Growing G.R.E.E.N.

Activities Report January -December 2013 ENR Environment Department

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About the Cover

Pictured here is EO Macy Anonuevos winning photo for the Responsible Tourism Awards 2013. Coastal cleanups are a part of El Nido Resorts staff routine. It is very easy to get everyone together to cleanup the coasts whenever possible. It has even become a stress reliever for everyone especially since we have food and games afterwards. it sure is a great bonding activity for all! Every year, the Environment Department finds creative ways for the company to become more involved in responsible tourism. From additional staff trainings to increasing guest participation, we are proud to say that we are continuously... Growing G.R.E.E.N.

Table of 4 Contents
About the Company Company History Message from the Director The Environment Team 2013 At A Glance Celebrating the environment staff training ENR Managers Sustainability Tour Environmental Education for Guests Environmental Education for the Local Community campaigning for sustainable tourism Awards Social Responsiblities Showcasing Successful Eco-Tourism New Protocols Site explorations Expanding Horizons Media Releases

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About the Company

Ten Knots Development Corporation (TKDC)/El Nido Resorts is a group of eco-resorts located in the El Nido-Taytay municipalities in northern Palawan, Philippines. The resorts offer genuine, local hospitality and unique and enriching experiences amidst the beautiful natural landscape. TKDC/El Nido Resorts is currently comprised of Miniloc Island Resort, Lagen Island Resort and Pangulasian Island Resort in El Nido, and Apulit Island Resort in Taytay. The company is committed to providing leisurely, engaging, and educational experiences and services to all our guests in a manner that has the least impact on the environment and promotes respect for El Nidos local people and culture. We will accomplish this through:

Company History
1979 1981 1992
Nissin Sugar (Japan) partnered with a Filipino group to form Ten Knots Philippines, Inc (TKPI). TKPI opened its first resort on Miniloc Island, El Nido under the name El Nido Resort (ENR). On June 30, Ten Knots Development Corporation (TKDC) was organized by the new joint venture partners to develop and operate resorts while TKPI focused on property management. Lagen Island Resort opened on March 15. Asian Conservation Company (ACC) acquired majority control of TKDC and TKPI. Asian Conservation Company (ACC) becomes the sole owner of TKDC and TKPI. ACC partnered with Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) to develop more eco-friendly resorts. Chirica Resorts Coporation (CRC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of TKDC, opened Apulit Island Resort (AIR) in Taytay, Palawan. AIR is the former Club Noah Isabelle.

E L N I D O

njoining our staff and guests to uphold our five Be G.R.E.E.N. tenets

1998 2001 2006

inking with local communities through employment and purchases urturing a culture of environmental stewardship

nitiating opportunities for guests to experience nature and the local culture iscovering and molding sustainability champions among the staff

utdoing ourselves every year by building new sustainability programs on the success of previous ones

2010

2012 2013
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Pangulasian Island Resort (PIR) opened in October 2012.

Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) acquired 100% of El Nido Resorts

Message from the Director

The Environment Team

TKDC/El Nido Resorts is very serious when it comes to preserving El Nidos natural environment. To ensure that this is done, they have their very own Environment Department which consists of one (1) Environmental Officer (EO) for each resort, an Environmental Enforcement Officer (EEO) and an overall support staff. In 2013, the team consisted of Macy Anonuevo for Miniloc Island Resort (MIR), Jamie Dichaves for Lagen Island (LIR) and Apulit Island Resort (AIR), and Kitsie Torres for Pangulasian Island Resort (PIR). During the latter part of the year, EO Macy left to finish her Masters Degree in Marine Biology in the University of the Philippines - Diliman. MIR was then entrusted to EO Kitsie. All of the EOs are graduates of the University of the Philippines, but have different degrees. Macy is a BS Biology graduate and is taking up her MA in Marine Biology. Jamie graduated magna cum laude of BS Psychology, while Kitsie, on the other hand, is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.

SUSTAINABILITY IS SUCCESS.
This seems to be the message of 2013. Whereas our brains seem to be hard-wired into remembering only the most difficult challenges, such as bracing ourselves for THE storm and picking up the pieces of our collective humanity in its aftermath, taking a long hard look at the year that was tells us that we actually had a good year. All four bottomlines tell us so. We exceeded financial targets, experienced organizational growth, and were rewarded for how we seamlessly tie up environmental and community benefits. I would very much want to sit down with you over a cup of coffee at Miniloc to tell you all about it, but in the meantime, leaf through the pages of our report and celebrate with us.

The environmental enforcement officer, Rey Reyes, was a Ranger for El Nidos Protected Area Office. He then joined the company as a Marine Sports Guide, and later became the Guest Activities and Marine Sports Supervisor. Since he has a background in law enforcement, he was recruited by the team to help patrol the El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area. The Environment Department literally cant go anywhere without Mesach Rosete, as he is the master behind the wheel of our yellow boat and blue van. He gets called for different projects such as installation of mooring buoys and sediment traps, surveying different sites and even identifying different species of wildlife. Though they have different backgrounds and personalities, the team is brought together by their love and appreciation for the environment. Under Mariglo Laririts guidance, they brave the beating sun, cross wavy seas, and hike up steep mountains just to find ways of getting everyone involved in their advocacy.

With my best regards, Mariglo

2013 at a Glance
Announced as finalist of Tourism for Tomorrow Awards for Community Benefit. Facilitated SOCODA team building New sightings board for MIR, LIR and PIR Be GREEN training for Makati staff

2013 at a Glance
July
Nature Interpretation Intensive Training Batches 1 and 2 Coral Reef Monitoring in Taytay Bay: House Reef, East and West Nabat, Noahs Rock, West Beach, Wreck

January February March April May June

August

Costas Christ visits El Nido Resorts for site inspection Be GREEN outreach in EN Town Tourism Office Implemented logbook system for land guards Handled Philippine Daily Inquirer Group

Nature Interpretation Intensive Training Batches 3 and 4 Enchanting El Nido Episode: St. Josephs Cave

TAPP Presentation in Makati Hosted DOT Regional Directors Groups: EP Marfori, Asian Traveler, Troian Bellisario and Patrick Adams Earth Hour New Materials: ENR Eco Checklist, Dive video Managers Sustainability Tour (Batch 1)

September

Nature Interpretation Intensive Training Batch 5 Be GREEN outreach in Barotuan, Bucana and Sibaltan First Municipal-Wide International Coastal Cleanup Judging for ASEAN Green Hotel Award Launching of Paberdehan 2013

Earth Day celebrations 6th International Hornbill Conference Town Party for TFT Win Groups: Lifestyle Networks LISTED, OSIs Viktor Sebek, Mabuhay Magazine group Sustainability tour for Travel Agents Bacuit Bay Survey: Cadlao , Matinloc, Secret Lagoon Implemented sachet ban at the resorts Buoy installation and maintenance Handled tours of T+Ls Peter Lindberg and Nilou Motamed Site Survey: Dragonhead New Sea Creatures of Apulit Booklet Papawikan Cave Exploration Aberawan Mangrove Tour Improvements Town tour sites exploration: Bulalacao, Kalipatpat and Nagkalit-kalit Falls Snake Sightings Protocol Implementation

October November December

Groups: UK Tour, CNN ENR Managers Sustainability Tour (Batch 2) Slow Life Symposium in Thailand Responsible Tourism Award for Best Photography Yolanda Relief Ops and Reef Assessments Global Eco Conference in Queensland 1st National Conference on Tourism Governance in Manila World Responsible Tourism Day 2013

World Oceans Day 2013 Site explorations in Taytay: Mangroves and Caves Mangrove Planting at Langayan, Taytay Written Protocols: arrival/departure spiels, tour spiels, briefing for new hires, sea turtle nest and hatchling, etc. Christmas and New Year Cocktail Presentations Hosted Christmas and NYE Programs Groups: Petrolift, Zobel, Buenaventura, Miranda Families

Celebrating the Environment

Event Highlights:
Coastal and underwater cleanups Good food Kayak races Water polo Poster-making contest Souvenirs Songwriting contest Trash into Art workshop
(by Gabriel and Susannah of Flow Projects)

A sense of accomplishment!

We celebrate four global environmental events each year: Earth Day, World Oceans Day, International Coastal Cleanup, and World Responsible Tourism Day. During each event, we commemorate the Earth and its environment by doing coastal and underwater cleanups. We recognize trash as the number one problem plaguing our planet which is why we engage both guests and staff into participating as much as we could. This year, we challenged the staffs creativity and held a poster-making contest for Earth Day and a songwriting contest for World Oceans Day. LIRs Pascual Arriesgado and MIRs Miniloc Island Band and Babes won the two contests respectively. For World Responsible Tourism Day, we invited Gabriel Flows and Susannah Rickman of Flow Projects to do a workshop on turning trash into art. We used recycled materials from the Materials Recovery facility to make toys which we used for games, as well as instruments which we used for the beach jam. Hard work never goes unrewarded and so we throw in different activities such as kayak and swimming races, games, and parties complete with food, drinks, and musical performances. Finally, as a token of our gratitude to everyone who joined, we give out souvenirs, which we hope will serve as a reminder of how much fun and rewarding it is to save Mother Earth.

How We Did:
EVENT Earth Day World Oceans Day International Coastal Cleanup World Responsible Tourism Day TOTAL VOLUNTEERS 131 164 138 112 545 TRASH COLLECTED 353 kg 404.5 kg 157 kg 339.02 kg 1,253.52kg

Most number of items found: slippers and plastics Most disgusting items found: dirty diapers

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Earth Hour

Last September 21, 2013, El Nido held the very first municipal-wide ICC celebrations, where staff from both Ten Knots Philippines Inc. (TKPI) and Ten Knots Development Corporation (TKDC) joined El Nidos local government in organizing the event. Local dive shops, resorts, restaurants, tour operators, schools and organizations all took part in the event. A total of 2,055 participants attended and hauled a total of 4,594.4 kg of trash from all 18 barangays. El Nido Resorts Miniloc, Lagen, Apulit, and Pangulasian werent left behind as they took care of island clean-ups. A total of 138 staff from all four resorts joined in the event and were able to collect 157 kg of trash. Malinis na Aplaya, El Nidong Kaaya-aya (Clean beaches, beautiful El Nido) was our battle cry during this years International Coastal Cleanup celebrations. With this, we also promoted how having healthy seas = healthy you through the different wellness activities in both town and the resorts such as an adventure race, frisbee tournament, volleyball exhibition game, water polo, and kayak races. The day ended with a night of music, dancing, laughter, games, and prizes for everyone.
Celebrating in the dark. ENR celebrated WWFs Earth Hour on March 23 by turning off our generators for one hour to raise awareness for energy conservation and climate change. Through the celebrations, we were able to save a total of 158.2 Liters of fuel amounting to Php8,295.

Mangrove Planting

We love mangroves! Three volunteer staff from Apulit Island Resort joined the mangrove reforestation project held in Sitio Langayan, Brgy. Poblacion, Taytay last June 7, 2013. Brgy. Poblacion is home to one of the largest mangrove forests in Taytay but is threatened by overharvesting for firewood, charcoal-making, and construction materials. The efforts were part of the Coral Triangle Day celebration headed by the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the local government of Taytay.

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Staff Training

ENR Managers Sustainability immersion

All staff members of Miniloc, Lagen, Apulit and Pangulasian Island Resorts are required to undergo the Be GREEN training within six (6) months of hiring. The training covers 4 modules: Ecological Solid Waste Management, Water Conservation, Energy Conservation, Biodiversity Conservation, and Environmental Legislation. Everyone must obtain a grade of at least 60% in order to pass, and if not, are required to retake the training again. Refresher courses are also offered for those who have already completed the full-course training. Since Marine Sports Guides are the ones who are most in contact with guests, they have to undergo an intensive Nature Interpretation (NI) training. The training has 13 modules covering different topics about plants, animals, and everything else found in El Nidos environment. Quizzes and examinations are given after each topic and guides are really challenged to memorize and understand scientific names and facts about the different organisms we have here. This is to ensure that they are prepared to give out spiels during tours and answer curious questions from guests. Last year, we started giving compressed versions of the Nature Interpretation for all resort staff since they interact with guests as well. This year, we stepped it up a notch and decided to offer the intensive training to other departments who were interested to learn more. This also opened opportunities for them should they decide to cross-train with the GAMS department.

In the year 2012, the EOs underwent immersion training in the MRF, farms, and greenhouse facilities of the resort. This involved a 1-day duty for each of the facilities. We segregated the trash, made compost, planted and harvested vegetables, cleaned the pigs, and fed and caught fresh Tilapia. This helped us have a better picture of ENRs sustainability efforts which paved the way for better communication with guests and stakeholders. To help with the improvements via resort policies aimed at implementing better practices, we had managers Noel Barrameda (Resorts Manager), Carla Samaniego (Executive Assistant to the Resorts Manager), Ayn Catalan (HR Manager for Operations), Arturo Barrera (Cost Controller), Jason Apolonio (LIR Resident Manager) and Emily Mendoza (former AIR Resort Manager) go through the immersion as well. With this, we were able to come up with methods to reduce food waste and further segregation of trash.

Training Types
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Modules

18

Training Sessions

126

Attendees

788

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Environmental Education for Guests

Green Nights with the EO

Turtle Hatchling Release

Totally awesome, dude! Every time a turtle lays its eggs, we make sure that the area is protected with a cage to prevent predators from getting to it. As a result, we get to properly monitor each release. In 2013, a total of 749 hawksbill sea turtle hatchlings were released from the beaches of Dilumacad and Pangulasian Island. Guests were invited to witness and even help out. This was followed up by a short discussion about the lives of sea turtles, the threats they face, and what we can do to help preserve their species.

Spreading the GREEN message. A total of 775 guests attended the Green Nights presentation, where the EOs talked about topics such as animals found in El Nido and the resorts eco efforts.

Nature Walk

Sustainability Tours

Discovering the Resorts wild side! This year, the EOs took 212 guests exploring within the resort grounds. Even kids like Brendan and Hayden enjoyed the Nature Walk because of the animals they saw.

Show and tell. With the combined immersion experiences of the EOs and managers, the team was able to come up with a sustainability tour which was given to key persons in the year 2013 in the likes of ENRs partner Travel Agents, artists Gabriel and Susannah, and videographers Lex Bonife and Zig Dulay. This sets up the stage for further developpment, refinement of tours and advertising through word-of-mouth.

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Environmental Education for the Local Community

Greening young minds. Last year, the Environmental Officers talked to 240 students from different schools in El Nido Town. This year, they tripled the number and had the Be GREEN outreach with 700 students coming from Sibaltan National High School, Barotuan National High School, and Bucana National Highschool.

Ten Knots Night 2013

Trainings and lectures are not the only ways to spread the GREEN message! The Environmental Officers were definitely an integral part of the planning and preparations for Ten Knots Night 2013, since Mother Nature was the star of the show. From program planning, scriptwriting, videography and editing, we made sure everything showcased the beauty of El Nidos environment. To further our advocacy, we had a special segment wherein we engaged kids to talk about how they would protect mother nature.

Be GREEN for everyone. On February 2013, Environmental Officers Macy Anonuevo and Kitsie Torres visited El Nido Towns tourism office to conduct a special Be GREEN session as requested by El Nidos Tourism Office. Participants were composed of tourist operators and staff members from the Local Government Unit.

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Updating of Environment Website

Reaching out online. The Environment Dept. website was officially launched last January 1, 2012. The site contains information on Palawan, Palawans wildlife, ENRs sustainability efforts, and regular updates on what the Environment Dept. is doing. The site also contains learning resources such as the Enchanting El Nido episodes, case studies, recorded presentations of visiting scientists, and activity sheets for kids.

Campaigning for Sustainable Tourism

New Enchanting El Nido Episode

En route to YouTube stardom! The Environmental Officers released two new episodes of Enchanting El Nido, their online nature show. The new episode hosted by EO Jamie and AIR Marine Sports Guide Clark Favila takes viewers on an educational trip to Apulit Islands St. Joseph Cave.

120
Posts

Countries

158

Average Views/day

61

19,896
total views

Where to go:
Official website:
http://environment.elnidoresorts.com

Enchanting El Nido
http://www.youtube.com/elnidoenvironment

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Awards
Winner - WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Community Benefit Award
We finally did it! In 2007, Ten Knots was named Finalist in Tourism for Tomorrows Investment in People Category for its active promotion of deserving local staff to key management positions. Although we did not win back then, we were still determined to strive for further improvement by coming up with ways of involving the community all the more. Back then, our local employees comprised 80%. Today, with four resorts, we have increased it by 10%. All our employees receive proper government-mandated benefits and more. We provide continuous training, not just for knowledge and skills in line with their work, but also for environmental protection and conservation as well. In addition, with the conscious decision of creating more sustainable menus, we saw our uptake of local ingredients increase from 15% when we started measuring over six years ago to close to 58% today. We are now even making a move towards keeping the use of imported goods to a minimum. However, the most important thing everyone should recognize is that this win is not of and for the company alone. We share the spotlight with the staff, local suppliers, government units, organizations, and the community as a whole. None of this would have been possible without the partnerships we have forged. So to celebrate, the whole community was invited to a town party complete with food, games, music, and dancing. All hands up high as a way to show continuing commitment to responsible tourism!

Highly Commended- World Responsible Tourism Awards Photo Contest

Last hurrah! Just before taking her leave from the company, EO Macy joined WRTAs photo contest. The judges could not decide which photo to choose as the best one out of the 215 entries so they gave high commendations to three entries - including hers (photo on right)!

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Social Responsiblities
Relief Operations for Typhoon Yolanda Victims
Rebuilding livelihoods, one step at a time. Initiated by Mariglo Laririt, the resorts immediately pooled their resources and donated goods to neighboring municipalities of Taytay, Coron, Culion and Busuanga. There is still an endless influx of donations, all to help our brothers and sisters in Palawan regain what they have lost.

Showcasing Successful Eco-Tourism

The Environment Dept. interacted with a variety of people over the course of 2013 to highlight El Nido Resorts as a case study for what successful sustainable tourism can be and do for the employees, the local community, and the environment. We became Eco-Hosts of several notable groups and individuals, helped them plan their itineraries and guided the tours ourselves. We made sure that every one of them got the complete El Nido Resorts experience with a more-than-usual emphasis on our sustainable tourism practices. The groups are as follows: - Philippine Daily Inquirer - DOT Regional Directors - EP Marfori - Asian Traveler - WTTC Director of judges Costas Christ - Hollywood coupleTroian Bellisario and Patrick Adams - Lifestyle Networks LISTED - Ocean Security Initiatives Viktor Sebek - ENR Travel Agents - Mabuhay Magazine - Travel + Leisures Peter Jon Lindberg and Nilou Motamed - UK Tour Operators - CNN GO BEYOND borders - Petrolift - Zobel family - Buenaventura family - Miranda family

Buoy Maintenance
Keeping the buoys afloat. The Environment Dept. maintained the mooring buoys around Bacuit Bay through periodic scrubbing of the ropes and floaters. Some stolen floaters were also replaced. The buoys are essential for preventing boats from dropping anchors on El Nidos fragile reefs.

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New Protocols
Sachet Ban
Eliminating plastic waste, one step at a time. As mentioned earlier, one of the fruits of the immersion training was the implementation of policies aimed at instilling good practices. One such policy was the sachet ban, first implemented last April. By June, all the resorts were strictly following the protocol. The ban includes shampoo, bath soap, toothpaste, and conditioner sachets. Now, the staff have turned to the bigger bottles, which, they have eventually realized, was actually a lot cheaper. Not only did we lessen the amount of trash we dispose of, weve also bred smarter consumers! We are looking into banning other plastics in the future.

SITE EXPLORATIONS
Gettin down and dirty. Every now and then, we don our hiking/scuba/snorkeling gear in search of new sites to be developed and eventually offered to our guests. Some of the sites we surveyed this year include: -Snorkeling Site for town guests (West PIR) -Pangulasian House Reef - snorkeling with sharks -Pagauanen hiking trail -Cadlao Lagoon -Matinloc (near Korean Beach) -Sibaltan Museum -Deeper chambers of St. Josephs Cave in Apulit Island -Tamisan River in Taytay -Bulalacao Falls -Nagkalit-Kalit Falls -Kalipatpat Falls -Papawikan Cave in Lagen Island -Forks of Aberawan River -Danat River -El Nido Town Limestone Cliff Hike

Snake Sightings Protocol

No cause for panic. Part of our conservation efforts is letting wildlife roam around freely in the islands. We do not cage nor have any intention of caging any animal we see. Even though the islands are big, we still often encounter different animals in the resort such as monitor lizards, squirrels, monkeys, birds, and, the most panic-inducing of them all, snakes. There is widespread misinformation about snakes that people tend to react negatively towards them when seen. As such, we do our best to provide education to everyone. To make sure that no snake is harmed in the islands, we have released a protocol detailing how one should react when there has been a sighting. We strictly adhere to the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act otherwise known as RA 9147.

These surveys allow us to identify the different wildlife to be featured, the ideal time to do the activity, and come up with spiels for our guides to share with the guests.

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The year 2013 became a good year for the team to expand its horizons. With the recent Tourism for Tomorrow win, we were more than eager to both share our knowledge through our successes, and to gain a lot more from others so that we can further strengthen our efforts. We not only participated in local events, but also branched out to the international scene. We were also able to form lasting friendships from the experiences.

EXPANDING HORIZONS

SLOW LIFE Symposium

On November 7-10, EO Kitsie attended the exclusive SLOW LIFE symposium at the luxurious Soneva Kiri Resport & Spa in Koh Kood, Thailand. She rubbed shoulders with some of the big names of business, science, and conservation, such as Sonu Shivdasani, Pavan Sukhdev, Jochen Zeitz, Johan Rockstrm, Laura Turner-Seydel, Peggy Liu, and Lisa Pet-Soedel, to name a few. For four days, the participants discussed global issues on sustainable tourism, marine conservation, water conservation, responsible marketing, and advertising.

6th International Hornbill Conference

Last April, El Nido Resorts was invited to do a presentation in the 6th International Hornbill Conference. Our own endemic species, the Palawan Hornbill (Anthracoceros marchei) was the star of the show. It is listed as Vulnerable under the IUCN list due to habitat loss from illegal logging practices. However, the species is seen thriving in the islands and so we showcased the role sustainable tourism has in protecting them. We particularly highlighted the importance of having proper nature interpretation and guest and staff education in conserving the species.

Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference

There are six mega trends evident in tourism in the Asia Pacific region today, according to the Global Eco Tourism Conference organized by Ecotourism Australia. Our Mariglo Laririt was invited to present El Nido Resorts as a case study of how sustainable practices can equip tropical island resorts to overcome challenges that come as Bolts from the Blue. (http://www.globaleco.com.au/pro gram.php)

1st National Conference on Tourism Governance

Upon hearing about the news of the 1st NCTG, EO Jamie immediately signed up for registration. We just could not miss such an event given that it is the first for the country. All the speakers were able to set up the stage for a more massive campaigning for sustainable tourism in the country - from DOTs push for stricter accreditation measures, down to success stories from Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and the partnerships of the national and local government units.

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Media Exposure

Media Exposure

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Environment Department, El Nido Resorts Ten Knots Development Corporation 18th floor B.A. Lepanto Bldg 8747 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City, Philippines http://environment.elnidoresorts.com