Lucio Tan One of the Richest Persons in the World

(kuam.com) - A local entrepreneur is among three Filipinos listed as the richest people in the world, according to Forbes Magazine. Lucio Tan, the self-made tobacco proprietor turned business tycoon, is ranked 407th out of 946 recognized people from 53 different countries on the prestigious and notorious Forbes roster of global billionaires. Tan's net worth is estimated at being US$2.3 billion.

Tan's family's business local private sector endeavors include Benson's Hardware, SM Mart and the Fiesta Resort hotel. Described as being "frugal and low-key" and "at times controversial", the 72-year-old Tan has invested heavily in several Asian interests like Philippine Airlines, the Philippine National Bank and fortune tobacco. Forbes also cites Tan as owning a large portfolio of real estate in Hong Kong.

Tan is joined by two of his countrymen, industrialist Jaime Zobel de Ayala and retail giant Henry Sy.

Four Filipinos Die in Crash in Mid East

(arabnews.com) - One of the survivors of a horrific van crash on the Riyadh-Dammam highway, in which four Filipinos died last Friday night, is to undergo surgery on his spine in Hofuf soon.

Alan Castaٌeda who was driving the van, told Arab News, in a phone interview from Riyadh Central Hospital yesterday, that he cannot remember what caused the accident.

According to community leaders based in Riyadh, among the fatalities were the couple Edimar and Rojani Abragante and their 7-year-old son, Neil.

Elien Bantay also died in the accident, according to sources. However, her husband Edmar Bantay and their son, Lemuel, survived in the accident.

Macky, the 10-year-old son of the Abragantes, also survived.

Traveling with them in the same van were four members of the Castaٌeda family. Miraculously, the driver Alan, his wife Daisy Castaٌeda and their two children Jordan, 4-years-old, and Janayah, 1-year-old, all survived in that tragic accident.

Daniel Vallestero, an officer of the Master Builders Association of the Philippines (MBAP) based in Riyadh, told Arab News that the three families had just attended the celebration of the MBAP Foundation Day in Riyadh and were returning to the Eastern Province when the tragic accident happened.

All the fatalities were brought to Riyadh Central Hospital while the survivors were treated at the King Fahd Hospital in Hofuf.

According to Alan, they flipped over several times and some of the passengers were thrown out, including the 4-year-old boy, Lemuel.

Other survivors only got minor injuries and are recovering well. But, Lemuel Bantay, who was rushed to the National Guard Hospital in Riyadh, was initially in critical condition and is under observation.

The teachers and students of the Philippine School in Dammam, where the children of Abragante and Castaٌeda studied, were shocked on hearing the tragic news. Classmates of Neil cried upon hearing that their jolly friend was already gone.

RP Basketball Team in the Olympics

by Joseph Pimentel/Asianjournal.com

LOS ANGELES - The last time the Philippine National basketball team reached the Olympics in 1972, most of the players on the current roster were not born yet.

Inside the Home Depot Center in Carson, excitement fills the air. Predominantly white jerseys with a shield-crest of the Philippine flag adorn a new generation of Filipino national basketball players.

The RP team arrived in Los Angeles during the last week of March and started training at the Home Depot ADT Event Center on Monday, April 2.

The group is hoping to be the first Philippine team in 36 years and eighth RP National basketball team to qualify for the Olympics. Next year, Beijing, China is hosting the 2008 summer Olympics.

"We want to create history by being the first Philippine team in 36 years to reach the Olympics," said RP National Coach Vincent "Chot" Reyes.

After the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) lifted its suspension against the Philippines in February, Coach Chot Reyes quickly assembled the "best of the best" 12 players from the Philippine Basketball Association.

"We have a group of players that could play a lot of different positions. The guards are quick and the team as a whole could shoot the ball pretty well," said Coach Reyes. "More importantly is the excitement. These guys want to be here. They are a group of the highest paid professionals in the Philippines who are giving up their family time, vacation and rest time to come and represent the country."

"The team was put together three weeks ago [March 12] but as a group they have been playing with or against each other in the PBA for the past two years. It's going to be really exciting to see how they continue to gel," added Aboy Castro, Assistant Coach and Scout of the RP team.

The task to qualify will not be easy. The Chinese National Basketball team led by 7'6" center Yao Ming of the NBA Houston Rockets has dominated the FIBA Asia Championship for Men the past three tournaments. The tallest player on the RP team is 6'9" Asi Taulava of the PBA Talk N Text team.

"Our biggest weakness is going to be [going against] the size of China, Qatar, and Lebanon - the bigger teams in Asia. That's our biggest concern," said Coach Reyes.

Despite the odds, the coaches and players are set out to regain the dominance over Asia that once was Philippines basketball of the 1950's and 60's. But first, they have to compete against other players in tune-up games.

The RP team on Monday April 2 and Tuesday April 3 scrimmaged at the Home Depot Center against a compilation of American players who play international basketball professionally, ABA Hollywood Fame players, and Bryon Russell, formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers.

After being down by as much as 18 points on Monday, the RP National team came back and defeated the group of rogue players much to the dismay of Russell on the final score of 98-81.

"It was fun everybody had a good time. Both teams competed," said Russell. "And [on Monday] we lost to the Filipino National team. They started off slow but their very competitive and they stepped their level of play up."

Coach Hernando Planells, also of Filipino-American descent, coach of the ABA Hollywood Fame and the scrimmage, said the RP team doesn't appear to have a lot of size but they have a lot of speed that could carry them to an Olympic berth.

"From a talent perspective, and I've seen a lot of other national teams, I think they are very talented," said Coach Planells. "I truly believe they do have a great shot in qualifying for the Olympics."

Planell's rogue team with Russell blew out the RP National team by more than 20 points in the second game on Tuesday.

Jayjay Helterbrand of the PBA Barangay Ginebra Kings and member of the RP National team said after the lost that this is a learning opportunity but no reason to worry.

"We can't get down on this lost. We have to make sure we learn from it. Hopefully, we can improve and get ready for the upcoming tournament. We're playing guys that are bigger and stronger than us and just as quick so it's definitely going to help us get ready in our upcoming games versus China, and the best of Asia."

Helterbrand right now doesn't care about winning or losing games. He knows it's still early in the training process and the chemistry of the team is not there yet.

"This is only our second game we played together as a group," said Helterbrand. "Chemistry is built on playing together repeatedly. It's going to come with a lot of playing time and training together. We are the best in the Philippines but if we don't work together, we're not going to beat anybody."

Coach Reyes after the defeat said, "We're not in game shape right now."

To prepare for the rigorous training and conditioning regiment that the upcoming tournaments will require, Coach Reyes asked the assistance of the Abunassar Impact Basketball camp, which has trained NBA players Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups and other prominent professional players.

Joe Abunassar, President of the Abunassar camp, said the training regiment for the RP National players start their day at 8 a.m. where they do "performance training," a series of exercises including two hours of weights training, balance and body control, and nutritional information before hitting the basketball court for another two hours to work on individual skills. After they grab lunch, the players end their day playing an intra-squad or exhibition match.

"What the games are great for is it allows you to see strengths and weaknesses. Not winning or losing but seeing where the team is at right now," said Abunassar. "These are a group of guys that really play well with each other."

The Philippine National team will continue to work out at the Home Depot Center until they depart back to the Philippines on April 13 to prepare for competition tournaments in Iraq, Thailand, Qatar, and Europe. Most importantly, the team has the date circled for the FIBA 2007 Southeast Asia Basketball Association (SEABA) tournament and The FIBA Asia Championship for Men, the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Coach Reyes is hoping to see more Filipinos in the stands cheer them on for their next few exhibition games scheduled on Saturday April 7, Tuesday April 10 and Wednesday April 11. All games start at 2 p.m.

"We need all the support we can get," said Coach Reyes.

10% of Philippine Population Work Abroad

by Cesar Torres, Filipino Insider, San Francisco Chronicle

This is probably a first in the history of mankind.

More than 10% of Philippine population of 89.5 million are in Diaspora. We are working in various capacities all over the world. We have remitted $15 billion to the homeland in 2005, according to the London-based Economist, an amount which is equivalent to 15.2% of Philippine Domestic Product for that year. Two-thirds of our people rely on us. Obviously, under normal circumstances, we should be given a little importance.

The powerful people in the Philippines cannot just consign us to a position as a lucrative and dependable source of Philippine foreign exchange to help stabilize our economy.

As a matter of fairness and in the national interest, we have to be represented in the affairs of government. When there is massive and legitimate dissatisfaction with the quality of national leadership and system of governance, our people can no longer continue to mass by the millions on a major street in Metro Manila like what happened in 1986 and 2001, in Edsa I and Edsa II, to demand that presidents depart from Malacañang. Resorting to "direct democracy" through mass actions can no longer guarantee a peaceful change in power. The potential risks have become deadly.

Consequently, less dramatic and less potentially dangerous was the enactment of two legislations by the Philippine Congress affecting overseas Filipinos. In 2003 a law allowing "Dual Citizenship," Republic Act 9225, was passed. It allowed natural-born Filipino citizens who may have lost their Philippine citizenship due to naturalization as citizens of a foreign country to re-acquire their Philippine citizenship. As of January 2007, the Bureau of Immigration had approved the application for dual citizenship of more than 24,000 former Filipinos.

In the same year, the Overseas Absentee Voting Law (OAVL) was also enacted. This law allows qualified Filipinos outside of the homeland to exercise their right of suffrage.

The latest figure from the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of Foreign Affairs indicate that some 504,000 Filipinos have registered as Overseas Absentee Voters.

It is noteworthy that based on the available data, in North and South America as of January 19, 2007, the Consulate General in San Francisco tops the list of the number of registered absentee voters at 4,800 out of a total of 13,083. For the same period, Los Angeles recorded 154 and Honolulu 20. Needless to say, the figures in these two cities are dismal, considering the great number of Filipinos in those places.

The San Francisco Consulate General also accounts for some 6,500 dual citizens out of the 24,000 or so all over the world. This is more than 27% of the total worldwide. In fact, about 50 Filipino Americans are sworn in as Filipino citizens every week.

Participation in Philippine governance by exercising the right of suffrage is one way of being involved more closely in the affairs of the homeland. The Overseas Absentee Voters and the dual citizens who have registered to vote can help in the selection of the more qualified and competent legislators. It is unfortunate, however, that the right of suffrage is confined to voting for President, Vice President, Senators, and Party List representatives. Overseas Absentee Voters would prefer to vote for their congressmen and governors because they have a direct impact on their hometowns and communities more than senators and Party List representatives.

Aside from participating in the election of their Senators, Party List Congressmen, Presidents and Vice Presidents, there is now an intensifying clamor among the 10 million Filipinos all over the world that they should have the right to be voted on as candidates for political offices without renouncing their other citizenship. It is argued that the right to vote implies the corresponding right to be voted on. If one is a dual citizen of, say, the United States and the Philippines, and U.S. laws do not prohibit Philippine citizenship while retaining American citizenship, Global Filipino Nation advocates such as Dr. Jose V. Abueva, Victor Barrios, Lito Gutierrez, Carmen Colet, Evelio Flores, Aida Barrios, Morgan Benedicto, University of San Francisco Professor Jun Jun Villegas of the Global Filipinos Coalition, UP lawyers Johannes Ignacio and May Ann Teodoro, journalists such as Greg Makabenta and Perry Diaz in the United States, and other concerned civic Filipino leaders all over the world such as Bong Amora, Sultan Rudy Dianalan, Bong Karno, Gerry Cuares in the Middle East, and Jun Aguilar and Leo Santiago whose network extend to sailors and Filipino workers all over the world, passionately argue that dual citizens should have the right to be candidates for political office or to be appointed to public offices in the Philippines.

This advocacy is now being hotly contested in the Philippines. Theodore Makabulos Aquino or Kuya Ted, a nephew of the assassinated martyr Ninoy Aquino, who is both a Filipino and an American citizen has filed his certificate of candidacy as an independent candidate for Senator this May 14, 2007 election. A graduate of the University of the Philippines, president of the UP Alumni Association of America, a volunteer in the Transfer of Knowledge and Technology program to the Philippines of the United Nations Development Program, an engineering and environmental consultant in America, the Comelec has disqualified his candidacy because he has not renounced his American citizenship. A request for reconsideration has been submitted. As we go to press, a decision is now being awaited. If the decision is adverse, then off to the Philippine Supreme Court it will be. It is imperative that the highest court in the land should rule on this critical issue.

In these critical times when mankind is faced with the deadly challenges of terrorism, global warming, globalization, intensifying poverty, environmental degradation, revolutionary movements, and hunger in the Philippines, our leaders cannot continue to lean on traditional and hackneyed ideas of citizenship and political participation. In California, the eight largest economy in the world, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is not only a dual citizen. He is a Triple Citizen. He is American, Austrian, and European Union Citizen. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is a dual citizen. He is American and Mexican. The Philippines needs to take this "New Reality", in the words of Mr. Robert Ceralvo, an outstanding Filipino and IT engineer, into consideration.

In addition to the foregoing types of representation, the Philippines can learn from the system in Italy. Italians who are outside of Italy, those in what are known as "Foreign Constituencies," are represented in the Italian legislature. Six senators and twelve deputies represent these "Foreign Constituencies" in the Italian legislature.

After the election on May 14, it is more or less certain that the issue of Charter Change will be addressed again. We are not familiar with all the details of the draft Philippine Constitution that the House of Representatives wanted to impose on the Filipino people. Whatever it is, the 10 million Filipinos can no longer be regarded as just brutalized and maligned domestic helpers and exploited Filipinos. They have every right to participate in shaping the kind of society that their fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, relatives, and fellow Filipinos are hoping for – the dream of a progressive, peaceful, respectable, and just Philippine society. They are paying with their lives, with their misery, with their pain for this dream.

Doctor Jailed For Molesting Filipina

A DOCTOR who molested a maid during a medical examination has been sentenced to 10 months in jail.  

Steven Ho Ah Hoo, 54, was found guilty of touching the Filipina's breasts on April 25, 2005, at the Global Network Medical Centre in Jalan Bukit Merah.  

He is out on bail pending the outcome of an appeal against the conviction and sentence.  

During the five-day trial before District Judge Kow Keng Siong, Ho claimed that the maid had made the allegation only because she wanted to extract money from him.  

But under cross-examination, he conceded that she never demanded money at any point in time.  

He created a stir when he said that foreigners have "lesser rights" than Singaporeans.  

The comment came after he accused the maid's agents of breaching the Immigration Act by allowing her to stay overnight at one of their homes.  

To buttress the claim, he produced a copy of another foreign national's work permit conditions taken from his medical file.  

Asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor Imran Abdul Hamid whether he had respected patient-doctor confidentiality and sought that patient's permission, Ho said he had not.  

"Foreigners have lesser rights," he declared.  

In his defence on the molestation charge, Ho said that the door of his consultation room was kept open while he was with the maid.  

But the 25-year-old woman, at the clinic for a six-monthly medical examination, testified that the door was closed and that she was alone with Ho.  

After the medical check-up, she spoke to the clinic staff who confirmed that a breast examination was not needed.  

Ho's lawyer, Goh Teck Wee, pleaded for leniency, but Imran pointed out that the accused had abused his position of trust.  

A doctor since 1977, Ho was in 2003 acquitted of molesting a medical products sales promoter after the matter was compounded – meaning that it was settled between the parties involved. – The Straits Times / Asia News Network  

Fil-Ams No Political Clout?

(ABS-CBN, The Philippine Star, By Jose Katigbak) - Filipino-Americans account for more than half of the foreign exchange that the Philippines receives annually from its overseas workers but lack the political clout to match their economic muscle.

From a handful of Filipinos who first arrived to work in the sugarcane fields of Hawaii 100 years ago, the community has grown to some 2.5 million, most of them naturalized US citizens or permanent residents. In addition there are about 200,000 illegal Filipino workers.

Their overall remittances to the Philippines last year totaled about $6.6 billion.

However, only 16,339 have registered to vote in the May 14 elections, said consul general Domingo Nolasco of the embassy in Washington.

The majority of these absentee voters are green-card holders, as permanent residents are known, while some are illegal workers and the rest, dual citizens.

The dual citizenship law of 2003 allows Filipinos who have acquired foreign citizenship to re-acquire their original citizenship enabling them to vote.

But the vast majority of Filipino-Americans have not availed themselves of this option in the mistaken notion that it will jeopardize their US citizenship, Nolasco said.

Whether it's voting in Philippine elections or US elections, the Filipino voter leaves much to be desired.

According to the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA), there are an estimated 1.8 million Filipino-Americans of voting age in the US.

However only 594,000 voted in the 2004 US presidential elections.

NaFFAA aims to mobilize Filipinos who are US citizens to register and vote in the November 2008 elections and to encourage those who are not yet citizens to go through the naturalization process.

"To influence policymakers, we need to get into positions of power by using our votes to elect officials who represent our interests, or getting elected ourselves," said NaFFAA head Alma Kern said.

"Political empowerment is about being able to better the lives of people by influencing legislation through our voices and collective strength," Kern said.

American Peace Corps Volunteer Missing in the Philippines

(english.ohmynews.com) - Taking a walk in the hills of one of the most dangerous countries in the world has led to the disappearance of Julia Campbell, a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. She was last seen on April 8.

Reports said that Campbell, 40, planned to hike alone in the hills last Sunday just a mile from the town of Banaue, Ifugao province, in the mountainous northern Philippines. But when she failed to show up for appointments in the following days, Campbell's co-workers started to worry.

According to U.S. Embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop, local officials, Peace Corps security personnel and embassy staff are already in the area where the missing woman was last seen, about 160 miles north of Manila. They are busy talking with people who may have seen her. At least four teams from the Philippine National Police have been deployed in Ifugao province and were already combing the countryside.

Police operatives also checked various traveler inns and hotels in Banaue, crosschecking the registries in the hopes of getting a lead on Campbell's whereabouts.

The U.S. Embassy main office in Manila is offering an undisclosed monetary reward for anyone who can provide information on the exact status and location of the Peace Corps volunteer.

The almost picturesque province of Ifugao is famed for its mountainside rice terraces constructed by ancient northern Philippine tribesmen thousands of years ago. There are also acres of pine forests making the area a tourist haven and vacation spot for wealthy Manila residents during the sizzling summer months of April and May... full story

We Are Desperate

(gulfdailynews.com) - THE Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has reportedly launched an investigation after a letter published in the GDN stated that young Filipinos were making their way to Bahrain from Cyprus to work as housemaids. The letter, by B Lady, published in March 26 said that a business associate noticed that the Larnaca Airport in Cyprus was "full of young Filipino girls" hoping to find jobs in Bahrain.

Filipino Ambassador Eduardo Maglaya confirmed that a notice was sent to the DFA in Manila shortly after reading the letter.

However, he called reports made by newspapers in the Philippines and another English newspaper in Bahrain inaccurate after they quoted him saying that these illegal activities were definitely happening.

The fact that Cyprus was the country mentioned in the letter brought on some doubts, said the ambassador.

"Filipinos require visas to enter Cyprus and the country has very strict policies.

"I have heard that workers are being brought to Bahrain by other means, such as through Dubai or another GCC country, but not Cyprus until recently."

Mr Maglaya said that investigations are also being made over allegations that Filipinos are being brought to Bahrain as skilled workers but upon arrival are forced to work as housemaids.

"We have heard reports that Filipinos are being brought to Bahrain to work as seamstresses, master cutters and other factory workers - and end up working as maids."

Embassy assistance-to-nationals in-charge and consular attaché Ramon Nerida said that the notice sent to the DFA was sent to officially inform authorities there about the claims made by the GDN reader.

"Of course the embassy would like to know if this is true, as of now, we still do not know if it is but an investigation is underway," he said.

"Unfortunately, the notice was probably picked up by newspapers in the Philippines and another English newspaper in Bahrain copied these reports."

Embassy officials said that they have concerns over the possibility that more workers would be brought to Bahrain through "illegal channels" after their country's government imposed the new minimum wage of $400 (BD151) for all Filipino housemaids late last year... full story here

The Day Stops In The Philippines

(The New York Times) - Manny Pacquiao, a championship super featherweight boxer, is largely known as a uniting force in his native Philippines. When he fights, it has been said, the streets clear, crime drops and people gather around their televisions.

But when Pacquiao recently announced that he would run for a congressional seat in the district where he grew up, the move caused ambivalence: Many people, including fans, have questioned the decision. Pacquiao, 28, received his high school equivalency diploma this year in the Philippines, and some wonder what he would bring to office.

"We've already noticed how many of his fans are against his decision to run," said Earl Parreno, a political analyst at the Manila-based Institute for Popular Democracy. "I think he will lose, because while he is popular, he cannot provide an answer to the one thing that most Filipino voters demand from their candidates: What's in it for us?"

In the ring, Pacquiao faces a more immediate obstacle. He will put his World Boxing Council international super featherweight title on the line tonight in San Antonio against Jorge Solis. The fight will be televised on a pay-per-view basis.

The combination of the fight and the impending May 14 election have created controversy in the Philippines. A lawyer for the political party of Pacquiao's opponent, the incumbent, Darlene Antonino-Custodio, recently petitioned to stop the fight from being televised in the Philippines, citing election laws meant to prevent a candidate from having an unfair publicity advantage.

Filipino fight fans opposed the move, and the election commission ruled the bout could be televised. But the commission stipulated that Pacquiao could not discuss politics during television promotions for the fight.

Still, he has found a way to get his political message out. He is doing it through his promoter, Bob Arum, who said he planned to visit the Philippines to help the campaign and said he would distribute political posters and buttons before the fight.

They have their work cut out for them. Among the criticism of Pacquiao's decision to run for office is a chain e-mail message written by Kristine Rose, a 19-year-old student at the University of the Philippines.

"He is that generous man who shares his blessings to others," the e-mail message read. "But does it mean that he could also be a successful politician? Will he be a uniting agent amid all the contradictions that occur in this country? Or does he even know what he has gone into?" ...full story here

Visa Run In Dubai

(Khaleej Times Online) - DUBAI — Just 30 minutes from Dubai, and at a minimum Dh500 for a return ticket, Kish Island has remained one of the most sought after destinations for those in the UAE, mainly workers, going for a visa change.

But as the cliche goes, 'you get what you pay for', the story is no different here. From nerve-racking charter plane rides to poorly maintained accommodations or the ill-mannered hotel staff, the list of complaints that Kish visitors, mostly from Dubai, bring with them, could be endless.

It may be recalled that Khaleej Times had reported last week of the case of Thai national Umaporn Kuasom, who had gone to Kish Island on April 4 for a visa change and returned to Dubai the following day 'traumatised' by her experience in Espadana Hotel. She alleged someone tried to forcibly enter the room she was sharing in with five other woman guests.

Kuasom had also alleged that the front-desk personnel had harassed her by holding back her passport and grabbing her wrist as she was about to take the staff's photograph using her mobile phone.

Upon returning to Dubai, she complained to the concerned travel agency, Al Jazeera and Qeshm Travels, about the treatment meted out to her by the hotel staff at Kish, but the agency is yet to come out with a clear-cut reply. A representative of Qeshm Travels only said the 'issue is still under investigation.'

Malou Garcia, a 25-year-old Filipina who was on the island for nearly a week while waiting for her UAE employment visa to be processed, said she had gone through a somewhat similar experience in Farabi Hotel at Kish Island, where she stayed from April 5 to 10. "There were 10 women in our room with only one bathroom. Although the room was cleaned every day, the housekeeper did not change the bedsheets and pillow cases," she began.

Two of her roommates, she narrated, had been transferred from the villa section of Farabi Hotel after some people tried to forcibly enter their room. "Although the hotel building had a security guard at the entrance, the hotel management did not assign a security patrol to roam the villa section, especially at night," Garcia said, adding: "The villa section, which was behind the hotel building, was poorly lit too."

When asked if she would still consider Kish Island if she needed to go for another visa change, she replied in the negative. "I shall choose any other destination because I feel Kish Island is not secure enough," she pointed out.

A travel agency executive who spoke to Khaleej Times said Kish Island continued to attract visa change tourists despite the poor hotel and airline services mainly because of the financial aspect.

"Among the three visa-change destinations, Kish has been the most popular because it is more developed. Qeshm in Iran and Khasab in Oman are still remote areas. While we encourage people to go to Muscat, Salalah, Manama or Doha, the demand for Kish remains the highest because it is cheaper than other destinations within the Gulf," he said.

On a daily basis, a travel agency can receive as much as 30 visa change applications for Kish, mainly from people from countries like India, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

Nasir Butt, Counter Supervisor at Gulf Sun Tourism, a Dubai-based travel agency that processes visa change arrangements, said they had no direct coordination with hotel operators in Kish but relied mostly on information given to them by Kish holiday package promoters like Qeshm Travels.

"After a recent complaint from a client who was ill treated in Kish, our management has decided to stop accepting bookings for Kish until the services in the hotel are improved," he said.

Flight services between Dubai and Kish Island has been very good with airlines like Kish Air, Aria Airlines and Qeshm Air operating more than one flight daily. Iran Air will soon operate two weekly flights on the Dubai-Kish route soon, industry sources said.