Talks up to revive Argao Beach Club

CEBU, Philippines - Officials of the Province of Cebu have opened their doors to tourism officials to talk about what to do on Argao Beach Club in the municipality of Dalaguete after it was closed several years ago.

Dalaguete Mayor Ronald Allan Cesante raised the matter during the last Provincial Development Council (PDC) meeting held at the Capitol.

“Perhaps the PDC can facilitate some sort of club for TIEZA (Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and DOT (Department of Tourism) to come forward to discuss this facility,” Cesante said.

Formerly the Philippine Tourism Authority, TIEZA is mandated to develop, manage and supervise tourism infrastructure projects nationwide and to provide technical and financial assistance to qualified tourism projects, investors and proponents, both government and private.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said the matter is something that has been tested for a long time.

During the time of former tourism secretary Joseph Ace Durano, he was able to bring together Dalaguete and Argao to sign a memorandum of agreement on joint management effort to rehabilitate and to manage the Argao Beach Club.

“Now it continues to decay, it is such a pity when especially now there is really a boom in tourism,” Garcia said.

Garcia said she will call for a meeting with officials of TIEZA, DOT as well as the League of Municipalities in the Philippines-Cebu chapter.

Businessman Samuel Chioson of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) also expressed interest of joining the meeting. Chioson said they are also interested to participate in the private-public partnership to develop the Argao Beach Club.

In 1981, the Fonaciers built the Argao Beach Club on a seaside cliff on the border of Argao and Dalaguete but was later closed and sequestered by the national government after Martial Law.

In 2008, Durano announced that the tourism department will privatize or sell two tourism facilities in Cebu, which are among eight tourism facilities and idle 40 real estate properties under the PTA.

Other properties in Cebu are the Kan-irag Golf Course in barangay Busay, Cebu City and a PTA property in Moalboal town that was being put for sale.

Durano earlier reported that the Metro Gaisano Group is interested to rent Argao Beach Club.

Last month, the DOT in Central Visayas bared its priority projects which include the opening of tourism estates as top investment focus for the region.

At least three applications are pending with the TIEZA for new tourism enterprises in Cebu that include the Argao Beach Club, Kan-irag golf course, and a government property in the southern town of Moalboal.

TIEZA-Region 7 officer-in-charge Jose Mari Salgado said they are still reviewing the applications.

If approved, the tourism enterprises will enjoy income tax holiday, duty-free importation of capital investment and equipment, plus non-monetary incentives under Republic Act (RA) 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009, which reorganized the PTA into TIEZA.

TIEZA is helping local governments identify and create their own tourism estates, and can provide assistance in the form of funding for infrastructure projects. — (FREEMAN)