There was no intent to exclude Benguet and other Cordillera provinces in the city’s tourism revival venture with Region 1, Mayor Benjamin Magalong clarified on Sept. 9.
The mayor was reacting to published statements by Benguet leaders lamenting the lack of consultation with the LISTT (La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay) on the tourism program.
In a statement, the mayor said the city “never intended to preclude our BLISTT partners from being involved in the undertaking” and that as a matter of fact, he immediately asked Dept. of Tourism Cordillera Officer-in-Charge Jovita Ganongan to consult with Cordillera leaders to determine if they are willing to participate in the project.
He said he wanted to involve the provinces because he was aware that whatever endeavor the city undertakes will affect its neighbors.
The mayor said he was told that the provinces are still not ready to reopen to tourists and will instead be observing the developments.
“The information reassured us that everyone was consulted or that nobody was left out in the planning process, so we moved on with the project,” the mayor said.
The mayor also clarified that the program will “strictly follow the tour package scheme where tourist movements will be restricted and confined to the city and thus will not affect other areas.”
“The involvement of our neighboring towns is important as program participants need to pass through them to gain access to the city and this we acknowledge and never intend to disregard,” he said assuring that “coordination on border and checkpoint management (will) be done once the guidelines have been finalized and approved by the National Inter-Agency Task Force.”
The mayor reminded that the city had actively involved the LISTT and and other provinces in past undertakings including recent initiatives dealing on the pandemic. He added that the city intends to continue this partnership.
“Rest assured that this partnership will continue as we look forward to joint tourism ventures with our neighbors once they are ready (especially since) the program was broached not for the benefit of Baguio City alone (but to) serve as a springboard to reboot the economy of the region as well,” he said.
He said the city further hopes that the BLISTT cooperation “will hold as we strive to overcome this health crisis, rebuild our economies and face whatever challenges that may come along.” – Aileen P. Refuerzo