TRTC Earns Rave Reviews

The Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center has earned unsolicited rave reviews on Facebook, Google and TripAdvisor from satisfied guests. Some 92.6 percent of guests who reviewed TRTC on Facebook from December 2016 to April 6, 2017 and 100 percent of those who reviewed it on Google gave it a five-star rating, mostly for the food and service. Those who reviewed it on TripAdvisor rated it as excellent or very good.

The front desk staff at TRTC

Here are just a few of the comments guests have written:

Beautiful place, wonderful friendly staff and good food! – KM of Minnesota, USA

Very relaxing place! Perfect for silence and solitude! And the food was great! Definitely coming back again and again! – MN of Metro Manila

Nice place for reflection. Food is also delicious. I rate CCT TRTC as excellent. – JS of Taguig City

Everything is excellent! This training center is heavenly awesome! – BF of Angat, Bulacan

I thank God for the opportunity He gave me and my wife during our old age to experience the beauty of this place. – DS of Taytay, Rizal


Excellent, excellent, excellent. And, beautiful too! Excellent, delicious well-prepared meals. Beautiful surroundings. Extremely hospitable staff. Well, well, well worth the visit. Enjoyed the Filipino traditional dance! – DM of Minnesota, USA

Adding to the spirit-filled weekend are the superb food, very clean rooms and excellent service of the friendly staff. – LU of Fairview, Quezon City

This is a restful and serene place. Very conducive
for retreats and training events. The center is well-maintained and the staff are helpful and accommodating. – FF of Metro Manila.

It’s nice and excellent in many ways! Praise God for those who invested in this facility. – JL of Cotabato City

CR of Cavite City who reviewed the retreat center on TripAdvisor said:

Photo courtesy of Jsebel Marbella Montalban

Was at TRTC for the graduation of my husband, and I fell in love with the view upon arrival. The scenery is really jaw-dropping. I thought that Tagaytay only offers Taal as its main view attraction, I got myself wrong. The place reminds me of some views and landscapes in Baguio especially at night. The staff are very friendly and the food is superb! I am definitely recommending it to my future guests.

SY of Metro Manila who also reviewed TRTC on TripAdvisor said:

I have been here several times for church retreats. I enjoy the place -- it has ample space, individual huts for small groups, views to adore, and quiet surroundings for concentration, for workshops, and team building. Rooms are clean and air conditioned. Never mind no frills -- the simple setting allows you to empty your mind of concerns.

Int'l Guests Enjoy Pinoy Games at TRTC

A palosebo player gets help climbing a slippery bamboo pole during
Pagdiriwang at TRTC.

Development workers from around the world played traditional Filipino games during one recreation portion of a recent conference at the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center. The games included palosebo, tumbang-preso, sangkayaw and a modified version of sipa.  In addition to Filipino food served by the TRTC kitchen crew, and folk dances presented during the opening night of the week-long event, the lively, outdoor games helped introduce Filipino culture to the guests.   

The guests were in the Philippines for Pagdiriwang, a gathering of leaders, staff, volunteer workers and friends of Christian microfinance programs from 24 countries.  Countries represented were Australia, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Congo, Egypt, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Kenya, Mexico, Moldova, Norway, Peru, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, USA and Zambia.

The conference was held on November 8 - 14, 2015.   

Shelley Lyombe from Zambia (above) and
 Susan Leach from the US (below)
  take their turns in a sangkayaw relay. 

Because keeping a sipa  aloft by kicking it needs more than just
a few minutes of practice, this modified version aims to
keep the sipa in the air  using the hands.   

Footwear from Africa and elsewhere are used to topple
tin cans in several rounds of tumbang-preso. 

Camia Scent Fills Retreat Center Air

Evenings at the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center are always lovely, but they are even lovelier this time of the year because of the scent of camia blossoms that perfume the air.

Camia flowers are white with a pale yellow center and they usually start releasing their fragrance in the evenings.   Enjoy them and their soft fragrance at TRTC.

Nice Facility…and Wonderful Food, Says Foreign Guest

A guest from the United Stated praised the staff, facilities, and food at the CCT Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center in a review posted in TripAdvisor in November 2014.

Keith B. of Chicago, Illinois said, “I attended a student conference and had a very good time despite a typhoon coming through. The staff kept the place well and fed us wonderful meals. They certainly know how to get people through the buffet line. We didn't get to use the entire facilities, but we were safe, enjoying fresh air, and enjoying air conditioning in the large main hall across from the dining facility.” TripAdvisor is a widely-used and recognized travel website.

Since it opened in May 2011, the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center has been noted for its warm hospitality and its staff who serve above and beyond their regular duties. The retreat center has served guests of all ages attending all types of events (including school retreats, youth camps, corporate conferences, marriage seminars, and even weddings) and from several nations (including Australia, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cameroon, India, Kenya, Malawi, Moldova,  the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda, the United Kingdom, the US, and Zambia.)   

It can accommodate a total of 484 guests in five dormitories (with a total of 80 rooms) and in four easy-access rooms. Meals are served buffet style in a dining hall across from the center’s main assembly hall which can seat 1,000.  Recreational facilities include a game room, basketball and volleyball courts, a mini soccer field, a children’s play area, and an obstacle course that features a tire run, balance beams, horizontal bars, and low ropes. It is just a few minutes away from the Picnic Grove, People’s Park in the Sky, and the ridge overlooking Taal Lake and Taal Volcano. 

TRTC is run by the Center for Community Transformation group of Ministries, a network of 12

nongovernment organizations that minister to the Filipino poor.

For rates and booking information, please get in touch with Eva Lope, TRTC guest coordinator, at evaranlope@yahoo.com.ph, evamlope@gmail.com, 09192933157, 09232497605, and 8066912.

Development Workers Meet at TRTC

Flags representing guests attending the week-long Transformative Economic Empowerment (TEE)
training conference flutter in the afternoon breeze at the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center.
TEE is hosted by the CCT Training and Development Institute in cooperation with
ministry partners endPoverty.org, Hope International, and PEER Servants.  Participants are
development practitioners from Burundi, Cameroon, India, Korea, Malawi, Singapore, South Africa,
Uganda, Ukraine, United States of America, and Zambia.
The conference ends November 15. 

TRTC: Plenty to Offer

The Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center, built on six hectares of rolling terrain, has plenty to offer large and small organizations, schools, churches, companies, and families.  Blessed with a cool climate, excellent facilities, and hospitable staff, TRTC is the perfect venue for spiritual retreats, youth camps, marriage seminars, and the like. 

Five dormitories with a total of 80 rooms can sleep as many as 460 guests.  Each of the dormitory buildings has a ground-level function room equipped with sound system,  LCD projector, and water dispensers. Four guest rooms built specially for the use of guest speakers, senior citizens, and the wheelchair-bound are conveniently located close to the assembly hall, dining hall, administration offices, clinic, and parking area. The largest indoor gathering area, the assembly hall, can seat 1000. Meals are served across the paseo in a dining hall that can seat 600. 

Outdoor activity areas include basketball and volleyball courts, a children's play area, an obstacle course, an amphitheater, and a mini soccer field. 

TRTC is also just a few minutes drive from many of Tagaytay City’s tourist attractions.

A recent guest wrote to say, “Here’s a big thank you for all the help with our event which turned out to be a great success. The service and hospitality of your staff is worth mentioning! The food was very good both in quality and quantity. Overall we had a great time!  Our pastor and the entire committee join me in expressing our gratitude." 

For inquiries and booking information, please get in touch with Eva Lope, TRTC guest coordinator, at evaranlope@yahoo.com.ph, evamlope@gmail.com, 09192933157, 09232497605, and 8066912.

TRTC Has New Obstacle Course

Looking for a way to liven up your conference at Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center?  Need an idea for some plain and simple outdoor fun while at the retreat center?  Then make an obstacle course race part of your stay!

Youngsters and adults alike will love the challenge of TRTC’s new obstacle course consisting of a tire run, balance beams, horizontal bars, and low ropes.   

The course is also perfect for simple team-building exercises or friendly competition during couples’ retreats, family reunions, and similar gatherings.  It can even be used to teach a spiritual lesson or emphasize a biblical principle.

Be sure to consider making an obstacle course race part of your program when you come to TRTC!

"Excellent Staff" -- TripAdvisor Contributor

Foreign guests survey their surroundings right after Typhoon Glenda lashed Tagaytay
 on July 16.  Photo courtesy of Doris Cuaresma

Photo taken during the last week of September shows building with damaged roof in top photo
 now almost completely repaired.  

Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center staff earned a heartwarming review from a TripAdvisor contributor who describes herself as having traveled to 107 cities and 17 countries. In a review posted in September, williamsld83 of Lubbock, Texas wrote:

"I arrived at the CCT Retreat & Training Center for the Global Young People's Convocation and Legislative Assembly (GYPC-LA) event on July 16, 2014. We arrived during Typhoon Glenda. We did not get to stay in our rooms or finish our event at this facility, because it was damaged so badly during the storm."

"The staff made sure we were safe, had food and water, and were as comfortable as could be expected considering the storm raging around us. They took care of us instead of taking care of their own families and repairing their homes. The hospitality we received at this retreat center was beyond anything I have ever experienced. If the staff members are this good during a typhoon, I can only imagine what fantastic service they would provide during a normal stay.I would highly recommend this location and hope they can repair all the damage quickly."

About 400 international guests attending the GYPC-LA event had to be gathered in the retreat center's main function hall when Typhoon Glenda began battering Tagaytay city during the early morning hours of July 16. They waited out the storm praying, singing and worshipping the Lord and were moved to a resort in Kawit, Cavite later that day. Glenda ripped roofs off of dormitory buildings and broke glass wall paneling in the dining hall, requiring the retreat center's temporary closure. It re-opened on August 15, a month after the storm hit.

TRTC General Manager said Doris Cuaresma said, "I am so blessed to have worked with wonderful people like the GYPC-LA staff. I was teary-eyed after reading the guest's comments. God is to be praised!"


For stories from other participants in the convocation, please click on the following links: 

http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/church-youth-take-shelter-pray-for-others-as-typhoon-hits-philippines

http://www.gbod.org/resources/united-methodist-youth-attending-global-gathering-safe-during-typhoon-in-ph

TripAdvisor claims to be the world's largest travel website.  Its contributors review hotels, restaurants, and tourist destinations.

TRTC Kitchen Crew: National Certificate 2 Holders

Photo: Jeremiah Ahana 

The kitchen crew of the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center are now holders of the government's national certificate 2 (NC2).  They recently attended cookery classes in a joint project of  the Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries (CCT) and Bayan Academy sponsored by JP Morgan. All 10 attendees passed competency assessment given by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and were awarded the highly-coveted certificates soon afterward.  

TRTC serves both Filipino and international dishes. Its dining hall serves meals buffet style and has a seating capacity of 600.  

  

TRTC: As Good as New!

Some 350 real estate people attending an all-day team-building activity and 120 men on a two-day retreat were the first guests to use the newly renovated Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center when it re-opened on August 15.

The retreat center had to be closed for a month after suffering extensive damage due to Typhoon Glenda in mid-July. Included in the work done was the repair of caved-in ceilings, and the replacement of shattered glass panelings and blown-off roofs.

"We are overwhelmed by God's blessings and happy to be accepting small groups of guests again," said Doris Cuaresma, general manager. "This is actually just a soft opening because two of the towers (each with ten bedrooms) are not yet fully repaired.  We hope to be completely operational by October 1."

"It looks as if no damage was ever done," said one recent guest.

Opened in May 2011, the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center has been an ideal, welcoming venue for youth convocations, couples' retreats, missionary and Bible translators' conferences, and similar activities.

It is owned and managed by the Center for Community Transformation Group of Ministries which ministers to the poor.  Many of the buildings were built by former street dwellers undergoing spiritual and social transformation.

Busloads of guests arrive at the Tagaytay Retreat
and Training Center on the day it reopens after being
heavily damaged by Typhoon Glenda in July. 

Generous meals are served at TRTC's newly-repaired
dining hall.  

TRTC Reopens August 15

The Jacob, Joseph, and Elijah dorms all as good as new again!

The Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center is reopening on August 15, exactly a month after it closed due to extensive damage caused by Typhoon Glenda.  "Seventy percent of the repair work is done, we are building back better, and we are counting down to our reopening day," said Doris Cuaresma, general manager, five days before the target reopening.

Typhoon Glenda ripped off roofing sheets, made ceilings cave in, and drenched bedrooms on the top floors of the retreat center's dormitory buildings when it hit Southern Luzon during the early hours of July 16. It also shattered glass paneling and damaged tables and chairs at the dining hall.  Nearly 400 international guests attending a Methodist youth convocation waited out the storm at the main function hall and had to be moved to another event venue.

The extent of the damage was assessed the same day and clean-up and restoration work were begun soon afterward. "We praise God for all that has been done and for all that will be completed within the next few days. We are grateful to all who helped with the rebuilding and clean-up.  We look forward to welcoming guests again," Cuaresma said.

The Moses dorm, now ready to accept guests again.  

Workers in yellow shirts are transformed former street
dwellers reached out to by CCT's Kaibigan Ministry. 

The Abraham, Isaac, Joshua and Moses dorms.

Elijah dorm: work ongoing.  

(Here and below) The north-facing end of the multi-purpose hall
with glass doors and windows restored.

Repair Work on Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center Begun

Repair and clean-up work has begun at the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center which  is temporarily closed after suffering damage due to Typhoon Glenda (international name Rammasun).

Glenda battered Southern Luzon where Tagaytay City is situated during the early hours of July 16, damaging the roofs and ceilings of the retreat center's dormitory buildings, shattering windows and glass doors, and toppling trees.

CCT President Ruth Callanta said, "Through all this we rely on God's grace and heed his command in I Thessalonians 5:16 - 18 that we are to 'Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will  in Christ Jesus'."

"We will build back better, making TRTC a more comfortable and welcoming venue for a wide range of functions and activities."

Fair Trade Products Now Sold at TRTC

A few of the fair trade products now available for pasalubong
at the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center.

Left to right:  Mr. Ueda Makoto, Alter Trade - Japan president, Mrs. Gilda Caduya,
Alter Trade - Philippines president, and Mr. Angelito Gabriel, CCT Inc. executive director.

Fair trade products are now sold at the Pasalubong Center of the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center (TRTC) following the signing of a memorandum of agreement between Alter Trade Corporation, a fair trade corporation based in Bacolod City, and TRTC.

The products include muscovado sugar; banana chips; jams made from jackfruit, coconut, mangosteen, pineapple, papaya, and guava; juice concentrates made from mangosteen, guyabano, calamansi, and passion fruit; wild honey; lemon grass oil, syrup, and powder; cocoa and chocolate.

Fair trade, according to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary is a movement whose goal is to help producers in developing countries get a fair price for their products so as to reduce poverty, provide for the ethical treatment of workers and farmers, and promote environmentally sustainable practices. 

Alter Trade Corporation was established in 1988 in response to the worsening situation of Negros sugar workers caught in an island-wide crisis caused by plummeting world sugar prices in the early 1980s.  After a series of feeding and relief operations to thousands of displaced families, women and children, progressive Japanese consumers and development organizations in the Philippines hatched the concept of ‘trade not aid’ as a sustainable intervention for the crisis victims. In 1988 the first shipment of Mascobado sugar arrived in Japan and  Balangon bananas began to be shipped to that country a year later.

Today, Alter Trade continues to combine business and social development, and its organic farming and fair trade practices are compliant with international standards.

Anjji Gabriel, CCT Inc. executive director, said  CCT is pleased to have a partnership with an organization that also serves the Filipino poor.

Mr. Makoto speaks of doing people to people
trade, specifically by directly linking Filipino
producers with Japanese consumers.   

Mrs. Caduya: "As Alter Trade continues to expand its partnership and
 relationship building  within the borders of our  country, we will do so
working with organizations that  put the interests of marginalized
people in the forefront of its operations."

Mr. Angelito Gabriel: "I sincerely hope and pray that this joining
of hands  will truly make a difference in thousands of  lives,
that it will have a deep and lasting impact
on needy families and in the communities
from where these products come."

A sampling of the bite-sized goodies prepared for the
MOA signing event by Chef Harlequin 'Queenie' Boloron
using organic muscovado sugar, jams made
from local fruit and other Alter Trade products.  

Photos: Michelle Taway and Myra Gaculais del Rosario