SAN JUAN, Abra – The Turismo Isulong Mo Party-list group denounced the reported proliferation of alleged fake tour packages in the various premier tourist destinations in the country that seeks to undermine ongoing efforts to gradually and safely revive the heavily impacted economy.
Former Mayor Marco Bautista, who is the Turismo Isulong Mo Party-list second nominee, stated that the reported proliferation of fake tour packages will not actually help in any way in helping revive the heavily impacted economy as it will just cause further demoralization among people wanting to visit their desired tourist destinations in the country to help in bringing back the vibrance of the local economy.
He pointed out that instead of allowing people to recover from the negative impact of the pandemic to their mental health, the proliferation of the fake tour packages might worsen their state of their mental health which is not actually good in supporting the efforts to recover from the effects of the pandemic not only to the economy but also to the mental health of the people who had been forced to be confined in their homes for over 2 years to be able to contain the rapid spread of the deadly virus among the populace.
The Turismo Isulong Party-list nominee stipulated that local tourism industry stakeholders in close coordination with concerned government agencies and the local governments must ensure that the proliferation of fake tour packages in their respective areas of jurisdiction will be stamped out to bring back the trust and confidence of the tourists in being able to move to the different tourist destinations without fear of being fooled by fake tour packages offered in the said places.
He called on the people behind the fake tour packages to start changing their ways to prevent them from being appropriately charged in the courts that may cause their imprisonment as an offshoot of their illegal activities because now is the time of healing from the wounds that had been inflicted by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic and not the time to take advantage of the situation of other people.
According to him, there are many other ways for people to be able to earn a decent income and not from offering fake tour packages that seeks to hoodwink people just to be able to earn their desired income as the same is not legally and morally correct, especially during these difficult times where people are trying to look for opportunities to be able to refresh themselves to be able to recover from the impact of the pandemic to their lives.
The Turismo Isulong Mo Party-list group is listed as No. 156 in the list of party-list organizations that had been allowed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to contest the available seats for party-list in the House of Representatives during the upcoming May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections.
Bautista served the municipality for 3 consecutive terms and that he was able to elevate the status of the town from a sleepy one to a vibrant locality with numerous awards that had been achieved from 2007 to 2016.
