BAGUIO CITY – The four first-time lucky visitors in Baguio and Benguet who received a 4-day red carpet treatment from the officers and members of the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club (BCBC) during the Holy Week were grateful for their life-changing experience in visiting the scenic destinations in the city, Benguet and La Union.
The Search for the Lucky Summer Visitor is a regular program of the BCBC, the City Government of Baguio, Province of Benguet, the municipal governments of Rosario, La Union, Tuba, Benguet, La Trinidad, Benguet, and various corporate sponsors to help entice first-time tourists to visit Baguio and Benguet during the Holy Week where they will be provided with a 4-day red carpet treatment.
Rolando Sarmiento, Jr., 19, a graduating Bachelor of Marine Engineering student of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA), his girlfriend, Karen Joy Villanueva, 22, operations supervisor of a Caloocan-based dermatology clinic, Annabel Ricolito, 28, a native of Misamis Occidental and her friend Ma. Jean Deyto, 45, a native of Sorsogon and both store workers of a Chinese store in San Juan, Metro Manila, were all praises for the special treatment they received during their stay in the city from April 13-16, 2017.
Aside from being provided with free accommodation, food and tours to the various tourist spots in Baguio, Benguet and La Union, the lucky visitors had the chance to personally interact with Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan, Benguet Gov. Recencio Pacalso, Tuba Mayor Ignacio Rivera, La Trinidad Mayor Romeo Salda and Pugo Mayor Priscilla Martin, as well as receive free souvenir items from the places they visited.
Further, the lucky visitors were also brought back to their places of origin courtesy of the Cordillera office of the Department of Tourism (DOT-CAR), one of the government agencies supporting the 57-year old project designed to help boost visitor arrivals in the city.
The lucky visitors assured organizers that they will spread the good news to their friends and relatives about their life-changing experiences in the city and help in enticing them to consider visiting Baguio and Benguet when planning for a vacation.
Sarmiento and Villanueva were chosen by the members of the search team in a bus that passed by the search area in front of the Caltex gasoline station in Rosario, La Union while Ricolito and Deyto were chosen in a bus that passed by the search area three hours later.
Both pairs of lucky visitors had their own stories to tell about the hardships that they experienced before being chosen as this year’s lucky visitors in the city.
Villanueva narrated that they had a difficult time booking seats on a Baguio-bound bus from Manila and it was Sarmiento who succeeded in booking them seats in a Baguio-bound bus in Olongapo City, thus, she had to travel to Olongapo after work to catch their trip.
However, the bus that was supposed to bring them to Baguio suffered from mechanical trouble along the way that is why they were transferred to another bus which passed by the search area later at around 8 am that resulted to their being chosen as one of this year’s lucky visitors.
For Ricolito and Deyto, their trip to the city was considered as they suddenly decided on Wednesday after work to visit the city even though it is their first time to visit the country’s Summer Capital.
When they went to a bus station in Cubao, the duo narrated that all Baguio-bound buses were fully booked that kept them guessing what to do to reach the city.
After a few hours of waiting at the bus station, Ricolito and Deyto were able to chance upon a bus that allowed passengers to stand in the aisle and they then took turns in standing while one of them sat beside the driver.
Upon reaching the search area, the passengers and bus staff were surprised why their bus was flagged down by personnel of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) who accompanied the members of the search team so the bus personnel prepared the pertinent documents in case they will be questioned for their overload.
To their surprise, when members of the search time boarded the bus, they asked who were first-time visitors to Baguio City and explained the program, and they gratefully accepted the red-carpet treatment after having to stand all the way from Manila.
After the four days of special treatment, the lucky visitors were sent off to their points of the destination after a simple send-off program late Sunday afternoon.
By Dexter A. See
