, could the show survive without its sweetest critic?

“I don’t think ‘American Idol’ will die without her,” said Rickey Yaneza, who blogs about “Idol” at Rickey.org. “Judging from last year, I mean, it’s … actually kind of nice to have things change. It makes it fresher.”

“It’s kind of like a bold move,” Yaneza said, referring to Sonenberg’s media announcement, “but I think what’ll happen is I think eventually whatever they’ll offer her, she’ll take.”

If “Idol” lost Abdul, the show would lose its second most valuable judge, Slezak said, raising another question: Why not drop Jackson and Dioguardi as well?

“I have a feeling in my gut that if they shook that panel up and just kept Simon and brought in two people who maybe could be equal to Simon — or as good or close to as good — I think it could only benefit the show,” he said.

“This thought that Simon can be the only sharp insightful judge at that table, I think people would be surprised how much they might enjoy having three really sharp people on that panel.”

http://www.accesshollywood.com/fans-support-paula-abdul-but-would-idol-go-on_article_20798

The World's Most Astonishing Landscapes

Chocolate Hills, PhilippinesAnsel Adams loved the area around Yosemite National Park so much that he called it “the great earth gesture,” as if Mother Nature had rewarded humanity with a prize. As history’s greatest landscape photographer, Adams knew a thing or two about stunning natural settings, but even his view was extremely limited. Had he been born a century later, chances are good that Adams would have photographed drop dead vistas from the Andes to the Australian Outback, but instead he confined his photography almost exclusively to the American West.

Gorgeous and diverse as the West is, Earth is a far, far larger place, full of landscapes that can be colorful, uniform and fitting to the eye, or just as easily, monotone, barren, misshapen and bizarre. Today, the kind of “great earth gestures,” Adams appreciated can be found on every continent.

In Pictures: See the full list of Astonishing Landscapes

Jokulsarlon, Iceland

This lagoon is home to incredible ice formations so curvaceous they appear to have been waves frozen solid instantly and then polished to a glimmering blue smoothness. The lagoon sits as a buffer between Europe’s largest glacier and the sea, and as a result there is constant calving of the ice, forming icebergs that eventually drift out to sea, so no matter how often you visit, the view is always different and always changing, sometimes dramatically. Earlier this year, a huge section of the Breidamerkurjökull glacier shattered and as a result, Jokulsarlon just became Iceland’s deepest lake.

Bryce Canyon, United States

Bryce Canyon is not technically a canyon at all, but rather the east slope of the Paunsaguant Plateau, though once you see it, this nitpicking hardly matters. The stunning vistas around its 37-mile loop road showcase the park’s signature feature: countless delicate red rock spires carved by millions of years of wind and water, known locally as “hoodoos.” Thanks to its famous lack of ambient light pollution and ultra-dark night sky, it is also a mecca for astronomers, with ranger-led programs on summer nights.

Chott El-Jarid, Tunisia

One of the world’s largest salt lakes, Chott El-Jarid is also a rare endorheic or terminal lake, a closed system whose waters never reach the sea. Instead, with annual rainfalls of under four inches and summer temperatures in excess of 120 degrees, the lake often evaporates completely, leaving an enormous salt pan covering roughly 2,000 square miles. Visitors who come to see this unique landscape may get more than they bargain for: When dry, Chott El-Jarid is famous for producing fata morgana, an optical mirage that conjures up visions of everything from castles to people.

Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

In the Austral Andes near the Chilean border, Los Glaciares National Park has been a UNESCO World Heritage site for nearly 30 years. The park is devoted to glaciers, hence its name, and Perito Moreno is its most famous resident because of a unique nonstop cyclical action that causes this glacier to alternately advance and retreat. As part of this process, it is constantly calving, regularly producing spectacular ice falls from its exposed leading edge.

Olgas, Australia

Three dozen red domes erupting from the otherwise flat and barren Australian Outback are shocking enough to warrant their aboriginal name, “many heads.” The moving sun famously plays tricks with the earth’s color, and the Olgas can appear dramatically different based on the time of day. The Olgas are located in the same National Park, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, as more famous Ayers Rock, or Uluru, but the beauty of the Olgas is starkly different from its neighboring monolith. Plus, you can actually hike into the formation, through the internal Valley of the Winds, and see it up close and personal.

Tsingy de Bemaraha, Madagascar

So dense and needle-like are the worn limestone points comprising this natural preserve in Madagascar that it looks like nature’s version of a hairbrush. The earth has many examples of what geologists call karst topographies, where a layer of water soluble rock, usually limestone, dissolves over time causing fractures and sinkholes, but this is perhaps the most dramatic of them all. The barren stone spires are known locally as “tsingy,” hence the park’s name, but to the surprise of many visitors, the preserve also include vast wetlands, mangrove forests and a deep river valley, all teeming with wildlife.

Chocolate Hills, Philippines

The name of these unique mounds comes from the fact that the green grass covering them turns deep brown during the annual dry season, but is does not hurt that they bear a striking resemblance to Hershey Kisses. The stunner is how perfectly uniform each of the conical hills are, and inevitably, first-time visitors simply cannot believe they are not man-made. However, the scale of this construction project was best left to Mother Nature: There are too many of the hills to count — estimates range from over 1,200 to 1,700.

By Larry Olmsted

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-28962370;_ylc=X3oDMTF0MDFyb2F1BF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMjcxOTQ4MQRzZWMDZnAtdG9kYXltb2QEc2xrA2FzdG9uaXNoaW5nLTctMjEtMDk-