FRENCH LIVING IN THE PHILIPPINES

Visitors from the European Community can officially use their National driving licence up to 90 days (if you intend to rent a car, a 1 year international driving licence is better). If you are staying more than 90 days in the country you need to obtain a Philippines driving licence. First pass a call to the main Land Transportation Office, LTO, to have the nearest local LTO. There are a number of these offices around the Country so you should find whichever is the most convenient for you. You will have to complete a short application form and will select the box for transferring to what they call a non professional driving licence Nº 2. Nº 1 is for motorcycle and Nº 3 is for professional (trucks, buses, taxis and passengers jeepneys) and stating your home address in the Philippines. The LTO are always very crowded because they handle so many different things, including vehicle registration (renewal every year) and licence renewal (every 3 years). Arrive early and prepare yourself to ...

Since its official declaration as a tourist spot in the 1990', Makilala has become known not just in the Philippines but in other parts of the world as well. The dry spell brought by the El Niño phenomenon has affected the primary tourist attraction of the small village: monkeys. Barangay New Israel is recognized by the Makilala local government unit as one of the local tourism destination in North Cotabato because of the numerous monkeys living harmoniously with the villagers. According to Darwin Paraiso, Concilman of Barangay New Israel, 100.000 visitors, including foreigners, have already been to the monkey sanctuary. Proof of this are the old log books filed in the visitors' stockroom. Monkeys are free to move from one place to another without fear of being killed by the villagers since the Barangay Council passed a resolution protecting these creatures. Paraiso said, ''these animals even play with us and our children and visitors who happen to visit our place'...

POWER PLANTS CRISIS ! Last week Ternate experienced three days of one hour brownout (local name for blackout). For several weeks there was rumors of shortage of power in the capital region due to ''El Niño'' phenomenon and officials were talking about rotating brownouts. But it became critical last week in Mindanao the second largest island of the country. An American Guy, living in Davao City wrote: ''These days, living in Mindanao is a bit tougher than it was just a few months ago. Frankly the island is on the verge of being powerless ... in other words, without electricity''. The main problem of Mindanao is that the island is more dependent on hydro generated power than the other islands of the country. Nevertheless nowadays the whole country is suffering from shortage power. Electricity situation in key Mindanao Cities last week: Davao City: Two hour rotating brownouts. Brownouts are not daily in every location, but are a few times per week in most...