‘Greater local autonomy can boost tourism’

The Charter Change Advocacy Commission (ad-com) says the country’s poor economic performance can be improved through tourism development in local government units (LGUs) with greater autonomy.

Ad-com chairman Lito Monico Lorenzana said a boost in tourism at the LGU level would lead to strong economic growth. He cited the case of South Korea, where local governments have specific tourism plans for enhancing their communities’ economies.

"Since Korea’s implementation of local autonomy in 1995, tourism development gained attention from their LGUs. Tourism demand in Korea escalated. This resulted in the efforts of many local governments to develop their natural resources into tourism attractions," Lorenzana said in a statement.

He added that less-developed areas in the country can engage in tourism to boost their economic prospects once the proposed federal system is in place and genuine political autonomy is realized. The ad-com is pushing for the amendments in the 1987 Constitution that include the formation of a parliamentary-federal structure of government.

"While these ‘backward’ areas find it difficult to attract high-technology industries, they can use the natural resources in their localities to spur tourism," he said.

Lorenzana said the Philippines could copy South Korea’s strategy of community tourism, where LGUs formulate tourism development plans suitable to their localities.

According to Lorenzana, South Korea has a unicameral parliament where local governments are semi-autonomous and have their own executive and legislative bodies.

Meanwhile, Charter change advocates said government decentralization and economic devolution are the keys to a peaceful coexistence among religions.

Ad-com member Dagoroan Macarambon said the proposed creation of autonomous territories — a precursor to the formation of federal states — shows a lot of promise, particularly for Mindanao where the population is composed of indigenous peoples, Muslims, the Bangsamoro people and Christians.

Macarambon said strengthening the regions and expanding local autonomy will make Mindanao economically independent and politically mature. He added that economic devolution ensures self-sustainability, even for small provinces.