BAGUIO CITY – The city government commended the ABS-CBN Network as well as the artists, production staff and ensemble of the romantic comedy television series “Forever More”for its significant and enormous contributions to the widespread promotion of the undisputed Summer Capital’s robust tourism industry.
In a resolution authored by Co7uncilor Elmer O. Datuin that was passed in Monday’s regular session, the council cited the hit telenovela ‘Forever More’premiered by the giant television network ABS-CBN and worldwide via ‘The Filipino Channel’showcased the overall state of the city and nearby areas in Benguet which are worth visiting over the past several months that the television series had been aired over television.
For the past several months, the television network and production staff of ‘Forever More’habe been using sitio Pungayan, Pobacion, Tuba, Benguet in Mount Sto. Tomas as the filming site for their maginary town ‘La Presa’that showcased the potential tourist destinations in the city and Tuba town that subsequently resulted to the influx of visitors in the area.
The resolution stated the city government acknowledges the fact that the showing of various scenes in the different sets of the television series contributed in increasing the curioucity of visitors and increased their desire to come up and visit the city.
“The fre promotion of the city’s tourist spots by the different sets of the television series gave rise to the city’s enourmous tourist arrivals that started during the prolonged Christmas vacation up to the present,”the resolution stated.
Aside from the television network, the council commended the people behind the telenovela such as Executive Producer Edlyn Tallada-Abuel; Producer Myleen Ongkiko; creatd by Jay Fernando; developed by Malou N. Santos and Des M. de Guzman, wrten by Ronalisa Co, Jerome Co, Mark Angos and Generiza Reyes; directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina, Richard I. Arellano, Teodoro C. Boborol and Rory B. Quintos; creative director Johnny delos Santos, tarring Enrique Gil as ‘Alexander’ZanderGrande III and Liza Soberano as Maira Agnes Calay.
The resolution cited in going to the famous La Presa, visitors have to pass by the city proper before proceeding to Marcos highway and the Green Valley area prior to reaching the area where most of the scenes of the telenovela were taken.
Since the showing of the television series omsetime in October last year, the resolution cited the city had been experiencing heavy influx of visitors wanting to visit the La Presa area because of their desire to personally see the places where the scenes were filmed and for them to have their pictures taken in such places for their souvenir.
La Presa has become one of the in demand tourist destinations in the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) area because of its strategic situation where people have the chance to have a plain view of the city in one side and the lowlands and Lingayen Gulf on the other side.
The resolution expressed its gratitude to the ABS-CNB Network for considering La Presa as one of the permanent settings of the telenovela that contributed in the discovery of more scenic areas that must be visited by visitors interested to come up and spend a wel-deserved break in the city even for a short period of time.
By Dexter A. See