BAGUIO CITY – Two Davao-based government workers and a 5-member family from Victoria City, Negros Occidental were chosen as the 2024 Baguio-Benguet Lucky Summer Visitors who will be provided with a 4-day red carpet treatment from the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club (BCBC) and its partners.
The Davao-based government workers who were on board a Baguio-bound Victory Liner bus Jay Mae Bee Baling and March Karene B. Ugdaman, 33 and both employees of the Davao City local government. The duo was on board the 16 Baguio-bound bus that was flagged down by the members of the media and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) at the Flying V gas station in Pugo, La Union.
On the other hand, the 5-member family from Victoria City, Negros Occidental were James S. Soriano, a seaman; her daughters Rezia, 21, Ryza Jane, 17, Sophia Marie, 10 and her son John Reuben, 12.
The family was on board a Baguio-bound Victory Liner which was the 23rd bus that was flagged down by the search team to look for the lucky visitors.
The annual Search for the Baguio-Benguet Lucky Summer Visitor is an institutionalized program of the BCBC, the oldest medial organization in the city, to help in aggressively promoting the city as a must-see destination during the Holy Week break. The program seeks to look for first time visitors from Baguio-bound buses who will be provided with a 4-day red carpet treatment from Holy Thursday up to Easter Sunday.
The lucky summer visitors were welcomed by Pugo municipal officials led by Mayor Kurt Walter Martin before they were treated to a simple program by the Tuba municipal government led by Mayor Clarita Sal-ongan and Vice Mayor Maria Carantes.
Part of the program that was presented by the Tuba municipal government were the town’s rich culture and traditions through the Ibaloi and Kalanguya dances.
In the city, the lucky visitors were welcomed by Vice Mayor Fuastino A. Olowan and some members of the city council.
The lucky visitors will be visiting the various tourist destinations in the city and the nearby towns of La Trinidad and Tublay, Benguet where they will experience strawberry picking at the La Trinidad strawberry farm and berry picking at the Polig’s Berry Farm. By Dexter A. See