Tourism is among the main points tackled by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia in her 2023 State of the Province Address (SOPA) delivered recently before government officials including Senators Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Francis Tolentino, Cabinet Secretaries Jaime Bautista and Raphael Lotilla, Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco and husband House Deputy Speaker Duke Frasco, members of diplomatic corps, and other guests from the public and private sector.
In her SOPA, Garcia bared the successes of Cebu in staging the comeback of its tourism projects and attractions, including the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo, dubbed as the province’s Festival of Festivals held every month of August, the continuing promotion of sports tourism through the One Cebu Island Governor’s Unity Volleyball Cup, as well as the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) dancing inmates.
To recall, prior to the pandemic, the CPDRC dancing inmates gained widespread popularity for their performances which attracted tourists and served as a source of income to the prisoners.
The lady governor likewise reported on the various initiatives of the Provincial Government that buoyed Cebu’s tourism sector amid the pandemic, including the lifting of stringent COVID-19 restrictions, and the continuation of the Suroy Suroy Sugbo, a massive, community-based participatory cultural mapping program in all the towns and cities of the Cebu, to document their natural and cultural heritage assets.
Drawing inspiration from this successful program initiated by Governor Garcia in 2008, Secretary Frasco launched the nationwide Philippine Experience Program: Heritage, Culture, and Arts Caravan, which will be done in every region to equalize tourism promotions.
In addition, the DOT broke ground on the initial batch of Tourist Rest Areas (TRAs) across the country, four of which are found in the Municipalities of Carmen, Carcar, Medellin, and Moalboal in Cebu.
“This is truly a project that has been needed direly in the countryside.”
Governor Garcia expressed her gratitude to the DOT, saying that “I must say, this is truly a project that has been needed direly in the countryside.”
“We commend Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco for having the sensitivity and empathy for our tourists by providing these TRAs throughout the entire country.”
“We commend Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco for having the sensitivity and empathy for our tourists by providing these TRAs throughout the entire country,” the lady governor added, as she announced that as a way of appreciation for the DOT, the Provincial Government of Cebu will construct four “or maybe even more.”
As she asserted the State of the Province to be “very strong”, the governor ended her address by affirming support to the DOT’s enhanced tourism campaign.
“Love the Philippines. Love Cebu,” she concluded.
