What: SANREM CRSP 2008 Annual Meeting
When: May 26-29
Where: Los Banos, the Philippines
Meeting headquarters: Splash Mountain and Oasis Resort Hotel
Before and after:

• Research site field trip, May 23-25
• Gender workshop, May 28-29

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Conference to focus on research progress

University of the Philippines-Los Baños will host the SANREM CRSP 2008 Annual Meeting May 26-29. A field trip to SANREM’s Lantapan site, active since 1992, will precede the meeting, and a gender workshop will follow. The theme of the annual meeting will be scientific results from the program’s five Long-term Research Award projects.

Rooms for the conference have been reserved at Splash Mountain and Oasis Resort Hotel near Los Baños. Facts about the facilities and amenities, as well as slide shows, are at http://www.splashmountain.com/index.html. SANREM CRSP will host a banquet at the hotel on Monday, May 26.

Visas

Nationals from the United States and all SANREM CRSP host countries may travel to the Philippines for business and tourism purposes for a stay not longer than 21 days. A visitor visa is issued on arrival. Each traveler must hold a valid ticket for his or her return journey to port of origin or next port of destination, as well as a passport valid for at least six months beyond the contemplated period of stay.

Air travel

Manila. Flights to Manila should be booked with a U.S. flag air carrier (as required by the Fly America Act) to and from the continental United States. Arrival in Manila on Saturday, May 24, is advised because flights from the United States come in late at night.

Mindanao. Those joining the field trip should make a connecting flight from Manila to Mindanao’s Cagayan de Oro Lumbia Airport no later than noon Friday, May 23. Philippine Airlines (PAL) is the recommended carrier, http://www.philippineairlines.com/ for reservations. Recommended flights are:

After the field trip, flights from Cagayan de Oro to Manila on Sunday, May 25, should depart no later than 12:30 p.m. to facilitate ground transportation in Mindanao and Manila. Recommended flights are:

In Manila, transportation is being arranged from the airport to Splash Mountain and Oasis Resort Hotel, a trip of about 90 minutes.

Hotel accommodations

Los Baños. Rooms have been reserved at Splash Mountain and Oasis Resort Hotel for May 23-28. Daily room rates are 2,550 Philippine pesos ($63) for a single, 3,800 Philippine pesos ($93) for a double. The room rate includes three meals a day served buffet style, with extra food available for purchase.

All hotel rooms have Internet and wi-fi capability. DSL Internet connection and wi-fi are available in the hotel lobby business center, free of charge. Connection for laptop use in guest rooms is available on request. There are phones in the lobby for outside calls within the Philippines.

Mindanao. Rooms have been reserved at Pine Hills Hotel in Lantapan. Daily room rates are 1,200 Philippine pesos ($29) for a single and 1,400 pesos ($34) for a double. Meals are not included in the room rates. The cost for two breakfasts and two dinners at the hotel, plus lunch and snacks on the field trip, is 1,060 pesos ($26). The annual meeting registration form asked participants whether they planned to join the Lantapan field trip on Mindanao. SANREM made hotel reservations based on that information.

For anyone wishing to spend time on Mindanao before the Lantapan field trip, the Mallberry Suites hotel in Cagayan de Oro is recommended. Daily rates range from 1,800 pesos ($43) for a standard room to 7,500 pesos ($180) for a suite on the executive floor. More information is available on the hotel's website: http://www.travelsmart.net/ph/hotels/Mallberry_Suites/

Click here to read about the land, climate, and people of Lantapan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantapan

Ground transportation

On Mindanao, free transportation will be provided by SANREM on Friday, May 23, from the Cagayan de Oro airport to the Pine Hills Hotel, a trip of about four hours; and back to the airport on Sunday, May 25. In Manila, transportation is being arranged between the airport to the Splash Mountain hotel in Los Baños, a trip of about 90 minutes. More information will be available after SANREM has participants’ flight schedules, to be included on the annual meeting registration form.

Events schedule