Letters to the editor

Wonderful Santa Catalina
Dear sir, We just returned from vacationing in Panama. While we were in the city we picked up your newspaper,“The Visitor”. It was filled with interesting and helpful articles. While we were there we visited to a little village called Santa Catalina on the Pacific coast. Although we have not seen much written about this little village we were pleasantly surprised to find a wonderful place called La Buena Vida. It has comfortable cabanas, a restaurant and they also have the only gift shop in Santa Catalina that sells locally made art work. It’s a real treasure and I think your readers might enjoy reading about it or visiting the area. We are looking forward to visiting Panama again and will certainly pick up a paper when we arrive.

Sincerely,
Diane Miller
Miami, Florida

Thanks to Panamanian Police
Dear sir, As first time visitors to Panama we would like to personally thank two Panamanian Police officers in vehicle number 9474 who without hesitation helped us locate the Hotel Veneto when we became lost in the city on Saturday March 15. Driving a rental car for the first day, following a week walking in the city and meeting so many helpful local people, we were returning from Portobello to our hotel and became lost in the city.

Requesting directions, the officers, without hesitation asked us to follow them and they led us in convoy to our hotel. This is very significant as in most countries police officers would not be so helpful.

Thank you.
Valerie and Roger B of Southwest
Florida.

Destination Panama?
Dear sir, I have credentials in both Clinical and Community Psychology, ample administrative experience, and specialize in additive behavior. My wife and I would like to make Panama our home and we wonder if we would be useful there? I will be happy to send letters of reference and a vita on request.

Warm regards,
George Wolford, Ph.D.

Editor’s note:
Perhaps some of our readers can give Dr. Wolford some advice. His email is profwolford@hotmail.com.

Clean your beach
Dear sir, I recently visited Isla Taboga and was surprised to see the amount of garbage on the beach. Even more, I was surprised that the local municipalities or hotel owners do not cooperate to remove the trash, despite the numerous trash bins and signs. The beach has broken glass and during two days on the island, nobody made an effort to clean the beach, which was being visited by many Europeans, North Americans and Latin Americans.

Kevin Simpson
Portland, Oregon

Why you should eat raw food —and how to really enjoy it

Beth Ihle of Get Fresh Panama sent us this article to inform readers about the benefits of a growing trend in nutrition.

In the process of the move in recent years towards preventative health, a dietary concept has emerged featuring the benefits of foods in their natural unprocessed raw state i.e. the diet of our closest genetic relatives, the primates.

There are now many completely“raw” restaurants and cookbooks which feature only foods that have never been exposed to heat above 118 degrees, the temperature at which fresh living foods begin to lose up to 50 percent of their nutrient and energetic value. Now, before you think this way of living involves consuming exclusively carrot sticks and celery, go blend up a fresh fruit smoothie, read this article, then sit down to do a Google search on raw foods, and I promise you will be amazed at what you find.

While animals eat their food in the state that it is given to them by nature, humans have been using fire, often by necessity for survival, to cook and render food edible. It has to be admitted that cooked food it is doubtful that the human species would have been able to survive.

But we as a species find ourselves in a vulnerable position, having removed ourselves so far away from our natural dietary patterns. These days, it seems that many people are in a constant state of hunger with blood sugar highs and lows, and dehydration, arising from the low nutrient value of dry, cooked, and processed foods. Many people are not getting proper nutrition from the calorierich and nutrient-poor processed foods they receive so their body sends out almost constant signals to eat in hopes of getting properly nourished. This results in the remarkable rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer we are now faced with worldwide, diseases which are unheard of in the wild animal kingdom.

Living in Panama gives us year round access to an abundance of fresh, inexpensive and delicious produce at our fingertips, and the possibilities are endless. You can recreate most any typical dish with raw foods, including soups, pasta, pizza, and lasagnas, with sauces and cheeses made from nuts and seeds as well as desert pies and raw chocolate truffles, all made from fresh uncooked foods! Many people ask if one can get adequate amounts of protein on a raw diet, and I find it useful to note that the percentage of protein, fat and calories a baby gets from its mother's milk is identical to the ratio of protein, fat and calories found in fruits, and if a baby can double in size off of that amount of protein early in life, there is no reason to need any more when we are fully grown and (hopefully) not doubling in size each year.

A change towards eating raw foods has nothing to do with denial or missing out on anything and is instead an empowering move towards increased health, increased levels of energy, mental clarity and wellbeing and delicious new culinary possibilities.

Most people start incorporating more raw foods into their diets slowly, starting with fruit as a main course for breakfast. They begin eating more fresh fruit and vegetable dishes for lunches and dinners, and then before you know it someone is eating more than 50 or 75% raw!

I discovered the raw foods concept over three years ago and have since rid myself of severe allergies, and other health issues without medication, and have helped many others along the way achieve similar and even more dramatic results. Miraculous success stories of the power of the self healing body are found in abundance within the “raw” community.

I have founded Get Fresh Panama, as a service which provides coaching, catering, and gourmet fresh raw dinners here in Panama City and also operate Retreatslive sustainable healthy vacations in Panama and abroad which feature delicious raw living foods, daily yoga, meal preparation, massage and energy work, art and emotional therapies. We are operating retreats from April 20 to May 18th in a beachfront home on the Pacific and are offering week long spaces as well as limited weekend availability Friday through Sunday afternoons. Contact me at Beth@getfreshpanama.com, or Retreatslive@gmail.com.

"Rights of Possesion" land ownership explained

By Steven Rich, Marketing Manager for Panama Offshore Legal Services

If you contemplate buying land in Panama, you should know about a unique feature of land ownership here know as “Rights of Possession”. There are in fact three types of “ownership”. There is titled land which is registered in the Public Registry. There is land owned by the Government and there is land for which, by virtue of having occupied it, a person has earned the “right to posses” it.

The history of this goes back to land reform which was instituted by Gen Omar Torrijos whose military dictatorship from 1968 to 1981 brought a number of social reforms. He introduced an agrarian land reform program which in essence stipulated “if you live on the land and work the land you have the right to possess it.

Rights of Possession are duly recorded and can be transferred to a third party including foreigners but it is the Ministry of Agriculture Agrarian Reform Offices, not the Public Registry, which records Rights of Possession on agricultural lands. The Directorate General of the Surveyor of the Ministry of Economy and Finance records island, beachfront and marine properties. The rest of the ROP's are not recorded.

There are two kinds of Rights of Possession:
Those located in national lands subject to the jurisdiction of the Directorate General of the Surveyor of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. This type of ROP segregates into those subject to titled and those subject to an administrative concession (lease). The Rights of Possession subject to an administrative concession are beachfront, marine bottom and islands. Concessions are explained below.

Those located in agricultural land which have been allocated and transferred to the Department of the Agrarian Reform of the Ministry of Agriculture for the specific purposes to grant titles for agricultural use.

When it comes to trying to find out who possesses what the process can be tedious. An administrative system exists for the documentation and certification of ROP land. Employees of the regional offices of the Agrarian Reform, local Mayor's office, property tax office (Catastro), and justices of the peace (Corregidor) oversee and manage this system of documentation.

Acquiring possession rights to a property requires these steps:
Promise to Purchase Contract: A formal contract to transfer a ROP with enough time for due diligence, authenticated by a public notary since the contract cannot be filed with the Public Registry.

Due Diligence: Verify Certification of the ROP validly issued by a competent government authority. Obtain a Survey from a licensed surveyor engineer verifying the location, size (area), and boundaries. Inspect the property verifying boundary markers, no trespassers, no boundary disputes with neighbors, and get the boundaries fenced. Verify Permits needed for whatever uses you wish of the property.

Buy-Sell Contract: This contract requires paying the final balance once the Possession Rights Certification transfers to the buyers'name. A notary public must authenticate it.

Possession Rights Certification Transfer: After the parties sign the Buy-Sell Contract the rights of possession officially transfers to the buyer with the Possession Rights Certification.

Concession Property
The government grants concessions to individuals or entities for specific purposes, such as tourism development or residential housing. Most concessions exist for renewable 20 years or 40 years for large projects. The government guarantees greater rights of usage with Concessions over Rights of Possession. Concessions appeal to investors because of lesser risks. Title insurance is available for concession properties but unavailable to most ROP's

Acquiring title over Possession Properties
The government can sell the land to the possessor, including foreigners. “Titling Process” is the official administrative procedure to purchase Rights of Possession property from the Panamanian government. You can register the Buy-Sell Contract with the Public Registry. Recently island properties can become“titled”.

While ROPs are not “owned” under the law, they cannot be taxed and they cannot be mortgages.

ROP's under the jurisdiction of the Agrarian Reform office can be titled.

Some final advice: Hire a competent reale estate lawyer to prepare your Promise to Purchase Rights of Possession Contract, conduct due diligence, and prepare your Buy-Sell Contract. Hire a professional surveyor to verify all boundaries. Protect your original Rights of Possession documents from loss because they are not registered.

Obtain Concession rights for using government property whenever you can. With these precautions, you should be able to enjoy full Rights of Possession, or secure concessions of your new real property purchases.

Watch out Paitilla!
Patra's hungry

My mother always told me never to shop for food on an empty stomach. Her warning failed to include doing column reconnaissance while starving! I didn’t begin with a theme, but one gravitated toward me as I was seduced by one luscious culinary establishment after another. You’ve heard of progressive dinner parties? I stumbled into a move-along lunch event.

GOURMET PIZZA, next to ARROCHA on Balboa Avenue, has the best vegetarian pie in the city. I can also attest to the merits of the Greek salad. The entire menu sounds scrumptious, but I rarely get beyond my favorite order. They also deliver! Across the street in PLAZA PAITILLA resides Canadian owned and operated PANADERÍA CANADA. Many varieties of breads and pastries are produced daily on the premises, including baguettes, bagels, rolls, whole wheat and multigrain loaves, black bread, and countless other mouth watering offerings. They serve coffee and sandwiches also, and aromas wafting from the kitchen draw the thundering hordes from near and far. Arrive early for the best selections.

Next door at BAL HARBOUR find RICURAS de ESTHER, a charming shop “harboring” multiple refrigerators filled with yummy offerings, all 100% kosher. I catalogued bomba moi moi, chocolate mousse, pistachio biscotti, carrot cake, several varieties of pasta sauce, as well as gnocchi, lasagna, and much more! Under ESTHER’S brand name is a plethora of attention-getting jarred treats such as hot fudge. They make cakes to order and cater pastries and drinks for various special occasions.

Canadian bakery customers

My ongoing food orgy continued at PAITILLA MALL, located a short distance from DO IT CENTER. ORGANICA is a-dreamcome-true for all health conscious consumers and those with allergies and special dietary needs. Nowhere else in Panama can one find the huge inventory of imported specialty items as are housed in this beautifully appointed market. Gluten free products abound. Organic everything is available! Specialized flours such as tapioca, buckwheat, spelt, quinoa, and rye fill the shelves. Laundry and cleaning solutions are available, eco friendly and hypo allergenic. There are baby products, herbal medications, pure maple syrup, organic molasses, and varieties of seasonings. An impressive selection of health oriented books in English are found here, as well as heart-happy snacks and cereals. (Shopping carts are provided for good reason.) And, recently launched is a tastefully decorated soup/sandwich café where one can partake of guilt-free food in a serene environment.

Nearby DARNA, bakery-sister to the restaurant on Balboa, boasts its own tranquil atmosphere and charm. One can indulge in coffee, salads, sandwiches, and soups along with mouth watering desserts, all presented in a homey environment. Books line the walls and shelves bulge with jars of DARNA-made condiments, perfect to spread on the breads, croissants, and brioches produced on site. Pastries beg to be sampled. Check it out!

My appetite sated I eventually allowed a non-food venue to catch my eye. Still perusing PAITILLA MALL I unearthed the be-all-end-all of lighting solutions at LÁMPARAS Y MÁS. Over 500 chandeliers, table lamps, and unusual lighting treatments abound in this unique space. Every single fixture has been UL approved in the U.S., meaning safety is a certainty. “Quality products at reasonable prices” is the personable owner’s mantra. If the unusual is eluding you, visit this specialty shop and revel in an abundance of choices. Hopefully I’ve lighted the way to nourish your body, mind, and spirit... HAPPY SHOPPING!